Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G First Impressions
The successor to Samsung's compact foldable has finally arrived with a larger cover screen, water resistance, and more!
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| In Phantom Green |
We take a look a closer look at the recently announced compact foldable from Samsung. In our first impressions of the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, we mentioned that the Korean firm says that it asked its consumers what they would like to be improved on foldables. The top two answers were affordability and durability. Samsung hopes to address these two concerns and more in the new Z Fold3 5G and Z Flip3 5G!
To recap, the new Z Flip3 5G features an outer cover display and an inner folding display. The folding inner display is a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity Flex Display with 2640 x 1080 resolution, 425 ppi, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 1200 nits peak brightness while the outer cover screen is a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED display with 260 x 512 resolution and a peak brightness of 935 nits. Samsung has significantly upgraded the cover screen to a bigger and brighter panel.
Inside the new smartphone is the 5nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 octa-core processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB of UFS 3.1, and a 3,300mAh battery with 15W fast charging, 10W Fast wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.
In the Philippines, the Z Flip3 5G starts at PHP 52,990 for the 8GB/128GB version and PHP 56,990 for the 256GB variant.
Let's dive in!
Build Quality/Design
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| Outer screen |
As expected from a Samsung foldable, the smartphone is made of metal and glass. Both the cover screen and the inner folding screen is made of glass with Gorilla Glass Victus protection. On top of the Infinity Flex display glass panel is the pre-installed screen protector.
The toughest Flip yet?
Both the hinge and the frame are made of metal with a matte texture. On the hinge is the debossed Samsung logo with a polished finish.
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| Bottom panel |
Samsung says that the company used "Armor Aluminum" which is the strongest material the company has used in a smartphone. Aside from better materials, Samsung has managed to make the Z Flip3 5G water-resistant enough to get an IPX8 certification.
In terms of design, The Z Flip3 5G is unique and elegant. Samsung has managed to refine the look and feel of the already premium-looking Z Flip.
Crease is not as noticeable as the original Z Flip!
On the display where the panel folds is a crease. It isn't as noticeable as the original Z Flip. What is surprising is that when applying pressure on the display, it doesn't feel as delicate as the original foldables from Samsung.
Samsung has also changed the rear camera module from two small cameras to two massive cameras beside the larger cover screen.
Even with the matte-textured frame the Z Flip3 5G still feels slippery. We recommend wearing a case when possible.
The pre-installed screen protector and the outer glass panels are also fingerprint magnets. We recommend bringing a microfibre cloth for those who don't like seeing their fingerprint smudges.
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| Cover screen |
The aforementioned 1.9-inch cover screen is much larger than the original and offers a peak brightness of 935 nits. The size increase makes notifications, widgets and easier to read even when under direct sunlight.
It supports the Always On display tech and can be double-tapped to wake.
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| Inner folding display |
While the inner main folding display is made up of a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex display with a 2640 x 1080 resolution, 425 ppi, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 1200 nits peak brightness. It has a punch hole on top that houses the 10MP selfie camera.
The bezels surrounding the larger inner screen are slim for a foldable and are evenly distributed across all sides.
The main panel produces images that are bright, sharp, detailed, and color accurate.
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| Top, bottom, and hinge |
On top, you will see a microphone and multiple antenna lines while at the bottom are more antenna lines, the speaker grill, a microphone port, and a USB-C port. The hinge has the same matte texture as the frame.
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| Left and right side |
On the left side are more antenna lines and the SIM tray while on the right side are the volume rocker and the power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner.
The volume rocker is made of metal with a nice solid feel and good feeling feedback when pressed.
The phone measures 72.2 x 86.4 x 17.1 mm when folded and measures 72.2 x 166.0 x 6.9 mm when unfolded. The Z Flip3 5G weighs 183 grams. It is surprisingly lightweight.
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| Rear main cameras |
The rear camera module is made up of two cameras. The first is a 12MP f/1.8 main camera with OIS, Dual Pixel AF, 10x digital zoom, and Super Clear glass with Corning Gorilla Glass with DX while the second camera is a 12MP f/2.2 123-degree Ultra-wide-angel camera with LED flash.
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| Front-facing camera |
On the punch hole of the cover screen is the 10MP f/2.4 front-facing camera.
The stock camera app has several modes that include: Photo, Video, Pro, Pro Video, Night, Director's view, Panorama, Food, Slow Motion, Super Slow-Mo, Hyperlapse, Portrait Video, and AR Doodle.
The Pro mode allows for control of ISO (50-3200), shutter speed (1/12000-30 seconds), EV (+-2), Focus, and White Balance. Users can also use Pro Mode with the main camera and the ultra-wide camera.
Aside from the controls Pro Mode allows for Photo, Pro Video also has added features like Histogram, AF mode (Center, Multi), and Metering (Single, Matrx, Center weighted).
Samsung also takes advantage of the outer screen and lets users use the outer screen as a viewfinder and the rea cameras as a selfie camera.
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| AnTuTu |
In our initial AnTuTu benchmark, the Z Flip3 5G managed to score more than 687,038. It is worth noting that the phone increased temperatures by 3.2 degrees and lost 5 percent of battery while running the test.
As of the moment
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| GIZGUIDEPH website |
Samsung's new Z Flip3 5G starts at PHP 52,990 for the 8GB/128GB version. This is a massive difference from the original Z Flip's PHP 79,990 SRP.
Samsung made foldable more affordable while making them faster, tougher, and water-resistant.
Our major concerns with foldables were durability and software support. Samsung has remedied the hardware side by using stronger metals, adding Gorilla Glass protection, and adding IPX8 water resistance.
Out of the box, the Z Flip3 5G is already one of the best foldables in the market today while being relatively affordable at a price point where most flagships are priced at.
On paper, we are concerned with the battery capacity and we still want to test if the phone is in fact more durable. So stay tuned for our upcoming review.
Stay tuned for our full review to come soon!
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