O Galaxy Z Flip 3, from Samsung, as well as the Motorola Razr, bets on the nostalgia of the flip phones of decades ago to try to attract the consumer to the still incipient market of folding cell phones.
unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 3, also from Samsung, which opens and closes horizontally to turn a tablet, here the screen opens and closes vertically, to go from a normal cell phone to a more compact one.
But ignoring the folding screen, the Z Flip 3 is essentially a powerful mid-range phone, with a high-end processor and other slightly more basic features. Does the convenience of being able to double a cell phone justify the launch price of R$ 6,999?
Check out our full review below and find out what we think.
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If it weren’t for the fold mark in the middle, it would be perfect
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It could be more versatile, with more features or with a telephoto lens
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Too heavy to be used with one hand
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It lasts very little for the price
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Strengths
- Top notch performance ensures you won’t see it crash or choke
- Foldable design offers more versatility and practicality than any cell phone
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Negative points
- Cameras could be more versatile
- Battery lasts very little for suggested price
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Verdict
Aside from the foldable screen, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is essentially a premium mid-range phone. It’s fast, yes, but the battery is average and the cameras aren’t top-of-the-line as competitors in the same price range. You can find very similar devices costing much less, but none has the versatility and practicality of this folding screen. If a collapsible is what you want, this is the most useful format possible.
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By name and format, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 targets the nostalgia that nice feeling of closing the cell phone to end a conversation, or opening the screen with a flick of the wrist, typical of old-time flip phones. But, in practice, the experience of using it couldn’t be more different.
Weighing in at 183 grams, and with the typical measurements of a typical modern cell phone when opened, the Z Flip 3 is too big and heavy to be used with one hand. It’s not as cool as it sounds.
Opening and closing his screen is always a clumsy task: you always need both hands to be steady. I’ve never been able to open it with a simple gesture—in fact, I nearly dropped it on the floor several times like that.
Although it’s not as cool as a feature phone Once upon a time, the Flip 3’s shape is far more versatile and useful in everyday life than any other folding phone — more than any other modern cell phone, period.
In addition to being able to make it smaller to fit in any pants pocket, from the shortest to the tightest, this design allows me to “sit down” the phone on any surface, which is useful for using when a Video call or to see a video of YouTube.
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Sitting, Flip 3 is useful even for taking selfies without using your hands — no more embarrassing yourself posing for your friends to take that conceptual photo for the Instagram. This, yes, is much cooler than it sounds.
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Open, the Z Flip 3 has a big and beautiful screen. It’s 6.6 inches (16.7 centimeters diagonally) with satisfactory resolution for the size (2640 x 1080 pixels), vibrant colors and deep contrasts thanks to the panel Amoled and smooth animations thanks to the 120 Hz refresh rate.
But, from the factory, it still comes with a very visible crease in the middle. Looking straight ahead, this fold mark goes almost unnoticed. But whenever my finger passes over there, when I’m scrolling through the feed of a social network, for example, I have the strange feeling that I’m touching a screen that is more fragile than usual, maybe even broken. This is not the case, but it is uncomfortable.
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On the outside, the Z Flip 3 also has an external 1.8 inch (4.5 cm) screen that lets you see the time, the status of the drums, Notifications of social networks and even control some apps, like the Spotify, without having to unfold the phone. It’s a hand on the wheel.
You can even use this small external screen to take a selfie with the main cameras, which are much better than the front camera that sticks to the internal screen. We’ll talk more about cameras below, but you can already see that selfies aren’t an issue for this device.
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Since we are talking about cameras, so let’s get to them: there are two main ones, one wide-angle and the other ultra-wide. Both have a large field of view, but the second has an even wider angle. Each comes with 12 MP. The front camera has 10 MP.
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The quality of the photos and videos taken with this trio of cameras is nice, but not impressive. Colors are vibrant, saturation is intense but not overdone, and night and portrait modes are competent enough. They’re just not as good as other phones in the same price range.
By the way, for that same R$7,000 you can find devices with at least three rear cameras, including a telephoto lens for optical zoom that is needed here. Even Samsung sells triple camera phones cheaper than the Z Flip 3.
Photos taken with the Galaxy Z Flip 3
1 / 6
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Photo taken with the main camera
Lucas Carvalho/Tilt – –
2 / 6
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Photo taken with the main camera
Lucas Carvalho/Tilt – –
3 / 6
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Photo taken with the ultra-wide lens
Lucas Carvalho/Tilt – –
4 / 6
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Photo taken with night mode turned on
Lucas Carvalho/Tilt – –
5 / 6
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Selfie with the main camera
Lucas Carvalho/Tilt – –
6 / 6
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Selfie with the front camera
Lucas Carvalho/Tilt – – —
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In terms of performance, the Z Flip 3 is doing very well. The Snapdragon 888 processor is a top of the line that, in 2021, has no rivals in the Android world. The 8 GB RAM memory is enough to use as many apps as you want at the same time.
No matter the task, I haven’t seen Flip 3 crash or choke once. Even in heavy games like “Free Fire” he did well.
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A drums, in turn, let me down. It can even handle a full day of moderate use, but you’ll need to recharge the next morning or overnight. On days of more intensive use, I needed to recharge earlier.
In our standard test, which consists of leaving a video running in a loop until the battery goes from 100% to 0%, the model lasted 8 hours and 33 minutes. Much less than 10 and a half hours of a Galaxy S21, for example —which isn’t even Samsung’s best battery.
And just like the Z Fold 3 and most of the expensive cell phones released in Brazil lately, this one does not come with charger in the box. Good thing I already had such an accessory compatible with him at home.
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The Z Flip 3 isn’t cheap, I know. But it’s not that far-fetched if you consider that we’re not talking about an ordinary cell phone. It costs nearly half the price of the Z Fold 3 and has a much more useful form factor than Samsung’s other day-to-day folding.
All right, aside from the foldable screen, this one is essentially a premium mid-range phone. It’s fast, yes, but the battery is average and the cameras aren’t top-of-the-line as competitors in the same price range.
You can find very similar devices costing much less than that, even from Samsung. But come here: how many intermediate cell phones can open and close like this one?
I don’t think anyone should buy the Galaxy Z Flip 3. But if this folding cell phone fad one day catches on, and prices start to drop, I’d say this format has a lot more potential than any other.
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