Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: Our first 24 hours By Engadget

Sam saw may have unleashed four whole new phones earlier this week at his unpacked event in San Francisco, but it is the Galaxy Z flip that has people flipping out and based on our brief, hands-on time with it at Samsung's event, we already were very impressive, but I got some extended time with a sample unit here in New York and here's what I think about this device after just a few hours with it out in the wild. So first, I have to admit that when the galaxy full first was previewed and teased, I didn't think it was such a big deal. I think the technology was impressive, but I really couldn't see the point in having such a device. However, the Galaxy Z flip has me changing my mind. This thing is the size of a regular smartphone, but because it has a folding screen, you can basically turn it into half the normal size. So this is much more pocket-friendly.

It's basically the size of a tiny wallet and this flexible glass display using what Samsung calls ultra-thin glass makes. The whole thing just feel so much more durable than the Motorola Razr and the Galaxy fold and other folding devices we've seen in the past. I spent a lot of time with the Galaxy Z flip, comparing it side by side to the Motorola Razr and the biggest difference between these two really is that screen. This is a dynamic AMOLED screen with a 21-point nine by nine aspect ratio. It's got 1080p issue resolution and because it is a folding screen.

After all, there, it's still the hint of a crease there, but you really have to look for it. It's not really visible if you're looking at the phone face on, but if you're kind of glancing at it off at an angle, you'll spot it. It's not such a big deal, though it's just really something that we've gotten used to at least I have, after covering folding phones for a while. The other thing I just wanted to do over and over again with the Galaxy Z flip was just to kind of fold it shut on someone while I was midway through a conversation and hang up on them. I was able to do this with my coworker Chris Velasco.

However, because this hinge is so sturdy at angle, you can't really get kind of a full snapshot at the end, you're, not getting something that you know feels very vindictive when you shut it closed, it's not it loud. Snappy shut clothes that you're going to get, but it still feels somewhat satisfying. Now this is supposed to be a 24-hour alone unit, but in that short amount of time, I've already come to learn how to really maneuver this device with one hand very easily I can already open it and shut it with just one hand, it's really a testament to how well I think Samsung's managed to design this thing. The glass feels sturdy enough that I don't feel bad about using it as kind of flex point to shut the device altogether. Just pushing my thumb into that screen doesn't feel like it would break the device, and that's really saying something.

Speaking of that hinge, this is a much improved version over the Motorola Razr Samsung has managed to engineer its hinge so that it's able to stop it. Basically, whichever angle, you want to leave it at Samsung's, calling it the free stop system and what's extra clever about the Galaxy flip, it's that there is a flex mode software that comes on. Basically, whenever you have the phone propped up to slightly smaller than say a hundred degrees, and it will split the screen into two so that the interface basically makes use of the two halves of the display more intuitively. So far, this only works with the camera. The gallery app and duo, but Samsung, is all releasing the SDK and working with Google to make sure Android is able to support this on a wider scale in the future.

One final note about the hinge: there is a so-called fiber guard built into it to keep debris and detritus out of it. Obviously, it's not something that I can see, and it's not something that I really want to test with this sample unit. I have to give back at the end of the day, but I will say that I was able to just tuck this into my pocket and put it in my purse, which is usually littered with bread crumbs for some reason, by the way and I didn't feel like I. You know this device was going to break just from a stray loose bread crumb caught in its hinge or caught in the mechanism. So this really feels like the most durable folding smartphone I have so far.

One of the things I did not like about the Galaxy fold was that when you shut it that front display, which is a four point, something inch screen just really isn't useful at all for using as a primary smartphone and the Galaxy Z flip sort of suffers from a similar problem. When you close the device, you'll use the one point, one inch touch sensitive window next to the cameras to see things like your battery life indicator or say when you have a message pop up, it'll scroll through, but that's pretty much it. You can also use this tiny sliver over screen as a viewfinder for when you're taking a selfie with the camera. Next to it, it's not something you want to rely on for framing up your engagement photo, for example, but in the pinch, if you're trying to get a selfie really quickly, it's a good guide as to where you are in the frame. Speaking of the cameras, I found the pair of 12 megapixels shooters here just serviceable I mean this isn't the same setup as we have on the s20 or even the s10, but it's good enough because there's a regular sensor and then there's a wide-angle option that gives you up to 120 degrees field of view, so you can zoom out and get more of the New York City landscape, if you want to like I, did that's nice to have that added flexibility, but if you're someone who's used to the advanced setup on sale, Huawei, p3 pro or even an iPhone 10s, you might not find this good enough open up these galaxies.

Ii flip, and you'll be using the 10 megapixel selfie camera up front. This really isn't my favorite setup for selfies I didn't find it as nice, as my pixels selfie camera, for example, but what I did like about it is that combined with this free stop hinge on the Galaxy Z flip. You can use it to make video calls very easily, because the Z flip can basically be propped up on his own and serve as its own tripod sort of you can have hands-free video calls and not have to scramble and look for something to lean. Your phone up against. This would have been very handy for me when I was calling my family over Chinese, New, Year and I had to have two oranges and both of my hands, and it still I have a call with them.

I was I had to go, see, Z flip, then, and honestly, if you're, someone who does a lot of video calls with people or wants to run an Instagram TV show. This might be a very good option for you, after some time with the Gulf's easy flip out in the wild I feel like some novelty of being to open and close. It has sort of worn off and, more importantly, I, wanted to know how does it fare as a regular phone. My most amending tasks in this limited time of testing we're playing a game of NBA, Live or slacking people, while telegram installing apps. This thing has a snap you're gonna 855 processors in there, and it held up honestly.

This thing has been running pretty smoothly over these few hours. Obviously, we'd have to do more in-depth testing, though, to know how this fares against other devices. The other thing we wanted to get a sense of was battery, live and right. Now it's about three hours after I, fully charged out the device, and we've only got 70% of juice left, so the 3300 William hour battery here doesn't seem to last super long again. This is something we'd have to really want a more in-depth test on to know for sure, but I will say it did take a while to get this device up from 60-ish percent to a hundred percent so fast charge here, maybe a little slow to you can get the Galaxy Z flip.

That is, if you can find one for thirteen eighty dollars and that's a hundred and twenty dollars is cheaper than Motorola's razor, which launched last week. My coworker Chris Velasco's review of that just went live. You can check his in-depth impressions there, but suffice to say the calyx easy flip just as far and a way to superior phone right. Now it has better guns. It's got a Snapdragon, a 55 instead of a Snapdragon 730.

That Motorola is using. It's got a better camera setup and really the only thing that the Motorola Razr has going for it over the Galaxy Z flip is that its external display is a much larger and therefore much more useful, 2.7 inches. The other major difference between the razor and the galaxy flip is that screen when you are closing and opening the Motorola Razr you'll notice that plastic OLED display that Motorola uses sort of pops in and out of the mechanism, and it feels almost like a roll of scotch tape that someone tried to paste back into the roll, but then do so perfectly, and so there's a little of creasing and there's a little of popping in and out that doesn't feel great for something you paid $1,500, for it also makes it really concerning creaking noise. As you fold, it opens and shut those just don't instill a lot of confidence and the overall durability of the Motorola Razr compared that to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip, which opens and closes almost noiselessly. It's just a really different in a much more premium and finish experience for more in-depth impressions of the LCD flip.

After more than a few hours with the device, we are working on a full review so make sure you subscribe to Engadget for that and for all the news on folding phones or other flagship smartphones out of the world of consumer tech.

Source : Engadget