Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3, which will reach the hands of folding fans later this month, is already shaping up to be one of the most anticipated phones of the year. Following its unveiling last week and ahead of its August 27 launch, Samsung has revealed more information about the new kind of OLED screen the foldable smartphone will feature.The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the first device to feature the low-power Eco2 (or "Eco Square") OLED screen and is the first device to feature an Eco2 (or "Eco Square") OLED screen.

Samsung Display touts it anyway in a news release about its latest foldable phone. And the company goes further to explain what makes this particular screen different. [Conventional OLED screens have three layers: the OLED panel, a polarizer, and a glass layer. The role of the polarizer is to suppress reflections, but this makes the screen thicker. Also, the screen's brightness is reduced, so the device must emit more light to compensate. This places a greater burden on the battery.

With its latest displays, Samsung has managed to ditch the polarizer. It has adopted an "innovative pixel structure" to minimize reflections, eliminating the need for the intermediate layer in conventional OLEDs. As a result, Samsung claims that Eco2 OLEDs have improved transmittance (brightness) by 33% and reduced power consumption by up to 25% compared to conventional displays.

It is worth noting that this does not necessarily translate into a 25% increase in battery life for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. There are still plenty of other components that require power, and the processor is not the least of them.

Perhaps that is why we are disappointed with the Galaxy Z Fold 3's performance in our battery tests. Early results show that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 only lasts less than 8 hours, which is well below average for a cell phone. With the adaptive feature turned on, that time was reduced to less than 7 hours. Further tests are being conducted to see what is happening.

It is understandable why Samsung is looking for ways to reduce power consumption in its new foldable, especially considering the small battery in the Galaxy Z Fold 3. (But cramming a huge battery into the body of a smartphone is not easy. But cramming a huge battery into the body of a smartphone is no easy task. By making other elements more power efficient, the battery can run longer on a single charge.

New displays have advantages beyond potential battery improvements. Eliminating layers from the display means less plastic is used. The absence of a polarizer is also a boon for the Z Fold 3's under-display camera. (And according to the results we have seen there, the camera needs all the help it can get.)

While it seems likely that Samsung will use Eco2 OLED in future devices, it remains to be seen whether the just-announced Galaxy Z Flip 3 uses Eco2 OLED. Nevertheless, when the Galaxy Z Fold 3 arrives on August 27, we will be able to see this display in action.