Samsung Galaxy Z Quick Review: Should You Buy It?

Radically Different From Galaxy Fold

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is radically different from the company's first foldable smartphone- the Galaxy Fold. It's essentially a flip phone that features an Infinity Flex display. The ultrathin glass screen folds into the size of a wallet to easily fit in a jeans pocket. When you flip open the phone, it feels much taller than standard non-foldable smartphones as the display's aspect ratio is set to 21.9:9. It will take you some time to adapt to this new foldable form-factor.

The glass display sits under a plastic protective layer, which is very delicate and should be used with extreme precaution. Like the Galaxy Fold, the Galaxy Z Flip also does not get any official IP rating for protection against water and dust, so make sure you don't take the Galaxy Z Flip on a poolside party.

How Durable Is The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip?

The biggest question is the durability of the foldable screen. Some reports claim that the foldable glass display on the Galaxy Z Flip is placed under a thin plastic layer which can be scratched easily. You wouldn't want keys and other sharp objects to come in contact to this foldable phone. If you manage to damage the outer layer, the ultrathin glass is prone to damages in no time.

We haven't personally tested the Galaxy Z Flip to extended duration and we would like to reserve our durability verdict till we get to review the phone. Samsung did mention that the Galaxy Z Flip's foldable design can last for 5-years if you open and close the flip phone 100 times a day.

The company is offering accidental damage coverage with the premium smartphone. It is called 1-year Samsung Care+ Protection Offer and brings 1-time screen damage protection service for inner screen and external screen at a discounted fee at the time of repair. Samsung has also setup a 24X7 dedicated call centre support (1800-20-7267864) to address consumer's issues.

The Hideaway Hinge Feels Sturdy

The hinge is the most crucial element of a foldable phone and the one on the Galaxy Z Flip feels extremely durable. It holds the two sides firmly and even allows you to use the phone in flex mode. You can keep the Galaxy Z Flip on a flat surface at different angles if you plan to watch videos on the half folded screen or want to capture selfies. Overall, the hideaway hinge ensures smooth and stable folds for the Galaxy Z Flip. It is probably the most durable version of a hinge on a foldable phone.

Miniscule Cover Display

The exterior of the Galaxy Z Flip flaunts a tiny cover display. It allows you to check date, time and battery status at a glance. Interestingly, you can also use this tiny screen as a viewfinder while taking selfies; however, I don't think that's much of a use-case as the screen is unbelievably small in size.

6.7” 2636 x 1080 FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Flex Display

Coming on to the bigger display, the Galaxy Z Flip flaunts a 6.7" FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Flex display. It's a good OLED panel with a decent amount of brightness levels and good viewing angles. The AMOLED panel is also HDR 10+ certified. It is vibrant and makes up for a good display to stream videos and gameplay despite 1080p resolution. There's one downside of the Z Flip's foldable screen though. The crease is very much noticeable. You can only adapt to the crease over time if you are planning to buy the Galaxy Z Flip.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Hardware

Coming onto the hardware, the Galaxy Z Flip is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 + chipset. The foldable smartphone has 8GB RAM and 256GB UFS 3.0 internal storage. Performance should not be an issue with the kind of hardware Samsung has provided with the Galaxy Z Flip. As far as the battery is concerned, the Galaxy Z Flip has a 3,300 mAh cell which is divided into two halves to maintain a balanced flip design. The smartphone supports wireless charging and 15W wired charging. The Galaxy Z Flip has one nano-SIM card slot and also supports E-sim. The E-sim services for the Galaxy Z Flip are currently available on Airtel and Jio networks.

Dual-Lens Rear Cameras, 10MP Selfie Camera

Don't get your hopes high in the cameras department as the Galaxy Z Flip flaunts a pretty standard dual-lens rear camera setup. The dual-lens camera configuration boasts a 12MP wide-angle lens and a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle lens. Like any other Samsung Galaxy smartphone, the camera application on the Galaxy Z Flip is fairly feature-rich and offers all the required modes. These include Photo, Live focus, Slow-motion, Pro mode, Hyperlapse, Food mode, and more. The phone can shoot 4K videos and the output seemed pretty crisp. For selfies, the Galaxy Z Flip flaunts a 10MP front-facing camera. We will evaluate the camera performance in detail in our comprehensive review.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Software

Last but not the least; the software is going to play a bigger role in the usability of the Galaxy Z Flip. The foldable phone runs on Samsung's One UI 2.1, based on Android 10. There are only a handful of applications that can take advantage of the foldable screen form factor. For instance, you can run camera and Youtube simultaneously when the Galaxy Z Flip is partially folded. This is called Flex mode and splits the apps into two halves of the 6.7-inch display. In full-screen mode, a number of apps support the multi-split view.

Should You Buy The Galaxy Z Flip?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is a fascinating piece of technology. It comes across as the most polished commercial foldable smartphone to be available in the Indian market. The design is pretty sturdy for the foldable phone standard.

The Galaxy Z Flip also does not compromise on basic hardware and software. It runs without a glitch and also offers an impressive camera performance.

Sadly, we cannot comment on the Z Flip's long-term durability as we did not get a chance to test the handset for an extended time-period.

Overall, if you have made up your mind to invest in a foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip is the one you should go for. It is available in three eye-catching colors- Mirror Purple, Mirror Black and Mirror Gold at Rs. 1,09,999.