Hands-on Samsung Z Flip First Impressions

A new version of a Galaxy Flip phone from Samsung has been in the leaks for quite some time, now, South Korean giant’s new Samsung phones 2020 announcements are starting with the Galaxy S20/S20 Plus, Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy Buds+, and flagship foldable smartphone called Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.

Samsung Z Flip Features

• It was a very unique device at the Unpacked event
• When folded, the new Samsung Flip phone is extremely compact, can fit in the palm
• The folding state thickness is not too thick
• The secondary screen on the outside of the camera allows you to display information such as date and time, battery status, but also can display incoming call information or even serve as a preview screen when selfie
• When opened, we have a screen size up to 6.7-inches, long and slender
• It is very thin, light and easy to use
• The inside screen is covered with a layer of flexible glass, unique and firm, giving the feeling of looking at the content also more transparent, better and also high protection
• We can open it with one hand
• Hinges are designed to be shorter, sturdier and expected durability is also improved than its predecessor

First Impressions:

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has also tweaked its One UI operating system to include special gestures and features that take advantage of the folding screen, which we’ll get into in a bit. When folded, the Samsung Z Flip phone is tiny; about the size of a credit card wallet. In this state, it’s also pretty thick at 17.3mm. However, it’s still easy to manage as a small square, unlike the Galaxy Fold.

The good news is that there’s no discernible gap between the two halves when folded, which should help keep dust and lint away from the screen. We didn’t face any struggle to get an open new Samsung flip phone using one hand. However, the lid can be kept open at pretty much any angle, up to 180 degrees.

New hinge design from Samsung, which is completely hidden when you open the Galaxy Z Flip all the way. Not only that, but the company has also added some micro-bristles which are supposed to brush out dust particles every time you open or close the device. This is enabled by the ‘Hideaway Hinge’, which also lets users keep the Galaxy Z Flip open at multiple angles. The hinge is with ‘dual CAM mechanism’, and features ‘sweeper’ tech made out of nylon fibers to repel dirt and dust. The hinge and display are rated to be able to open and close 200,000 times.

The outer surface of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is incredibly glossy and impossible to keep fingerprint-free. This device feels very premium and sturdy, and the hinge itself feels like it should be able to withstand the punishment of everyday use. You get a USB Type-C connector and speaker at the bottom, and a flattened power button on the side, which also houses the capacitive fingerprint sensor.

Talking about outside of the Samsung Z Flip phone, there’s a tiny 1.1-inch color OLED touchscreen, but you can also use this as a viewfinder when taking a selfie using the outer cameras. This is activated in the folded state by double-tapping the power button. It worked well when we tried it, and you can also switch between the primary and wide-angle cameras with a simple tap on the display.

Coming into larger than life 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display, which looked bright and vivid in indoors at the moment. The bezels are relatively thick, but this didn’t really bother us. The display is actually made using a layer of ultra-thin glass, which is the first we’ve seen on any foldable device. Up until now, we’ve only seen plastic protective layers on foldable phones, which are understandably not as durable as glass, so this is a big achievement for Samsung. There is a mild crease where the display bends but we didn’t find it to be as pronounced as the one on the Galaxy Fold, even when we ran a finger over it. With normal use, it’s barely even visible.

When you open certain apps in Samsung Z Flip, they work in what’s being called ‘Flex mode’ which splits them up for the two halves of the display. The camera and YouTube app were the only ones we saw in action that made use of this. In the camera app, the upper half becomes the viewfinder while the lower half gives you all the shooting controls. It seemed to work well when we tried it. Also, if you jump to the gallery from the camera app in this partially folded state, you can use the bottom half of the display as a touchpad to flip through your photos, which appear on the upper half. There is also the Multi-Active Window mode, which lets you launch any two compatible apps from Samsung’s Edge Screen carousel, which will automatically snap to the two halves of the screen. You can then use the device in a fully opened or partially closed state.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Price, and Availability

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has been priced at $1,380, and the company says it will go on sale in limited quantities, starting in select markets from February 14th. These select markets include South Korea and the United States. It will be available in Mirror Black and Mirror Purple initially, before being made available in Mirror Gold, Samsung says.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Specifications

The Samsung Z Flip phone features dual-SIM, one with eSIM and one Nano-SIM card slot. It runs Android 10. The main, foldable display is a 6.7-inch FHD+ (1080×2636 pixels, 21.9:9, 425ppi) Dynamic AMOLED panel. On the outside, is a 1.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a 112×300 pixels resolution and a pixel density of 303ppi.

It is powered by an unnamed 7nm octa-core SoC, with a maximum clock speed of 2.95GHz, paired with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable via microSD card. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, NFC, MST, and GPS (A-GPS).

There is a dual rear camera setup on the Galaxy Z Flip phone, with 12-megapixel wide-angle camera (f/1.8, 1.4-micron pixels, 78-degree FoV) and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera (f/2.2, 1.12-micron pixels, 123-degree FoV, OIS). The company is also touting HDR10+ video recording. On the front, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip features a 10-megapixel (f/2.4, 1.22-micron pixels, 80-degree FoV).

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip measures 87.4×73.6×17.33mm when folded, and 167.3×73.6×7.2mm when unfolded. It weighs 183 grams. There is a single, mono speaker on the smartphone. It sports a 3,300mAh battery with fast charging. Sensors onboard include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, fingerprint sensor (on the side), gyroscope, magnetometer, and proximity sensor.