After 48 hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking the Flip.
I’ve always felt that bigger is better, from back when “phablets” were an entire phone category to the Pro and Plus-sized models of the various iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy Note series, and the super-sized LG slabs. After all, the screen is your primary point of interaction on a phone, where you consume video, play games, browse sites, and more. After 48 hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3, I thought I’d have a clear preference for the former. What I discovered instead was an attachment to the smaller Flip along with two other key takeaways. In many ways, Samsung’s latest and greatest foldable Z Fold 3 seems designed to appeal to me specifically. The Fold 3 benefits from some key screen-related improvements. The narrow 6.2-inch cover screen is upgraded to 120Hz up from 60Hz, has Gorilla Glass Victus protection, and the 7.6-inch main screen is now fully compatible with the S Pen Fold and S Pen Pro to let you take notes and sketch. What this gives you is a big, bright 7.6-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz display that’s absolutely gorgeous. There’s plenty of space for having multiple apps open, reading e-books, playing games like Stardew Valley and Genshin Impact across both screens, and being able to access full-sized menus when scanning a QR code menu at a restaurant. There’s plenty to like here, and there’s no denying that Samsung has improved the look, feel, and overall experience of the Fold 3 across the board. But despite all of this, I found myself gravitating more and more toward the Flip 3. With its cute, pocketable design, it’s not a phone that would typically garner my interest. But after years of hand-busting candy bar slabs, there’s something undeniably refreshing about being able to snap closed a phone that’s no bigger than my wallet. It doesn’t weigh down my pocket, it doesn’t leave an unsightly bulge in my jeans, and my girlfriend found it easier to slip into even her smallest purses.
