Smartphone production is relentless and sometimes it’s hard to know if it’s the right time and the right phone to upgrade yours. Should you flip or fold? The new Galaxy Z Fold3 & Z Flip 3 offer a improved build and smartphone experience in a foldable and clamshell design.
Smartphones today have just about reached their threshold for size, they’re nearly uncomfortable to hold for the avg person at just under 7 inches. Which is why the Fold3 exists, apparently fills the gap between smartphone and tablet sizes.
Differences in Specs
Both the Z Fold3 & Z Flip3 come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 CPU but the similarities mostly split here. The Fold3 comes with 12GB of RAM 256/512GB storage option, 4400 mAh battery with 25Watt SuperFast charging support. The Flip3 offers 8GB of RAM and a 128/256GB storage option and a 3300 mAh battery with 15Watt SuperFast charging support. Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery.
The Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is the flagship of the two and offers a 6.2″ outer screen and a large 7.6 inch display when unfolded vs the Flip3 with a 1.9″ exterior display and a 6.7 inch screen when opened. It’s pretty obvious when you hold them that the Fold3 is the robust flagship with all the bells and whistles where the Flip3 is all about lightweight convenience.
Weight: Z Fold3 271g & the Z Flip3 183g. The Z Fold 3 is considerably heavier than it’s sister device. The Galaxy S1 Ultra 5G by comparison weighs in at 227g or 8.01 oz which can definitely tire your arms slightly if you typically hold the phone up to read on it.
There aren’t any wall chargers included anymore unfortunately; no headphone jack so no headphones either. All you get in the box is the SIM card tool, USB-C charging cable & the device itself. Standard 15W SuperFast Charge wall adapter will run you about $20. If you want to eek out a tiny bit more charge speed you can opt to purchase the 25W SuperFast Charge wall adapter plug. 15W or 25W, the 25W is much faster right? Unfortunately it’s only marginally faster at this time. Samsung supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2, the latest being QuickCharge 5.
Folding Design & Flexible Displays
Is it oldschool or newschool? This is a reimagined design and not the same clamshell from back in the day. The Z Fold3 has some weight to it which makes it feel like something well made. It feels polished and appears to generally work well as far as we could tell during our window of playtime.
Is there a seam? You can see the imprint of the crease to a degree and may slightly notice a subtle bump the middle, but it’s done very well visually. Only in certain color backgrounds in some cases does the background color make the center fold a teenee more prominent. That said, in many cases many may forget it’s even there.
Displays
The Z Fold3 sports a 6.2″ outer display at 2268×832 at 387 ppi, what they call a Cover Screen. The full screen or main screen features a 7.6″ QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity Flex Display, aspect ratio 22.5:18. Both the Cover screen and the main screens support a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
The lighter Z Flip3’s cover screen has a small window 1.9″ Super AMOLED display 260×512 at 302 ppi resolution. Inside the main screen features a 6.7″ FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity Flex Display 2640 X 1080 425 ppi resolution.
For comparison the S21 Ultra 5G comes with a 6.8″ Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display.
Hinges & Folding Action
The folding action feels nice. The hinges have been improved so that the action is smooth and the device feels relatively sturdy. The display is flexible so it’s nice to be able to see everything graphically represented when folding or unfolding the phones.
Lastly, although the hinge has been improved to look and work better, it will still not fold completely flat; meaning there is a slight gap that increases as you get closer to the spine or hinge of the phone when closed. Is it horrible, no. Is it noticeable? Not enormously but it was for us. The gap was probably remained to avoid any creasing issues with the flexible display when in the closed position.
Should You flip or fold? Galaxy Z Fold3 5G or Galaxy Z Flip3 5G?
The answer as you may have projected already is all subjective. Are you the productive type that would benefit from the extra real estate and power? or Are you the active type that might prefer the Z Flip3 for portability? The Z Fold3 & Flip3 devices feature cool flexible displays and outer cover screens with redesigned hinges that polish up the devices nicely… Still, they aren’t for us.
The Z Fold3 feels great in hand and feels like a well-made product, very cool device. Is it $2,000 cool? We’re not completely convinced, but if you’re the type that needs to have the latest greatest if you have the money to burn.
The ZFlip3 is also polished up a bit with an improved hinge but it’s so light that subconsciously it doesn’t make our minds scream with excitement.
Verizon users have a little more time as they will not sunset the Verizon 3G network till December of 2022. If you are an ATT user, you’ll be cut off in February of 2022. So if you are being forced off your current smartphone device due to the 5G service migration and you aren’t interested in either the Z Fold3 or Z Flip3 you may consider the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G.
Neither the Z Fold3, Z Flip3 or S21 Ultra come with a headphone jack or micro SD card worth taking note of. If the lack of a headphone jack and micro SD card are of concern, the leftover Galaxy S20 Ultra’s come with both.
That’s a Wrap
Samsung’s’ Galaxy Z Fold3 5G & Galaxy Z Flip3 5G are geared for vastly different usage styles. The more robust Z Fold3 offers more… More size, more RAM, more Battery & more price; nearly double or more depending on your options. The Z Fold 3 would also appear to appeal to Samsung Note users.
The lighter more agile Z Flip3 offers a High definition experience in a lightweight vessel for great portability and convenience.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 512 GB Unlocked MSRP $1899.99
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 256 GB Unlocked MSRP $1049.99
www.samsung.com
