Galaxy Z Flip 3 — Samsung hasn’t fixed the biggest problem

Galaxy Z Flip 3 — Samsung hasn't fixed the biggest problem

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Samsung has made a large splash with the Galaxy Z Flip 3. With several big improvements over the original version and a much cheaper asking cost, there are now hushed whispers that this could be the first mainstream foldable phone. Nonetheless, tin can that really happen when Samsung has insisted on sticking with an embarrassingly minor bombardment?

In case you're not up to speed with the specs, the Z Flip 3 features a 3,300 mAh battery, the same chapters as the Galaxy Z Flip and way smaller than basically any other modern telephone. Users deserve more than for their $1,000, and it's disappointing that Samsung didn't alter this in the slightest.

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It'south not merely that the rated capacity is small - Apple tree'southward iPhone 12 line all have much smaller than average batteries for their size. Nonetheless, the iPhone 12 range still manages to achieve a decent battery life. The Z Flip certainly didn't, and the Z Flip three's chances don't seem much better.

Nosotros've yet to test how the Z Flip three lasts on our custom battery drain examination. However, nosotros have the results from the original Z Flip. It managed 8 hours and 16 minutes, which is still way behind the boilerplate result of around 10 hours. It did manage to do amend than the just comparable foldable phone, the Motorola Razr (2019), which lasted half-dozen hours and 8 minutes from its fifty-fifty smaller two,510 mAh bombardment.

Compare the Z Flip'due south results to other flagship phones of a similar toll, and things expect fifty-fifty worse. The 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max lasts an impressive ten hours and 53 minutes. Samsung'southward own Galaxy S21 Ultra, with its v,000 mAh battery, managed an fifty-fifty better 11 hours and 25 minutes. Is having that unique clamshell pattern really worth over three hours of battery life? I'yard non sure it is.

However, at that place are some things that get in the Z Flip 3'southward favor that the original didn't have. First off, it'south much cheaper than the original. At $999 for the bones model (downwards from $ane,299), it's $100 cheaper than the iPhone 12 Pro Max and $200 cheaper than the S21 Ultra. Perhaps saving that chip of cash will showtime the frustration at that tiny battery.

Secondly, the Z Flip 3 has increased the size of its external brandish. The 1.i-inch notification window from the showtime Z Flip has developed into a ane.ix-inch touchscreen that y'all tin actually control the telephone with. This in theory means you'll demand to open the master 6.vii-inch display less frequently, and therefore use less battery. Add together to that the small tweaks and improvements to the operating system and apps that Samsung's probable made since last year, and perhaps the Z Flip three has a chance of lasting equally long as your boilerplate smartphone.

We'll have to get back to you on how long the Z Flip 3 in our testing. We tin can't deny that Samsung's new clamshell foldable, similar its bigger sibling, is an impressive piece of technology with its flexible 120Hz inner screen, tougher, h2o-resistant frame and upgraded embrace display. Information technology's just a shame that ane of the central parts of whatsoever smartphone has seemingly been neglected in all the excitement.

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Richard is a Tom'south Guide staff author based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, audio and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Annals and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking well-nigh how to brew the perfect cup of specialty java.