Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a lot to offer, including a huge 7.6-inch display, improved durability, S Pen support, and enhanced multitasking capabilities. However, as we began our review of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, I was a bit concerned about the foldable phone's battery life; the Galaxy Z Fold 3's 4,400 mAh battery is only slightly smaller than the Z Fold 2's 4,500 mAh pack, but the durability was considerably inferior in our tests. Equally important, the Z Fold 3 trails the top non-folding flagship phones by several hours.

In Tom's Guide battery tests, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 lasted only 7 hours and 52 minutes with the display set to 60Hz mode when surfing the web continuously at 5G with the screen brightness at 150 nits. 120Hz. With adaptive display mode on, it was even worse at 6 hours 35 minutes.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 last year lasted 10 hours and 10 minutes in 60 Hz mode and 9 minutes and 05 seconds in adaptive mode. This is a pretty steep drop, but the small battery may not be the only reason. We tested the Z Fold 3 on Verizon's network and the Z Fold 2 on T-Mobile, and the carrier definitely affects battery life.

Regardless, the battery life of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is well ahead of most other flagship smartphones. For example, the Galaxy S21 Ultra's 5,000 mAh battery lasted a very impressive 11 hours 25 minutes in 60Hz mode and 10:07 minutes in adaptive mode. The iPhone 12 Pro Max, on the other hand, lasted 10:53 minutes.

The regular Galaxy S21 with a 4,000 mAh battery had a battery life of 9:53 in 60 Hz mode; in 120 Hz mode it dropped to 6:31.

To be fair, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a huge 7.6" display, compared to the 6.8" of the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the 6.7" of the iPhone 12 Pro. In other words, this foldable is just a bigger canvas for the battery to drive.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 also has a 6.2" cover display, and while I don't think anyone would use it that long, I did a battery test to see how long the battery would last.The Z Fold 3's front panel lasted 8 hours 47 minutes in 60Hz mode and lasted 7 hours 57 minutes in adaptive mode.

In short, the Galaxy Z Fold 3's battery life is disappointing, but overall, we still recommend this phone for everything it can do. However, if you're going to be away from home for most of the day, you'll want to be sure to take the (optional) charger with you.