Samsung launches Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 foldables

[HEXUS]

No big changes but design refinements, increased durability, and keener pricing welcome.

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[Rob_B]

I'm more interested in the Flip than the Fold as for the size I could live with the compromises whereas the Fold doesn't have the same excuse. Although it's still an expensive Samsung :/

[Terbinator]

The Fold in my eyes at least would make something like xCloud etc actually playable on the go if you are travelling or rely on those services for your gaming fix.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Flip might actually be quite strong too. I can see you being able to drop it and not worry about the screen having issues.

[Spud1]

"No big changes" is a bit subjective - i'd argue the under display camera & water proofing are both rather large changes here - you could add the S-Pen support to that list too for those who are interested.

It's another big leap forward in making foldables a viable device for the mass market once the price comes down - getting closer to hardware feature parity with the more mainstream "slab" phones. The fold 2 was admittedly a bigger leap forward being a lot more doable than the first fold, alongside many other big improvements. My fold 2 has been through some abuse recently (hard drops from a height, some screen impacts that terrified me)..but its not got a single mark or scratch on it.

Got my pre-order in yesterday for a black Fold 3 - a little dissapointed they only offered £600 as trade in for the fold 2, but thats still £100 more than most phone recycling companies and roughly what they go for on ebay, so could be worse. Combined with cashback and the 10% referral discount it comes in at £820 for the upgrade...still silly expensive but could have been a lot worse!

Fingers crossed they don't mess up the deliveries this year and they have enough stock to fulfil pre orders. You'd hope they have planned better this time around and won't be quite as caught out by the high demand!

[Kanoe]

I've been waiting since all year for the Sony Xperia 1 III to drop but it has yet to surface and the Flip will be cheaper and I kind of like the idea of having a phone that easily fits in a pocket again.

[Spud1]

I've been waiting since all year for the Sony Xperia 1 III to drop but it has yet to surface and the Flip will be cheaper and I kind of like the idea of having a phone that easily fits in a pocket again.

I had the Xperia 1 ii for a month - be very, very sure you want a 21:9 phone like that before you buy one, they do not easily fit into pockets due to their length, and I had big problems with the proximity sensor too as a result of it's length (apparently my face isn't long enough! You have to be very careful with placement on your face or the sensors will keep turning the screen on)...it was a painful experience that cost me a few hundred £ in the end when I changed to a fold 2. A shame as the camera was really nice and I do like the 21:9 aspect ratio for watching content...the device just did a bad job as a phone.

Unlike the fold 2 (and now 3)...which works as a phone, AND fits in my pocket

[Ttaskmaster]

If I had the money for such things, I'd really be torn between the two.
I love the idea of a massive screen that folds down to a sensible size, although it only seems sensible when compared to today's already massive smartphones.
But that Flip really is taking phones back to proper pocket size, so looks insanely cute and desirable to me.

Just thinking back to when people made fun of me because I still had a flip phone, and because I preferred dinky little phones to massive slabs, despite them being the same people that also made fun of others when their phones were getting bigger. At this rate we'll be seeing foldable phones with physical QWERTies pretty soon!

[KultiVator]

The Fold in my eyes at least would make something like xCloud etc actually playable on the go if you are travelling or rely on those services for your gaming fix.

Given that Xbox gaming is in the 16:9 letterbox format, you probably won’t make a massive gain in the size of the gaming display… but the black borders will definitely be bigger ;-D

I can see the appeal of the Fold now it’s been through a couple of iterations, but I’m not the road warrior I once was, so it’s not a screaming priority. If it supports full-screen use with DJI’s drones, that might tempt me to splurge (the extra room for icons and overlays could be a game changer)… albeit a tablet is bigger still and cheaper.

[Spud1]

Given that Xbox gaming is in the 16:9 letterbox format, you probably won’t make a massive gain in the size of the gaming display… but the black borders will definitely be bigger ;-D

I can see the appeal of the Fold now it’s been through a couple of iterations, but I’m not the road warrior I once was, so it’s not a screaming priority. If it supports full-screen use with DJI’s drones, that might tempt me to splurge (the extra room for icons and overlays could be a game changer)… albeit a tablet is bigger still and cheaper.

xCloud works really well on the fold - I use it with a FlyDigi Wee 2T (£30 ish on banggood et al) and it fits in the controller perfectly in full screen mode. Plays well, and despite the borders you do get a boost to screen real estate.

I have mixed feelings about it with DJI drones though - it does support full screen for them and that is really nice for the reasons you specify - mostly the bigger video feed and less of a cluttered feeling....however it is a real tight squeeze to fit it into the controller securely, and I have to use a USB-C extension to plug it in safely. All works, but it is a bit of an extra faff when you just want to plug in and fly.

[Saracen999]

This one isn't for me. No phone at anything like that price is. Nor is one that big. I have no interest at all in gaming on a phone, nor in watching content on one, so it's too big as a phone (for me) and too small as a screen to watch stuff, even if it was at half that price. But then, it's no surprise. I'm a very reluctant member of generation smartphone, and have one because I need it for a couple of things, not because I want one or actually like them. I'm sure it'll sell pretty well, and I don't dispute that it's clever, but I don't want one even if it was given to me.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

"No big changes" is a bit subjective - i'd argue the under display camera & water proofing are both rather large changes here - you could add the S-Pen support to that list too for those who are interested.

It's another big leap forward in making foldables a viable device for the mass market once the price comes down - getting closer to hardware feature parity with the more mainstream "slab" phones. The fold 2 was admittedly a bigger leap forward being a lot more doable than the first fold, alongside many other big improvements. My fold 2 has been through some abuse recently (hard drops from a height, some screen impacts that terrified me)..but its not got a single mark or scratch on it.

Got my pre-order in yesterday for a black Fold 3 - a little dissapointed they only offered £600 as trade in for the fold 2, but thats still £100 more than most phone recycling companies and roughly what they go for on ebay, so could be worse. Combined with cashback and the 10% referral discount it comes in at £820 for the upgrade...still silly expensive but could have been a lot worse!

Fingers crossed they don't mess up the deliveries this year and they have enough stock to fulfil pre orders. You'd hope they have planned better this time around and won't be quite as caught out by the high demand!

How is the creasing on the screen over time? Its one of my main concerns with these kinds of phones,but a foldable screen does make the Z Flip more pocketable.

This one isn't for me. No phone at anything like that price is. Nor is one that big. I have no interest at all in gaming on a phone, nor in watching content on one, so it's too big as a phone (for me) and too small as a screen to watch stuff, even if it was at half that price. But then, it's no surprise. I'm a very reluctant member of generation smartphone, and have one because I need it for a couple of things, not because I want one or actually like them. I'm sure it'll sell pretty well, and I don't dispute that it's clever, but I don't want one even if it was given to me.

I do like the idea of the Z Flip,ie,it folds down like an old flip phone which means the screen gets more protection,and makes it easier to put in your pocket. Price is high,but hopefully in a few years the technology will get cheaper.

[Spud1]

How is the creasing on the screen over time? Its one of my main concerns with these kinds of phones,but a foldable screen does make the Z Flip more pocketable.

Honestly, its no different to when I first got the phone nearly a year ago. It's visible with the screen off or on dark content if you look for it, but in the majority of use cases I don't see it at all.

This is one area where removing the screen protector is advised - if you leave it on, the crease gets a lot more visible over time, and its also where it starts to lift (understandably). With the fold 2 Samsung are happy for you to remove the protector, its not "part of the screen" as with the fold 1, and it makes a noticeable difference.

The flip will indeed be more pocketable, but it's not for me - I use the external screen on my fold 2 a LOT..as well, its just a normal sized phone screen then - losing that for a bit more pocket ability would be a challenge imo. I'm also less convinced in the need for more vertical real estate - I think it's more targeted at those who use their phone for a lot of social media where you are constantly scrolling twitter/facebook or whatever, and makes sense for that use case - but I think its limited for other uses.

I'd keep an eye out for the original flip or the Fold 2 on ebay etc in the next few months - if you get a good one for £500ish on the fold 2 side, or £350 for the flip..you are in a good place imo.

[Rob_B]

A reminder for anyone with access to 'perksatwork' - You can get 10% off the pre-orders for these...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Honestly, its no different to when I first got the phone nearly a year ago. It's visible with the screen off or on dark content if you look for it, but in the majority of use cases I don't see it at all.

This is one area where removing the screen protector is advised - if you leave it on, the crease gets a lot more visible over time, and its also where it starts to lift (understandably). With the fold 2 Samsung are happy for you to remove the protector, its not "part of the screen" as with the fold 1, and it makes a noticeable difference.

The flip will indeed be more pocketable, but it's not for me - I use the external screen on my fold 2 a LOT..as well, its just a normal sized phone screen then - losing that for a bit more pocket ability would be a challenge imo. I'm also less convinced in the need for more vertical real estate - I think it's more targeted at those who use their phone for a lot of social media where you are constantly scrolling twitter/facebook or whatever, and makes sense for that use case - but I think its limited for other uses.

I'd keep an eye out for the original flip or the Fold 2 on ebay etc in the next few months - if you get a good one for £500ish on the fold 2 side, or £350 for the flip..you are in a good place imo.

Well I already got hold of a S20FE 5G,so probably not at least for a year or so! But Samsung now has committed to 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates for their phones,which is a selling point over the competition IMHO.

[Kanoe]

I had the Xperia 1 ii for a month - be very, very sure you want a 21:9 phone like that before you buy one, they do not easily fit into pockets due to their length, and I had big problems with the proximity sensor too as a result of it's length (apparently my face isn't long enough! You have to be very careful with placement on your face or the sensors will keep turning the screen on)...it was a painful experience that cost me a few hundred £ in the end when I changed to a fold 2. A shame as the camera was really nice and I do like the 21:9 aspect ratio for watching content...the device just did a bad job as a phone.

Unlike the fold 2 (and now 3)...which works as a phone, AND fits in my pocket

My current phone of the last 2+ years was the Xperia 1 so used to 21:9 now, was weird feeling at the start but love it now and the splitting it for 2 apps is nice especially when watching youtube as doesnt stop it playing.