Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Review

Samsung’s highly anticipated vertical foldable phone Galaxy Z Flip 3 is on sale. So, do you really need to buy? First of all, let’s say this: The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 is undoubtedly the best and most compact foldable smartphone on the market right now. While we have seen vertically folding Samsung’s previous model Z Flip and Motorola’s Razr phone on this platform, it is obvious that Z Flip 3 is the best in this field in terms of both performance and innovation. While it shows this both in terms of its refined design, modernized line and performance, the most striking aspect is undoubtedly its different and compactness. These are the features of choice for those who want a new and different phone as well as new. On the other hand, with the Z Flip 3, you can do everything you can do on a traditional smartphone. This means that it can meet the need for a smartphone. In fact, after using the Z Flip 3 for a bit, you will see that when you take your old phone in your hand, you unwittingly try to fold it while closing it, which is proven by experience. I’ve been using the Galaxy S21 Ultra together with the Z Flip 3 for a while, and I can say that I found myself trying to bend the S21 Ultra before I put it in my pocket.

Of course, at the end of the day, price is very important. The Z Flip 3 is not a cheap phone, but it is the cheapest among the new foldable smartphones. You can now buy Z Flip 3 for 12 thousand TL. Of course, this price is not suitable for many people’s budget. However, the prices of smartphones are also increasing. If you go to the market today and try to buy a good and latest model phone, you have to pay a price of around 10 thousand TL. In that sense, would the preference be for the Z Flip 3? You’ll have to answer that, but my personal opinion for now is that there are better options for this price. Of course they are not collapsible. If folding and stylish display appeals to you, then this phone is for you. Now let’s talk about what Z Flip 3 has and what it doesn’t.

How Is The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Design?

You carry the Galaxy Z Flip 3 in your pocket by folding it. This way of carrying brings incredible comfort after giant screen phones. You don’t need to open the screen every time to see the notifications coming to the phone. The second screen on the back is big enough for you to see notifications and even read your messages. By the way, in the video we reviewed, there were some people asking: When a phone call comes in when the Flip is 3 folded, you can still answer the phone without opening the cover, but in this case, the loudspeaker is activated. When you want to take it private, you have to open the cover of the phone.

The phone, which has a wide range of colors such as cream, green, lavender, Phantom Black, gray, white and pink, has 2 cameras next to the back screen. These cameras take 12MP photos; We will talk about these in more detail shortly.

One of the most important points in Flip 3’s design is that it is completely water resistant. Coming as the “world’s first waterproof foldable smartphone” with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 model, Flip 3 has IPX8 certification and can withstand water up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

In addition, one of the durability elements is that it has an Armor aluminum frame. While this is the hardest aluminum frame Samsung has ever produced, the glass surfaces of the phone are also designed in a protected structure with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. In this way, the screen and surrounding surfaces provide extra protection against falls and impacts.

Well, there are those who ask how long the Z Flip 3’s screen folds and how long it will last. According to Samsung’s statement, this phone is durable up to 200 thousand folds. Of course, this will vary depending on your folding frequency. So let’s say that if you fold the phone 100 times a day, we can think that you will not have a problem for about 5 years.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 Display Features

Now let’s take a closer look at the screens of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and first of all, of course, let’s talk about this concave foldable screen. Yes, let’s say right away: When you look carefully, you can still see the fold mark in the middle. However, this trace will probably not be in the next generation, because there are studies on this subject. However, if there is this trace now, I can’t say that you notice it unless you look very carefully. On the other hand, let’s not forget that you can feel this fold trace when you slide your finger on the fold.

This screen, which we can say to be “glassy” but basically flexible plastic, consists of a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel and supports a 120Hz screen refresh rate. In other words, there is an adaptive refresh rate on the screen, which means that the frame rate increases and decreases according to the image on the screen. We have to say that it provides a very fluent use and a beautiful image. Because HDR10 + support is also available on the screen and the screen brightness can reach up to 1200 nits.

While the size of the main screen is 6.7 inches, the screen on the back is 1.9 inches with a resolution of 260×512 pixels. Let’s also say that you can customize this second screen. You can add widgets here. We just said you can see notifications with this second screen, but that’s not the only trick. Here you can add widgets such as backgrounds, weather and music application. It is even possible to take a selfie photo with the rear screen, which I will talk about in the camera step of the review.

Of course, the only joke of this phone is not that it is foldable. Samsung has also made it functional with various modes. You can use the split screen as upper and lower screen on this phone. For example, when you bend the screen while watching YouTube, the screen is shaped accordingly. While watching something on YouTube on the upper screen, you can scroll through other videos on the lower screen or message your friends via WhatsApp. For this, you need to enable the Labs feature, which you can find in Settings. In addition, it is possible to choose which applications will run full screen from the settings. However, as I said before, application optimization is of great importance in such foldable phones. Unfortunately, we also ran into optimization problems with Flip 3. For example, even though we have turned on the necessary setting to run Instagram in full screen, sometimes the full screen may not appear. At this point, updates are a must in order to provide a more stable use.

By the way, speaking of optimization, when we first started using Flip 3, we saw that applications had crashing problems in the first place, and some applications responded late. Fortunately, this issue has been fixed with the latest update. We think Samsung will fix other optimization issues with updates soon.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 Performance

The usage area of ​​the flexible screen is also expanding with the camera, we will talk about it, but first we want to evaluate the technical staff and performance of the phone.

The phone uses Snapdragon 888 5G as the processor. With the Snapdragon 888, one of the most powerful processors at the moment, you can run every application and every function at high speed on this phone. The phone provides a completely trouble-free and fluent experience at the point of use. The RAM capacity is 8 GB, while the storage space is 128 GB. The saddest point is the lack of microSD card support. This requires you to act selectively when switching to Flip 3 if the files you keep on your phone are large. For example, when I tried to switch from S21 Ultra, unfortunately I could not transfer all my files via Samsung Switch. If you cannot give up your files, the 256 GB version of the phone may be better for you.

It is pleasing that the internal storage unit is in UFS 3.1 standard. Thus, the copying process of your files is completed in a short time.

On the graphics side of the phone, there is Adreno 660. Thus, you do not have a problem with the graphics point. It is possible to play games such as PUBG very fluently.

Let’s also share our test results for the performance of the phone. Galaxy Flip 3, which received 1049 points single-core and 3218 points multi-core results in the processor-specific GeekBench test, also collects 613 thousand 28 points from the AnTuTu Benchmark, which is among the highest scores we have examined so far.

The Flip 3’s overall performance is impressive. While surfing the web, watching media or playing games, you do not encounter a single hangup, which of course is something to be expected from a 12 thousand TL phone.

On the phone running Android 11 operating system, Samsung’s OneUI 3.1 version is installed on the interface.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Battery Life

The biggest drawback of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is probably the battery life. A battery with a capacity of 3300 mAh is used in the phone. However, especially if you are going to use the screen as 120Hz, the battery of the phone will not be enough for you for a full day. While the screen stays on for an average of 4 to 5 hours in heavy use, it promises a lifetime of 11-12 hours on a single charge with normal use. For this reason, we think that if you are going to return home late, it will be necessary to carry a powerbank with you.

On the other hand, the charging speed of Flip 3 is 15W. This shows that the phone is not charging very fast. So much so that with a 10-minute charge, you can charge the phone only at 15 percent, and with a half-hour charge, you can charge it around 30 percent. For full-capacity charging, it can take approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.

But one good news: The phone has reverse charging and wireless charging support. Flip 3 supports reverse charging at 4.5W and wireless charging at 10W.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Camera Features

Yes, now let’s move on to Flip 3’s cameras. We’re used to seeing 4-5 cameras on phones now and zooming to the Moon, but the Flip 3 doesn’t have them. The front camera of the phone, which has 2 12 MP cameras at the back, is 10 MP. However, it is nice details that it brings with it some different features with its foldable structure.

First of all, the possibility of making video calls or recording videos via the front camera by folding Flip 3 and placing it on the table is a wonderful comfort. You can also use it to take selfies with your friends or alone. On the other hand, it has auto framing feature. When you bend the phone and leave it on the table, the camera follows you while you’re on the move, and zooms when you’re far away. This has been a very, very useful feature, especially for those who produce content for platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Taking selfies with the rear camera on Flip 3

We loved these capabilities of the phone. So, how are the camera features and photo quality?

The phone has 2 12 MP cameras on the back. One of these cameras is the wide-angle main camera, while the other can take 123-degree wide-angle shots. It is nice that the main camera has OIS support and Dual Pixel phase detection autofocus. But the phone does not have a telephoto camera, which means that the zoom capacity is low. In other words, don’t expect a very good performance when zooming up to 10x with Flip 3.

Of course, artificial intelligence and portrait mode support are available in the cameras. The interface is simple, plain and convenient, as we are already familiar with from other Samsung phones. The photos taken look good too. The same can be said for selfies with the front camera. If the light conditions are not low, you can capture beautiful frames with both the front and rear cameras, and you can now see the photos we took with Flip 3 on the screen. In conclusion, what we can say for camera performance, if you are not very picky about the camera, the camera performance of the Flip 3 will be satisfactory for you.

In the meantime, if we talk about video, you can record 4K video with both the front and rear cameras, but support up to 30 frames is provided with the front camera. On the other hand, let’s not forget that there is a Super Balanced mode for more stable videos on the move.

Buy