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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 Review

Charles TYK

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago, I unboxed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, which is the successor of last year’s Galaxy Z Flip. This time around, this could be a flip phone that most people will consider, not just because the price is lower now, but because there is more. We’ll find out in the full review.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 Specs

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 is pretty similar to its predecessor in terms of form factor, but it looks a lot better. It now has a larger 1.9-inch Super AMOLED cover screen, which we will talk more about it later. My review unit is the Phantom Black variant, which is the only variant that comes with matte back finishing. Duly note that all variants of the Z Flip3 have an outer Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

The phone now features an Armor Aluminum frame to protect the Hideaway Hinge. Overall, it feels quite similar to its predecessor, you can flip the screen at any angle and it’ll stay there, but it’s a little bit hard to flip open the phone with one hand.

Unlike its predecessor, the frame now has a matte finish instead of the glossy one, which feels and looks better if you are the kind of person that can’t stand fingerprints. The volume rocker and power button are still located on the right side. You might need to get used to it as they are positioned quite high up.

Flipping open the phone, you’ll see the 6.7-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display with a hole-punch selfie camera. It has a thick plastic bezel to protect the flexible screen, which will collect scratches and scars after using the phone for a long time. The earpiece speaker has a slightly different design and it also doubles up as a part of the stereo speakers setup!

Cover Screen

Let’s talk about the 1.9-inch Super AMOLED cover screen now, which has a 260 x 512 resolution. With a larger cover screen, now you can do more things on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3. For starters, the cover screen will show the time just like a smartwatch, you can change it to different clock styles and even customize each of them.

Swiping down the cover screen will let you change the brightness and the audio profile (sound on, vibrate, and mute), while swiping up the cover screen will let you access Samsung Pay, so you can pay instantly with your Galaxy phone.

Just like the Galaxy Watch, you’ll get to see all notifications when you swipe right and all the widgets when you swipe left. And when you are playing music from apps like Spotify, it’ll show you the media control, the volume rocker functions will also invert. Kudos to Samsung for such attention to detail effort!

And lastly, double-pressing the power button will show you the camera viewfinder so that you can capture selfies with either the main or ultra-wide camera. Swipe up or down in the viewfinder to switch between the main and ultra-wide cameras, while swiping left or right allows you to switch between photo and video modes.

The volume keys are the camera shutter and record buttons, or you can just show your palm and it’ll start the countdown to capture or start recording. Duly note that the photos and videos are all in square formats when you use the cover screen to capture/record.

Display

Next up is the main screen! The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 sports a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display. It now comes with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, making the phone feels a lot smoother when scrolling. The screen quality is pretty good as expected, though sometimes the crease spoils the overall viewing experience a little bit.

The screen is made of Samsung Ultra Thin Glass together with the addition of a panel layer and protective film. It is now 80% more durable than before and really feels like glass. After using it for more than a couple of weeks, no scratches and marks on the screen, which is a huge leap from its predecessor.

Performance

Powering the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor with 8GB RAM and either 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. Finally, you are getting the latest high-end chipset in this flip phone! The phone performs pretty well just like other flagship phones, everything is just fast and smooth without any hiccups. Gaming performance is better than the Exynos 2100 chipset in the S21 Ultra, but it gets hotter. My review unit is the 128GB variant, which might not be enough for me since it doesn’t have expandable storage. If you take lots of photos, store many files, and use many apps, might as well add another RM200 and go for the 256GB variant.

The stereo speakers made the overall audio experience better, but it is still not the best when compared to other flagships. You can’t expect too much on a compact phone like this. Not to forget that it also comes with an IPX8 rating for water resistance, which could be another reason why the speakers aren’t as loud as other flagship phones.

Software

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 runs on Samsung One UI 3.1 on top of Android 11. The overall user experience is pretty similar and Samsung’s software has matured over the years.

It still has the Flex Mode feature, which automatically splits into two 4-inch screens when the device is free-standing, so you can easily view images, contents, or videos on the top half of the display, and control them on the bottom half. Samsung has further improved this feature by adding a Flex Mode Panel, in which you can select certain apps to have a quick panel/controls at the bottom half of the screen when the screen is folded.

Edge Panel has made its return in the Z Flip3, which lets you quickly access your favorite applications, features, and contacts from Edge panels. You can even drag the apps to open an app at the top and another one at the bottom, giving you a multitasking experience.

Since the phone can be flipped open at any angle, you don’t need a tripod to take photos and record videos. Just make sure you put the phone on a flat surface and it can become a “tripod” on its own. One feature missing is Samsung DeX, which could be crucial for some users.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 packs a dual camera on the back — 12MP F2.2 ultra-wide + 12MP F1.8 with OIS. The phone has a 10MP front-facing camera for taking selfies. Yup, it seems that Samsung didn’t change anything from last year’s Z Flip, but the selfie camera of the Z Flip3 now doesn’t have autofocus.

Ultra-Wide

12MP Main

Ultra-Wide Night Mode

12MP Main Night Mode

Image quality generally is pretty much the same as last year’s Z Flip, not the best in class but good enough for your social media usage. To be honest, it’s a little bit disappointing that Samsung didn’t upgrade the cameras for this year’s Z Flip3, it is quite capable of taking nice photos but I was expecting more. Also, the camera struggles a little bit to focus on close-up objects, might need to use Pro mode to do it. Click here to view all the camera samples.

Battery Life

Just like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 packs a 3,300mAh battery with 15W fast charging. The phone can get through the day if you are not a heavy user. Based on my usage, I was able to get slightly more than 3 hours of screen-on-time, that’s not good and last year’s Z Flip has longer battery life than it. However, the Z Flip3 now has a faster Snapdragon 888 chip and 120Hz refresh rate, which will consume more battery power.

Just when other phone manufacturers pump in 65W or even 120W fast charging solutions, Samsung still offers a 15W charging solution, which took around 1 hour and 15 minutes to charge the Z Flip3 full. If you often charge your phone overnight, then this actually won’t bother you, and it helps to prolong your battery lifespan as well!

Final Words

Retailing at RM3,999 (128GB) and RM4,199 (256GB), the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 is a lot cheaper than last year’s Z Flip initial launch price (RM5,888), making it reachable to even more people. No, I’m not saying this just because of the lower price, but it is now more durable than before with a flexible screen that feels like glass and doesn’t leave scratches and marks, as well as featuring an IPX8 rating for water resistance. Who would have thought this feature was already available in a flip phone?

There are more improvements such as the larger cover screen that is now handier to use, impressive high refresh rate screen, and using the up-to-date high-end chipset, but I bet most consumers don’t mind even if Samsung didn’t include this time because it’s more than just a phone, but good guy Samsung did it anyway! After so many years, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 could be many people’s first flip phone.

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