Samsung gives foldables another go with the Galaxy Z Flip
Samsung did a surprisingly good job keeping the Galaxy Fold under wraps, surprising the world with its first foldable this time last year during the Galaxy S10 unveil. When it came to the Galaxy Z Flip, on the other hand, the company just went ahead and showed the whole thing off during an Oscar ad buy. (Not to mention numerous Samsung employees playing around with the handsets in their seats this morning, ahead of unveil). Crazy world, these mobile phones.
Of course, that’s not to say we haven’t know about the Flip for a while now. Samsung teased out the Moto Razr-style form factor before it even officially announced the Fold. Samsung wanted to make it perfectly clear that the foldable wasn’t just a one and done situation for the company.
The company kicked today’s event off by unveiling the new foldable, which it claims is “like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” Which, well, isn’t exactly true.
Certainly the Z Flip form factor seems a more logical one, harkening back to pre-smartphone days of clamshell devices. Of course, the Razr has been running into its own issues after its recent release. Between that and — even more notable — the Fold’s myriad problems, the Z Flip will no doubt been under as much scrutiny as any handset in recent memory.
When opened, the screen is 6.7 inches. When closed, there isn’t much of a display, beyond a quick bar that offers time, notifications and battery life. The clam shell comes in three colors: black, purple and gold.
One assumes that Samsung learned plenty of lessons the original Fold, after having to go back to the drawing board when multiple reviewers wound up with broken units. Samsung claims the device can handle 200,000 flips, courtesy of foldable glass — which should give it some extra durability. The hinge also alloys for “flex mode,” which lets you watch video on the top half of the screen with the phone propping itself up in an “L” configuration.
Samsung did a surprisingly good job keeping the Galaxy Fold under wraps, surprising the world with its first foldable this time last year during the Galaxy S10 unveil. When it came to the Galaxy Z Flip, on the other hand, the company just went ahead and showed the whole thing…
