Review | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip review: a very compact phone when folded, but the 1.1 inch screen is just too small
- The second folding phone from Samsung is more refined, with a better hinge, and improved navigation and animations
- However, when folded, the 1.1-inch screen isn’t very functional, and the cameras are from last year
If Samsung’s first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, was a bleeding edge luxury device meant for the most hard core of tech enthusiasts, then the South Korean tech giant’s second foldable offering, the Galaxy Z Flip, is a more refined product meant for the masses.
Hardware and design
The Z Flip has a form factor that anyone who used mobile phones in the late 1990s will find familiar: it’s a clamshell handset that flips open vertically.
Back then, the flip revealed a tiny screen on the top half and a physical dial pad on the bottom; with this handset, it reveals a single 6.7-inch bendable OLED screen. Colours and viewing angles on this OLED panel are excellent, but maximum brightness is around 600 nits, which is dimmer than the screens on Samsung’s normal phones. Outdoor visibility will be a slight issue if it’s a sunny day with no shade.
The second improvement is the hinge: it folds a bit tighter, with less of a visible gap – although there still is a gap. The hinge is also firmer, allowing the top half of the Z Flip to stay still at various angles instead of just open or closed. This allows a user to set the Z Flip up like a mini laptop, with the bottom half placed on a desk and the top half propped up at a 90-degree angle.
I have two gripes with the hardware, however. The first is the screen’s crease, which runs horizontally this time compared to the vertical crease on the Galaxy Fold. Because I often run my fingers up and down the screen, I find that I’m always feeling the crease, which is a weird sensation.
The second complaint is that the Z Flip can really only be used when unfolded. When folded, there’s only a tiny 1.1 inch screen, and it’s really only good for showing time and basic notifications that can’t be expanded. If I get a WhatsApp message while the phone is closed, all I see is a notification icon telling me I have a message. To read it, I have to flip open the device.
Software and features
The brains and the cameras of the Z Flip are also slightly outdated: it runs on last autumn’s Snapdragon 855+, and the main camera system is just a dual-lens 12-megapixel shooter that’s similar to the set-up on the year-old S10. Still, the chip is more than powerful enough.
The Z Flip runs on Android 10 with a new version of Samsung’s One UI. Now in version two, One UI brings improved gesture navigation, speedier animations and some appealing cosmetic changes.
Because the hinge will hold the top half of the screen up like a laptop, Samsung’s built some useful software tricks, such as using the top half of the screen to display video calls or camera viewfinder, while the bottom half shows controls.
Performance and battery life
The Z Flip doesn’t feel any different in my hand to using another recent Samsung phone. That’s to say performance is fine all around, but some annoyances remain, like Samsung’s constant nags to use Bixby or sign up for a Samsung account, or the fact that the camera’s shutter speed slows down to a crawl at night so that any moving human becomes a blur.
What’s new here is when I’m not actively using the phone. For example, the Z Flip is so compact when folded that it sits deeper into my pocket, which is a good thing as it feels more secure. Modern day smartphones are so big and tall that they constantly poke out of my pockets, resulting in a couple of drops when I sit down.
This problem is compounded for women, whose clothes have even shallower pockets. Several women in tech I’ve spoken expressed excitement for the Z Flip simply because it’ll fit into their pockets for once.
Battery life is below average by 2020 flagship standards, as can be expected from the 3,300 mAh battery, which is small for a 6.7-inch screen phone. Throughout the review period I’d start my day at 10am and I’d need to find a charger or portable battery pack by 8pm. But the phone supports fast charging and wireless charging.
Conclusion
With what should be a more durable hinge and screen, a more compact form factor and a lower price point (US$1,400), the Galaxy Z Flip should win over many of the mainstream smartphone fans that scoffed at the Galaxy Fold.
The Z Flip isn’t for me, however. If I’m going to deal with the increased fragility of a foldable phone, I want it to give me more screen. The way I see it, the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X – which are essentially tablets that fold into a regular phone – make more sense than the Z Flip, a regular phone that folds into something tiny and petite.
I do appreciate the extra space in my pockets though, just not enough as I appreciate a large screen anywhere I go.
Dimensions: 73.6mm x 87.4mm x 15.4mm (folded); 73.6mm x 167.3mm x 7.2mm (unfolded)
Weight: 183g
Display: 6.7-inch 2,636 x 1,080 pixel UTG (ultra thin glass) OLED panel
Battery: 3,300 mAh
OS version reviewed: Android 10 with One UI 2.0
Processor: Snapdragon 855+
Cameras: 12-megapixel main camera; 12-megapixel wide-angle lens; 10-megapixel front-facing camera
Memory: 256GB ROM; 8GB RAM
Colours: black, purple
Price: US$1,400 (US retail price); HK$11,998 (Hong Kong retail price)
