Following months of endless leaks, Samsung has finally taken the wraps off the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 — its two latest entries in the foldable smartphone market. It's hard to believe, but it's already been almost two years since the original Galaxy Fold launched in September 2019. That first folding phone was plagued with all sorts of durability concerns, but it marked an important step forward in Samsung's quest to break into foldables. Even with those hardware issues, the Galaxy Fold's groundbreaking hardware still helped it stand out as one of the most important smartphone releases in years.
The months following the Galaxy Fold showed considerable improvement from Samsung in an extremely short amount of time. The Galaxy Z Flip hit the scene in February 2020 with its flip-phone-like design, bringing Samsung's folding tech to a new form factor at a much lower price. Samsung released the Z Flip 5G that August with a few spec improvements, followed by the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in September. The Z Fold 2 was a night and day difference compared to its predecessor. It offered a much more usable cover display, huge spec upgrades, and a design with substantial durability improvements. The $1,999 starting price didn't do anything to help make folding phones more accessible, but from a hardware standpoint, the Z Fold 2 was a near masterpiece.
Now that about a year has passed since the Z Fold 2 and Z Flip 5G debuted, Samsung has unveiled their successors. The specs and design tweaks are impressive, but the star of the show this year is price. The Z Fold 3 now starts at $1,799 in the U.S. — mimicking the price cut Samsung gave the Z Fold 2 a few months ago. The Z Flip 3 is even more impressive, coming in at just $999 (a healthy reduction from the Z Flip 5G's $1449 starting price). That finally gives Samsung a folding phone under the $1000 threshold, making the niche that much more approachable for everyday people. And even at those lower prices, Samsung didn't skimp on the specs one bit.
Galaxy Z Fold 3 & Z Flip 3 Design, Specs, And Features
When it comes to the design of both phones, these are subtle evolutions of their predecessors. In the case of the Z Fold 3, it keeps a lot of what worked from the Z Fold 2 while making a bunch of smaller improvements. The 6.2-inch cover display is the same size and aspect ratio as the Z Fold 2, but it's now slightly sharper at 2268 x 832 and has a much faster 120Hz refresh rate. The inner display also has the same 7.6-inch size, but folks will notice that there's no longer a hole punch for the selfie camera. That's because it's now hidden underneath the display, allowing Samsung to achieve a screen completely free of notches or cutouts without losing any functionality. It also has a 2208 x 1768 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and new Eco display technology that makes it 29-percent brighter while simultaneously using less power. There's another big upgrade for the Z Fold 3's inner display, and it's the fact that it supports the S Pen. Samsung offers two specially-designed S Pen models for the Z Fold 3, both of which have a retractable 'Pro tip' to prevent any damage to the screen while still delivering a familiar writing/drawing experience.
For the Galaxy Z Flip 3, the big design change is seen with the cover screen. The 1.9-inch AMOLED panel is four times larger than the one on previous Z Flip models, allowing users to see more of their notifications and messages, use a handful of pre-made widgets, and even use Samsung Pay. It's still not quite as large as the Motorola RAZR's cover display, but it's a huge step forward compared to the practically unusable cover screen Samsung previously offered. The 6.7-inch main display still has a physical cutout for the selfie camera, but the 120Hz refresh rate brings it up-to-par with other $1000 flagships.
As for all of the other specs, it's a typical affair of 2021 flagship goodies. The Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 both have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, 5G support, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, and an IPX8 water-resistance rating. The Z Fold 3 gets a trio of 12MP rear cameras, 12GB of RAM, 256 or 512GB of storage, a 4,400 mAh battery capacity, and 25W wired charging with 10W wireless charging. The Z Flip 3, by comparison, has two 12MP rear cameras, 8GB of RAM, 128 or 256GB of storage, a 3,300 mAh battery capacity, and 15W wired charging with the same 10W wireless charging speed. Regarding durability, both phones feature an 'Armor Aluminum' frame, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, and a new protective film that promises 80 percent better durability than past folding phones. Pre-orders are happening August 11 thru August 26, with Samsung offering multiple bonuses for early adopters (including credits up to $200 and a discounted rate for Samsung Care+).
Source: Samsung