Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 Review – The Foldable Which You Can Actually Buy

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is the lowest priced smartphone with a foldable display and I won’t deny, the most fashionable as well. The Flip3 not only has a lower price tag, but it also has some significant enhancements over the previous generation. Since we mentioned the subject of generations, the Flip3 is the latest model in the Flip series, with the classic Flip and the Flip 5G’s chipset upgrade practically justifying the 3 in the current model’s name.

In any case, the improvements include an IPX8 water-resistant rating, a high-refresh rate on that magnificent main Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (the Flip and Flip 5G had a 60Hz refresh rate), and a larger, more usable cover display. There’s also the most powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset upgrade, within the new Flip. Let’s take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 in more detail.

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The 8GB RAM and 128GB variant of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 is priced at Rs. 84,999 in India. Furthermore, the model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage is priced at Rs. 88,999.

Phantom Black, Cream, and Lavender are among the colour options available on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3.

When it comes to Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 availability, it can be pre-ordered on the Samsung.com website. Pre-ordering for the flagship foldable began on August 24 and will end on September 9, 2021. The smartphones will be available in India from September 10, 2021.

It is not astonishing to notice that Samsung followed the same path as Apple and decided to keep the packaging slim by removing the charging adapter this time in the Fold series. The box contents of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 go light and just include:

• Galaxy Z Flip3 handset
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Sim ejector pin
• Documentation

Before we talk in detail about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.70″ Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz; Cover display: Super AMOLED, 1.9 inches
• Chipset: Snapdragon 888 5G
• RAM & ROM: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM
• Software: Android 11, One UI 3.1
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 12MP, f/1.8; Ultra wide-angle: 12MP, f/2.2
• Selfie camera: 10MP, f/2.4
• Battery: 3300mAh
• Weight: 183g
• Dimensions: 166.0 x 72.2 x 6.9mm

Apart from an increase in the outer display and placing the rear cameras around it, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 looks very similar to its predecessors. It’s still a clamshell, with two “halves” rotating around a massive Samsung-branded hinge. It’s still a tall and thin phone when folded, with a 6.7-inch display.

However, there are certain (mainly visual) enhancements. The protective plastic bumper ringing around the inner flex display is still there, but now it’s thinner, which makes it look more like a guardrail strip than the rounded pontoon layer surrounding the edge of the smartphone when it’s closed. Also, there’s less of a gap between the sides when it’s closed.

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The rear panel has also been redesigned, moving from a single-colour finish on the Z Flip to a two-toned effect on the Z Flip3: the bottom two-thirds are a single hue, while the top third is all-black glass, housing the outer display and the dual rear cameras placed vertically next to it. Even though some of the colour options are more enticing than others, it’s a more attractive design this time around.

The back is made of Gorilla Glass Victus, while the screen is made of a flexible plastic called ‘glasstic’. Samsung has achieved an IPX8 water resistance rating for the first time in a foldable, indicating that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 can submerge in 1.5 metres of water for up to 30 minutes. It’s raining cats and dogs in Delhi and I found myself using my Z Flip 3 outside in the rains as well without any tension.

Apart from the larger outside display, the phone is identical to its predecessor. It has a lock button along with a fingerprint sensor and a volume rocker on the right side.

The displays of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 have been improved slightly, but not significantly. The Galaxy Z Flip 3’s internal display is essentially similar to that of the previous generation, with the exception of one important update. The 120Hz refresh rate is now supported by the 6.7-inch 1080p AMOLED panel. I thought it was great until I noticed how it affected battery life. We’ll go over that in more detail in the next section, but the short version is that you’ll want to operate this phone in 60Hz mode if you want it to last.

Colours are saturated by default, but not to the point of being unpleasant. The scrolling is notably smooth at 120Hz, but the performance at 60Hz wasn’t bad either. Instead of refresh rate, brightness is likely the more significant change, as you can use the phone outside in bright sunlight.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 features a small display that can’t do much on the outside, but it’s a huge advance over the previous version. While the previous generation’s display was too small to display more than a few characters of text at one time, this new display is large enough to be useful.

Samsung Z Flip3 features flagship specs and outperforms any phone outside of the more expensive top-tier handsets. It includes 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage, and it operates on the Snapdragon 888 processor (found in the top Android handsets launched in 2021).

The storage isn’t extendable through microSD, so you’re stuck with the onboard limit – but while offering a 128GB option (the Flip and Flip 5G are only available in a single 256GB configuration) may seem like a step back, it eventually allows the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 to come at a cheaper price point. It’s not ideal, but if you need more capacity, there are other options, such as cloud storage.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3’s overall performance is amazing: it didn’t stutter or falter while browsing the web, streaming media, or playing games, and it kept up with whatever we threw at it. Its Geekbench 5 average score of 2801 is solid but not quite up to the level of the year’s best phones, such as the Asus Rog 5 (3732) or the iPhone 12 Pro (4007).

The Z Flip3 comes pre-installed with Android 11, which has all of the latest Google operating system’s features. Given that the original Z Flip and Z Flip 5G (both introduced with Android 10) were upgraded to Android 11 only a few months after the latter phone was launched in October 2020.

Starting with the Flip3’s one unique feature, the improved cover display now has greater usefulness because of its increased size. You may use the always-on display function on the cover screen in the same way that you can on the main display; there is no separate setting for those two. The cover screen, on the other hand, has its own clock designs, which you may match with the watch face on your Galaxy Watch4.

Swipes in each of the four directions on the cover screen have different effects. Swiping up opens Samsung Pay, whereas swiping down displays a brightness option for the cover screen as well as a tri-position alert toggle that allows you to choose between silent, vibrating, and sound on. Swiping to the right pulls up the notifications, which you can scroll up and down and expand by swiping to the right. And swiping left pulls up a list of up to seven widgets, including a music player, weather forecast, timetable, alarm, Samsung Health, voice recorder, and timer.

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Samsung’s Music Share is an example of a rather advanced software function that was first introduced as a flagship feature but is now delivering a lot of value to the mid-range. You can use Bluetooth devices connected to a friend’s Samsung phone to listen to music by using this feature. It’s quite useful.

According to Android Headlines, the Z Flip3 5G is likely to receive the Android 12 update in the same time frame.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 has excellent cameras for simple photography; it lacks telephoto capability but excels in all other areas. Images on the phone are nicely detailed and colourful, thanks to Samsung’s superb photo software.

The dual rear cameras – a 12MP f/1.8 Dual Pixel main camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera – don’t appear to have been modified from the Z Flip. They do, however, take images that are comparable to those taken with previous Samsung flagships, with excellent colour balance in daylight.

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A 10MP f/2.4 front-facing camera offers decent selfies; however, they lack the detail of images taken by front-facing cameras in comparable flagships such as the iPhone 12 Pro. Still, this is the most selfie-friendly mobile seen in a long time – being able to capture pictures with the handset unfolded halfway and one side flat on a surface is far easier than awkwardly bending your hand to fit yourself and others in frame, a technique that could be more difficult for those with limited range of motion.

When foldable was closed, my Z Flip3 was able to snap selfies with the improved rear main and ultra-wide cameras, which you can see on the outer display as well – simply double-tap the lock button to activate the camera mode. The touch interface is straightforward: swipe up to toggle between the main and ultra-wide lenses, and swipe left and right to toggle between photo and video modes.

It’s a fantastic party trick and certainly a more convenient way to take selfies. Just keep in mind that this mode, for some reason, only shoots square images (which is surprising considering the widescreen-formatted outside display) and that other photo sizes aren’t available

The Z Flip 3’s dual 3,300-mAh batteries is that one feature that didn’t improve which I believe Samsung forgot to work on. It lasts roughly 11 hours on medium-to-heavy use days when the screen is on a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and the brightness is 80%. And that’s beginning with a fully charged phone.

This battery isn’t very good in contrast to other phones I have used at this price or even lesser. However, it is one of the drawbacks of owning a small-sized phone. The Z Flip 3 offers wireless and reverse-wireless charging, as well as 15W fast charging. Because the new Flip3 does not come with a 15W charger or wireless charging station, you will need to buy your own. Also, 15W charging isn’t particularly fast, I am sure you all have seen the superfast 65W fast charging technology in OnePlus and Realme phones already.

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By simply keeping the display open and the phone on, the battery drains a little faster than most smartphones; one day, the phone held up until it reached around 10% and then quickly fell. Ordinary activities, on the other hand, shouldn’t drain this phone any faster than they do any other — for example, viewing a half-hour Netflix episode depleted the battery by 3%, which is fairly usual.

The introduction of stereo speakers is one of the few significant improvements on this year’s Flip – Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3. The setup is standard: one bottom-firing speaker and a second, pointed forward and serving as an earpiece above the display. Because Samsung doesn’t insist on a correct-side-up approach, the two speakers will alternate between the left and right channels depending on the handset’s landscape mode, whereas the top one will serve the left channel in portrait.

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Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/Yes, GPS, Bluetooth v5.10, NFC, and USB Type-C are all available on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3. An accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, compass/ magnetometer, gyroscope, in-display fingerprint sensor, proximity sensor, and fingerprint sensor are among the sensors available. Face unlock is also super responsive on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3.

Pros 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
• Most affordable foldable smartphone yet
• 120Hz refresh rate display, dual display
• IPX8 certification
• Striking foldable design
• Satisfying flip-phone action

Cons 

• Only 3300 mAh battery
• Only 15W wired charging which is slow
• No telephoto lens