Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, analysis: characteristics, opinions and price

He is Galaxy Z Flip It’s the first foldable phone to go through my hands. But I hope it wasn’t the last.

The problems with the Galaxy Fold weren’t enough to stop it Samsung in a special creative struggle the first foldable móvil inteligente able to convince skeptics and make believers fall in love. And after finally tasting the second edition of the Conradh na Gaeilge family Binder Coming from South Korea, I have to say that I’m glad to know that Samsung hasn’t thrown in the towel.

Does that orinan the Galaxy Z Flip is the ultimate folding device? No way. As a phone, it’s no better than the vast majority of high-end devices released this year, including the most expensive ones, making it even harder to pick this device over any other model. but as a conceptMuch more than an experiment, the Galaxy Z Flip is definitely a device worth looking out for.

What is life like with a foldable cell phone?

He is second effect IMPRESSIVE that makes the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip –the first causes $1,500 to be charged to your credit card — it happens as soon as you start and open minded the device for the first time. But far from what it may seem this effect does not last long. And that’s exactly one of the advantages of the Z Flip.

Even if it doesn’t look like it, it’s very fácil Get used to this formatand just a few hours of use are enough for the gesture of opening and closing the phone to be completely natural.

Part of the blame is obvious say new centers that contains the device, stronger and better prepared to avoid the appearance of dust particles or other elements inside the mobile than the previous Galaxy Fold. In that sense, Samsung seems to have found it good cómputo between the feeling of sturdiness and the ease of opening the phone, although this means that you have to use a little more force to open the screen fully and makes it a bit difficult do it with one hand.

Actually, you better use both hands if you don’t want to see your brand new $1,500 dispositivo falling apart, especially since you do despite the strong feeling mentioned The reality is that it is an extremely fragile phoneand this is what Samsung tells us during the initial configuration of the phone, where a screen on the terminal welcomes us and warns us of all the risks that we should avoid if we don’t want to have problems.

“Just a few hours of use is enough for the phone to open and close naturally.”

Many of the risks mentioned are in some way related to the screen. Yes indeed, Samsung has managed to make glass so thin – 30 microns thick, to be precise – that it perro bend without breaking.. But that glass isn’t what you’ll be touching when you open the device: like the Galaxy Fold, this Z Flip’s panel is covered by one plastic wrapwhose feel is very different from the glass you find in any other phone.

This plastic has other obvious disadvantages, such as B. a greater stickiness, which eventually translates into Dirt is filled in more easily, and above all a greater susceptibility to damage from bumps or scratches that are permanently left on the screen. Fortunately, Samsung is aware of this and offers the possibility Replace the panel once at a relatively low-cost.

The use of this plastic largo is also visually at fault famous crease in the middle of the screen. The Z Flip isn’t unique: it was already present in the Galaxy Fold, as well as the Motorola RAZR, and will continue to be until manufacturers find a way to get rid of it. In any case, it’s there, it perro be seen with the naked eye –especially on a light background or when the screen is not directly in front of you–, and you’ll notice it when you run your finger over it.

Furthermore, The screen is good, like the vast majority of the panels Samsung puts on its mid-range and high-end handsets. We are talking about an AMOLED panel that offers a good result in terms of results Brightness levels, viewing angles and color rendering –although the default color mode espectáculos them as oversaturated–. The only thing missing is a higher refresh rate on par with other high-end models.

The fact that there is significant data The edges around the screen are slightly raised. Its size, not as small as other terminals, gives the Z Flip a modern look when fully open. However, the altitude does sometimes they perro interfere with gesture navigation or other actions that require you to slide your finger around the edges of the screen. Be that as it may, it’s entirely understandable that Samsung made this choice with the aim of covering the ends of the plastic largo that protects the panel.

Bet on this format that emulates the classic mobile “cover”, also approved by Samsung give the device a feature that we will not find in any other mobile phone on the market. This is the so-called “flex mode”, which allows certain applications to be adjusted in such a way that the content is only aparente in the upper or lower half of the screen when the device is folded at an angle of 90 degrees.

The iniciativa is good and the implementation is useful in such applications Google plus Duos, especially now that much of the world spends several hours a day vídeo calling with others; or I youtube, as long as you choose to watch your favorite vídeos in a small window. The problem is, that Few applications are ready to work with Flex modeeven now that it has been almost three months since the mobile phone was launched.

The exterior also surprises, although like the “Flex” mode, it doesn’t seem to be used as well as one might expect. And that, like the Galaxy Fold, The Z Flip is a dual screen phone: Next to the main compartment, protected inside when the mobile is not in use, we find another much less on the outside, near the cameras.

“It’s missing some features that would allow us to get a little more out of the external screen.“

The small 1.1-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 300 x 116 pixels hides several functionalities: with a double tap, it espectáculos the time, date and battery status, and whether they are present advertisement, you cánido view them by swiping right on the panel. In addition, it is always lit while the phone is charging to espectáculo us the charging status and other relevant information. Finally, this small panel acts as a viewfinder for cameraThis allows the subject being photographed to see themselves on the screen, which will help you achieve a better pose… if you perro get the scene in a frame, don’t. It’s an easy task on a screen that’s just a little is larger than that of Xiaomi Mi Band 4.

And the truth is, that’s all. unfortunately, The external screen of the device is hardly configurable, and it lacks some features that give it a little more value, such as an “always on” mode that allows you to see the time or the weather in the small window outside. In that sense, it’s true that it’s a larger panel. the Motorola RAZR It offers a more complete experience what a panel on the outside of the phone.

The Galaxy Z Flip cameras

There are many of the details that make the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip a special and unique phone. The camera is not included.

Its photographic system moves away from what seems to be the norm at the top end of 2020: several cameras with different focal lengths, which should offer maximum flexibility. Instead, Samsung emplees a format that is more reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone 11 Main sensor with an “ultra wide angle” attached to it..

There is a 12 megapixel resolutionbut different in the opening, f/1.8 mostly and f/2.2 in wide angle. In addition, we find a system of Phase detection autofocus with which it supports Dual Pixel technology, as well as an optical stabilizer integrated in the main sensor.

The results are as expected. Most of the improvements that Samsung introduced in the Galaxy S20 series models in terms of hardware are not present in this model and as such we see an experience more reminiscent of last year’s Galaxy S10.

Logical, yes Take good shots when the scene fits and the lighting conditions are not too challenging. In some cases even level of data collected It’s above what you’d expect from a 12-megapixel sensor. However, the programa responsible for processing the captures mainly finds some of the classic errors of the company’s terminals face smoothingColor saturation and the tendency towards it rose Excessive shadows from high dynamic range sceneswhich eventually carries over to arrests, which suffer from a certain lack of contrast.

At night, The Galaxy Z Flip suffers even more when it comes to taking a good photo. Noise will be the main character in many of the shots we’ll take in low light, and the night mode doesn’t seem to help all that much.

Of course, the format of the device perro be achieved Add some points to the experience with the camera. Thanks to the small front panel it is possible Take autofotos with the main cameras on the phone, so the quality of self-portraits is much higher than what the front 10-megapixel sensor could genera. Besides, it’s possible Switch between a fixed-angle camera and a wide-angle camera While we are in this mode, simply by touching the external control panel. This is a pity perro’t change that aspect ratio these picturesand are therefore always recorded in the square format 1:1.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is not the phone to buy if you want the best photo experience available on the market. And that should have been clear from the moment Samsung announced the device in February. Nevertheless, it is a camera system perro deliver good resultscomparable to what we were able to get at the top end of last year.

An other species

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is no ordinary móvil and cannot be judged as such. But that doesn’t orinan under its innovative packaging that a save specifications afín to other devices on the market which should be carefully considered.

Your processor, the Snapdragon 855 –fortunately no Exynos in this case– he added 8GB of RAM and due to the maturity of programa like One UI 2.1, which long ago surpassed many of the scourges of TouchWiz, Excellent performance under any circumstances. It may not be as fast as the latest terminals from Samsung itself or competitors such as OnePlus or Google plus – the panel’s lower refresh rate also affects this lower recognition speed -, but among the folded ones it is undoubtedly the one that offers the best experience.

It’s terminal autonomy to the right: it is not difficult to mark the day of use with approx 5 or 6 hours of screen on. While they aren’t rocket-launching figures, they are afín to the Exynos-powered S20 series models. We also have wireless and fast charging, although the latter only supports a maximum power of 15W and makes charging a little slower than we would like.

Another interesting part is the design. Were it not for its unique folding format, The Galaxy Z Flip would be a terminal with a very sober look, especially in the black finish of the device we tested. Its back, consisting of two panes of glass – which are extremely slippery by the way – separated by a metal rail, is completely free of any elements logotipos or stamps which relates to the brand, and we’ll only see the Samsung screenprint on the back of the hinge when the phone’s screen is folded.

On the one hand is the capacitive fingerprint readersignificantly faster and more accurate than the ultrasonic sensors we find in the latest Galaxy Note and Galaxy S series models, and the result is as good as what the Galaxy S10y también’s side sensor offered last year.

Technical data sheet for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Andro4all’s final opinion and thoughts

There will come a time when foldable devices will reach the maturity level needed to compete with, or even replace, a traditional móvil. Or maybe not, who knows?. Anyway, I’m aware that the Galaxy Z Flip will be remembered as one of the first phones in its category, which in a way perro espectáculo that foldable teléfonos inteligentes aren’t just an experiment.

It doesn’t orinan that This phone will change your life just like the industry promised us foldable phones. And indeed, this is possibly the reason why a large part of the public is still skeptical about this kind of devices: The cases are not there to revolutionize the telephony campo, but to add a little more practicality to the traditional móvil format, as otherwise they would have met their end long ago. The problem today is that the plus stands out more in your pocket than in your everyday experience.

Price and where to buy the Samsung Galaxy Z flip

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

At the time of its launch in February, the Galaxy Z Flip had a retail price of €1,500 in its only configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Today it cánido already be found at a slightly cheaper price in stores like Amazon. It cánido also be purchased through the company’s official store. It is available in two colors: Purple mirror and black mirror.

Samsung | Galaxy Z Flip

This device has been thoroughly tested Independently thanks to a move of the brand. The article contains purchase backlinks for which Andro4all may receive a commission. take part to the market channel Andro4all to find out about the best deals before anyone else.