Samsung has unveiled their Fold 3 and Flip 3 foldables

The late 2021 Samsung event for their foldable smartphones was on 11th August. They unveiled a few new products, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G, the Galaxy Watch 4 series, and Galaxy Buds 2. The main attractions of this event are the foldable phones. The Fold 3 5G and the Flip 3 5G have neat features to allure new customers. Samsung is playing it safe with their devices where others are catching up to them.

new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G and Z Flip 3 5G

Other mainstream competitions for Samsung in the Foldable smartphone market are Xiaomi and Huawei. When they are releasing their first generation of foldable, Samsung is working on their third this year. It doesn’t mean the Samsung foldables are bad. Steep competition is good for the consumers because we will need less money to buy a foldable smartphone with good specifications. 

Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G seems to be a minor iteration from the Fold 2. Still, it packs a good punch in the spec department. Almost every configuration of this phone is to give you a fast and fluent experience. It is also a multi-tasking champ, thanks to its 7.6 inches inner display.

Design

I always start with the design of a device. You are paying a premium for the best offering from Samsung so, it must look the part. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G has a stunning design to please the eyes. It has an aluminum frame that is the most durable ever put in a smartphone.

Stunning glass and metal design of the Fold 3 5G

The backside where cameras are situated gets tempered glass protection. You get a smaller camera housing which is a good design tweak. You will get a reduced camera bump that seems less intrusive. And the overall thickness is also reduced.

Display

People praise Samsung phones for their displays, especially the flagship ones. Every year Samsung comes out with a new smartphone that claims the best display title from Display Mate. This year, the Fold 3 5G will continue this trend with its displays. The inner unit has a size of 7.6 inches diagonally when the outer one is 6.2 inches. Both have a 120Hz variable refresh rate for a smooth experience. For the best picture quality, Samsung is providing a P3 color gamut with a 5,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio and HDR10+.

Both displays have 120 Hz refresh rate (@BenGeskin)

The protection for these display modules is top-notch. Corning Gorilla Glass Victus is protecting the outer unit. Although Samsung used their Ultra-Thin-Glass technology for inner display, they have improved the durability by 80%.

Processor and Storage

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset. It has a 5nm architecture to improve efficiency. But it can compete with the best offerings from other chipset manufacturers. Snapdragon 888 has enough power to back the high refresh displays of the Fold 3.

Samsung is offering 12Gb of ram with every Fold 3. For ROM, you will get two options, 256GB and 512GB. This phone also comes with One UI 3.5. It is less buggy and more optimized for every Samsung smartphone.

Camera

The Fold 3 cameras have the same setup as Fold 2, a triple 12MP configuration. The regular lens has an f/1.8 aperture, the telephoto camera has an f/2.4 aperture, and the wide-angle has an f/2.2 aperture. It is the same setup as the Galaxy Z Fold 2 main cameras.

Triple 12MP main camera with 16MP and 10MP selfie camera

The inner camera is new for this year. It has the under-display technology to hide the module under the display. If you need to take a selfie or video call, the camera will reappear. Unfortunately, the resolution of this camera is very unpleasant. It has a 16MP f/1.8 sensor with pixel binning. That means the camera produces 4MP photos and videos. The outer selfie camera has a 10MP sensor. If you want the best performance from the Z Fold 3 cameras, it will fail to deliver.

Others

The Z Fold 3 might receive a mixed reaction from its customers. If an average consumer praises the design and the screens, an enthusiast will bash the camera setup of this phone. The battery setup of this device is also unpleasant as it has a 4400mAh unit with a decent 25W fast charge.

But it can shake the foldable smartphone market as there are other high-end features included in the package. Hi-Fi audio from AKG, stereo speakers, 5G, side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Samsung DeX, and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) support is there to provide you the most premium experience. IPX8 water resistance is impressive for a foldable.

Accessories

Samsung has unveiled the two new S pens to use on your Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G. They are called S pen Fold edition S pen pro edition. Both have a spring mechanism to put less pressure on the inner display of Fold 3 5G. The Pro edition S pen has built-in memory so, you can switch between different devices. It has a built-in battery which charges via USB-C. It might be a hint to the end of the Galaxy Note lineup. I am sure Note fans would not be disappointed as they always wanted a big-screen phone. Moreover, Samsung Galaxy S and the Note lineup do not differ in specs except the stylus.

S Pen and S Pen Pro

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G pricing will disappoint you. Because Fold 3 is priced higher than Fold 2. It starts from $1800, about $180 more than Fold 2. There is three distinctive color variant, Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Green.

Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is also an evolution of their Z Flip and Z Flip 5G. It is far more good-looking now because Samsung has given the Flip 3 5G the best makeover. It has a gorgeous two-toned design on the outer top side. More than that, Samsung has managed to make this flip phone water-resistant.

Official Samsung Photo of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G

Body

Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G gets an aluminum frame and glass top and bottom on the outside. Samsung Ultra-Thin glass protects the inside screen. It is just a fancy name for plastic but, Samsung still managed to increase the durability of this shield by 30%. So, the folding screen of this device is less likely to scratch from dust particles.

Beautiful Glass-Aluminum body of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G (CNET)

On the outside, this phone gets a two-toned design finish in these colors Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, Cream, White, Pink, and Gray. 

Displays

The Folding display of Z Flip 3 is the same size as Z Flip and Z Flip 5G. But the refresh rate is increased to 120hz. And thanks to reduced body size, the screen-to-body ratio is increased to 84.7%. The front display of Z Flip and Z Flip 5G was tiny and unimpressive. Samsung has quadrupled the display size. Now, you get the best view of your essentials without unfolding your phone.

120Hz foldable display in flex mode (techrader)

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G will show the best quality pictures like the Fold 3 5G. AMOLED technology, 1200 nits (peak) brightness, and HDR10+ ensure the most vibrant pictures and movies to please your eyes.

Power

The processor of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is Snapdragon 888 soc. RAM configuration is different from the Fold 3 5G as Flip 3 5G only offers 8GB instead of 12GB. Still, the Flip 3 has fewer pixels (1080p+) to push than the Fold 3. For internal storage, you get 128GB and 256GB options.

This phone does not impress in the battery department. It only has a 3300mAh capacity which is not sufficient enough for a power user. It might offer about 5-hour screen on time. You cannot buy the Flip 3 5G and think of gaming. 5G networks will also drain the battery very fast. 

So, think about the battery backup before purchasing this phone. No worries though, 15W fast charging is there to juice up the battery within 90 minutes. This phone also has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and Hi-Fi audio setup by AKG.

Conclusions

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is a compact device with impressive features. It provides a bold statement where the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G is a mini workstation. You can run three different apps with the S pen Fold and the S pen Pro. But you must pay the price first for it. 

What do you think about the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 5G? Can Samsung change the smartphone industry with their new foldable devices? Or do we need to wait a few years more to switch to the foldable?