News in Short

• The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable iPhone, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is Samsung’s latest foldable.
• At roughly Rs. 1.5 lakh more, the iPhone Duo faces a difficult value comparison.
• Apple’s foldable has a larger 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.4-inch outer screen.
• Samsung offers a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch cover display.
• iPhone Duo uses Apple’s A20 Pro, while the Fold 8 gets Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy.

Apple has finally entered the foldable phone market with the iPhone Duo. It is easily one of the company’s most ambitious iPhones yet, bringing a completely new form factor, two displays and a new approach to multitasking.

But there is a major question hanging over it.

Is the iPhone Duo actually Rs. 1.5 lakh better than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8?

Samsung’s latest foldable starts at Rs. 1,79,999, and it is already one of the most polished foldable phones available. The Fold 8 has a compact design, a 4:3 inner display, flagship performance, strong cameras and mature foldable software.

The iPhone Duo brings Apple’s ecosystem and some impressive hardware. However, when the price gap gets this large, specifications and everyday usefulness matter a lot more.

Here is how the two compare.

Design: Apple is thinner, Samsung is lighter

The iPhone Duo takes a different approach to foldable design. When opened, it becomes an extremely thin device with a 7.6-inch inner display. When closed, users get a 5.4-inch outer screen.

Apple uses a Grade 5 titanium frame, Ceramic Shield protection and a redesigned hinge containing more than 100 components. The phone is also rated IP68 for water and dust resistance.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, meanwhile, measures 123.9 x 81.9 x 9.7mm when folded and weighs 201g. The passport-style form factor is one of its biggest strengths.

Samsung also uses Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 on both displays and offers IPX8 water resistance with IP48 protection against dust particles.

So this isn’t a simple win for Apple.

The iPhone Duo has the more ambitious hardware design, but Samsung’s Fold 8 has a major advantage in being lighter and exceptionally compact for a foldable.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 for practicality

Displays: Almost a tie, but the experience is different

Apple’s iPhone Duo has a 7.6-inch inner Super Retina XDR display and a 5.4-inch outer display. Both screens share the same aspect ratio, while the inner panel gets a nano-texture finish designed to reduce glare and make the crease less noticeable.

It also supports ProMotion and can reach 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.

Samsung uses a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner display with a 1848 x 2448 resolution, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 3,000-nit peak brightness. The cover display is 5.5 inches and also supports 120Hz.

Samsung’s new 4:3 ratio is particularly important. It makes the inner screen much more useful for documents, websites, videos and multitasking.

Apple’s display is impressive on paper, but Samsung has already solved many of the usability problems associated with foldable screens.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

Performance: Both are flagship-grade

The iPhone Duo is powered by Apple’s A20 Pro, built on a 2nm process. Apple claims up to 20 percent faster CPU performance than the A19 Pro, up to 40 percent faster GPU performance and twice the Neural Engine performance.

Samsung uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, paired with LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.

The Fold 8 delivered Geekbench scores of 3,510 single-core and 9,456 multi-core in the supplied review.

The iPhone Duo’s newer A20 Pro gives Apple a strong hardware story, especially for AI and sustained performance. It also gets a custom vapor chamber.

However, there is no obvious reason from these specifications alone to pay another Rs. 1.5 lakh for the performance.

Winner: iPhone Duo on hardware ambition, but not enough to justify the price gap

Cameras: Apple brings a different approach

The iPhone Duo gets a 48MP Fusion Main camera, optical-quality 2x telephoto capability and a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera.

Apple also adds its Center Stage front camera, Duo Preview for selfies and video features such as 4K 120fps Dolby Vision recording.

Samsung’s Fold 8 has a 50MP primary camera, 50MP ultra-wide and 10MP front camera.

Samsung’s main camera delivers strong daylight images, good dynamic range and impressive night photography. However, its zoom performance is not the strongest in this price category.

Apple’s camera hardware brings some interesting video and foldable-specific features. But there is not enough here to say that the iPhone Duo is Rs. 1.5 lakh better.

Winner: iPhone Duo for video features, Samsung for a more familiar flagship camera setup

Software: This is where the two phones really separate

The iPhone Duo runs iOS 27, redesigned specifically for the foldable form factor.

Apple allows two apps to run side by side, supports two windows from the same app and lets users save app pairs. StandBy can also work on either display.

Apple Intelligence and Siri add another layer, with features such as personal context, onscreen awareness, Image Playground and AI-powered image tools.

Samsung’s One UI remains one of the strongest parts of the Fold 8. Its 4:3 screen works particularly well with split-screen and floating windows. The supplied review found that multitasking is one of the phone’s biggest strengths.

Samsung also promises seven years of Android and security updates, while Galaxy AI adds translation, productivity and creative tools.

Apple has the ecosystem advantage. Samsung has the maturity advantage.

Winner: Tie, depending on ecosystem

Battery and charging: Samsung offers more charging power

The iPhone Duo uses a dual-battery design and is rated for up to 31 hours of video playback on the inner display and up to 44 hours on the outer display.

Apple also claims a 50 percent charge in around 20 minutes with wired charging and around 30 minutes wirelessly.

Samsung’s Fold 8 has a 4,800mAh battery, 45W wired charging, 20W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. The supplied review found that it comfortably lasted beyond a full day, even with gaming, multitasking and photography.

Apple has impressive claimed endurance, but Samsung gives users more flexibility with charging options.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

Storage: Apple wins on capacity

The iPhone Duo can be configured with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB of storage.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 goes up to 1TB.

For buyers who store large video files, games and other content locally, Apple’s 2TB option is a genuine advantage.

But it is also unlikely to be the feature that convinces someone to spend another Rs. 1.5 lakh.

Winner: iPhone Duo

So, is the iPhone Duo worth Rs. 1.5 lakh more?

This is where the comparison becomes interesting.

The iPhone Duo is not simply an expensive version of the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It brings Apple’s first foldable design, A20 Pro, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, Apple Pencil support, 2TB storage and a different approach to foldable multitasking.

But better does not automatically mean better value.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 already offers a superb 7.6-inch foldable display, a practical 4:3 format, excellent performance, mature multitasking, seven years of updates and strong battery life.

The iPhone Duo does not deliver a specification advantage across every category. In fact, Samsung is arguably the more practical device in several areas, particularly weight, multitasking maturity and charging.

The iPhone Duo makes sense if you specifically want iOS on a foldable, Apple’s ecosystem, its new camera and AI features, Apple Pencil support or the novelty of owning Apple’s first foldable.

For everyone else, the Rs. 1.5 lakh premium is difficult to justify on specifications alone.

Final verdict

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 wins on value. iPhone Duo wins on innovation and the Apple ecosystem.

If the question is whether the iPhone Duo is a better foldable, the answer is more complicated.

If the question is whether it is Rs. 1.5 lakh better, the answer based purely on specifications and features is no.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 already gets you most of what makes a premium foldable useful. Apple’s extra cost primarily buys you entry into Apple’s foldable ecosystem, rather than a clear 1.5-lakh hardware advantage.

Spec Comparison