Samsung’s
new folding Z Flip has impressed us in our full evaluation course of. CNET editor Jessica Dolcourt even went as far as to name it “the most effective foldable telephone I’ve ever used.” Massive phrases, when the competitors is heating up with the likes of the Motorola Razr, Huawei Mate X and Samsung’s personal
Galaxy Fold
. However if you happen to’re bought on this new bending expertise — and you’ll abdomen the $1,380 (£1,300) worth — listed here are six issues it’s best to have in mind earlier than splashing your money.
Learn extra: Galaxy Z Flip 3 is $1,000 and not seems to be like a foldable drink coaster
1. Folks will ask you about it
The Z Flip is arguably the best-looking folding telephone to date, significantly within the flashy purple shade choice. It folds into a beautiful neat sq. and transforms right into a vibrant, full-screen telephone. That kind of factor catches the attention and I’ve already had a number of individuals asking me about it once I’m out and about, and I’ve overheard a number of whispers of, “Oh, that is that new folding telephone.”
Does that matter? Properly, depends upon your sensibilities. On the one hand, if you happen to’re the shy, retiring kind then it’s possible you’ll discover this a bit of embarrassing. Nonetheless, you most likely do not spend that kind of money on new expertise with out wanting to point out it off a bit of, so my suggestion could be to embrace it and use it as a dialog starter. See if you happen to can impress a barman sufficient to get a free drink.
Learn: Galaxy Z Flip: 3 months later, I adore it however nonetheless do not advocate it
Watch this: Galaxy Z Flip is the most effective foldable telephone to date
2. The digital camera is just OK
The digital camera is, for me, one of many extra disappointing facets of the telephone. With such a excessive worth, I might count on each factor of the telephone to be completely cutting-edge, with digital camera capabilities equalling any of right now’s top-end telephones. That is not fairly the case with the Z Flip.
Its twin rear cameras provide an ordinary and a superwide view, and whereas each are advantageous for on a regular basis snaps, they are not up there with the most effective. Colours usually look very oversaturated and the dearth of a zoom lens means if you wish to get close-up of your topic, it’s important to use the digital zoom — at an enormous value to picture high quality.
It lacks the dual-aperture mode of even final yr’s most inexpensive Galaxy S10E and at 12 megapixels, its superwide lens is lower-resolution than the S10e’s 16 megapixels. It isn’t a nasty digital camera by any means, however it’s value maintaining in thoughts that you simply’re not getting flagship-level picture capabilities for the flagship-level worth.
3. You have to watch out of mud and water
Many latest flagships — the Galaxy S10 and S20, the
iPhone 11
and varied others — have earned IP rankings that imply they’re protected towards mud and water. The folding mechanism of the Z Flip, nonetheless, implies that no such protections are claimed right here. We’re again to the outdated days of getting to obsessively shield your telephone from the weather.
Meaning it’s best to assume twice about taking that decision within the rain, and it is value ensuring you haven’t any common detritus within the pocket the place you retain your telephone. A latest check by iFixit confirmed that it is simple to get mud clogged up contained in the Z Flip. One thing to bear in mind as soon as you have unboxed your expensive new gadget.
![Samsung Galaxy Z Flip](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/ff6241a2401700808cca1eae90620ffae984dbd8/hub/2020/02/14/d3326c03-de18-4012-85fa-4320eb1ceeb9/01-samsung-galaxy-z-flip.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
4. The surface display is a bit annoying
The Z Flip has a small pill-shaped show on the skin of the telephone. It is designed to point out you incoming notifications when the telephone is closed, and may even act as a small digital camera viewfinder for taking selfies.
As Jessica places it: “Sadly, it is too small, squat and slender to actually do something significant with” and it is awkward to correctly learn any notifications on the tiny display, making it a lot simpler to simply open the telephone as an alternative. As a digital camera viewfinder, its small measurement means it would not present the entire picture you take, so composing a bunch selfie is troublesome.
![](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/47eb0a23c7a2fdaead9c4ea2973e88d8081301f2/hub/2020/02/19/8f70c593-e594-4004-9245-424acb69ca27/ac-021920.jpg?auto=webp&width=768)
Watch this: Galaxy Z Flip display reportedly has issues
5. Battery life is not nice
In our looping video battery rundown exams, the telephone achieved 15 hours of run time from a full cost. That is on the decrease finish of what we would count on from a telephone. By comparability, the Galaxy S10 Plus achieved 21 hours in the identical check, as did the Galaxy Observe 10 Plus.
With cautious use you could possibly get a full time out of the telephone, however if you happen to’re planning on hitting the city proper after work, be sure to’ve given it a top-up if you would like sufficient energy to name a cab dwelling on the finish of the night time.
![Samsung Galaxy Z Flip](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/48af2c833a08d91a690e7fa7b36dbf8b4b2ed8b8/hub/2020/02/14/caab4bd3-dfcd-454b-953e-3542bb710d4f/28-samsung-galaxy-z-flip.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
6. There is not any 5G
Whereas 5G should be a yr or extra away from turning into the usual community connection for all our telephones, it is turning into more and more widespread around the globe. You might not be bothered about 5G proper now, however once you’re spending a lot cash in your telephone, it is probably you may wish to maintain onto it for at the least a few years. (A $1,450 5G-enabled model of the Galaxy Z Flip was introduced in July).
Will you be so ambivalent about superfast 5G on the finish of 2020? As you enter 2021, will you look down at your expensive folding telephone and want that it may stream video games as easily as your mates on their 5G connections? Perhaps, perhaps not. I will not say it is a deal-breaker however it’s actually value contemplating, significantly as Samsung’s 5G-enabled S20 Extremely is just marginally costlier.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip impresses from virtually each angle
See all images