Are Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Z Flip 3 Still for Enthusiasts — or Good Enough for Everyone?

This week’s episode of Orbital is all about Samsung’s new foldables.

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 20 August 2021 16:02 IST

Are Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Z Flip 3 Still for Enthusiasts — or Good Enough for Everyone?

Photo Credit: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 (above) and Galaxy Z Flip 3 have a number of upgrades over their predecessors

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are the two new foldable phones by the South Korean smartphone giant, available in September in India. Both were unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event last week with Samsung's usual pomp and show. Now that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 have been launched in India, with prices fairly competitive with top-of-the-line smartphones, we wonder whether these next-gen foldables are good enough for everyone — or are they still only for enthusiasts.

This week on the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host Akhil Arora speaks with Reviews Editor Jamshed Avari and Deputy Reviews Editor Roydon Cerejo to talk about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 price in India begins at Rs. 1,49,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The pricing is identical to what the company chose for its Galaxy Z Fold 2 last year. Except this time, Samsung has also decided to bring the top-end 12GB + 512GB option of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to India that is priced at Rs. 1,57,999.

In contrast, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 price in India begins at Rs. 84,999 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and Rs. 88,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model. The pricing is significantly lower this time when compared with the Rs. 1,09,999 price tag that came with the Galaxy Z Flip last year.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 comes with a starting price of Rs. 84,999
Photo Credit: Samsung

Additionally, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are bundled with an instant cashback of up to Rs. 7,000 on purchases made using an HDFC Bank card. Customers can alternatively get an upgrade voucher of up to Rs. 7,000 that can be availed when exchanging and old smartphone. Samsung is also offering a full year of subscription-based Samsung Care+ Accidental and Liquid Damage Protection that is worth Rs. 7,999 on pre-booking the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Rs. 4,799 on pre-booking the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3 With Water-Resistant Build Launched: Price, Specifications

On the hardware front, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 comes with better resolution for both its folding and cover [outer] displays. The cover display has also been upgraded with up to 120Hz refresh rate to deliver an enhanced viewing experience. Further, there is S Pen support to bring traditional note-taking capabilities and allow users to draw doodles on the foldable screen.

Samsung has also used an under-display camera on the inner folding screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to give a futuristic feel to users. Based on what we've seen so far though, the new camera tech has however, not yet matured, and its image quality may not be as high as a traditional sensor. After all, the camera is looking through a screen, though expect a deeper look in our review, soon.

On the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, you're getting a better pixel count on the folding display and a larger cover display that is of 1.9-inch in size — 0.8-inch larger over the Galaxy Z Flip that had a 1.1-inch display. It might seem like a small gain, but that's nearly a 73 percent improvement.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 Foldable Phones Arrive in India: Price, Specifications, Launch Offers

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 is also a bit slimmer in design over the original Galaxy Z Flip — at 17.1mm thickness when folded and 6.9mm when unfolded. By comparison, the original Z Flip measured 17.3mm and 7.2mm, respectively. Again, slim margins but meaningful.

With the compelling hardware in place, Samsung could likely give a tough fight to similarly priced flagships including the iPhone 12 Pro Max, OnePlus 9 Pro, and the Mi 11 Ultra. Of course, foldables is a new category in itself, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison for most buyers.

The new foldables in the Galaxy Z series also have some software tweaks from Samsung to provide improved user experiences. Further, there are upgrades from Microsoft on its proprietary apps to support the foldable form factor in a better way than before.

We talk about all this and much more, so listen to our complete discussion by hitting the play button on the Spotify player embedded above.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Large, vibrant folding display
Intuitive software for multitasking
Top-tier performance
Great-sounding speakers
Water-resistant design

Bad
Average battery life
Cameras could do better in low light
Heavy, bulky when folded
Expensive

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review

Display (Primary) 7.60-inch

Processor octa-core

Front Camera 10-megapixel + 4-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB

Battery Capacity 4400mAh

OS Android 11

Resolution 2208x1768 pixels

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Vibrant folding display
Very good build quality, easily pocketable
Top-tier performance
Water-resistant design

Bad
Main screen washes out under sunlight
Cover screen could be more functional
Weak battery life, slow charging
Low-light video could be better

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review

Display (Primary) 6.70-inch

Processor octa-core

Front Camera 10-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 3300mAh

OS Android 11

Resolution 1080x2640 pixels

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Samsung Galaxy, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 price in India, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 price in India, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung, podcast, Gadgets 360 podcast, Orbital