Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are the two new foldable phones from the South Korean smartphone giant, which will be available in India in September. Both were unveiled last week at the Galaxy Unpacked event with Samsung’s usual pomp and circumstance. Now that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 have launched in India, with prices quite competitive with top-of-the-line smartphones, we’re left wondering if these next-gen foldable are good enough for everyone — or are they? They are still only for enthusiasts.
This week on the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host Akhil Arora speaks with Review Editor Jamshed Avari and Deputy Reviews Editor Roydon Cerejo to talk about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 price in India starts at Rs. 1.49.999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The pricing is identical to what the company chose for its Galaxy Z Fold 2 last year. Except for this time, Samsung has also decided to bring the top-end 12GB + 512GB option of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to India, which costs Rs. 1.57.999.
In contrast, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 in India starts at Rs. 84,999 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and Rs. 88,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model. The price is significantly lower this time as compared to the Rs. The 1.09999 price tag that came with the Galaxy Z Flip last year.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 has a starting price of Rs. 84.999. Photo Credit: Samsung.
In addition, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are bundled with an instant cashback of up to Rs. 7,000 on purchases made with an HDFC bank card. Customers can also get an upgrade voucher of up to Rs. 7,000 that can be used when exchanging an old smartphone. Samsung also offers a full year of subscription-based Samsung Care+ Accidental and Liquid Damage Protection worth Rs. 7,999 when pre-booking the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Rs. 4,799 when pre-booking the Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3 with water-resistant construction launched: price, specifications.
As for the hardware, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a better resolution for both the folding and the case [outer] shows. The cover display has also been upgraded with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz for an enhanced viewing experience. Furthermore, S Pen supports taking traditional notes and allows users to draw doodles on the foldable screen.
Samsung has also used an under-display camera on the inner folding screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to give users a futuristic feel. However, based on what we’ve seen, the new camera technology hasn’t matured yet, and the image quality may not be as high as a traditional sensor. After all, the camera looks through a screen, but expect a deeper look in our review soon.
On the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, you get a better pixel count on the foldable screen and a larger cover screen of 1.9 inches – 0.8 inches larger than the Galaxy Z Flip with a 1.1-inch screen. It may seem like a small gain, but that’s an improvement of nearly 73 percent.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 foldable phones arrive in India: price, specs, launch offers.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 is also a bit slimmer in design than the original Galaxy Z Flip – measuring 17.1mm when folded and 6.9mm when unfolded. The original Z Flip measures 17.3mm and 7.2mm, respectively. Again, these are small margins but meaningful.
With the convincing hardware, Samsung could probably put up an uphill battle against similarly priced flagships, including the iPhone 12 Pro Max, OnePlus 9 Pro, and the Mi 11 Ultra. Foldable is a new category in its own right, so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison for most buyers.
The new foldable in the Galaxy Z series also has some software tweaks from Samsung to provide improved user experiences. Furthermore, there are upgrades from Microsoft on its apps to support the foldable form factor better than before.
We talk about all this and more, so listen to our full discussion by hitting the play button on the Spotify player embedded above.
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