Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G Review: Samsung’s best foldable smartphone

The dawn of the foldable smartphones is here as Samsung has ditched their Galaxy Note series in favor of their new foldable series — the Samsung Galaxy Z series and if you’re looking for the most affordable flagship foldable smartphone in the market then you have to look no further, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is here for you

A very sleek and tough design

One of the things that they’ve improved on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is the design of the smartphone. First, the outer display of the smartphone is bigger and a lot better than before and then there’s the armor aluminum body on the smartphone which feels a lot better and it’s tougher than ever.

First, let’s talk about the hinge of the smartphone. Compared to our first experience with the original Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G’s hinge feels a lot sturdy and I really didn’t have any problems opening or unfolding the smartphone in just one hand which makes the smartphone really useful even in one hand. And of course, you can adjust the display of the smartphone at any angle that you want.

As for the design, the smartphone is really portable and pocketable when I’m using it in one hand with a rounded design that feels good and tough to the hands thanks again to the armor aluminum body of the smartphone. The feel and experience of the hardware of the smartphone is miles better compared to the predecessor.

At the back of the smartphone is where we can see the Gorilla Glass Victus protection all over it. This means that the glass body of the smartphone is tough and when the fold is unfolded, the hinge of the smartphone is hidden. With also got a little bit of protruding glass that houses the cameras and also the outer display of the smartphone. Thankfully, the smartphone’s camera doesn’t have a thick module compared to most smartphones these days so it does look good and feel good when holding it folded.

Of course, we still have here the USB-C port on the smartphone below and it only supports 15W which is a far cry from most smartphones that are now 25W and up. The smartphone also comes with wireless charging and you can wireless charge it even if the smartphone is folded.

The smartphone also comes with IPX8 water resistance which is a first on a foldable smartphone but there’s no word regarding dust resistance on this one. But having an IPX8 water resistance is already a big deal as you won’t have to worry about water damage on the smartphone in case you spilled some drinks on the smartphone or there’s a sudden splurge of rain when you’re using the smartphone outside.

Just like the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G comes with a fingerprint scanner at the top right of the smartphone and on top of it is the volume rocker. Honestly, I didn’t have a single problem with it but I’m not sure if people with smaller hands would appreciate that as the smartphone is too tall with its 22:9 aspect ratio.

Big upgrade on displays

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G comes with two displays, the inner foldable display comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED Infinix Flex Display with 2640×1080 resolution and no, there’s no under display camera here unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G but now have here a 120Hz refresh rate so the smartphone’s animation and transitions are way smoother than ever and of course, it has an effect on games that can support more than 60fps.

The display of the smartphone is vivid as expected and it’s bright and I really don’t have any problems with it. With its aspect ratio of 22:9, the smartphone’s display is narrow so even with smaller hands, you won’t have any problems with typing on the smartphone however, the smartphone’s display might be too tall for some people. But the quality of the smartphone’s flex display is great as the colors are useful and I can use it even under direct sunlight.

As for the outer display or the cover display of the smartphone, it’s way bigger now with a 1.9-inch AMOLED display with 512×260 resolution and of course, there’s the Gorilla Glass Victus protecting this one. It’s way better than before as it can display more content and sometimes, I prefer looking at the cover display of the smartphone instead of my smartwatch as this one’s cute and it can display the notifications that I want.

But of course, it’s not just notifications as the outer display can also display different functions including the control for music, voice recorder, timer, schedule, weather, health, and alarm. In the future, I would hope to see 3^rd party taking advantage of this one as the outer display of the smartphone might be small but it’s definitely usable now.

My main usage for the outer display of the smartphone is using it for selfies. I just double press the power button of the smartphone and I can take photos with its volume rocker. This is a perfect feature for those people who love taking selfies with their friends as you don’t have to open the smartphone anymore and of course, you can take better shots as this one is using the rear cameras of the smartphone instead of the front-facing camera.

Short battery life

One of the things that I already expected on the smartphone is the short battery life. I already expected it because the smartphone comes with a 3300mAh battery. One of the reasons is because of its foldable form factor in where Samsung splits the battery of the smartphone into two and with its slim design, they’re limited with what they can do on this one.

With its 120Hz panel, of course, it would take some juice as this one is smoother than before. I’m a heavy smartphone user and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G was able to last up to 14 hours on me with a screen on time of 4 hours and 11 minutes. Most smartphones would last up to a day in my usage especially in the flagship ones.

Powerful performance and features

Inside the smartphone is a Snapdragon 888 processor along with 8GB RAM. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is finally using a processor that is not a generation older and that’s good news as the smartphone is powerful and I can play any games that I want on the smartphone. We tried different games including Genshin Impact and of course, it was able to play the game at the highest settings but I notice a few frame drops which is probably because of throttling on the CPU.

But thanks to this, the smartphone’s temperatures were good compared to most smartphones with Snapdragon 888. We notice that the smartphone gets warm when playing games but it doesn’t get really hot at demanding times. If you want to know more about the performance, you can check out the benchmarks of the smartphone below:

Thanks to the Snapdragon 888 inside it, we were able to get 5G, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2 but having a good processor must be combined with good software to have a really good experience on the smartphone. Thankfully, the One UI 3.1.1 based on Android 11 did really fine. We got here really smooth transitions and of course, apps load fast as expected and the included apps on the smartphone were useful.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G also comes with flex mode in where supported apps are taking advantage of the foldable display of the smartphone. This lets you open the apps like YouTube, Gallery, and camera take advantage of the foldable display of the Flip3. With this feature in YouTube, you can use half of the display for the video and the other half for the comments and other information. This is perfect if you place the smartphone in a flat surface and you just want to watch videos on the smartphone. Having a tall display means that multi-tasking on this smartphone would be nice as we can open two apps — one in the upper and another one in the lower half.

Not so powerful camera

Samsung didn’t really focus on the camera segment of the smartphone. Just like the previous generation, we got here a dual-lens rear camera with two 12MP shooters. One is a wide-angle for the main camera and the other one is the ultra-wide angle camera. They’ve also used Gorilla Glass DX for the glass of the cameras of the smartphone to capture more light and to avoid reflections so you can have better photos on the smartphone and for the selfies, we got here a 10MP selfie camera that does the job.

First, let’s talk about the rear camera of the smartphone. The main camera can really do its job but the quality isn’t on the level of most flagship smartphones in the market. I’ve noticed that the dynamic range in some of my shots doesn’t have the best colors. The ultrawide angle camera of the smartphone might do the job but it’s definitely not on the level of most flagships smartphones in the market. Check out the shots that we took using the rear smartphone.

Rear cameras:

Selfie camera:

For selfies, I highly suggest using the rear camera instead as the selfie camera of the smartphone isn’t as good as the rear camera but it’s definitely usable for video calls. Overall, the smartphone’s camera might not be the best but it’s definitely workable for most of your needs for selfies and for posting on social media. The cameras of the smartphone might not be on a flagship level of 2021 but it’s definitely good for posting.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is a big improvement over the previous generation ranging from the performance up to the build quality of the smartphone. It’s smarter, better, and tougher than ever but the smartphone fell short on the camera and also the battery. Nonetheless, it’s still stylish but the best part about the smartphone is the price. The starting price of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is now Php52,990 which is a huge drop from the previous generation. This means that the smartphone is changing the game and we are now welcoming foldable smartphones to more markets as the smartphone is even more affordable.

There might be some compromises but it’s definitely hard to find a smartphone like this — a stylish, pocketable, and awesome device that will just cost you Php52,990. So if you’re looking for a stylish smartphone or you really want nostalgia then the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is definitely the one for you.

As for me, I’m loving it despite the shortcomings in the battery and camera as the smartphone is really portable to the hands and it’s very easy to use. With its added and improved features, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is now for everyone and you’ll definitely love its design and new features. For its price, it’s definitely the best foldable smartphone from Samsung to date.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is now available for Php52,990.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB Internal Storage UFS 3.1
• Main display: 6.7-inch  Dynamic AMOLED 2X 2640×1080, 120Hz refresh rate
• Cover Display: 1.9-inch 260×512 Super AMOLED
• Selfie camera: 10MP selfie camera, f2.4
• Dual Rear Camera:
  • 12MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera, f2.2
  • 12MP Wide-angle camera, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f1.8
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• LTE, 5G
• Armor Aluminum body
• 3300mAh battery
  • Wired and Wireless Charging
• Android 11 with One UI
• Phantom Green, Phantom Black, and Phantom Green