Did anyone else notice this thing kinda resembles a tricorder but more sleek? Who's
the Samsung product manager who's a trekkie? I see you.
Hey smores, welcome to Morse Code. I've got the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 here and I've been
really excited to share this review with you after playing with it for the past few weeks. This is
the third iteration of the Flip line and the first Flip I've purchased, and I've been very happy with
this phone so far. This is actually the first foldable that I've seen in the wild being owned
and used by someone that's not a tech youtuber. So like... consider this product for gifting
to people in your life or for yourself - people like it - and there's a lot of reasons for that.
The Z Flip 3 starts at $999.99 for 128 gb or $1049.99 for 256
gb and it comes in seven color options, I went with a 128gb Lavender model,
as this is my favorite color. My phone was $549.99 after trading in an older Samsung,
and I got a free pair of Galaxy Buds 2 and a Silicone cover, both free as a preorder addon.
BTW, I also have a Samsung store coupon code for 5% off listed in the description below, just click
on the title to expand the text. It's a referral code - if you use it, let me know that it works.
So lets start with the design.
Samsung is using the same fancy hinge on both the Fold and Flip. It's got a very satisfying snap
close and stays closed. Their hinge is strong and holds to whatever angle you choose to open it to.
It also feels like it's not going to randomly fold whenever you're using the phone
fully open. It's stiff but doesn't feel cheap. It also looks really clean this year,
with less bezels and it's thinner. They've refined it, and I like it.
It weighs less than my iphone 12 pro max but it's also skinnier and taller when unfolded. Folded, I
love that it's so small. It fits in my back pocket without sticking out of the top and actually fits
in the palm of my hand. There's something to say for the form factor of a flippy phone - my first
cell phone was an LG flip phone, and this one brings back that feeling of nostalgia.
I do like that it includes IPX 8 water resistance but it's not dust resistant.
Don't get dirt under that hinge or it could really mess up that folding display.
There are two screens. This one on the front mostly for notifications and quick
tasks, and the main large display.
This cover screen is a neat lil thing. It's four times bigger than it's predecessor and supposedly
more durable. I didn't have a Flip 2 so I couldn't test that. It's perfect for just checking the time
or the weather or checking your calendar. There aren't a lot of widgets for it, but
I do like that it'll show you notifications without having to open the phone.
You can customize the background and clock preferences in your display settings,
and I really like how the glass on the housing just flows from the lavender
casing right over the display and around the cameras so it all feels very refined.
I also like this little feature where you can double tap to turn it on or off quickly,
and you can also use the nicer "rear" cameras, which are right next to this display,
for a quick selfie or video. You don't get as many options in terms of settings you can use
with this display, so if you want to use any of the traditional Samsung camera app features,
open the phone to access those and use the rear facing cameras like you normally would.
I might as well give you some photo examples with this rear camera setup while we're on the subject,
and if you've stuck around this far into the video, would you mind subscribing? It helps
me reach my career goals as this is my full time job and I'll also be making more video
reviews in the coming months so it'll bring valuable info right to your youtube feed.
Unlike the Fold 3, this one has no telephoto camera on the back, so you only get 10x
digital zoom. Of the three premium Samsung phones from the past year, the S21 Ultra will get you the
best photos of the bunch, and you can see tons of examples from that one in my S21 Ultra video
from this past January. You'll find camera hardware to be the same for the included
lenses as they are in the Fold 3, though the Fold 3 has a couple of extra ones.
This one also has HDR10+ recording,
tracking auto focus, corning gorilla glass and OIS on the wide angle camera for stabilization.
Similar to my other Samsung phones this one does
sometimes overexpose clouds in photos, but the rest of the photography is crisp and clear,
and my brightly lit photos had no noise or grain. I was able to capture some really
beautiful landscape photos with the wide angle as well as some great portraits. Yes, I am
wearing a Sailor Moon shirt - check out my hobby channel, Sailor Snubs, for anime weeb videos.
Zooming with the digital 10x zoom wasn't great. While that is Denver,
it still looks like an abstract painting. This isn't something I would use very often if at all.
These portraits under a tree show how well the Z Flip 3 can even out shadows and bright levels.
Reds are saturated, sometimes you lose some detail in shots, like in the pink petals of this flower.
When you use those rear cameras while the phone is folded, the photos are square, but they look good!
At night, I had some crazy glare with the silicone case, so I removed that and the glare disappeared.
Night modes did best on stationery objects and gave me some great quality photography.
The ultra wide angle did not do as good a job on night photos as the f 1.8 one did,
no surprise. Even portraits looked good, but if we moved it was easy to get some blurry faces.
The front facing camera is a punch hole design, and selfies were quite good.
Regular selfies looked better than portraits - my hair is detailed, everything is well
defined, and there's no blurryness going on. Portraits tended to give me blurrier photos.
And then there's the videos which you can record at up to 4k UHD 30 or 60 fps! Here's
some test footage I took on the Z Flip 3. All of these are in portrait mode, not landscape.
This main display is really beautiful. The crease is a little more subtle than on the Fold 3, so
when you run your finger across it, it's a little smoother, at least to me if feels that way. But,
while durable, you still have to be careful with it. No pressing down hard with a fingernail,
and there's no S Pen support. It is protected with a screen protector which will hopefully last.
The screen is really bright, I was able to use this in direct sunlight with no issues seeing it.
Watching videos on here is gorgeous, although it's so skinny that pinching to zoom will cut off
quite a bit of the top and bottom of your video. It also sounds lovely with it's stereo speakers
so listening to my usual podcasts were clear and easy to understand. The Snapdragon 888 and 8 GB
RAM don't feel any less zippy than the Fold 3, and even though the screen isn't big enough to
multitask like I could on my Fold, you still have the Edge Panel for quick access to apps.
It is built on Android 11, with Samsung's One UI, though I'm glad they've improved the experience
by not forcing their own apps as much onto your phone - for example, swiping right from the home
screen can now give me a google discover screen instead of Samsung's media center,
Samsung Free. Unfortunately, unlike a Tricorder, you cannot use this to scan for signs of life.
In case you're wondering by the way, this is
holo taco nail polish. They were kind enough to send me a box recently and I am loving the colors.
Though I am concerned about this 3300 mAh battery. In my testing, this phone didn't last as long as
the Fold 3. Using it to play videos over wifi for 8 hours at 50% brightness drained it to 26%, lower
than the Fold 3 which hit 39%. It maxes out at 15W wired charging and 10W wirelessly, but there's no
charger in the box, just a USB C cable. I mean, that feels like a pretty small battery for a 2021
phone, especially when I've got the 12 Pro Max and the S21 Ultra, both of which last a much longer
time. It's around the same price as those, so that's a big consideration to make when thinking
about buying this phone. Side note: I'm using the Nomad base station mini which honestly looks
like it's made for the Z Flip 3 when I charge this thing overnight. It's the perfect size.
I've made several calls on the Z Flip 3 at this point and have had no issues with
calls dropping or sound messed up, and these are some of the example speeds I got on 5G,
which is both Sub6 and mmWave. Reminder: I'm using Google Fi and I live in Denver,
your own call quality and 5G speeds will vary depending on location and carrier.
While we're at it, Bluetooth 5.1 on here gives me a great connection to my ear
buds, watch, and my car. It also includes Wifi up to AX
AKA Wifi 6 and NFC. No UWB support but you can use this with Samsung Pay.
Other than the battery, I'm really quite happy with this phone. I think Samsung focused a lot
of making this phone appeal to a wider audience and nostalgia aside, I really like how compact
and easy it is to use this one. It feels refined and fashionable and high tech.
And those are all features that I want in my day to day technology.
I want to hear your comments. Put them down below. Like this video if you agree with my findings.
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Marthaller, and Jano!!! Keep an eye on my channel for my studio build videos coming out each week.
Now that the studio is done, you'll be seeing a lot more videos on this channel.
Thanks again to my smores for subscribing and watching. If ya wanna watch some similar videos
check out the links here. I'm Shannon Morse and I'll see ya soon. Bye yall!