It's a big day for Samsung. A year after it beat everyone to the punch with the world's first commercial foldable smartphone, the Korean giant has unveiled another foldable phone. Yes, as has been made abundantly clear, both by leaks and by Samsung itself, we're talking about the Galaxy Z Flip, a foldable phone that takes us back in time to when flip phones ruled the roost while bringing modern and never-before-seen functionality to the table.
Glass foldable display that can stay open at multiple angles
The Galaxy Z Flip is the world's first foldable phone with glass on its display. The 6.7-inch Infinity Flex AMOLED display on the Galaxy Z Flip is protected by ultra-thin glass that Samsung developed for its foldable devices, so it won't be as easy to damage as the foldable display on the Galaxy Fold. On the outside, there's a small 1.1-inch AMOLED display that can be used to check out the time, date, battery status, and notifications without unfolding the device.
The hinge that makes the foldable action possible has been upgraded as well: It can now allow the display to stay open at multiple angles, similar to a convertible laptop. That means you can use the phone itself as, say, a tripod for when you want to take selfies from far away or view a workout video as you try to shed some calories from the comfort of your home. Worries of dust and grime getting into the internals have been addressed as well. The ‘Hideaway Hinge', as Samsung calls it, uses nylon fibers on the inside to repel dirt and dust.
Flex mode splits the screen in half so you can do more at the same time
But the most interesting thing about the Galaxy Z Flip is Flex mode. Developed in partnership with Google exclusively for this phone, Flex mode splits the screen into two when the display is open at an angle. According to Samsung, you can then do things like viewing images on the top half and controlling them on the bottom or watching YouTube on the top half and browsing through other videos and the comments on the bottom screen. You can also multitask between two apps this way using Samsung's Multi-Active Window feature.
And unlike its direct clamshell foldable competitor, the Galaxy Z Flip packs some impressive specs as well. It's powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset and 8GB of RAM, and there's a dual camera at the back that consists of a 12MP Dual Pixel F1.8 optically stabilized main camera and a 12MP F2.2 ultra-wide camera with a field of view of 123 degrees. For selfies, there's a 10MP camera at the top of the 6.7-inch folding display.
Other specs include 256GB of storage, a 3,300 mAh battery, two SIM slots (one eSIM), full Samsung Pay support, and a fingerprint sensor mounted on the power button. Like the Galaxy S20 lineup, the Galaxy Z Flip runs Android 10 out of the box with version 2.1 of Samsung's One UI skin. Unfortunately, the Z Flip misses out on stereo speakers, a microSD slot, and support for 25W or 45W fast charging, and there doesn't seem to be any support for 5G connectivity, either.
Galaxy Z Flip can be yours starting February 14
The Galaxy Z Flip will go on sale very soon. You will be able to pick one up in the US and South Korea starting February 14 in Mirror Black and Mirror Purple, for a price tag of 1500 euros. A launch in more markets will follow later, along with the Mirror Gold color option in some countries. We will be uploading our hands-on experience with the device soon, so stay tuned to find out more about Samsung's stylish new foldable phone.
What do you think about the Galaxy Z Flip? Will you be picking one up when it goes on sale in your country?
