Design and build

Samsung used a foldable screen technology to fit a large display into a small form factor. The clamshell design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is sleek and shiny. It brings that two-one flavor because of the secondary screen. There are a variety of color options to choose from. These range from Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, Cream, White, Pink, Gray, Thom Browne Edition, Bespoke Edition, Wooyoungmi Edition, to Dream White. That is a long list is it not?

One thing that Samsung has emphasized is that they’ve taken steps to make the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G much more durable. The back is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. And while the inner screen is covered by plastic, there’s a new protective film that is more scratch-resistant. The hinge mechanism has also been reinforced. The frame itself also uses a material called armor aluminum. Another new addition is IPX8 water-resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins). Meaning that there’s no protection against dust, but the Z Flip 3 can be submerged underwater.

For audio Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, 5G brings an upgrade in the form of stereo speakers. There’s one at the bottom and the other doubles as the earpiece. They are loud which nice quality. Waking up and unlocking the Z Flip 3 can be done with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It is built into the power button.

Foldable display

Starting with its main display, just like 2020’s flip model it is a tall 6.7 inch foldable AMOLED with a 1080p resolution. But this time around you get a fast 120 Hertz refresh rate which makes for much smoother swiping and scrolling. This refresh rate is adaptive. It will dial down to lower refresh rates depending on the content situation. This is an attempt to save energy. This foldable phone has a standard punch-hole cutout for the selfie and not an under-the-display one. And of course, you do get a crease in the middle of the display where it folds. You will only notice it when looking at an angle. Still the quality of the screen is really nice. You get HDR 10 Plus support and a much brighter panel.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G runs on a flagship Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) chipset. There’s no split with Exynos chips here. It is Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) for every market and that should always be the case, to be honest. This is one of the most powerful chipsets you can get on a phone.

Platform

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G’s interface is Samsung’s One UI on top of Android 11, along with a couple of extra exclusives to take advantage of the flip mechanism. With the phone unfolded, the home screen and functions are pretty much exactly the same as Samsung’s other phones. The exclusive features appear when the screen is partially folded. For example, you can set the phone on a desk or table to watch media content on the top while the media controls appear on the bottom half. But probably the most useful way Samsung has enabled these features is in the camera app.

Cameras

Onto the cameras of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G, which instead of being revamped are the same as on last 2020’s model. It features a 12 MP, f/1.8, 27mm (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS main camera, and a 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide), 1.12µm. Photos are very good in quality. They have vivid colors, high contrast, and plenty of detail for this resolution. The photos from the ultrawide camera are also decent.

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G can record videos with this main camera and up to 4K@30/60fps with plenty of detail, spot-on colors, and a wide dynamic range. Its ultra-wide can shoot 4k at up to 30 FPS. Electronic stabilization works in 4k and it does a great job for both the main camera and the ultra-wide. As for the 10 MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide), 1.22µm selfie, you can either take a standard selfie using the 10MP camera within the main display. Or if the phone is folded, you can use the rear cameras to take selfies. Using the cover display as a viewfinder. These rear camera selfies come out in a square, 2992 x 2992 pixels.

Battery

Powering the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G smartphone is a Li-Po 3,300 mAh, non-removable battery. Nothing huge, but the same capacity as last its predecessor’s. Unfortunately, the battery performance isn’t as good on this new model. But this is understandable given this restricting form factor together with a high refresh rate screen and power-hungry chipset. Z Flip 3 doesn’t ship with a charger in the box just like Samsung’s other flagships. The phone only supports up to 15W charging though. So you get 0 to 40% charging in half an hour. There’s also support for wireless charging.