Z Flip 3 Z Fold 3 review and specs

October 10 • 8:02 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G is the star of the show. It’s more of a refinement of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G, than a monumental leap forward, aiming to put any remaining fears about the durability of foldable phones to bed and become a true daily driver in the eyes of a far wider audience.

Το εντυπωσιακό Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 είναι το πρώτο foldable που υποστηρίζει S Pen - Techmaniacs

For starters we finally have element resistance, which is a must-have for many. It’s not the complete IP68, but rather an IPX8, which means it should withstand immersion up to a meter and a half, but isn’t dust-tight. Samsung Galaxy Note loyalists will surely appreciate the S Pen support as well, while photography hopefuls may end up disappointed by the largely unchanged camera.

Compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G is a bit lighter (11g), and with slightly reduced overall volume (the thickness of the unfolded phone has been reduced by 0.5mm). Its screens have retained their resolution and diagonal, but are now both adaptively refreshing up to 120Hz (the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G’s cover display was locked at 60Hz). The 7.6-inch is reportedly 29% brighter than the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G’s screen thanks to what Samsung calls ‘echo square technology’.

New Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 renders surface - GSMArena.com news

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G has gotten tougher, too. Like its predecessor, it employs Gorilla Glass Victus to the glass cover display, but the aluminum used on the body is 10% stronger than before. Samsung calls it Armor Aluminum and says it’s the strongest it has put on a phone.

Πρακτικά με το νέο Galaxy Z Fold 3 της Samsung. για $ 1.800

The inner display is still plastic, but uses a new protective film, which is reportedly 80% more durable, which should help alleviate scratches and let you go longer between changes.

Speaking of the S Pen, the Galaxy Fold 3 supports two of those – S Pen Fold Edition and S Pen Pro. The former is lighter (8g) and smaller, and lacks Bluetooth, while the Pro is bigger and heavier (14g) and supports Bluetooth and device switching (the Pro works with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G, Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, Note20 series, Galaxy Tab S7/S7+ and the Galaxy Book Pro and 360). The S Pen Pro has a built-in USB for charging, an LED indicator and supports both Air command and Air actions, so you can snap images on your Galaxy using the pen.

Τα πρώτα επίσημα renders των Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 και Galaxy Z Flip 3 - Techmaniacs

Four of the five cameras are carried over from the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G. The rear triple setup features three 12MP units for regular wide, ultrawide and 2x telephoto, the only difference being that the 2x is now optically-stabilized. The cover display employs the same 10MP unit inside a punch hole too.

What’s new here is the 4MP under display camera on the inside of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G. The camera uses a 16MP sensor, which bins pixels 2-in-1 to produce the 4MP final image with 2µm pixels.

Thanks to the unseen camera, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G’s 7.6-inch screen is uninterrupted and notchless.

The final improvement is the move to the 5nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, a step up from the 7nm Snapdragon 865+. Note that the new Fold is using the non-Plus variant of the chipset, even if the Xiaomi Mix 4 announced yesterday already has the higher-clocked version.

One of the few on-paper advantages to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G over its successor is the 4,500mAh battery, which is 100mAh bigger than the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G’s. But we expect the move to a more efficient chipset to more than make up for that.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G starts at €1,799/£1,599 and will go on sale later this month. That’s considerably cheaper than the Fold 2 costed at launch, which should help its push to become mainstream.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is more focused on style and standing out. It comes in seven pastel colors with a dual-tone finish.

Like the bigger Z Fold 3 5G, the Galaxy Flip 3 5G is also water-resistant and protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and Armor Aluminum on the outside.

Το Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 είναι το πρώτο πιστοποιημένα αδιάβροχο foldable smartphone - Techmaniacs

Compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G, the Galaxy Flip3 5G has a more functional, four times larger 1.9-inch cover display. While the 1.1-inch AMOLED cover display of the previous Flip could only show a line of text, the Galaxy Flip 3 5G’s display can theoretically be used for Google Maps, Samsung Pay, to look up notifications and more, in addition to better serving as a viewfinder for taking selfies with the main camera.

A neat feature is that you can sync the wallpaper of the new Galaxy Watch4 to the cover screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G.

The unfolding 6.7-inch display is better this year too. While the same in both size and resolution, it now supports 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, while the previous gen was locked at 60Hz.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G Plans from Telstra

The other big improvement is the move to the 5nm Snapdragon 888 chipset, which is paired to 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

The rest of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is a rehash of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G – a 3,300mAh battery, two 12MP cameras for wide and ultrawide, a 10MP selfie on the inside and a side-mounted fingerprint reader.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G starts at €1,049/£949 and will go on sale later this month.

Z Fold 3 And Z Flip 3 Specs

	Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3
Size	Unfolded: 128.1 x 158.2 x 6.4mm (5.04 x 6.22 x 0.25 inches)Folded: 67.1 x 158.2 x 16.0mm (2.64 x 6.22 x 0.63 inches)	Unfolded: 166 x 72.2 x 6.9mm (6.5 x 2.8. x 0.27 inches)Folded: 86.4 x 72.2 x 17.1mm (3.4 x 2.8 x 0.67 inches)
Weight	271 grams (9.56 ounces)	183 grams (6.5 ounces)
Screen size	Main: 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2XCover screen: 6.2-inch Super AMOLED 2X	Main: 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLEDCover screen: 1.1-inch Super AMOLED
Screen resolution	Main: 2,208 x 1,768 pixels (374 pixels per inch)Cover screen: 2,268 x 832 pixels (387 pixels per inch)	Main: 2,636 × 1,080 pixels (425 ppi)Cover screen: 300 x 112 pixels (303 ppi)
Operating system	Android 11 with One UI 3.1	Android 11 with One UI 3.1
Storage	256GB, 512GB	128GB, 256GB
MicroSD card slot	No	No
Tap-to-pay services	Google Pay, Samsung Pay	Google Pay, Samsung Pay
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
RAM	12GB	8GB
Camera	Rear main: 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12MP wide-angle, and 12MP telephoto rearFront main screen: 4MP under-display Cover screen: 10MP	Rear main: Dual-lens 12MP wideFront: 10MP ultra-wide
Video	4K at 60 fps, 1080p at 240 fps, 720p at 960 fps, HDR10+	4K at 60 fps, 1080p at 240 fps, 720p at 960 fps, HDR10+
Bluetooth version	5.1	5.1
Ports	USB-C	USB-C
Fingerprint sensor	Yes, side-mounted	Yes, side-mounted
Water resistance	IPX8	IPX8
Battery	4,400mAhFast charging (25W, charger not included) Fast wireless charging (10W) Reverse wireless charging (4.5W)	3,300mAh15W fast charging 10W fast wireless charging 4.5W reverse wireless charging (Wireless PowerShare)
App marketplace	Google Play Store	Google Play Store
Network support	All carriers	All carriers
Colors	Mirror Purple, Mirror Black	Cream, green, lavender, Phantom Black, white, pink, gray
Prices	$1,800	$1,000
Buy from	Samsung, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart	Samsung, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart