The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 was the breakout star in Samsung’s line up last year to me.
It was the first folding smartphone that came in at a much more competitive price
than previous generations and has such a cool, unique look. But after six months,
does this phone, does it still hold up to the hype?
How has the screen held up over the past six months? And is this a phone I'd recommend
to somebody over a more traditional phone form factor? I'm gonna answer all of those questions
and more. And first, let's start off with the biggest downside I found using the Z
Flip 3 over the past six months and that is the crease. Because the Flip 3 folds in half,
when you open the phone up you have a crease that runs across the middle of the screen. And the more
I've actually used this phone over the past six months, the more I've been annoyed by the crease.
It’s annoying to constantly feel this divot in the screen when scrolling and when you try and
read text on the screen, it’ll create a slight distortion where text looks like it’s behind
other text and if you use dark mode to try and mitigate this effect,
you’ll run into issues with the crease showing reflections of lights in your background.
then a typical phone without a crease would. The crease picking up reflections can also
be suboptimal when you're trying to watch a video on the phone as well.
It's just not the best screen to read on or watch videos on compared to the flat
mainstream form factor we've become used to. So that's been the largest downside for me
using this device over the past six months. Now, if you can get used to the or you're
the type of person that just doesn't read a ton on your phone, or watch a ton of videos,
then I think you'll enjoy a lot of the benefits you get with the flip threes form factor.
The most obvious benefit you get is being able to fold the phone in half so it takes up way
less space in a pocket or purse compared to a phone with a regular 6.7 inch display.
For me over the past six months, the screen is held up in terms of its durability.
Now, I know that's not the case maybe for every flip three owner out there,
I have seen some reports that the screen protector that is installed
on the phone that has had some issues with some cracking. I haven't run into that personally,
but if you do, it should be covered under the phone’s one year warranty.
Now if it cracks, you know, like three years later. Yeah. That’s a repair you're gonna have to
get. So, do keep that in mind when thinking about getting this phone.
Another cool benefit you get with this form factor that I quite like is the cover
screen, it’s a great way to check and dismiss notifications without opening up the phone if
you don’t have a smartwatch to help you with that already. Overall I think the aesthetic and two
tone look of the phone, especially in the cream color I have looks really sharp. Six months in,
it's still one of the best looking smartphones on the market today and one of the most customizable
in terms of its overall look and colors, You can really make your Z Flip 3 match your own style
with the Bespoke series on Samsung’s website, which is quite unique in the world of smartphones.
Another great part of this phone is its screen. Samsung is often known for giving it smartphones
the best displays on the market and this phone is no exception. With fantastic colors, crisp
text, a 120 Hertz display. This screen is exactly what you'd want out of a phone screen in 2022.
Another thing I've liked about this phone that helps with its portability
is its weight. Its significantly lighter than most phones you can find with a 6.7 inch display,
weighing a total of 183 g.
As for battery life, I'd rate it about average. I'm typically a light phone user, so for me, the
3,300 milliamp hour battery, it's been adequate for me and I don't need to charge it before the
end of the day. I'm typically seeing around 25% battery left, but if you're a heavy user
you're likely going to want to charge this phone before the end of the day.
Next, cameras, what is the camera quality like? Overall I’d say the cameras are decent on the Z
Flip 3. You get a 12 MP main and 12 MP ultrawide that should be fine for most people in 2022,
and the low light performance is actually pretty decent, However,
if you're really into smartphone photography or you want a telephoto lens, or you just want the
best cameras that Samsung puts in a smartphone, you're going to want to opt for the S22 Ultra.
Now the last main benefit you get with the Z Flip 3 is the Samsung device
ecosystem. You can pair your Z Flip with a Galaxy Watch that’ll match your cover screen animation,
quick pair with a set of Galaxy Buds, and get your text messages on your Samsung
laptop or tablet and you can even now copy and paste from your phone to your Samsung Galaxy Tab
and so much more. In the world of Android, if you want a comparable experience to the
Apple ecosystem right now, Samsung is the company that can best deliver that for you.
And the thing that helps bring all of these devices together is One UI.
Over the course of the past 6 months the Flip 3 has received quite a few software updates,
including One UI’s take on Android 12, which allows you to customize the color theming on
the phone a bit more which I like. One UI is a solid version of Android with a
lot of extras built on top, and now that Samsung has taken ads out of their apps,
I don’t really have any qualms or downsides while using One UI, except I still think
stock Android’s app drawer implementation like you get on the Pixel is a better experience.
So those are all the pluses and minuses I’ve found with using the Z Flip 3. But
do I recommend it? If you asked me when I first got this phone,
I would have been way more likely to recommend it to everyone.
But now after six months, my answer is really, it depends, I think this phone is perfect for
people who are on the go and will benefit from the smaller form factor when closed in a pocket
or purse, But to me, those are people not looking at their phone screens for long periods of time
watching videos or reading articles.For those tasks, I think having a phone like the S22,
S22 Plus or Ultra is going to be a better experience because you don’t have to deal with
the crease and the reflections it picks up which I personally find a bit distracting for those tasks.
But if you want to be unique and show off your futuristic stylish phone,
or you just see the benefits of the flip threes form factor and want to pick one up, you can
check out purchase links on the side of this video and in the video description below to learn more.
If you have any further questions about the Galaxy Z Flip 3 or share
your experience with this phone, leave a comment below and check out some of
our other videos like our six months later review of the Samsung Galaxy S21
Ultra and why Samsung's top-of-the-line camera system continues to impress.
Hit that thumbs up button if you like this video and found it helpful and subscribe
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like this one. For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.