Thoughts on the Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3 – Tech News Podcast Ep.3

This day in tech news with your host Joshua Pack

Let’s talk about Samsung newest phones. They fold, they flip, they cost a lot of money. Well, at least the Z Fold 3 does. It is still cheaper than its previous generation, the Z Fold 2. The Z Fold 2 cost $1999 when it first released, whereas the Z Fold 3 released at the starting price of $1799. A good $200 difference with many improvements a year later.

Z Fold 3

I really think this years Z Fold 3 is amazing! It’s priced decently for a tablet that folds into a phone. What differences is it compared to last years model?

120hz refresh rate compared to last years 60hz
Gorilla Glass Victus on the small glass screen
Snapdragon 888
Internal Under Display Camera
Lighter weight
SPen Support
IPX8 Certified

But here’s the thing. The inside screen, is still easily scratched, granted, it must be a lot stronger, since we can use a specially made SPen on it. I love that they were able to get the phone IPX8 certified. Which means, any accidental water will not ruin the phone. Which for me, has happened before and ruined one of my older phones. But, no dust resistance, which means, don’t drop it at the beach or have super linty pockets.

The biggest let down for me, is the small 4MP Under Display Camera. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why they did this. They want us to enjoy the inside screen full width with no distractions. Which, I think does decently. Yeah, certain angles you can see it, but when watching content, not only do you not see it, but, it looks good straight on. What I do not like about it, is the quality of the pictures and videos you get from it. There are major issues, most likely which could have been solved with a high MP count and better post processing. The only thing usable is if you are in a zoom meeting or any type of video meeting where quality of the video doesn’t matter at all.

I think that was the point of it truthfully. Since, you can still take great photos on the smaller screen and main rear cameras. The UDC won’t be used very much. For $1,800 though, you kind of feel like they could have done better. But this is what we get when it’s their first iteration of new technology.

That’s the thing with new technologies, we, as the consumers, are beta testers. Still, all in all, a great looking phone. I look forward to seeing reviews on this device.

Z Flip 3

Now let’s talk about the Z Flip 3. This was the biggest change year of year compared to the last generation Z Flip 5G, which was their version 2 of the Z Flip.

Price starts at $999 compared to last years $1449
Bigger Cover screen
Better processor Snapdragon 888
IPX8 water resistance
120hz compared to 60hz on the last modal

This phone is very impressive, and I could see owning this phone. At a good starting price of $999, it’s the most affordable foldable phone yet. Not only that, but you can get it for free with a trade in at any of the major carriers (Verizon/Tmobile/AT&T).

I think this is the first time we will see recommendations from the tech community in purchasing foldable devices for even regular consumers. I am personally not getting a foldable device until it becomes a bit more mature, but, this is very exciting news!

From multiple unreliable twitter sources, I have seen that the preorders are out selling the Note20s preorders. Which is good news for Samsung and Foldables.

Some bad news about the Z Flip 3, it looks like no SPen support and Sam mobile reports that Samsung DeX is not available on it. If you need those things, then this phone is a pass, although it is possible for a software update to allow both. Although more likely we’ll see the Dex then SPen support because of hardware.

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Please like and subscribe and let me know in the comments what you think about these 2 foldable phones!

Have a good one, thanks bye.