Flippin' fun

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 can no longer bank on being different to sell. It just needs to be a bit ‘normal’.

- Sambit Satpathy

SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FLIP 3

Smartphones, with their similar boxy designs, all look like illegitimate children of one another. Samsung broke that monotony when it introduced the world to its series of foldable phones. While far from perfect, they were different, and hinted at the myriad of possibilities.

Now into its third iteration, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 can no longer just bank on being different to sell. It needs to be usable, take the competition seriously, and overall just be more ‘normal’. At first glance, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 looks exactly the same as what we saw a couple of years ago. It resembles a normal (tall-ish) smartphone when open, and a compact mirror when closed. But why change something that continues to attract attention? Instead, Samsung seems to have focused on improvements.

This time around, the body and hinges are made of a material called ‘Armour Aluminium’, which sounds like something King Arthur’s knights would wear. This new material however has done the trick, and the phone feels sturdier than before, and gives you more confidence to frequently open and close the phone.

Everything hinges on it The hinge mechanism feels more refined than the previous iterations, but continues to be tight. This means you can’t flick the phone open like Channing Tatum in that gym scene from She’s the Man. But at least you can look cool while closing it with one hand.