When Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Flip 3, I used to be wanting to strive it out. You can fold it in half. Flip it open along with your wrist one-handed. Use the skin display when it is closed and place it nearly anyplace you need to document movies and take images. With its cheaper price, seven colours and the assortment of daring instances that make it seem like a toy, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 may very well be the primary foldable cellphone you may take into account shopping for. But if Samsung desires the cellphone to be broadly adopted, it must ship on its promised enhancements and persuade those that they’ll depend upon the Z Flip 3 with out compromising their day by day cellphone routine.The Z Flip 3 begins at $1,000 (£949, AU$1,499) for 128GB and 8GB RAM. Scroll right down to the chart under for a full breakdown of costs and specs.
LikeFolds in halfWater-resistanceAttractive designBigger cowl screenGreat important displayLower value
Don’t LikeShort battery lifeCover display nonetheless might do moreLong-term sturdiness unknownNo dust-resistance ranking
Based on my time with the cellphone, I consider Samsung largely bought it proper. The physique, hinge and display are made with supplies that make them stronger and extra sturdy, and the cellphone is rated for water-resistance. A bigger cowl display, a greater important display and improved software program put the Z Flip 3 on par with most different $1,000 telephones. None of this implies the Z Flip 3 is with out its personal quirks or issues. Its battery life is brief, there is no dust-resistance and its long-term sturdiness is unknown.
The display nonetheless has a comfortable crease throughout the center, and it did not hassle me. It’s not distracting. It does not cease me from utilizing the cellphone in any means. When I work together with the center of the display I discover it. however not as a result of it feels weak or like a flaw. I’ve buddies and colleagues who recommend that so long as there is a crease, nobody will ever purchase a folding cellphone. Let me put it this fashion: the iPhone has a big black notch that eats into the show. That bothers me greater than the crease on the Z Flip 3.The Z Flip 3 is Samsung’s most “ready for primetime” foldable but. It appears prepared to sit down in additional folks’s fingers, pockets and luggage. The Z Flip 3 is way from excellent, but it surely’s a stable cellphone when you can address among the trade-offs. If you are able to embrace its “different” vibe, it is completely enjoyable to make use of.The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is on the market for preorder and can launch on Friday Aug. 27. To tempt you extra, Samsung and carriers are providing plenty of trade-in offers that decrease the Z Flip 3’s value.Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 US costs
Phone
Storage
RAM
US value
Galaxy Z Flip 3
128GB
8GB
$1,000
Galaxy Z Flip 3
256GB
8GB
$1,050
Galaxy Z Fold 3
256GB
12GB
$1,800
Galaxy Z Fold 3
512GB
12GB
$1,900
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is Samsung’s greatest foldable cellphone but.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 feels extra uniform, like a daily cellphoneThe physique and hinge are product of a cloth Samsung calls Armor Aluminum, which is strengthened with different metals and is much like utilizing rebar to strengthen concrete for development. That further tensile power makes it really feel extra like a single piece. When I used the unique Flip, and even the Motorola Razr, I used to be all the time conscious of the hinge, the display and the separate elements that made up these telephones. With the Z Flip 3, that feeling is gone. It appears like a daily cellphone that simply occurs to fold in half.The display has a brand new protecting movie that feels clean. It’s nonetheless not like utilizing a cellphone with a glass display, but it surely feels much like a glass display with a plastic protector on it, which technically it’s. The display nonetheless collects extra fingerprints than a detective on Law & Order: SVU, nevertheless, so I discover myself wiping it continuously.
The Z Flip 3 has an attention-grabbing design and is available in 7 colours
See all images
Under these smudges, the display helps a 120Hz adaptive refresh fee, which is beautiful. Indoors the display appears implausible. Outdoors on a shiny sunny day, the display is straightforward to see and is brighter than the unique Z Flip and Z Flip 5G. Overall the principle display is correct on par with different telephones at this value.The Z Flip 3’s cowl display is a step in the fitting courseThe new cowl display is 4 instances larger than the tiny pill-shaped one on the unique Flip. A single faucet of the display reveals the time. A double-tap brings up an animated animal to greet you. It’s an sudden and foolish delight. The animals do nothing however bounce up and down, however they make me completely happy.Swipe to the left to disclose your notifications. It can show as much as 4 traces of textual content at a time, and you’ll scroll by notifications. Swipe as much as change the duvet display brightness or quantity. Swipe down to make use of Samsung Pay. Swipe proper to make use of cowl display widgets for the climate, alarms, a timer, music controls, your day by day step depend and your schedule. It’s such an enchancment. I’m curious to see if Samsung will add different widgets, particularly from fashionable apps, sooner or later.On the left is the unique Z Flip with its tiny cowl display. On the fitting, is the Z Flip 3 which has a canopy display that’s 4 instances bigger.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The new cowl display is a few steps nearer to the superb Quick View show on the Motorola Razr 5G. But it is nonetheless restricted. For instance, I can view a whole notification however I must open the Z Flip 3 to reply to it. You can use Bixby Voice to answer to textual content messages when you do not thoughts coping with Bixby.Overall this can be a step in the fitting course, however I want there have been fundamental reply prompts for texts.The Z Flip 3 captures good images and moviesSamsung did not improve the digital camera {hardware}. It has large and ultrawide cameras on the duvet and a selfie digital camera housed inside a hole-punch in the principle show. These are the equal of the cameras you’d discover on a $700 cellphone, which for most individuals might be greater than fantastic. The Z Flip 3 prices a grand as a result of it folds in half, not due to its cameras. But that distinctive construct makes taking a photograph or recording a video a singular and fantastic expertise. The foldable form and dimension imply you’ll be able to put the Z Flip 3 nearly anyplace to get a really one-of-a-kind shot. I put it on the dashboard of my rental automobile, behind a tiny statue of a mouse on the sidewalk and subsequent to a canine’s water dish to seize a time lapse. The Z Flip 3 is basically its personal tripod. I discovered myself desirous to take extra images and movies simply due to its flexibility.As far as picture high quality, its images look good in shiny lighting. In medium and low-light circumstances, reminiscent of a dimly lit lounge, images look tough. The cellphone makes use of an extended shutter velocity to compensate for much less mild, so your topic can look comfortable due to movement blur in the event that they’re shifting even just a bit.In good lighting, the Z Flip 3 yields good images. It does not harm to have a beautiful view.
Patrick Holland/CNET
It can seize quantity of element and has a good dynamic vary.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Skin tones look good with out an excessive amount of smoothing.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The ultrawide digital camera provides you a dramatic perspective however has much less dynamic vary and makes issues look a bit contrasty.
Patrick Holland/CNET
In lower-light conditions, like underneath an outside eating space within the early night, you’ll be able to see the Z Flip 3 wrestle.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Samsung peppers in new digital camera modes from the Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra like Director’s View which provides you a reside preview from all three cameras and Single Take that captures a collection of images and movies of your topic as decided by AI. You can use the duvet display to show a preview from the cameras on the outer case. This is nice for filming your self or providing your mates an opportunity to see what you are capturing. Interestingly, when you do that when the cellphone is closed, images have a extra sq. facet ratio, but when the cellphone is open, you see the total picture.Night mode on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 delivers some first rate outcomes.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Night mode images look comfortable in comparison with these from the Galaxy S21.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Night mode is spectacular for this digital camera setup. I’d say the outcomes fall firmly between the Galaxy S21 and the Galaxy A52 5G. Videos are okay, however undergo from moire, also called the “screen door effect,” and there’s noticeable picture noise besides in probably the most splendid conditions. If you drop down in decision from 4K to 1080p you’ll be able to make the most of Samsung’s Super Steady Shot, which works like a allure.Take a have a look at some movies I shot with the Z Flip 3 under.
The tiny Z Flip 3 has a tiny battery lifeOne characteristic that wasn’t upgraded was the Z Flip 3’s twin 3,300-mAh batteries. On medium-to-heavy use days, with the display on the 120Hz adaptive refresh fee and the brightness at 80%, I make it about 11 hours. And that is beginning with the battery totally charged. During my 10 days with the Z Flip 3, I averaged 3 hours of screen-on time a day. There was in the future the place I used to be solely related to 5G and the screen-on time was 3 hours and 34 minutes.In comparability to different telephones, this is not nice. But it is one of many trade-offs with proudly owning a small cellphone. The Z Flip 3 helps 15-watt fast-charging in addition to wi-fi and reverse-wireless charging. You must have your individual 15W charger or wi-fi charging pad as a result of the cellphone does not include one. Also, 15W charging is not that quick.There had been a number of instances the place the Z Flip 3 bought noticeably heat. For instance, I recorded a video, uploaded it to Instagram over 5G after which listened to a playlist on Spotify over and the cellphone was heat. Fortunately it by no means bought scorching, however I’m positive its petite dimension means it’s going to generally act as a hand-warmer.The Z Flip 3 get Samsung flagship cellphone specsThe Z Flip 3 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip and 8GB of RAM. It runs Android 11 and Samsung’s OneUI 3. In use, it was peppy and quick. It’s benchmark scores had been on par with the Galaxy S21. See the Z Flip 3’s benchmark check scores under.3DMARK SLINGSHOT UNLIMITED
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
GEEKBENCH V.5.0 SINGLE-CORE
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
GEEKBENCH V.5.0 MULTICORE
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
You can use the Z Flip 3 like a daily cellphone, however when you dive into settings, you’ll be able to customise which apps make the most of Flex Mode, which is when the cellphone is left half-open like a laptop computer. The excellent news is there are extra apps that make the most of this than on the earlier Flips. For instance, if I open Spotify, the principle window for the app is on the highest half and the playback controls on the underside.Some apps solely transfer the app window to the highest with out including any extra performance to the underside half. And different apps, even Samsung’s personal Gallery app have not been totally optimized. When I edit images within the Gallery app, it strikes the photograph to the center of the display which is simply annoying. All of this takes a little bit getting used to. I’d nonetheless wish to see extra apps make the most of Flex Mode. Can you think about a sport the place you play it in Flex Mode with the controls on the underside and the sport on the highest?Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G specs vs. Motorola Razr 5G, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Samsung Galaxy S21
Galaxy Z Flip 3
Motorola Razr (2020)
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
Galaxy S21
Display dimension, decision
Internal: 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED; 2,640×1,080-pixels / External: 1.9-inch AMOLED; 512×260-pixels
Internal: 6.2-inch, foldable pOLED; 2,142x876p pixels (21:9) / External: 2.7-inch glass OLED, 800×600-pixels (4:3)
Internal: 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED; 2,636×1,080-pixels / External: 1.1-inch Super AMOLED; 300×112-pixels
6.2-inch Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x, 2,400×1,080 pixels
Pixel density
425ppi (inner) / 303ppi (exterior)
373ppi (inner display)
425ppi (inner) / 303ppi (exterior)
421 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
Folded: 2.84×3.40×6.74 in Hinge: ~0.66 in (Sagging) Unfolded: 2.84×6.54×0.27 in
Folded: 2.86×3.61×0.63 in, Unfolded: 2.86×6.66×0.31 in
Folded: 2.99×3.44×0.61 ~ 0.68 in / Unfolded: 2.99×6.59×0.27 ~0.28 in
2.80×5.97×0.31 inches
Dimensions (Millimeters)
Folded: 72.2 x 86.4 x 171.1mm Hinge: ~15.9mm (Sagging) Unfolded:72.2 x 166.0 x 6.9mm
Folded: 72.6 x 91.7 x 16mm, Unfolded: 72.6 x 169.2 x 7.9mm
Folded: 87.4 x 73.6 x 15.4-17.3 mm / Unfolded: 167.3 x 73.6 x 6.9-7.2 mm
71.2×151.7×7.9mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
6.46 oz; 183g
6.77 oz; 192g
6.46 oz; 183g
6.03 oz; 171g
Mobile software program
Android 11
Android 10
Android 10
Android 11
Camera
12-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (extremely wide-angle)
48-megapixel (exterior)
12-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (extremely wide-angle)
64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (large), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide)
Front-facing digital camera
10-megapixel
20-megapixel (inside)
10-megapixel
10-megapixel
Video seize
4K (HDR 10+)
4K
4K (HDR 10+)
8K
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+
Snapdragon 888 64-bit octa-core processor 2.8GHz (max 2.4GHz+1.8GHz)
Storage
128GB/ 256GB
256GB
256GB
128GB/256GB
RAM
8GB
8GB
8GB
8GB
Expandable storage
No
No
None
None
Battery
3,300 mAh
2,800 mAh
3,300 mAh
4,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
Side
Back
Side
In-screen
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
No
No
No
No
Special options
5G enabled, foldable show, wi-fi charging, reverse wi-fi charging, 15W quick charging
5G enabled, foldable show, time of flight sensor
5G enabled, Foldable show; wi-fi PowerShare; wi-fi charging; quick charging
IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 30x Space Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging, 120Hz show
Price off-contract (USD)
$1,000 (128GB), $1,050 (256GB)
$1,400
$1,450
$800 (128GB)
Price (GBP)
£949 (128GB), £999 (256GB)
£1,400
£1,229
£769
Price (AUD)
AU$2,499 (128GB), AU$2,649
converts to AU$1,920
Converts to AU$2,067
AU$1,249