Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, complete analysis with opinion

If there are mobile phones that attract attention today, those are the folding ones, regardless of their folding system, since they all arouse curiosity. We have tested for several weeks the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, the latest folding model of the South Korean brand and that is why today we bring you its review

We know that we practically never start talking about the price of a terminal in our reviews, but in this case it seems important to us to contextualize certain opinions that will be given later in the development of the test.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is around 1,500 euros, so everything we count must be seen from the perspective of this price, since otherwise many of the reflections that we are going to do could not be understood.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Technical Sheet

These are the technical specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip in detail:

Main Screen: 6.7-inch folding AMOLED, 2,636 x 1,080 pixel resolution, HDR10+ and a density of 425 pixels per inch.
Secondary display: Super AMOLED 1.1-inch resolution 112 x 300 pixels.
Processor: Qualcomm SM8150 Snapdragon 855+ (7nm) @ 2.95GHz.
RAM memory: 8 GB.
Internal storage: 256 GB UFS 3.0.
Rear camera: 12 MP, f/1.8, 27 mm, 1/2.55 ", 1.4 µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS + 12 MP, f/2.2, 12 mm and 1.12 µm.
Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.4, 26mm, 1.22µm.
Connectivity: 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BDS.
Ports and sensors: USB Type C, fingerprint reader, facial reader, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass and barometer.
Battery: 3,300 mAh with 15W fast charge.
Operating system: Android 10 + One UI.
Price: 1,500 euros approximately.

Design concept of the future

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is a folding phone and, therefore, that fact already makes it a different terminal from practically the entire market. We could say that when you carry it in your hand you have to show it to someone, it gives the feeling of being closer to the future.

The folding is done from the center of the screen horizontally and not as in the Samsung Galaxy Fold whose folding was vertical. This way of folding seems much more natural and much more "wearable" than in the Galaxy Fold.

The build quality is really good on the Z Flip and we've loved how slim it is when open as its thickness is only 7.2mm.

When the mobile is closed, the thickness rises to 17.3 mm, but it has not worked outnothing bothersome to carry in your pocket.

What's more, being used to much larger phones there have been times when we had to make sure we were really carrying it, because it's like carrying a small wallet (there are even wider wallets).

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, complete analysis with opinion

Perhaps because we are very used to today's normal terminals, the fact of having to open this Galaxy Z Flip more or less continuously has been a bit heavy for us.

On many occasions we have chosen to leave it open so as not to have to open and close it so many times in a short space of time. This is something that occurs less as the smartphone is used.

If the terminal is open we see a 6.7-inch screen on the front with some frames larger than usual in today's smartphones, although something normal, on the other hand, when carrying the folding system.

On this same front we see the selfie camera, in a hole in the upper central part of the screen.

If we take a look at the back, made of glass, we will find the two photographic sensors in the upper left part, just to On its side is the dual-tone LED flash, and on the right side we find a secondary screen that we will talk about later.

On the right side we have the volume control button and another button dedicated to turning on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, in which the fingerprint reader is also embedded.

At the top we only have the noise canceling microphone.

The left side is the place where Samsung has decided to put the SIM card slot.

Below we have the USB Type C to charge the terminal, the call microphone and the multimedia speaker.

Should be fast when unlocking

One of the main problems when opening and closing the Z Flip is that the facial sensor, the most natural for To use in this type of terminals, is somewhat slow and therefore it is not immediately possible to open the terminal and unlock it as would be desirable.

We could use the fingerprint sensor to unlock the smartphone, but it turns out to be an unlock that requires several phases That is, the first thing is to open the terminal and then place your hand so that our thumb, the most comfortable for this type of unlocking, reaches the fingerprint reader that is located on the side.

In any case, when we want to perform all this action, the facial unlocking has already unlocked the terminal, so the fingerprint sensor is only recommended if the Galaxy Z Flip screen is open.

Two different screens

The main screen of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2,636 x 1,080 pixels (Full HD+) which gives us 425 pixels per inch.

For the screen, Samsung has used a new technology called “ Ultra-thin glass ”. This consists of a special type of glass, as flexible as the plastic OLED displays found on the Galaxy Fold or Motorola Razr.

The screen of the Z Flip, being so thin, should be much more fragile than a normal smartphone screen, although in the days in which we have used it we have not had the slightest problem.

The screen of the Galaxy Z Flip, despite looking good, we cannot compare it with the best in this aspect in the smartphone world, because it is far away. Its main problem is the brightness, which is quite low, although due to colouring, sharpness and even viewing angles we can consider this panel to be of good quality.

Having said all this, one of the questions that people close to us have asked the most when they have seen the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has been if the folding is noticeable in the screen. Well, it does show.

It is evident that the area where the screen folds cannot be hidden and when we pass the we perceive it with a finger above it, but it is also true that the more days we have used it, the less we have noticed the crease.

This is somewhat obvious since we get used to it and there comes a time when it practically disappears when you use it.

In the back we have another screen that makes sense if we have the terminal closed, since it works as a notification LED, but more advanced.

In it, apart from seeing the time, we can find out which applications have sent us a notification, since we get the symbol if slide your finger on the screen to the right.

It is a screen that has not been excessively useful either, since for any interaction with notifications we will have to open the smartphone, so we do not believe that it is more useful than a Notifications LED.

Good performance, but not the best

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has some specifications that are good, they are top notch, but they are not at the top. In other words, for its price we could expect the best of the best, but we are not up to date in this regard.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ as processor.
8 GB RAM memory.
256 GB internal storage with no expandability.
Adreno 640 as GPU.

With the Snapdragon 855+ as processor it can handle all the tasks we entrust to it without problems, as it is a really powerful chip.

We can criticize that with what it costs, this Galaxy Z Flip does not have Qualcomm's latest high-end processor, the Snapdragon 865, but the truth is that the one it mounts gives it a more than efficient performance.

When we want to play titles where the multimedia section and the demands on the processor are great, we realize that the power, RAM and graphics card of the Z Flip can handle any task that is thrown at it. propose.

As software we have Android 10 and the One UI customization layerthat we have talked about her so many times.

It is a layer that still is a bit lacking to feel as fluid as others on the market, although the improvement in the recent times is evident.

The number of pre-installed applications is high, but with the advantage that several of these apps are recommended to use and have their value. Each one must decide if they are convenient or not, but we understand that several of them can be.

This is not a terminal compatible with 5G networks, so it has to settle for what most consumers have, which are 4G LTE networks.

In the rest of the connectivity we have WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS, USB Type C, fingerprint sensor, face sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass and barometer.

Versatile rear camera

Regarding the photographic section, many may miss more rear sensors, since the trend seems to be to have a minimum of three.

Well, in this Galaxy Z Flip we are satisfied with 2 sensors:

Wide Main: 12 MP, f/1.8, 27mm (wide), 1/2.55", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS.
Ultra Wide: 12 MP, f/2.2, 12mm, 1.12µm.

What has surprised us the most is the versatility that the camera has shown in photos in good light, since it really adapts well suited to all situations, such as intense points of light, shadows or areas with a lot of color.

Snapshots with the Portrait mode or bokeh effect came out better than we expected, yes, with a depth sensor they would have been almost perfect. The cropping is very correct and the blur looks quite natural.

When using the wide-angle camera we didn't notice an excessive difference with the main camera, neither in contrast, nor in color, although we can experiment slightly less light capture.

The night photos have seemed quite correct, with some noise, but much less than expected and with a colorful and sharpness better than theory might suggest.

Of course, the capture of light provided by the Night Mode makes the photos clearer, with more sharpness, although the areas with noise are not able to correct them.

The front camera is 10 megapixels, focal aperture 2.4, 26 mm and 1.22 µm. This camera is simply going to allow us to take correct selfies and without showing off. It is a camera to which it seems that Samsung has not given too much importance and simply complies.

Range too close to the limit

The battery that Samsung decided to mount in the Galaxy Z Flip is 3,300 mAh, an amount that a priori may seem somewhat fair.

Well, that feeling has been corroborated, since in practice it offers a fairly fair autonomy to get to the end of the day.

On a day where we use the mobile for normal tasks such as using WhatsApp, some email, some browsing and the occasional YouTube video, we will reach the end of the day with a battery, but we will have to plug in the smartphone to the mains when we go to sleep or even before.

If one day our use is intensive, it will be convenient for us to take either the charger or an external battery, sinceFinishing the day is going to be difficult.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip manages to charge at 15 W and even so the charge is quite disappointing, since we have always been around two hours to charge the terminal from 0 to 100%An excessive time today, especially considering that we are dealing with a not too large battery.

Conclusion

As we have already mentioned, this Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has a price of about 1,500 euros and that has marked it from the beginning of the review. Possibly if its price was around 800 or 900 euros, we could be speaking in a different mood.

But the truth is that for its price we must demand it as a high-end of the most "top" on the market and it cannot be This is not the case in any of the sections in which we always include our reviews.

Yes, it is true that it is a powerful terminal and that complies well or very well in practically all sections, but it is also true that Due to its price we should be talking, at least in theory, about one of the best on the current market and, from our experience, it cannot be placed at the level of mobile phones that we have analyzed such as the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra or the Huawei P40 Pro.

It's a pity because this concept may be the future for all those who don't like to carry phones as big as there are today in day. In this way, any smartphone is much more comfortable, but after we look at its price, we hope for the best of the best and we find a smartphone that would only be placed at the level of the premium range of 2019.