Until August 11th, contemplating the purchase of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip foldable would have meant spending well over the $1,000 mark, far more than most consumers are willing to fork out for what was a ‘niche’ handset. But now we have a Snapdragon 888-powered Galaxy Z Flip 3 with a larger secondary display and IPX8 water and dust resistance certification, for just $999 in the US and £949 in the UK. Making it a far more justifiable purchase if you are in the market for a premium smartphone.
Accompanying the SD888 chipset is 8GB of RAM and a choice of 128/256GB of built-in storage, although as you can probably guess by now, it doesn’t support MicroSD cards. A 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X internal display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 2640 x 1080 resolution. The external display has increased in size to 1.9-inches with a bump in resolution to 260 x 512 which combined should make the second panel a useful tool. Both panels are protected by Corning’s Gorilla Class Victus against scratches and there’s also an ‘Armor Aluminum’ frame that Samsung says is its strongest yet.
It may need to be more useful, though, because the Flip 3 sports a rather average-sized 3,300mAh battery along with a wired charging rate of just 15W, which is pretty poor for 2021 when spending just under a thousand dollars. 10W wireless charging is also present along with 4.5W reverse wireless charging, so that’s something at least if hardly mind-blowing.
Still, the thing about the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is that it’s a modern clamshell design that is attempting to bring the foldable smartphone to the mainstream consumer. You’ll find a pair of 12MP rear cameras, one that is the main camera with Dual Pixel AutoFocus and OIS and the other that is an ultra-wide-angle lens with a 123-degree FoV. The 10MP selfie camera sits in a punch-hole on the display.
At 183g, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is exactly the same weight as the original Galaxy Flip, whilst also being slightly slimmer. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 runs Android 11 with Samsung’s One UI skin on top and is already available to order in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender, Gray, White, and Pink directly from Samsung from $999/£949.
Pre-order Here: Samsung US, Samsung UK
