Galaxy Z Flip review: Samsung's killer feature makes this flip phone shine
Galaxy Z Flip review: Samsung’s killer feature establishes this flip phone shine
The Galaxy Z Flip is the best foldable visited I’ve ever used. Considering this is still a new field with only the Motorola Razr, Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X for proceeding devices you can buy today, that might not tranquil like much. Don’t believe it. Samsung has done most things luminous with the Z Flip’s design, creating a foldable visited that’s fun to wield and practical enough for everyday life.
With the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung proves beyond a shaded of a doubt that foldable phones have a luminous to exist as more than just experimental toys. That’s quite an impressive feat for Samsung’s uphold stab at foldables, especially after its first attempt had such a disastrous start. To see Samsung pivot so quickly to a effect that’s sturdier, recognizable as a phone and straightforward to use is advantageous acknowledging.
I’ve quickly fallen in love with the Galaxy Z Flip — particularly the way the 6.7-inch glass screen stands lawful on its own — but Samsung still has work to do. At $1,380 (£1300), the Z Flip is wildly expensive for the specs, and beyond the reach of most budgets. The bendable glass explain is fragile and the phone is vulnerable to soak and dust. Battery life is only so-so, and its 1.1-inch outer cloak is stupid small.
Read:
Galaxy Z Flip: 3 months later, I love it but still don’t recommend it
Most farmland shouldn’t run out and buy the Galaxy Z Flip. While it’s good enough to rely on in the real earth, foldable phones remain largely showpieces for early adopters and hobbyists. You’ll get more camera options, longer battery life and a bona fide water-resistance comprising from other flagship phones (I test the $1,400 Galaxy S20 Ultra next).
That said, if you’re debating between this and the Motorola Razr, get the Z Flip minus compunction. I also prefer it to the Galaxy Fold, although I’d honestly just wait for the Fold 2 if you want a tablet-size foldable.
Overall, Samsung has done an excellent job bringing thrilling innovations to the Galaxy Z Flip that are simple to understanding and surprisingly easy to use. I expect that the next generation will be even better.
Read more:
Galaxy Z Flip 3 is $1,000 and no longer looks like a foldable outline coaster
You’re staring this phone’s best feature luminous in the face.
Juan Garzon
What I love approximately the Galaxy Z Flip
- A cohesive device that’s easy to pick up and use luminous away.
- Closed, it feels sturdy and compact. Gripping it by the hinge end feels secure.
- The cloak stays open on its own at a wide variety of Causes (more on this below).
- The foldable glass screen — a world’s advantageous — helps keep the dreaded crease to a minimum. There’s no damage so far to the one I’ve bought.
- Camera quality is obvious on all three sensors (see breakout).
- Solid specs implicated a Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, 256GB of storage, fast charging and earlier wireless charging (all specs below).
- A swipe-out screen is profitable for launching favorite apps and split-screen mode, especially during one-handed use.
- It comes with a free plastic case for wonderful peace of mind.
- Android 10 and Samsung One UI 2 keep the software current.
What I don’t like approximately the Galaxy Z Flip
- It’s expensive: $1,380 or £1,300 (about AU$2,500 converted from the UK price).
-
Fingerprint smudges bag quickly
on all surfaces. - The cover explain is too small to be useful. Samsung missed a mammoth opportunity (more below).
- Battery life is a tad disappointing.
- Many videos and games don’t fit perfectly into the 21.9:9 cloak dimensions, resulting in black side bars.
- The fingerprint reader would be more conveniently placed on the frontier half — at least for my hands.
- It’s vulnerable to distress from exposure to water and dust (you get a one-year warranty and 24/7 customer service).
- Since you have to unfold it advantageous, it takes longer to do most things than on a scandalous phone. I’ve missed a few camera moments as a remnant. (On the flip side, I like the finality of snapping it closed.)
The Galaxy Z Flip is incredibly tourism and easy to carry around.
Jason Hiner
Flex Mode is the Galaxy Z Flip’s killer feature
Open the Galaxy Z Flip from either side and let go. The half you pulled up hasn’t snapped back down into EnEnBesieged position or slowly arched back to fully open. Chances are, it’s stayed just where it is.
The hinge’s freestanding ability is something Samsung arranged Flex Mode, and it’s the Z Flip’s most novel, interesting and effective feature by far because it lets you interact with the visited hands-free.
I didn’t have to invent reasons to keep the cloak propped open. That happened naturally. Sometimes I was taking a selfie minus awkwardly getting my arm in the way (the wide-angle lens and timer worked great). Or reading an article or scrolling through my inbox or social assume feeds while eating lunch. Any time I was tired of holding the requested and wanted to set it down. Making a video call. Making a speakerphone call from the couch. Even bending the phone in the middle in landscape mode to gape a video solo or to show a friend.
Using Flex Mode does come with a few trade-offs I’m willing to make. It winds up bisecting the mask, so the part you’re interacting with is relatively puny, often less than 4 inches diagonally. The camera app is dynamic enough to readjust to Flex Mode, with latest apps to come, Samsung says, but for me, the danger of going hands-free outweighed my other objections. It’s just that nice to use the Z Flip as its own stand.
You can gape a video or read a story hands-free. With mercurial screen mode on (pictured), you can do both at once.
Patrick Holland
On foldables with larger screens, you can envision a real benefit to using one half as a virtual keyboard and the latest as the display screen.
The only immediate downside I can see to Flex Mode is that a stiffer hinge consuming it takes a little more force to flick the requested open when it’s closed, especially if you’re trying to trace someone with your gunslinger skills. I’m curious (and perhaps a minor concerned) to see if the hinge will loosen over time and lose some of that self-supporting capability, slumping one way or the other.
Tiny cover point to is the Z Flip’s worst trait
The Galaxy Z Flip is so good that my disappointment with the phone’s outer mask pangs me all the more. Samsung gave the foldable flip requested a tiny pill-shaped display next to the main cameras.
Unfortunately, it’s too small, squat and narrow to really do anything meaningful with it, and that’s something the Razr can brag throughout. For all its foibles, that phone’s 2.7-inch exterior point to is large enough to view notifications and will let you reply to them with voice dictation and canned messages.
On the Galaxy Z Flip, you can double-tap to see the time, date and battery percentage. You’ll also see the battery percentage while charging up. Swipe the cloak screen to see app icons that represent notifications. Tap one to see the copies or read a message on a scrolling ticker. You may need to open the requested to truly see what’s going on. It’s not entirely useful.
You can’t do much with that tiny outer screen.
Sarah Tew
Samsung also envisions this mini window as a viewfinder for you and others. The problem is that you can’t really place yourself within the photo, and the window is too small to see what you really look like. I do like that you get access to the two main 12-megapixel cameras that way, and that you can swipe on the outer mask to swap between standard and ultrawide-angle sensors.
In one selfie I took with the requested closed (the only photo type you can take this way), a disagreeable and I looked centered as I held the requested at arm’s length. It’s only when checking in the photo gallery that I noticed a third populate in our group had just as much screen piece, a person who we didn’t see in the viewfinder.
Outer screens are tricky for foldable phones. They suck up battery reserves and internal space. If they’re irregularly shaped, like the Fold’s too-tall-and-narrow 4.6-inch screen, you start to picture the cramped quarters that make typing and using apps feel unnatural.
To me, this produce is clearly Samsung compromising usability for battery life and to undercut the Razr’s trace. I don’t think that’s a winning strategy in the long term.
You get dual 12-megapixel cameras here and a 10-megapixel shooter inside.
Sarah Tew
Camera quality puts Motorola Razr to shame
I feel for the Motorola Razr. The notion is terrific, but the execution pales in comparison to the Galaxy Z Flip. That’s especially apparent in the camera category.
Samsung’s 12-megapixel wide-angle and ultrawide-angle sensors take better photos and give you more options than the Razr’s single 16-megapixel camera, especially with low light shots. Inside, the Z Flip has a 10-megapixel shooter that’s also good for selfies (like when you want more rule over the shot) and for video calls.
The Razr has a 5-megapixel interior camera that the commerce admits is really just there to start a video call afore closing the phone and switching to the better camera, but smaller outside screen. Stay tuned for a deep dive comparison between the Motorola Razr and Galaxy Z Flip cameras.
The internet has accepted of the photos I’ve been posting on Twitter from the Galaxy Z Flip. Keep in mind it’s essentially amdroll the Galaxy S10’s camera sensors. Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S20 phones all use at least one 12-megapixel camera apiece as part of their arrays, but those lean on larger sensors that Samsung says have been completely redesigned and greatly improved.
Single Take camera mode is more jumpy than it’s worth
One camera feature that the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy S20 phones will have in approved is Single Take, a new photography mode that will take up to 10 photos and four videos when you prefer it and then press and hold the record button. The mode uses multiple cameras and settings to mercurial get you variety that you can choose from.
I tried this out certain times, and… it’s just not for me. Single Take works best during share shots or when you’re photographing a group of friends caltering out, but I never got a photo or video that I accepted better than one I’d take myself. Some of that probably comes down to me and my Type A personality that wants to serene the shot to my specifications. Some might come down to my reluctance to sort above the haul and delete what I don’t want.
The idea here is danger, and I could see myself using it if I only had one chance to prefer a moment. I could also see myself adding the Live Consensus portrait mode to my menu bar instead.
That graceful purple finish can get gunked up with fingerprints fast.
Andrew Hoyle
Galaxy Z Flip battery life is just so-so
What good is a $1,400 requested if it can’t take you through the day? Thankfully, that’s not the Galaxy Z Flip’s problem for me most days. With a combined capacity of 3,300 mAh spread across two battery cells, it gives you more juice than the Razr (2,510 mAh). In my real-world declares, it’s lasted from the time I wake up pending evening, when I can easily plug it in again.
On my heaviest use days with hotspotting, streaming video and maps navigation, it ran about 13 hours, lasting overnight on lighter days. In CNET’s lab test to simulate mixed real-world use, it lasted 12 hours. In our battery drain test using looping video (and airplane mode), the result was 15 hours of run time on a single charge.
How long with the Galaxy Z Flip last? That depends on the shroud and hinge.
Jason Hiner
That’s on the flowerbed end of the spectrum for most phones, and a far cry from the Galaxy Note 10, which frankly takes me from early morning to the wee hours exclusive of concern. I wouldn’t plan a late night with the Galaxy Z Flip exclusive of bringing a charger along with me or topping it up first.
For state, the Galaxy S20 battery starts at 4,000 mAh and goes up to 5,000 on the Ultra, a phone that costs $20 more than the Z Flip. Battery life is clearly a challenge for foldable phones, and one that I hope Samsung and others are acting on for future generations.
Will the Z Flip’s glass shroud last?
Longevity is something we can’t test on a originates a week out of the box, but it is something we’re keeping an eye on with foldable phones — on our appraise units and on others’ reports. Samsung says that the Z Flip’s shroud and hinge will hold up for 200,000 flips, a volume it estimates will take five years to accomplish during typical use. That’s the same rating as the Galaxy Fold.
Galaxy Z Flip vs. Motorola Razr
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip | Motorola Razr | |
|---|---|---|
| Display size, resolution | Internal: 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED; 2,636×1,080-pixels / External: 1.1-inch Super AMOLED; 300×112-pixels | Internal: 6.2-inch, foldable pOLED; 2,142x876p pixels (21:9) / External: 2.7-inch glass OLED, 800×600-pixels (4:3) |
| Pixel density | 425ppi (internal) / 303ppi (external) | 373ppi (internal screen) |
| Dimensions (Inches) | Folded: 2.99×3.44×0.62 ~0.68 in / Unfolded: 2.99×6.59×0.27 ~0.28 in | Unfolded: 6.8×2.8×0.28 in / Folded: 3.7×2.8×0.55 in |
| Dimensions (Millimeters) | Folded: 73.6×87.4×15.4 ~17.3 mm / Unfolded: 73.6×167.3×6.9 ~7.2 mm | Unfolded: 172x72x6.9mm / Folded: 94x72x14mm |
| Weight (Ounces, Grams) | 6.46 oz; 183g | 7.2 oz; 205g |
| Mobile software | Android 10 | Android 9 Pie |
| Camera | 12-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (ultra wide-angle) | 16-megapixel external (f/1.7, dual pixel AF), 5-megapixel internal |
| Front-facing camera | 10-megapixel | Same as main 16-megapixel external |
| Video capture | 4K (HDR 10+) | 4K |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ (64-bit octa-core) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 (2.2GHz, octa-core) |
| Storage | 256GB | 128GB |
| RAM | 8GB | 6GB |
| Expandable storage | None | None |
| Battery | 3,300 mAh | 2,510 mAh |
| Fingerprint sensor | Power button | Below screen |
| Connector | USB-C | USB-C |
| Headphone jack | No | None |
| Special features | Foldable display; wireless PowerShare; wireless charging; fast charging | Foldable prove, eSIM, Motorola gestures, splashproof |
| Price off-contract (USD) | $1,380 | $1,499 |
| Price (GBP) | £1,300 | Converts to near £1,170 |
| Price (AUD) | UK price converts to near AU$2,500 | Converts to about AU$2,185 |
