Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

amazon Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 reviews

In the past, users have not shown much interest in folding screen devices from Samsung, partly because of their price and partly due to their concerns that the durability of the folding design would never be as guaranteed as the standard phone models. Realising this problem, Samsung has improved its listening skills and, with upgrade points and previous backlog errors, has concretized those concerns into this year’s device.

Design and hold

Samsung has rapidly carried out their campaigns for this flip-open book design, similar to the Z Fold series and the more popular clam-shell design for the Z Flip series-the whole thing has really picked up steam this time and spread among more people. And this is where the manufacturer has done away with the majority of differences that were most noticeably obvious compared with the initial generation in the design.

Supposing Z Flip brings lots of rounded lines and somewhat feminized color schemes (except black). It is much more neutral in Z Flip3 as they also bring seven different color schemes for this phone. I felt that at least 4 of the total versions can still be used by men and are very much full of masculinity.

The front reveals the main display with this most-familiar punch-hole selfie camera. The speakerphone of the Samsung device is located right on the Benzel border of the screen; if you don’t look closely, you may not realize that the speaker is located in the right position. On the right typically are the volume up-and-down button and the power button cum fingerprint security, and the left edge has only the sim tray, and the top edge is a microphone that supports recording.

The bottom edge of the device has the second microphone Type -C charging port and speakerphone. The back will be a camera duo with LED flash and an extra screen. The middle of the body is a hinge similar to the previous generation, the Samsung logo engraved in the middle. The highlight of the back design is the black panel containing the camera cluster of the device and the secondary screen; this color array makes the overall machine look stronger and more attractive; it is made slightly more prominent than the front panel. The rest of the back will make the device’s rear camera look less convex, very reasonable!

It is almost undetectable to the naked eye, but Z Flip3 is a little compact compared to the previous generation in terms of length and thickness alone; the device is only about 6.9mm thick. However, the body is quite long; ensure that when using it with one hand, you will not be able to touch the notification bar at the top of the screen. I use a device very little in a straight form unless for video editing, photo editing-most of the time when I watch or surf content, its fold, enjoying the experience, “happy”.

To really go into this flipping action, Samsung has managed to improve upon many of the user reflections from a lifetime before. Armor Aluminum is what “Sam” uses on the hinges and chassis; even though it is aluminum, it feels much stronger and durable. I tried to lean into breaking the device from both back and front unsuccessful; the body is very solid.

To further protect their screens, they announced that a new component material would be introduced that, when compared to its predecessor, is said to offer as much as 80% increased protection. Joining this is the latest Gorilla Glass Victus. With just about two weeks of usage on the device, everything is in absolute smoothness, and there is not even one scratch on the phone screen and body-just fold up the screen when you are not using it, and the device is all the better protected. A little care can afford you to easily buy more skins for the back part; I can assure you that after quite some time, the gadget will look as new as when you bought it.

Another rate of resistance that customers had always wanted for their previous folding phones has finally found its way into the Z Flip3 this year: IPX8-water resistance. With this rating, the phone is, therefore, waterproof to a depth of 1.5 m for up to 30 minutes. The incorporation of an IPX8 rating in the waterproofing will greatly benefit the device when encountering sweat or gentle precipitation, thereby increasing user comfort.

However, from the users’ perspective, the annoyance has always been near about-the line being very visible on the screen when it comes to the crease in the middle. While using it directly, that line can hardly be noticed in light tones (the opposite is true for dark tones). Still, the feeling of “falling off” when crossing that line remains, which, if corrected by Samsung in the next genera, would be great.

My overall feelings are that holding and using the device is good in folded mode. During the time it is no longer needed, it then, being completely folded up, becomes an extremely compact device put easily in the back pocket of pants, maybe even in the front shirt pocket. It is more beneficial for women to fold the screen to look in the mirror, put on light makeup, or take a few selfies. This year’s design and color combinations allow the Z Flip3 to act as a piece of jewelry in which women are free to flaunt their individuality and fashion sense.

The monitor and the display receive data

Galaxy Z Flip3 comes with a 6.7-inch flexible front screen with Full HD + resolution, using now upgraded Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels which support HDR10+ format. Despite being Full HD+, the picture quality is commendable, and the sharpness it offers makes all content crystal clear.

Whereas the older version used to work only at 60Hz screen refresh rate, the Z Flip3 has been improved with a scanning frequency twice the usual, that is, 120Hz, in line with current usage trends. The whole experience of smooth scrolling and gliding of content across this screen becomes especially attractive when scrolling and folding the device to create a waterfall-like effect.

When it comes to colors, this definitely isn’t new: Samsung screens tend to have brighter colors, and it leans towards warm tones by nature. This is not a problem, but it will certainly show its merits during colorful contents like Korean music videos; it must be said “awesome.” The z flip3: Another very interesting parameter is that it has maximum screen brightness levels up to 1200 nits, used indoors or outdoors; the display is very fine; and you will still be able to see everything.

The only minus point can only be its 22: 9 ratio; when viewing contents with aspect ratios of 16: 9 or 4: 3, a lot of black space will appear on the sides of the screen; you will have to zoom in to see the full view. The screen is beautiful, but the actual display content of the video is cut off at the top and bottom edges. However, as far as I can see, Samsung can’t do it differently. If the instrument is shortened even little, the experience for multitasking when folding the screen will not be as good, and the overall instrument when entirely folding the screen is also going to look more square and I think it is going to look somewhat “crazy.”

Going to the back of the device, we will have a secondary screen with dimensions of 1.9 inches (larger than 1.1 inches of the Z Flip) at a resolution of 260 x 512 pixels; it serves to show more content than before. With a clock display containing funny animations, users could see notifications and even add widgets for having direct access to the music player, weather or schedule information, alarms, and so on. All of these are possible without opening the device fully. In addition, the device can preview photos when taken with the rear camera but with a rather narrow screen ratio, aligning the composition for the photo is not easy; anyway, this is a feature. It is indeed a pretty cool feature to take advantage of this extra monitor.

Unfortunately, Samsung has not yet given us too much tweaking in this screen area; we hope that very soon they will update the software and provide more features for this secondary screen.

Hardware and software performance

“Better wood than paint” is a completely absurd statement in the context of Galaxy Z Flip3. With its striking looks and unique design, Samsung has matched beauty with today’s best hardware in the form of Snapdragon 888 chipset and 8GB RAM; the phone comes in two memory options, one being 128GB and the other, 256GB. In comparison, this year’s configuration would be a tremendous leap over the first Z Flip using the Snapdragon 855+ processor.

This kind of configuration would also ensure the Z Flip3 runs smoothly through all the tasks that I throw at it in my day-to-day. If that is not enough to stress test the Snapdragon 888 chip, I opened up a can of benchmarking to see just how well this phone performs.

With Antutu Benchmark, the phone scored some 694,000 points, and I have tried over and over again, but the phone just does not seem to breach the threshold of 700,000 points. Put in simpler terms, it has been in the same class as the S21+, S21 Ultra using Exynos 2100 chipset, and a few notches down in glory compared to any Snapdragon 888 device, OnePlus 9 Pro, OPPO Find X3 Pro, or Xiaomi Mi 11.

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SAMSUNG Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G Factory Unlocked Android Cell Phone US Version Smartphone Flex Mode, Intuitive Camera Compact 128GB Storage US Warranty, Cream: Buy it now

SAMSUNG Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G Factory Unlocked Android Cell Phone US Version Smartphone Flex Mode Intuitive Camera Compact 128GB Storage US Warranty, Lavender (Renewed): Buy it now

SAMSUNG Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G Factory Unlocked Android Cell Phone US Version Smartphone Flex Mode Intuitive Camera Compact 128GB Storage US Warranty, Phantom Black (Renewed): Buy it now

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 F7110 5G Single SIM 256GB 8GB RAM Factory Unlocked (GSM Only | No CDMA – not Compatible with Verizon/Sprint) International Version – Green: Buy it now

Performance of Hardware and Software

“Better wood than paint” is a totally wrong statement in the context of Galaxy Z Flip3. It boasts a very chic look and an unusual design, and Samsung treats it with nothing less than the best hardware performance available to them-the Snapdragon 888 chipset and 8GB RAM with memory options of 128GB and 256GB. Compared to the earlier Galaxy Z Flip, which used the Snapdragon 855+ processor, this year’s offering comes even light-years ahead in configuration.

So it is with this configuration, I just move Z Flip3 smoothly on all tasks I engage in every day. But just for the heck of it, to trouble the Snapdragon 888 chip, I ran in a few benchmarks just to ascertain the real power of the device.

Antutu Benchmark on this device had the score hovered around 694 thousand points, and after several successful attempts at running the Antutu Benchmark test, the device couldn’t breach into the 700,000-point territory. In layman’s terms, it shares a similar performance with the S21+, S21 Ultra, which are on Exynos 2100 chipset and are vastly inferior to the devices on other Snapdragon 888 processors, namely, OnePlus 9 Pro, OPPO Find X3 Pro, or Xiaomi Mi 11.

In the next test, Geekbench 5 gave a score of 1,053 in the single-core test and 3,378 in the multi-core test, again two figures lower than other devices powered by the same Snapdragon 888 processor: for example, Oppo Find X3 Pro achieved 1,121 and 3,741 in the two aforementioned tests.

In gaming, I pushed the device a bit with two games: PUBG and Genshin Impact. In Pub G, the device can maintain stable 40 FPS at high Ultra HD graphics-with the temperatures registering in 45-46 degrees.

Similarly, Genshin Impact-another game rated with the hardware killer-setting high graphics and 60fps-could have a maximum score of only about 24-26 FPS. It barely makes 26 degrees Celsius when the game is on. I even tried lowering the settings to medium and low but the device still could not attain 60 FPS for the 60 FPS selected in the settings.

Well, something has been done by Samsung with the Snapdragon 888 chip on Z Flip3. They may have throttled its performance to make a good compromise between the battery life and stable range of heat or the company did not optimize it at all. The interplay of software and hardware optimization is such that the machine cannot unleash the full potential of the dragon chip.

Whatever the reason, the outcome is very disappointing, given top-of-the-line configuration; however, Z Flip3 appears unable to hold a candle to what its counterparts can. Not even in gaming was there any benefit derived from its 120Hz screen tech.

As far as the software is concerned, I am pretty happy about it. The Galaxy Z Flip does run on Android 11 with One UI 3.1 to back it. So it’s a pity that it didn’t ship with the latest and so common feature-packed Android 12 to the users; but Samsung mentioned that they would send their customers updates by year-end. We won’t be waiting too long to be on Android 12.

With Z Fip3’s 22:9 aspect ratio screen and folding design, multitasking has become a real treat. I usually find the split window handy for entertainment and efficient work together. For instance, watching Youtube, scrolling through Facebook, Googling for information, while jotting down important info in the Notes application. One UI allows ‘Ready-made pairs’ of these frequently used applications through the Edge Panel tool for faster access, so it is extremely convenient!

Many will enjoy switching from the typical devices to folding phones like the Z Flip3 or Z Fold3, especially this unique mode. This mode gives way to launch an independent panel for half the screen when you fold the phone; applications supported for this mode include the camera or Youtube, which is a very unique and interesting experience. The camera app features greatly help where you can place your phone in any flat surface and take selfies with the palm of your hand easily.

Samsung has managed to understand that the too-long screen ratio hinders the ease of customers trying to access the notification bar using one hand. So, sh”out which is anyhow a small feature added within the settings made quite a difference for me. It is a simple swipe on the power key (fingerprint sensor). Access the notification bar when you swipe from the top to drop notifications or quick options and vice versa.

Overall, One UI on Z Flip3 runs very smoothly; I have encountered very rare instances when the device froze or lagged. In all respects, it overheats quite rapidly when shooting videos and photos, with the highest temperature registering under the area where the rear camera cluster is situated. Here, yet again, this is the very zone where Samsung installed the Snapdragon 888 processor chip, the latest processor by Qualcomm this year that has faced an array of criticisms because of its poor thermal management capability, which would be the main cause of this problem. Furthermore, the compact body of the Z Flip3 does not provide good dispersion of heat.

Much more confusing, unlike any other console that gets hot, this one runs cool while recording and takes photos within a short period of about 15-20 minutes. I once again would emphasize that Samsung need to rethink balance between software and hardware optimization for their devices.

Camera

If there is one term that can be used most simply to describe the camera quality on the Z Fold3, it is, “Just Enough.” Whilst the S21 Ultra stands tall as one of the better camera phones, the camera on the Z Flip3 and Z Fold3 are definitely not one of their stronger assets.

At the rear, it is equipped well with an interesting duel: a 12MP sensor with an f/1.8 wide lens supporting autofocus and OIS stabilization; and an f/2.2 aperture and focal length super-wide-angle lens for 4K 60 fps video recording. Generally speaking, these two work to produce decent image quality; one could argue that the proprietary algorithms of the device tend to crank up sharpness and structure to emphasize detail in the image further.

However, zooming backward is its weak point; as an image taken at 2x would be greatly optimally printed, from 4-10x, it is just a joke with good intentions that I would never dare to post such pictures. It’s on any social network or in personal archive. Again and again, if Samsung makes the camera on the Z Flip3 too well, it will unintentionally make their S21 series difficult to sell.

Thus, instead, the company decided to endow this Z Flip3 with something truly useful, like night mode, portrait video, and director’s viewpoint; a few odd yet interesting AR effects. The quality produced with night mode can be considered good in terms of color and metering, but sadly the trade-off comes in relative sharpness, unlike daylight scenes.

The selfie camera on the front of the device also has a resolution of 10MP and supports 4K 60fps video recording; it has two photography modes: standard and super wide-angle. The image quality produced is not too good either.

So, while not impressive, the Z Flip3 is fun to use for photography. As mentioned above, with the folding design of the device now, I have no problem with taking any selfies or making Tiktoks without a tripod. Just put the thing on a flat surface, and it will do the rest-the auto-focus on the front camera will ensure you are at the center of it all.

Most importantly, you can preview images on the secondary screen on the back of the device; this means that you can easily “take a selfie” using the rear camera for better image quality. One disappointment is that this latest screen has a very narrow ratio and doesn’t allow for magnification adjustment, making it difficult to align the layout of the image; although with steady use, this might become easier.

Battery Life

With a battery of 3300mAh capacity and fast charging up to 15W, it would be difficult to expect stellar battery life from Samsung’s quite feature-rich and powerful device. It just follows that since there is no charger included in the box now, you would have to purchase the accessory at an added cost.

These values are battery consumption found as a direct function of wireless functions and an hour of use with the screen at 50% brightness. Z Flip3 confidently demonstrates a mere 11% of battery drain when reading newspapers via the web browser; 14% when watching Youtube (50 volume-FullHD 1080p resolution); PUBG game would be 24% (smooth graphics level– extreme); while Genshin Impact will take up 29% (high graphics – 60fps).

Battery life has still been a drawback with the folding phone from Samsung, actually. It has been assumed that Samsung would be looking to fit a bigger battery for Z Flip3 also, but could not. The only advantage that a folding hinge design gives Samsung is the option of splitting the battery into smaller bits for 2370mAh in the lower half and 930mAh in the upper half so as to create room for many other components in the phone.

You will be lucky if you can get a single charge for daily use. The flashlight would, however, not take you long; it seems about 87 minutes would suffice to fill up the battery of the phone at 15W, especially in the first 33 minutes charging up 45%. Hence it would be wise for anyone planning to acquire this phone to buy an extra backup battery with a minimum capacity of 10,000mAh to support extended use for days when you find yourself outside somewhere where it is not simply convenient to plug this phone into a charger.

Also, reduce the brightness to between 30% and 40% and set the screen refresh rate down to 60Hz. Set the screen timeout at 15 seconds for some battery conservation. Over $900 for a battery that is stubbornly smaller than the competition regarding the Galaxy Z Flip3 and fast charging speed. Well, with glory comes compromise.

Market Competition

During this past year Galaxy Z series, Samsung approached the customers with a new tact. After having dropped the price considerably in comparison with the previous generation, the device was still benefitting from substantial upgrades. The Galaxy Z Flip3 comes for a faux price of just about $1100 for a 128GB memory option, while specifications are not inferior to any flagship within this price range. Many in this segment could offer better camera performance and battery life than the Z Flip3, but they simply have no foldable display and an easy-to-carry clamshell design.

Samsung wants to make foldable devices more appealing and accessible to potential buyers. The Galaxy Z Flip3 is much more fun and consumer-friendly with its style-as opposed to the boring and rather mediocre-performing traditional phones.

In the category of potential Z Flip3 customers might be those who dig unique technology experiences, “unique” designs of folding and unfolding, and emphasize beauty, elegance, and personal style of use.

Ending

Samsung has set the position of Z Flip3 very well for maximum appeal and convenience to such a bunch of users. In every way, a premium folding phone has been the price guy. The few shortcomings concerning the camera, temperature, and battery life-I still think that overall, the Galaxy Z Flip3 offers a complete and very enjoyable experience while being used.

If someone asks me if the phone’s worth buying, I say: Yes! Samsung could have done a tad more for the camera on the Z Flip3, and that would have just capped it! A really cool phone with luxurious and unique design and with a “top” camera; I would think there are not many reasons for users to say no to that phone.