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Sorry, but Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip doesn't make any sense in our modern smartphone world

Published: Feb 17, 2020, 9:10 AM

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This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip doesn't make sense in our modern smartphone world

Samsung's brand new Galaxy Z Flip has just launched in stores at a price of nearly $1,400, and it is a really cool take on a type of phone most people used in the 90s and have fond memories of: the clamshell foldable phone.

But unlike many of those cute phones from the recent past that were hugely successful (the Razr!), the Galaxy Z Flip is a limited edition launch and if you really think about it, it doesn't make any sense in our modern smartphone world.

The problem is not in the crease or even the folding mechanism (even though we have already seen it fail on some people within less than a couple of days of use). The problem is on a conceptual level and it starts with the way we use our phones these days.

To understand this reason, just look at this chart showing how many times the average person would unlock their phone:

#1 Notification hell

Imagine reading notifications on that tiny screen

What you see below is the latest data we could find about the number of times the average user unlocks their phone, but obviously it is a bit old and chances are that those numbers have only grown in the current moment. But even if we assume that the average person unlocks their phone just 50 times per day, imagine how every single time you want to check your notifications you have to unfold the Galaxy Z Flip just to see what kind of notification just buzzed. On busy days or when you are chatting with multiple people on social media, this process of closing and opening a foldable phone has every chance of becoming extremely tedious and annoying.

Number of daily unlocks according to data from August 2018, Statista

And while Motorola, the other company that makes its own clamshell foldable phone, has thought about this and includes a display big enough to read your notifications without unfolding the phone, Samsung only has a tiny, 1.1-inch screen that shows the date and time, and not much else.

#2 Last year's camera on a phone that costs a small fortune

No telephoto camera, no Space Zoom, no new sensors

Let us quickly remind you the price of the Galaxy Z Flip: $1,380. Plus taxes, of course.

At such a sky-high price, you would hope you get the very best piece of phone machinery available, but that is simply not the case with the Z Flip.

This honor remains for the Galaxy S20 Ultra, a phone with an incredible new camera system that features a 108-megapixel main camera and a periscope lens that gives you 10X Hybrid Optic zoom, and up to 100X digital magnification, plus a few other extras like 8K video.

None of those newest camera technologies make their way to the Z Flip: it doesn't even have a telephoto camera! Samsung uses a 12-megapixel main sensor and an ultra-wide camera, a set up that is less versatile than the camera on the Galaxy S10 that you can now buy for half the price of the Z Flip.

#3 Battery smaller than on any other flagship

Oh, and did we mention that the Galaxy Z Flip ranks last in terms of battery size, the only thing that might matter more than the camera to users.

The Z Flip comes with a dual battery cell split between that top and bottom parts, and together this combination works out to a 3,300mAh battery capacity, barely enough to last users through a full day of use.

Compare this with the massive, 5,000mAh battery on the Galaxy S20 Ultra and you will see quite the stark contrast.

Other shortcomings

There are many other shortcomings of the Galaxy Z Flip: first is probably its lack of 5G connectivity. 5G doesn't matter much right now, but it's quickly developing and shaping to be the connectivity standard of the future, and you simply won't get those speeds on the Z Flip.

Then, there is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, but you kind of expected this if you have been following Samsung.

And even one of the big selling points of this phone, the fact that it folds in a compact half-size brick of a normal phone, it is one thick brick measuring nearly 0.67 inches! That's almost like carrying a hockey puck in your pocket.

Considering all of this, do you still think it's a cool idea to spend $1,400 on a phone just to be able to theatrically slam it shut after an annoying phone call?

reference: Statista (Average unlocks per day among smartphone users in the United States as of August 2018)

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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.