Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: The first foldable phone under $1,000
Our Verdict
With a $999 starting price, the Galaxy Z Flip three is an "affordable" foldable, with a 6.7-inch FHD+ inner brandish with a 120Hz refresh rate. The outer display is four times bigger and more than durable than its predecessor, but the 3,300 mAh battery has us worried nearly the Flip iii's longevity.
For
- More than affordable
- Enhanced durability
- Bigger comprehend display
- 120Hz refresh charge per unit on inner display
- IPX8 h2o resistance
Against
- Short battery life
- Slow charging
- No telephoto lens
- Crease is still noticeable
Tom'south Guide Verdict
With a $999 starting price, the Galaxy Z Flip iii is an "affordable" foldable, with a half dozen.7-inch FHD+ inner display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The outer display is four times bigger and more than durable than its predecessor, but the 3,300 mAh battery has the states worried almost the Flip 3's longevity.
Pros
- +
More affordable
- +
Enhanced durability
- +
Bigger cover display
- +
120Hz refresh charge per unit on inner display
- +
IPX8 water resistance
Cons
- -
Short battery life
- -
Dull charging
- -
No telephoto lens
- -
Crease is still noticeable
Samsung Milky way Z Flip 3: Specs
Price: $999 (128GB), $i,049 (256GB)
OS: Android xi / 1 UI 3.i
Inner display: 6.seven-inch Super AMOLED (2640 10 1080)
Outer brandish: 1.9-inch Super AMOLED (260 ten 512)
Refresh rate: 120Hz (inner)
CPU: Snapdragon 888
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128GB, 256GB
Rear cameras: 12MP (f/1.viii) master, 12MP (f/ii.2) ultrawide
Forepart photographic camera: 10MP (f/2.iv)
Bombardment: iii,300 mAh
Bombardment life (Hrs:Mins): 5:43 (adaptive); 6:00 (60Hz)
Charging: 15W wired, 10W wireless
Charger included: No
Size: 3.4 10 2.8 x 0.63-0.67 inches (closed); half-dozen.5 x 2.8 x 0.27 inches (open)
Weight: 6.5 ounces
The Milky way Z Flip 3 has brought foldable applied science downward to a more than attainable toll — it's the "cheapest" foldable phone nevertheless at $999. No, a grand isn't inexpensive, simply the Galaxy Z Flip 3'due south price allows more people to effort out the foldable life than ever before.
Will that lower price win people over to the foldable phone side? The Galaxy Z Flip iii is likewise more than durable than its predecessor, thanks to IPX8 water resistance. The screen is eighty% more than durable and the phone itself sports Gorilla Glass Victus on the outer display and Samsung'southward new Armor Aluminum body. In brusque, the Z Flip 3 is built to withstand more penalisation than the original Milky way Z Flip, though nosotros still wouldn't driblet it.
If yous're on the contend about which Samsung foldable to buy, I also encourage you to read our Galaxy Z Fold 3 review, likewise. And, our Galaxy Z Fold three vs. Galaxy Z Flip 3 comparing looks at how the 2 new foldables differ. And if you do selection up a Galaxy Z Flip 3 for yourself, make certain to check out what nosotros think is the first app yous should install on your Samsung Galaxy telephone.
Based on our testing, one area where the Milky way Z Flip 3 majorly stumbles is battery life. Information technology's not pretty. While the Flip iii is a very practiced foldable phone for the most office, it's not quite great. Read on for our Milky way Z Flip 3 review.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip iii review: Release date and price
The Galaxy Z Flip iii is available now. The 8GB/128GB base of operations configuration runs $999, just in that location's a 256GB option, too, for $i,049.
Samsung likewise appear the Galaxy Z Flip 3 Bespoke Edition, which is a customizable phone for $1,099. You have 49 possible color combinations between the frame, front, and dorsum. Yous can also subscribe to the Bespoke Upgrade Care plan, which lets yous trade in your Flip 3 for a different color combination whenever you lot want. Y'all as well go a year of Samsung Care+. Just head over to the Bespoke Studio to get started.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip three review: Design and durability
Samsung took immovability seriously with the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The screen is now lxxx% more than durable than the one found on the Milky way Z Flip and Galaxy Z Flip 5G, thanks to a new film. Gorilla Drinking glass Victus covers the 1.nine-inch outer display and Samsung constructed the telephone'south frame from its Armor Aluminum textile. All of that provides enhanced scratch resistance, particularly on the cover display.
Combined with the enhanced immovability, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is truly a curiosity of mod engineering.
The Flip 3 too sports IPX8 water resistance. That ways you don't demand to worry nearly dunking it, though neither I nor Samsung would recommend that. We were not able to exam the water resistance in our easily-on time with the phone.
The cover display is probably the biggest change introduced to the Galaxy Z Flip three's pattern. That's four times larger than the Milky way Z Flip's one.ane-inch exterior strip, pregnant that you'll see much more information than before.
The Galaxy Z Flip iii comes in 4 colors: Cream, Green, Lavender, and Phantom Black. The lavender really stood out to us in our hands-on, truly communicable the eye and exemplifying the Flip 3's focus on way. Samsung volition also offering Grayness, Pink, and White colorways exclusively on its website. I'one thousand testing the Cream model and it's very cute in its subtlety. The polish finish is also really pleasing, because how slippery the original Galaxy Z Flip was.
Some other big Galaxy Z Flip iii upgrade involves the telephone's stereo speakers, which got loud plenty that we had to plow downward the volume in our easily-on session to avoid drowning out nearby conversations. Even when I was listening in on a Tom's Guide coming together, the speakers still managed to impress me with their clarity. Suffice to say, the Flip three'south sound organisation is much better than the original Flip'south.
The main entreatment of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 across its more attractive price remains how pocketable the device is when folded upwardly. When closed, the phone is just 3.four x 2.eight x 0.63-0.67 inches, meaning it can fit in almost any pocket.
Opened upward, the telephone measures 6.5 x two.8 x 0.27 inches, all the same making for a phone that fits easily in the hand. And at a mere 6.5 ounces (just like its predecessor), the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is easy to take with you anywhere.
Overall, Samsung slimmed down the Flip 3 e'er so slightly. The original Flip measured 6.6 x ii.nine x 0.28 inches when opened and 3.4 ten two.nine 10 0.61-0.68 inches when closed. Although the new phone is the aforementioned weight, it's a smidge thinner and taller. Combined with the enhanced durability, the Milky way Z Flip 3 is truly a marvel of modern applied science.
Samsung Milky way Z Flip three review: Displays
When you unfold the handset, the Milky way Z Flip three sports a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display. The 2640 x 1080 resolution combined with the 120Hz refresh charge per unit fabricated for a truly beautiful viewing experience. Scrolling was silky smoothen with the Flip 3, showing off Samsung's true display prowess.
When closed, the 1.9-inch touchscreen lets you control music, check the weather, and even take selfies. (The touchscreen doubles as a viewfinder.) Simply double press the ability button to launch the photographic camera and you're golden. This is a huge comeback over the Flip'south tiny outer display, making the Flip 3 more than usable when it'southward closed (and thus saving battery life, theoretically).
Compared to the original Flip, I immediately loved the Flip three's new cover display. It's incredibly versatile and useful, assuasive you to interact with many major phone functions (and more if you mod it) without opening the device up. Past far, it's my favorite Flip three feature outside of the folding itself.
However, ane matter that carried over from the original Flip is the pucker across the centre of the interior display. It's still quite noticeable when you scroll over it, even though y'all may non meet information technology all the fourth dimension. The image baloney is especially visible in straight sunlight or in apps that use light mode. The visible crease is past no means a deal-breaker, but if you were hoping for something more subtle this time around, you might be disappointed.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3'southward inner displays reproduced 102% of the sRGB and 76.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamuts. That's really less saturated than the iPhone 12 Pro's 115.6% sRGB rendering. However, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 has worse meliorate color accurateness with a Delta-E score of 0.32 compared to the iPhone 12 Pro's 0.28. (0 is perfect in this test.)
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: Cameras
On the photographic camera front, they're unchanged from the original Flip. On the dorsum, y'all get a 12MP (f/1.viii) broad-angle shooter and a 12MP (f/2.two) ultrawide one. The selfie camera is 10MP with a f/2.four aperture. And there is nevertheless no telephoto lens on the Milky way Z Flip 3, unlike other $999 phones such equally the iPhone 12 Pro — which I chose to use for the following photo comparisons.
The Flip 3 has its work cut out for information technology if it's going to go caput-to-head with one of the all-time camera phones you tin can purchase. And permit'due south not forget that the Galaxy S21 has a telephoto lens and that Samsung works some impressive magic with its those lenses. The Galaxy Z Flip 3's camera improvements come up downward to software, offering enhancements to portrait mode and indoor photography.
Boot things off is this photo of a trees of trees. Both shots are remarkably like, but you lot can meet hints of Samsung's tendency to oversaturate colors in the Flip iii's photo. The iPhone kept things more toned downwardly. The resulting epitome isn't as vivid equally the Flip 3'due south, but its colors are more natural and accurate.
To see how both phones handled direct sunlight, I took a movie of some flowers. This is where the Flip 3 noticeably struggled in comparison to the iPhone. The image looks overexposed, with some of the colors done out. The iPhone 12 Pro handled the sunlight and colors better, lowering the exposure while showing off the flowers' brightness.
Heading within, this photo of a Merida statuette was taken afterward in the 24-hour interval, so the room isn't as bright. However, the Flip three'southward image is a chip darker than the iPhone's. That motion-picture show looks a bit brighter compared to the dimmer Flip attempt. The iPhone's shot has more than vibrant colors than the Flip's.
For portraits, you can immediately encounter two dissimilar approaches. The Flip 3'south image is zoomed out more, adding in more than of the background surrounding me, but I recollect I prefer the iPhone's portrait. Its entire focus is on me and the background in secondary. I also like the iPhone's stronger bokeh better, as well. Samsung all the same has some work to do with its portrait mode.
Taking a suspension from the iPhone 12 Pro comparisons for just a 2d, I brought out the Galaxy S21 Plus to test the Milky way Z Flip 3's zoom capabilities. The folding phone has a max digital zoom of 10x, whereas the S21 Plus can crank upwards to 30x. The S21 also has the Zoom Lock feature, which uses AI to stabilize the image. I'll let the results speak for themselves on this 1.
Heading back over to the iPhone 12 Pro, here'due south a shot at night of my smoker. Right off the bat, y'all can see the differences. While the Flip 3'southward dark shot isn't bad, the iPhone's is clearly better. Not only is the image brighter than the Flip iii'south, but it's got more details, likewise. Samsung'southward night mode has improved in recent years, but information technology still has a ways to go before it matches Apple's.
I tested the Galaxy Z Flip 3's selfie capabilities using the front lens on the phone'southward display. The differences hither are more than subtle than the other images we've looked at, just the Flip 3 practical some face smoothing to my face while the iPhone kept my ruddy complexion. The iPhone's shot is likewise a bit warmer, which suited the miserably hot and bright twenty-four hours. I don't dislike the Flip 3's selfie, only I prefer the iPhone's.
Finally, here's a selfie using the rear cameras with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 closed. Obviously, it's a better image than the 1 from the internal front-facing camera, just even with the larger cover screen, lining upwards the shot properly takes a fleck of do. Information technology's actually convenient, though.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: Video
The Milky way Z Flip three can record video at up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The terminate outcome is well-baked and smoothen, and looks groovy. The iPhone 12 Pro is likewise able to record up to 4K threescore fps then I used both phones to record a brief walk to test stabilization, microphone quality, and overall visual fidelity.
The Flip 3's video is pretty close to the iPhone 12 Pro'due south, which is one of the ameliorate options for shooting video. Colors in the Flip 3-shot footage were accurate and vibrant, with first-class bounty for the bright daylight. Samsung did a great job with the Flip iii'southward stabilization, but the iPhone had meliorate mic quality and background racket isolation. That said, you won't exist disappointed with the Galaxy Z Flip three's video recording capabilities.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip iii review: Performance
With a Snapdragon 888 and 8GB of RAM, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is a powerhouse. Information technology didn't stumble once as I flipped through apps in Flex mode. In brusque, the Flip 3 feels like any other Snapdragon 888-powered device.
Intensive games like Genhin Impact and Asphalt 9 play beautifully on the Flip 3. I never noticed any frame drops. Games that support higher refresh rates similar Dead Cells besides play wonderfully on this phone. Of course, bombardment life is the only hindrance, which I'll get to in a second.
In Geekbench 5, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 scored an impressive 2,984 in multicore. That's non too far off from the iPhone 12 Pro's 3,669. Geekbench isn't necessarily 100% indicative of real-world operation, but it gives an idea of what a system-on-chip similar the Snapdragon 888 is capable of.
In the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited graphics benchmark, the Flip 3 managed an average fps of 27.3. Compare that to the iPhone 12 Pro'south whopping 51 fps average.
Finally, in the Adobe Premiere Rush video examination — where the telephone must transcode a 4K video to 1080p — the Galaxy Z Flip three performed the test in 53 seconds. That'south pretty proficient, but the iPhone 12 Pro did information technology in simply 27 seconds.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: Battery and charging
With a 3,300 mAh battery, the Milky way Z Flip 3 retains the size of the original Flip'southward bombardment capacity. This is cause for some business concern, since the Flip'due south bombardment life wasn't all that impressive. 3,300 mAh is smaller than other Samsung phones, too, including the regular Galaxy S21 with its 4,000 mAh battery.
Nosotros tested the Milky way Z Flip 3's battery in both refresh rate modes and neither was a good event. In its adaptive mode, the Flip three lasted for just 5 hours and 43 minutes. In the 60Hz manner, it lasted for a slightly better 6 hours. I've likewise heard of other reviewers who got abysmally bad battery life, too. The Flip 3'southward poor battery life significantly detracts from the phone overall.
The original Flip's bombardment life lasted for a disappointing eight hours and 16 minutes. Obviously, in that location'due south not a lot of room for a big battery on the Galaxy Z Flip 3, just in that location's now a larger outer display and a 120Hz refresh rate on the inner ane, both of which draw more than ability than before.
Another letdown with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is the 15W max wired charging. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 supports upwardly to 25W, so I wait charging your Flip volition feel boring in comparison. Wireless charging on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 caps out at an even slower 10W.
In our testing, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 recharged from 0% to 22% in 15 minutes, and to 44% in 30 minutes. That's not bad per se, but the bombardment is as well smaller than many Android phones nowadays.
As with the Galaxy S21 series, Samsung won't exist including a charger in the box. We're non fans of this determination, either.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: Software and Flex mode
The Galaxy Z Flip iii comes with Android 11 and Ane UI 3.1 out of the box, with an Android 12 update on the horizon. As with other Samsung phones, yous can expect 3 years of platform updates and 4 years of security patches with the Flip 3. Samsung'south update policy has paved the mode for meliorate back up for Android phones, specially in the US where its presence is quite potent.
Y'all can refer to our previous coverage of Samsung devices for our thoughts on 1 UI 3.1, merely it's a very good rendition of Android. There are a ton of features and plenty of Samsung's design chops to help One UI stand up out. In fact, information technology's probably the de facto Android feel for many, many people.
But the star of the show isn't One UI itself, but the software enhancements that Samsung has slapped on to make the Galaxy Z Flip 3 feel useful. Primal amid those is Flex fashion, which significantly bolsters the app user experience where supported.
Flex mode allows you to split UI elements between the two displays. One of the all-time places to endeavor this out is in the Camera app, where you tin can take the viewfinder on the tiptop brandish and the shutter controls on the push button. Similarly, you can video call with the telephone folded at an angle and sitting on a table — that should assist with arm fatigue on long video chats.
One complaint with Flex mode on the Milky way Z Flip was that in that location merely weren't that many apps that took advantage of it. YouTube was an exception, letting y'all spotter the video on the meridian screen and gyre through comments on the bottom one. In fact, when asked, Samsung provided a paltry few apps that support Flex mode — most of the attention was seemingly on the Galaxy Z Fold iii'southward multi-screen capabilities.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: Verdict
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 addresses a lot of our complaints with the original Galaxy Z Flip. Not only that, but the new phone is even cheaper than the 5G option Samsung released in 2020. A $999 starting cost is very attractive to those who might've been on the fence about foldables before.
That said, yous can get a Galaxy S21 Plus for $999, which has a telephoto lens and meliorate battery life. Furthermore, the Galaxy S21 is just $799 and it also has a telephoto lens. And the Galaxy S21 FE is hither, likewise, with an even lower price tag. Then there's the $999 iPhone 13 Pro, which is one of the best phones effectually. In other words, the Flip iii has a lot of competition and information technology fails to offer everything that its rivals tin. Its terrible battery life certainly doesn't assistance things.
Simply the Galaxy Z Flip iii is meant to push things forward, offer something novel versus the glass and metal slabs we're so used to nowadays. Even so, the Flip iii'south extremely disappointing battery life gives united states pause, making information technology difficult to recommend this phone in the end. You lot'll want to go on a charger or battery pack with you lot if y'all decide to go with the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Then there's the long-term durability to consider — this technology is withal so new and information technology hasn't thus far proven itself to be reliable long-term.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/galaxy-z-flip-3
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