Samsung Galaxy Z Flip First Impressions

Samsung has just unveiled its latest folding phone, and this comes with a completely new visual design, which has a mechanism pretty similar to the infamous Motorola Razr Fold. It features the new Ultra-Thin Glass has a better hinge mechanism and more, and also It is coming pretty soon to India.

While there are some other folding phones too that are pretty soon launching in India, we are quite excited to check the Galaxy Z Flip Out, and here are our First Impressions of the Galaxy Z Flip.

Announced exactly a year after the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Z Flip feels like a step taken in the right direction. We are sure that Samsung may have rectified the errors which were present on the first-gen Galaxy Fold.

The Z Flip comes in a folding clamshell design. When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Flip has a vertical and tall display measuring in about 6.7-inches and has a punch-hole at the center similar to the newly launched Galaxy S20 Series of phones.

Specifications:

Display: 6.7-inch FULL HD+ (2636 x 1080 pixels) 21.5:9 Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Flex display
SoC: Snapdragon 855 Plus 7nm Mobile Platform
Storage: 8GB RAM with 256GB storage
Camera: 12MP f/1.8 + 12MP (ultra-wide) f/2.2 | 10MP f/2.4 (Selfie Camera)
SIM: Nano-SIM + eSIM
Battery: 3300mAh battery with 15w fast charging

First Impressions

On the top when folded, you have a small 1.1-inch display that can be used to show time, icons of the notifications and can be used as a camera viewfinder for the rear cameras, but we don’t understand who will use a 1.1-inch screen as a view-finder for selfie cameras.

Situated at the right of the secondary display are the dual rear cameras that can also be used to capture selfies. The cameras are a 12MP primary + a 12MP Ultra Wide with a 123-degree field of view. We tried shooting some pictures with it, and the results came out to be pretty good, but the sad thing here is, the Galaxy Z Flip misses out the Telephoto lens.

Flipping it open, gives us access to the screen and the punch-hole housing, that houses the 10MP Selfie Camera, which is decent enough for selfies and video calls. The screen is pretty bright and punchy, so no complaints on this department.

Moving on to the button placements, On the right side, we have the volume rockers and the power button which also houses the side-mounted fingerprint scanner. Samsung has also added an option for face unlock too. On to the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a single speaker, and space for the SIM tray which accepts just a single nano-SIM.

As far as internal specifications are concerned, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip under the hood is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855+ SoC, coupled with up to 8GBs of RAM and 256GB of internal storage which cannot be expanded.

Some might feel that the SD855+ chipset isn’t the very latest that Qualcomm has to offer in 2020, but considering Samsung has been working on this for some time now, the Snapdragon 865 was not to be expected.

galaxy z flip first impressions reveal — Source: Samsung Unpacked Event

Battery

The Galaxy Z Flip combines a not-so-exciting 3,300mAh battery which is divided into two separate parts to survive the folding mechanism, this provides the juice comes with support for 15W fast wired charging. The Galaxy Z Flip also supports wireless charging, along with Wireless PowerShare, a fancy name for reverse wireless charging.

Software

On to the software, The Galaxy Z Flip comes with Android 10 Q based on Samsung’s OneUI 2.0. With the Galaxy Fold, Samsung has added some new features on the software side to take advantage of the folding mechanism. For example, The Flex mode splits the display into two almost 4-inch screens when the device is placed in an L shape pattern on an almost flat surface, With this mode, users can play content on the top screen and run another app at the bottom or control the first half from the other half and more.

As the phone folds vertically and the hinge mechanism is pretty solid and durable, users don’t need a tripod to place and hold the phone to capture stable videos and timelapse, the phone itself is quite stable when placed in an L shape pattern.

galaxy z flip reveal event — Source: Samsung Unpacked Event

Galaxy Z Flip vs Moto Razr 2020

Ultimately, the Galaxy Z Flip has two things that may make people don’t opt for it when compared to the Razr. First, it packs in a decent-sized or you may call it small size batteries that provide couple up to provide a capacity of 3,300mah of in total.

This new foldable smartphone from Samsung offers a pretty premium feeling in the hand and catches fingerprints quite easily. When we have talked about premium, let us talk about the pricing as well. The Galaxy Z Flip’s has been priced at $1,380 (Rs. 99,000 approx) which is impressive $100 (Rs. 7000 approx) less expensive than the pre-existing Motorola Razr Fold.

At last, In a vertically folding nutshell, the Galaxy Z Flip is an exciting piece of tech that makes in a place and solid addition in Samsung’s existing portfolio with the Galaxy Fold and joins the elite groups of devices in terms of pricing similar to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. We are pretty sure that it is going to take brands a pretty good amount of time to bring out a proper general consumer-friendly foldable device. Despite that, We can’t wait to take this device out for a spin.

India Launch Price and Availability

The India pricing and availability for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is not yet known as Samsung India has still not revealed any information regarding this. But we expect the device to be made available sometime in March and will be priced at around Rs. 1,10,000. Stay tuned for more information regarding the India pricing and launch.