Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 hands-on review

Introduction

It has been a road paved with leaks and teasers but we've finally made it to the Unpacked destination, where the latest Samsung foldables were waiting for us. They have a pair of watches and TWS earbuds with active noise cancellation to keep them company, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

If you've been following closely, then you should know what the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and Z Flip3 5G are, what they bring and even how much they cost. We're going to go over all of that in this hands-on, but also give you our first hand impressions from Samsung's folding marvels.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

The Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is the star of the show. It's more of a refinement of the Galaxy Z Fold2 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.

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.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G specs at a glance:

• Body: Folded: 67.1x158.2x16mm-14.4mm; Unfolded: 128.1x158.2x6.4mm, 271g; Glass front (folded), plastic front (unfolded), glass back, aluminum frame, IPx8 water resistant.
• Display: 7.60" Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1768x2208px resolution, 18:22.5 aspect ratio, 374ppi; Cover display:, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, 6.2 inches, 832 x 2268 pixels, 24.5:9 ratio.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Adreno 660.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 11, One UI 3.5.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.76", 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 12mm, 1.12µm; Telephoto: 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.6", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 2x optical zoom.
• Front camera: Under display camera: 16 MP, 1.0µm, 4MP binned photos, under display; Cover camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm, 1/3", 1.22µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@960fps (gyro-EIS), HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4400mAh; Fast charging 25W, Fast wireless charging 11W, Reverse wireless charging 4.5W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung DeX (desktop experience support), Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold3 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 Fold2 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'.

The Galaxy Z Fold3 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.

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 Fold3 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 Fold3 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.

Four of the five cameras are carried over from the Galaxy Z Fold2 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 Fold3 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 Fold3 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 Fold2 5G over its successor is the 4,500mAh battery, which is 100mAh bigger than the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G's. But we expect the move to a more efficient chipset to more than make up for that.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G starts at €1,799/£1,599 and will go on sale later this month. That's considerably cheaper than the Fold2 costed at launch, which should help its push to become mainstream.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is more focused on style and standing out. It comes in seven pastel colors with a dual-tone finish.

Like the bigger Z Fold3 5G, the Galaxy Flip3 5G is also water-resistant and protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and Armor Aluminum on the outside.

Compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 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 Flip3 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 Flip3 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 Flip 5G specs at a glance:

• Body: Folded: 72.2x86.4x17.1mm-15.9mm, Unfolded: 72.2x166.0x6.9mm, 183g; Plastic front, glass back (Gorilla Glass 6), aluminum frame, IPx8 water resistant.
• Display: 6.70" Dynamic AMOLED 2X, HDR10+, 1080x2640px resolution, 22:9 aspect ratio, 425ppi; Cover display:, Super AMOLED, 1.9 inches, 260 x 512 pixels.
• Chipset:Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Adreno 660.
• Memory: 128GB, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 11, One UI 3.5.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/1.8, 27mm, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide), 1.12µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30fps.
• Battery: 3300mAh; Fast charging 15W, Fast wireless charging 9W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).

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 Flip3 5G is a rehash of the Galaxy Z Flip 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 Flip3 5G starts at €1,049/£949 and will go on sale later this month.

Design, hardware and display

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G feels sturdier than its predecessor. It's a solid block of grippy matte aluminum when closed and opens with solid-feeling hinge action.

The frame of the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G has the same rounded edges as those of its predecessor, but the sides are a bit sharper. This, alongside the slimmer profile results in a slightly firmer grip.

When the foldable is closed the two halves stay mostly tightly shut. The slight gap between the two halves is still here and it opens up towards the hinge, just like on the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G. That's unlike the gapless Huawei Mate X2 and dust might be able to get into the opening on the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G.

Controls and port locations haven't changed from the previous Fold. The left frame holds the SIM slot, while on the right there is a volume rocker and the capacitive fingerprint scanner.

On the bottom are a USB-C port and one of the two loudspeaker grilles.

The top holds the other loudspeaker grille and a few microphones.

The camera island has a new streamlined design with this iteration of the Galaxy Fold. Each 12MP camera sits in its own metal ring and the whole thing is elevated onto its own metal pedestal.

When the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is fully open the rear forms a perfect flat surface. The huge frame folds into itself and disappears.

However when we turn to the front of the unfolded Galaxy Z Fold3 5G we can see that there's still a notable crease in the center of the display. This might be an issue for many people at first, but after a year of passing the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G around the office we found that most people get used to it really quickly.

What is a big deal is the under display camera. You can spot the interference of pixels on top of the hidden camera if you go hunting for it, but when held at arms length it's not noticeable, especially if you use the preloaded dark wallpapers on the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G.

The under display camera when it's hidden and when it's not

Because the cam is hidden into the display, it has became an uninterrupted canvas, whose symmetry we love. Punch hole cameras have gotten better on most phones, but the one on the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G was bigger than most and very noticeable. To have it gone is a welcome improvement.

The display is just as lovely as you'd expect from a top panel by Samsung. It's bright and contrasty and comes tuned for lively colors out of the box. You can, of course, tune it to look as you'd like.

The new tougher screen film on top of the display may be more durable but it feels about the same as the one on the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G. It's perfectly applied and we'd leave it on.

The added smoothness on the cover display is greatly appreciated, but otherwise ther's not much to see here. This will be the display you'll use on the go with the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and it's a bit narrower than most conventional ones. It takes some getting used to, but it's perfectly fine for tasks that don't involve serious productivity or media consumption.

Handling and software

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G handles exactly like its predecessor. When it's closed it's thick and narrow - a shape that needs getting used to if you're coming from a conventional phone.

But when you unfold the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, it becomes an entirely different beast. There are plenty of places to grab onto and the full 7.6-inch canvas gets center stage.

The phone looks huge in photos, but is actually fairly compact in the hand. It's nothing like holding a regular tablet - those tend to be about 11-inches and much bigger than the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G.

You can choose to have a huge camera viewfinder in this unfolded mode when shooting with the rear cameras. Or you can snap a selfie with the new under display camera on the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, although obviously if you care about image quality you'd want to use the main camera and the external screen for your selfie needs.

We can't comment on the quality just yet and these aren't the ideal lightning conditions to test a camera in, but the 4MP selfies look alright.

The Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is the first foldable to support the S Pen and the experience of writing on the big display is pleasant. Though we'd prefer to be sitting down on a desk for this.

The S Pen Pro is thicker and heavier, which makes it more comfortable to write or draw with. It also supports Bluetooth LE so it can be used as a remote trigger. The S Pen Fold Edition is more akin to the S Pen's we've seen on the Note series. It, however lacks Bluetooth and can only be used for Air Command actions, when you hover the pen close to the screen.

Samsung have designed a special case with an S Pen holster for the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, similar to the one for the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Web pages come alive on the unfolded display. And you can even comfortably get away with using two at the same time in split screen.

Samsung has optimized the sizes of individual split screen windows on the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G. The settings menu's left pane, which shows the setting categories, has been reduced in size so that the right pane, with the information, can enjoy more screen space.

Samsung is working with Google, Microsoft, Spotify and many others to bring official split screen support to their apps. But for the first time ever you can enable an experimental feature from Samsung Labs, which allows multi window for all apps.

Another neat feature that sets the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G up as a better multi tasking tool is the pinned taskbar. It works like on your Windows or Mac computer, allowing you to pin apps for quick access. It can be set to the left or right side of your phone and is independent from the apps pinned on your homescreen.

Design and display

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is a lovely thing to look at and touch. It is using the exact same hinge as its predecessor, but comes with a reinforced frame and upgraded screens. Yet, the Flips have always been as much fashion accessories as phones so the nicer design it flaunts is arguably at least as important.

The Galaxy Z Flip3 comes in seven color options - Cream, Green, Lavender, Phantom Black, Gray, White and Pink - all of which accented by the black Gorilla Glass DX for the camera island - this foldable is fit for all types of people.

The frame is made of the same Armor Aluminum as the bigger foldable and its color is matched to the phone's glass panel. That glass panel is also matte and covers smudges and fingerprints nicely.

The glass bit on top (unfolded), where the two 12MP cameras reside, is the only glossy portion on the phone. It appears black, but is more of a dark grey color, which shimmers and darkens depending on the reflection.

The Galaxy Z Flip3 5G folds mostly flat. There's hardly a gap between the two parts of the phone.

There's a volume rocker high up on the right side of the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G. Below it is the capacitive fingerprint scanner. The SIM slot is on the opposite side.

The USB-C port and main loudspeaker grille are on the bottom.

Unfolded, the 6.7-inch screen has a smaller crease than the 7.6-inch one on the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G. The screen sits slightly below the plastic bezel for extra protection, while the lack of gap when the phone is closed ensures no dust will get in.

The display is lovely. It's crisp, bright, fast-refreshing and vibrant. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G uses a conventional punch hole 10MP selfie camera.

The cover screen is much bigger this year - 1.9-inch, up from 1.1-inch. It has the same 302ppi density and is good enough to take selfies with either of the two main cameras.

Handling and software

The Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is very petite when closed. Thanks to its far more manageable weight of 183g it's much easier to carry in your pockets.

When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G remains relatively compact. It's narrower than the Galaxy S21+, which has the same screen diagonal, but taller.

When the phone is folded, you can do a lot with its cover screen. It's more adept at showing notifications than its 1.1-inch predecessor and is perfectly usable for adjusting quick settings like the phone's volume or changing a track on your music player. There are six widgets for the cover screen, including Weather, S Health step count and Samsung Pay, which will allow you to pay without opening up the phone.

When the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G is half-opened and placed on a flat surface, Flex Panel will kick in and move your app to the top half of the screen and shift controls like volume to the bottom one. This may be handy to watch a video or do a video chat with someone with the phone supporting itself like some sort of miniature laptop.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic usher Samsung into the world or Wear OS. Samsung calls it Wear OS Powered By Samsung and it unifies popular Samsung apps like Pay, S Health, Smart Things and Bixby with Google wearable apps like Maps.

The One UI Watch interface can also sync settings between your Galaxy smartphone and Galaxy Watch so if you set an alarm on your phone, the Watch will automaticaly get it as well. The same goes for Do Not Disturb schedules. And if you install an app on your phone that also has a Wear OS version, it will automatically be downloaded on the Galaxy Watch4.

Perhaps the biggest improvement with the Galaxy Watch4 series is the Exynos W920 chipset, which is specifically designed for smartwatches. It's a 5nm SoC with two Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G68 GPU. Samsung claims a 20% boost in CPU performance, 50% increase in RAM and a reported 10 times faster GPU, which should make the Galaxy Watch4 series much faster than their predecessors. Plus with most Wear OS wearables powered by 12nm and 28nm chipsets you can imaging the kind of efficiency advantage this one has.

The Galaxy Watch4 comes with a seamless cover glass, an aluminum case and is available in either 40mm or 44mm casings. The Galaxy Watch4 Classic brings back the rotating bezel and uses a stainless steel casing in either 46mm or 42mm sizes.

Samsung promises up to 40 hours of battery life and 2 hours to fully recharge - hardly spectacular numbers, but not too bad considering all that it going on inside.

Prices for the Galaxy Watch4 start at €269/£259, while the Galaxy Watch4 Classic is €369/£369.

Samsung Galaxy Buds2

The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 are Samsung's lightest buds yet and they come with all the features you want. There's active noise cancellation, which Samsung claims can mute up to 98% of the noise around you, a new and improved Ambient Sound mode so that you can hear your surroundings while on the go.

The Galaxy Buds2 come in four color options - White, Black, Lavender and Olive and they're neatly accented on the buds and the inside of the case. The outside is always white.

Three microphones ensure good sound quality during calls and the Buds2 will filter-out noise during calls.

The Galaxy Buds2 will be available from August 27, priced at €149/£139.

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