In front of us today we have the Galaxy Z Flip 3 – the younger and cheaper brother to the Galaxy
Fold 3. With a much smaller hinge and a much longer design, the durability test should be
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Now it's time to see if our Z Flip 3 has any durabilitee. Let's get started.
[Intro]
The Z Flip 3. Honestly, if I had to pick my favorite folding phone at the moment,
it would probably be this guy. Having something that unfolds into a regular sized phone is more
convenient than having a regular sized phone that folds into a tablet like the Fold 3 does.
My personal two year old Note 10 Plus, though, is still working pretty great,
so I'll probably keep it around for another year or two before I think about upgrading.
This Flip 3 has the same warnings as the Fold 3. No fingernails,
it's not dust resistant, and it also says not to remove the protective screen protector...you know,
the same warnings as the previous generations. For me, sometimes the anticipation of having new tech
is actually more fun than having the new tech. The novelty or funness seems to wear off rather
quickly once I've achieved ownership. Is that just me though, or do you feel the same way?
Let me know down in the comments. The Flip 3 does have a 10 megapixel internal selfie camera.
This time not hidden by pixels. But the Flip does have a cool little trick that allows the outside
notification screen to act like a viewfinder for the higher quality cameras. Kind of fun.
Let's start out here. The Mohs scale of hardness is used to differentiate between different
minerals. We use it here on my channel to differentiate between different screen materials.
Plastic scratches at level 2 or 3, glass scratches at a 5 or 6, and sapphire would
scratch at a level 8 or 9. The exterior display on the Flip 3 starts showing scratches at a level 6,
with deeper grooves at a level 7, meaning we're working with tempered glass.
Gorilla Glass Victus to be exact. The interior flexible screen, however, is where we will
most likely see some softer materials since glass doesn't tend to be real good. Samsung
has to use something else. And as we can see, once again, we're getting marks at a level 2,
with deeper grooves at a level 3. Super soft. But now that we know it's soft,
we can take steps to avoid future gouges. So keep that in mind if you're a human with fingernails.
There is a screen protector placed on top of this internal display. If it's anything like the Fold
3, this one is probably safely removable. But then it does leave the permanent screen
underneath even more vulnerable to scratches. So we'll do what Samsung says and leave it in place,
at least until the teardown. This is the lavender colored Flip 3. Samsung says
their armor aluminum is about 10% stronger than the aluminum they normally use on smartphones.
But the colored anodizing still scratches. We'll come back to the
recessed fingerprint scanning power button. The volume rocker is made from metal,
along with the top of the phone. Running down the left side we have the metal SIM card tray,
along with a large plastic plug for the internal 5G antenna. We'll have to double
check on that during the teardown, but the plug itself seems to be very well secure.
The SIM card tray does have a rubber ring around the opening and Samsung
says this phone is water resistant up to 1.5 meters deep in water for 30 minutes.
Pretty impressive considering all the moving parts and openings. The bottom has a USB-C port,
loudspeaker, and microphone holes. The hinge is capable of stopping in multiple positions
this year. Kind of a fun development. Then back here for the rear cameras we have a 12
megapixel ultra wide camera on top. Along with a 12 megapixel wide angle camera right below that,
both covered with glass. Interestingly, the flash is also covered by the rear glass panel. It'll be
coll to see what that looks like from the inside. The purple lavender color is covering both halves
of the phone. And between those two halves we have the hinge. Samsung has been fine tuning this
thing for about 3 generations now, adding dust protection with internal bristles on version 2.
And now multiposition in version 3. Still made from metal though.
The inlay lettering on the spine is also done with shiny pieces of color matched plastic
and can be removed, but probably won't be falling out on their own. I do like the versatility of
the Flip where the notifications and information can still be accessed while the phone is closed,
getting information quickly and easily is what technology is all about. It's a tool,
and having some of that info displayed on the outside 1.9 inch screen eliminates the need to
flip over the phone for every task. I'm kind of lazy like that. So it's a useful feature.
The external AMOLED display lasted for about 205 seconds under the heat from my lighter,
which coincidentally is about the same amount of time it takes to get vaccinated.
Congrats to 70% of Americans who have at least one shot. Still quite a ways behind Portugal, Iceland,
and Spain though who are all about 80%. Go team. Worldwide solutions to a worldwide problem.
The inner screen actually fared quite a bit better than I anticipated under the heat from my
flame...all 6.7 inches of it. We know the surface of the foldable AMOLED is made from plastic.
And after about 30 seconds that surface is where we see the majority of the damage,
not on the pixels. The fire has physically melted a portion of the plastic screen
and there's a physical blemish where the fire used to be. Fire is actually scientifically used to
differentiate between different types of plastic by the smoke, smell, color, and speed of burning,
and whether the plastic drips or not. So if the burn test is your favorite part of durability,
you'll be pleased to know that there's actually a whole career dedicated to plastic burning.
We do need more brains figuring out how to safely get rid of it.
The fingerprint scanner is once again located on the side of the Flip 3,
just like it was on the Fold. And after setting my fingerprint, slicing up the surface of the
power button a bit, everything appears to still be working. Thumbs up for that.
Now personally I've become rather unaffected or unfazed when bending or breaking normal phones.
You know, the block style rectangles. But these folding phones have a cool factor that make even
my heart hurt a little when they are damaged. We know, of course, that it folds in half real good,
even when folded aggressively. The black plastic bumper around the edge of the screen does a good
job of absorbing any impact from this direction. However, bending from the opposite direction still
does need to happen because that's just what we do. When physically bent backward the Galaxy Flip
3 takes the form of a bridge, going much further out of alignment than I would have expected.
Speaking of bridges though, going from one patch of earth to another, I bet you thought I forgot
about the dust test...which I did. But then I remembered. The phone though is still working
so it's fine. Someone said in my Fold video that I should be a little more aggressive with
the dust from now on and I agree. We'll apply the dirt from the front, as well as the back,
and sprinkle a little more on the hinge for good measure. And even after being bent once
and dusted all over, the Flip 3 still has a completely silent hinge mechanism.
A huge improvement over the first generation of folding hinges.
Those collected dust like it was their job.
Back to the bend test. Bending again from the back with the same amount of force that we used
to snap the ROG 5 and the Legion Duel 2, this Flip 3 is still very much intact. It remains
physically deformed at those small antenna lines and not quite straight anymore when unfolded,
but the Flip 3 is still very much alive and very surprisingly survives my durability test.
Samsung has once again managed to take one of the most creative form factors we've ever seen
and also make it durable. Nice work, Samsung.
Which style of folding phone do you prefer? The Flip or the Fold? Let me know down in
the comments. Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. Come hang out with me
on Instagram and Twitter. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.