Apple spent close to a decade building anticipation for a foldable iPhone. Within hours of iPhone Duo’s actual reveal on September 9, 2026, Samsung had already fired back with an ad, and a meaningful slice of early reaction has been more skeptical than the years of hype suggested it would be. This piece covers what’s actually been said, by Samsung, by hands-on reviewers, and separately, Talmyn’s own opinion on where the criticism is fair and where it isn’t. Part of Talmyn’s full iPhone 18 and iPhone Duo launch coverage.
The numbers behind the criticism
The specific complaint driving most of the early pushback is weight and thickness, and it’s backed by real, checkable specs, not just vibes. iPhone Duo weighs 254 grams and measures 5.2mm thick unfolded, 11.3mm folded shut. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8, its closest direct competitor, weighs 201 grams and measures 4.5mm unfolded, a genuinely significant gap, over 50 grams and roughly 15% thinner in Samsung’s favor. For a device whose entire pitch rests on being comfortable to carry and use one-handed when folded, that’s not a small difference.
| iPhone Duo | Galaxy Z Fold8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 254g | 201g |
| Thickness (unfolded) | 5.2mm | 4.5mm |
| Thickness (folded) | 11.3mm | Slimmer folded profile |
| Inner display | 7.6" | 7.6" |
Samsung’s response: fast, pointed, and timed on purpose
Samsung didn’t wait. Just hours before Apple’s event, and again immediately after, Samsung ran a commercial titled “Welcome to Foldable,” explicitly framing the Galaxy Z Fold8 as the lightest foldable on the market, timed closely enough to Apple’s announcement that the target was obvious. Samsung’s own commentary went further, describing iPhone Duo as “reheating our leftovers,” a direct jab at Apple entering a category Samsung has shipped in for years. Samsung’s argument, made explicitly in its own marketing, is that weight is the single most important factor in a foldable’s real-world value, not raw specs on paper.
What hands-on reviewers are actually saying
Coverage from outlets who’ve had early hands-on time, including What Hi-Fi, has been more balanced than Samsung’s marketing. One reviewer who had just finished testing the Z Fold8 noted iPhone Duo has a genuine edge in Dolby Vision HDR video support, something Samsung’s current foldable lacks, and suggested Duo could be the device that finally convinces longtime flat-phone users to switch to a foldable. Separately, hands-on coverage from The Verge and Gizmodo described the folding mechanism itself as smooth, with a crease that’s almost impossible to find by feel, and praised the matte, nano-texture inner display for looking close to paper. That’s a real, credited point in Duo’s favor, not every early reaction has been negative. But the weight and bulk questions come up consistently across the same coverage, not as an isolated complaint.
Talmyn’s take: your points, checked one by one
This section is Talmyn’s own editorial opinion, checked against the specs and early coverage above, not a claim of hands-on testing we’ve done ourselves. Readers raised several specific complaints about iPhone Duo directly with us. We’re addressing each one individually, honestly, including the ones the evidence doesn’t fully support.
“It’s not as smooth as Samsung’s Flip or Fold”
Verdict: not supported by the evidence so far. If this is about the hinge and fold mechanism specifically, the earliest hands-on reports actually push back on it. The Verge and Gizmodo both described Duo’s fold as smooth, with a crease that’s close to imperceptible by touch, and a matte inner display that reads as high-quality rather than compromised. Apple built the hinge from more than 100 components specifically to control that closing motion. This is one point where the early, real-world testing doesn’t back up the concern, at least on first impressions. It’s fair to revisit once more reviewers have had the device for weeks rather than a same-day demo.
“It’s not as flexible for daily usage as Samsung’s foldable segment”
Verdict: fair, and the clearest-cut point on this list. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra runs up to four apps simultaneously and connects to Samsung DeX for a genuine desktop-style workstation mode when plugged into a monitor, a capability years in the making. iPhone Duo’s multitasking, as Apple has described it, centers on two apps side by side, a real improvement over a normal iPhone but a narrower feature set than what Samsung’s software already does. Android’s foldable multitasking has also simply had more years of refinement across more hardware generations. This complaint holds up.
“It’s large in size, not compact”
Verdict: fair, backed directly by the spec sheet. iPhone Duo is 254 grams and 11.3mm thick folded, against the Z Fold8’s 201 grams. Over 50 grams and a noticeably thicker folded profile is not a marginal difference, it’s the kind of gap you’d actually feel in a pocket or bag. This is the single most measurable, least debatable point in the whole list.
“It’s hard to hold or handle”
Verdict: plausible, follows logically from the weight and thickness, but not yet independently confirmed by long-term testing. A heavier, thicker device is objectively harder to hold one-handed for extended periods than a lighter one, that’s basic physics, not speculation. What we don’t have yet is multi-week ownership data on how that plays out in practice, whether the weight distribution across the hinge makes it feel worse or better than the raw numbers suggest. We’d call this fair as a prediction based on real numbers, not yet fully verified as a lived experience.
“It feels like a foldable tablet instead of a phone, a notebook you don’t want to carry around”
Verdict: partly fair, and partly a design choice working as intended. The 7.6-inch inner display genuinely is tablet-sized, that’s not a flaw, it’s Apple’s entire pitch for the product. But Apple built the 5.4-inch outer screen specifically so you’re not meant to unfold it for quick tasks, checking a message, replying, using the camera, all happen on the smaller outer display without opening the device at all. Whether it “feels like a phone” day to day comes down to how often someone actually needs the big screen versus the quick-access one, and that’s a genuinely subjective call that depends on the person, not something the spec sheet settles either way.
“People are disappointed”
Verdict: real, but not universal. Samsung’s same-day ad campaign and the consistent weight/price criticism across early coverage are genuine signs of disappointment among a meaningful part of the audience, particularly people who expected Apple’s first foldable to immediately out-refine an eighth-generation competitor. But the same coverage includes real praise, the hinge feel, the display quality, the Dolby Vision support, so “disappointed” describes a real and vocal segment of the reaction, not the entire reaction.
“After waiting for years, Apple users got set back from Flip and foldable devices”
Verdict: this is the fair summary of everything above. Years of “Apple will do it better when they finally do it” expectation ran into a first-generation product that’s heavier and thicker than an already-mature competitor, priced at a real premium, and shipping over a month after the rest of the lineup. That’s a legitimate letdown relative to the hype, even where individual pieces, the hinge smoothness, the display, the chip, genuinely deliver. Our honest overall read: iPhone Duo is a credible first attempt with real strengths, not a bad product, but it is not the category-defining leap years of anticipation had set people up to expect, and the size and weight gap to Samsung’s more mature lineup is the specific, verifiable reason why.
What people get wrong about this comparison
Samsung’s ad isn’t neutral commentary. It’s a competitor’s marketing, timed deliberately around Apple’s event, and should be read as advocacy, even where the underlying weight numbers it references are accurate.
Not every early reaction has been negative. The Dolby Vision advantage, the hinge smoothness, and the overall display quality have drawn genuine praise from reviewers who’ve had hands-on time, alongside the size criticism, not instead of it.
A same-day reaction isn’t a verdict on long-term usability. Whether iPhone Duo genuinely works as a daily-use device, the thing Samsung’s Z Fold line has had years to refine, is something that plays out over months of real ownership, not the first 48 hours after an announcement.
Frequently asked questions
Is iPhone Duo heavier than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8?
Yes. iPhone Duo weighs 254 grams versus the Galaxy Z Fold8’s 201 grams, and is thicker both unfolded and folded.
What did Samsung say about iPhone Duo?
Samsung called it “reheating our leftovers” and ran an ad campaign, “Welcome to Foldable,” emphasizing the Galaxy Z Fold8’s lighter weight, timed around Apple’s announcement.
Does iPhone Duo have any real advantages over the Galaxy Z Fold8?
Reviewers with hands-on time have pointed to Dolby Vision HDR video support, a smooth folding mechanism, and a near-invisible crease as genuine edges Duo has, alongside Apple’s ecosystem integration.
Is the criticism of iPhone Duo’s size fair?
Based on the verified spec differences, yes, it’s a real, measurable gap, not manufactured criticism. Whether it matters enough to affect a purchase decision depends on how someone plans to use the device day to day.
Is iPhone Duo’s multitasking as flexible as Samsung’s?
Not yet. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 supports up to four simultaneous apps and a desktop-style DeX mode; Apple’s current multitasking approach for Duo centers on two apps side by side, a narrower feature set at launch.
For the full technical rundown of iPhone Duo, see What Is iPhone Duo?. For pricing across every currency, see the full price comparison.
