14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung was, is, and will probably continue to be the world’s number one phone maker, and this happens for a very good reason.
The company is aggressively investing in several fronts at the same time, so in addition to the regular form factors pioneered by the likes of the Galaxy S models, the South Koreans are also betting big on foldables.
And most recently, Samsung took the wraps off its two most recent models in this category: the Galaxy Fold3 and the Galaxy Flip3.
Let’s start with the obvious: while the Galaxy Z Fold3 is the flagship device in this foldable push, the Flip is the more affordable yet more compact alternative, obviously available at a lower price too.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a foldable that doesn’t deserve our attention. It does, and in some regards, it’s actually a much better choice than the Fold.
One of the things I really loved about the Flip is just how it feels in hand when folded. You can’t imagine just how compact this device can become, with the 4.2-inch display making it extremely easy to carry around, both in the pocket or in a pocket. In many regards, the Flip reminds me of old-school clamshell phones, only that it comes with an impressive screen estate and new-gen hardware under the hood.
The more time you spend with the Flip and look at it when folded, the more you love it, and honestly, I think this is one of the most beautiful smartphones currently on the market. It sports a plastic front, a glass back with Gorilla Glass Victus, and an aluminum frame, so overall, the Flip feels really premium and solid.
The cover display measures 1.9 inches and sports a resolution of 260x512 pixels, which is just enough to perfectly serve its purpose.
The moment you unfold it, everything changes. And it’s not always happening in a good way.
Let’s start with what I didn’t like. The Flip still feels a little bit too tall, and this is something that makes perfect sense because you wouldn’t otherwise be able to obtain the adorable look when foldable without going for a form factor that reminds you of a TV remote. With a total size that measures 6.7 inches, the Dynamic AMOLED 2X display impresses in several other regards, including the refresh rate.
Just like the Fold3, the Flip3 comes with 120Hz support, so once again, everything feels incredibly smooth, including here videos and games. The 1,200 nits brightness means you shouldn’t struggle to look at the screen in direct sunlight, and the 84.7 percent screen-to-body ratio shows the Flip was designed from the very beginning to be a modern device.
So overall, the Flip3 is a beautiful device to look at and hold in hand, especially when folded. But the magic continues under the hood as well.
Just like its more expensive sibling, the phone is equipped with a Snapdragon 888 processor paired with an Adreno 660 chip. This time, the maximum amount of RAM is 8GB, and you can order the phone with either 128GB or 256GB of storage.
On paper, everything sounds pretty good for a new-gen phone, and the same thing is valid in the real life as well. The Flip3 feels snappy, responsive, and ready for anything you throw at it, be they games or videos. The tall display when unfolded, however, makes it mandatory to watch videos in landscape because of obvious reasons.
Other features that are worth mentioning here include Bluetooth 5.1 support, USB Type-C 3.1, the stereo speakers tuned by AKG (something that Samsung’s high-end phones have been offering for several years already), 15W fast charging, and 10W fast wireless charging.
Let’s talk a little bit about the camera.
The Flip3 comes with something that may disappoint some people, at least at first. The device is equipped with a dual-camera support sporting two 12-megapixel sensors (wide and ultrawide). But despite the lack of a telephoto sensor, the Flip3 takes impressive photos anyway, as the sensors are nearly identical with the ones on the Fold (except for the wide sensor, which sports slight differences).
And the photos that you take with the Flip are exactly what you’d expect from a Samsung phone. Impressive level detail, vivid colors, a little bit of oversaturation, and solid performance in low-light, these are pretty much the best words to describe the photos.
The 3,300 mAh battery, however, is a bit of a letdown, especially if you’re a hardcore user. The large screen estate means the phone requires an important amount of power to run everything you throw at it without a charger, and at the end of the day, this means you may have to look for a wall socket more often than you’d expect.
If you’re a casual user that doesn’t spend an insane amount of time on their phones, the Flip could theoretically get you through the day, but other than that, carrying a power bank in your backpack might be a good idea.
Without a doubt, the 15W fast charging does help, but I’d still prefer a larger battery instead of having to carry a charger with me all the time.
So if you compare the Flip3 and the Fold 3, whare you losing and what are you winning?
First and foremost, the Flip is so much easier to carry around at a weight of just 183 grams versus 271 grams on the Fold. The Flip, on the other hand, comes with a dual-camera setup and lacks S Pen compatibility, while also being available only with 8GB of RAM.
The top storage option on the Flip is 256GB, whereas the Fold can also be ordered with 512GB.
THE BOTTOM LINE
So at the end of the day, if you’re in the market looking for a foldable device and can’t decide which one to get, the answer is much simpler than you’d be tempted to believe.
In some regards, the Flip feels like a lite version of the Fold, even though it’s pretty clear they have different purposes. For some people, the Galaxy Z Fold3 is the business version of Samsung’s foldable lineup, whereas the Galaxy Z Flip3 feels like a consumer-oriented product.
And at the end of the day, this seems to make sense. Carrying the Flip around and using it for daily activities that don’t require a super-large screen or S Pen input just feels more natural. For some reason, I think browsing Instagram and spending time on reddit makes much more sense on a Flip than on a Fold, simply because the latter has this business side that gives it a more sober attitude.
No matter which one you choose, the foldable experience provided by Samsung is just as impressive as it gets. Simply folding and unfolding any of these devices makes you feel like you’re holding a part of the future in your hand, and it once again proves that Samsung is truly an innovator in the phone market.
Whether or not the Flip is going to sell stronger than the Fold is something that remains to be seen, but for Samsung, the two make for a very solid lineup aimed at pretty much anyone looking to purchase a foldable device these days.
