The camera performance of Samsung's second foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip, is on par with 2018 flagships. That's according to imaging experts at DxOMark who awarded the Galaxy Z Flip 105 points on their non-finite scale in their latest review. The rating puts Samsung's futuristic flip phone in the ballpark of the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Huawei P20 Pro, further underlining the compromises Samsung had to make in order to make foldable handsets more affordable.
More specifically, the Galaxy Z Flip's dual-camera setup just barely beats Samsung's top 2018 devices. Put through the same series of standardized tests, the Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note 9 scored 100 and 103 points, respectively.
Galaxy Z Flip cameras are good enough, just not exceptional
The image benchmarking authority had no major qualms with the Galaxy Z Flip's camera, deeming it good enough for both photography and video. Perhaps its biggest drawback in capturing stills is slow autofocus, especially in low-light conditions. Truth be told, that's hardly an area smartphones have been excelling at anyway. As for videography performance, the review lists largely opposite pros and cons, praising autofocusing speeds and criticising the Galaxy Z Flip's dynamic range.
Curiously enough, DxOMark also found some issues with the Galaxy Z Flip's handling of colors in outdoor scenes, reporting the device occasionally delivers desaturated images. Not only is that the opposite of what it said about its still photography capabilities but also stands in contrast to the most common points of criticism reviewers had with Samsung's image processing software in the past.
Ultimately, DxOMark acknowledged the unique circumstances that led to the creation of the Galaxy Z Flip, admitting it would be unfair to compare the device to more conventional smartphones with rigid screens. The whole point of its existence was for Samsung to make bendable mobile screens more accessible to the masses, which it ultimately managed to do, delivering a device that's $600 cheaper than last year's Galaxy Fold while sporting only slightly inferior hardware.
None of this is an argument against buying the Galaxy Z Flip but merely a reminder that doing so should primarily be motivated by the appeal of its form factor, not its photography prowess.
