Samsung Galaxy Z Flip debuts w/ less expensive ‘flip phone’ design

Foldable phones still feel like a dream, but to kick off the 2020 smartphone season, Samsung is hoping to change that. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is official and it’s one of the most affordable foldable phones to date.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was the first real foldable smartphone to hit the market. It had a few hiccups on its road to release, but Samsung used that experience to make things better for the new Galaxy Z Flip.

Galaxy Z Flip is a completely different concept from the Galaxy Fold. Instead of opening up to reveal a tablet that fits in your pocket, the Galaxy Z Flip is more like a flip phone. It opens to reveal a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display that’s taller than your average phone, but much bigger than a traditional smartphone could pack into this footprint.

Of course, the Z Flip is basically your average Android smartphone once it’s opened. There’s Android 10 with Samsung One UI with all of your favorite apps from the Play Store. That inner display is also coated in a foldable “Ultra-Thin Glass,” a material that should prove much more durable compared to other foldables that use plastic displays.

Samsung isn’t holding back much with the Galaxy Z Flip either. It’s not quite as powerful as the Galaxy S20 series, but it’s no slouch either with a Snapdragon 855+ processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. You’ll also have USB-C for charging the two-piece 3,300 mAh battery alongside wireless charging.

In the camera department, the Galaxy Z Flip offers a dual-camera array with two 12MP sensors, one with an ultrawide lens. Using its hinge, Samsung also allows the Flip to “lock” at certain positions for recording videos with the cameras or running a video call with Google Duo.

On the outside of the Galaxy Z Flip, there’s a second display that’s just barely 1-inch in size. That display is used mostly for showing the time and notifications, but it’s a standard AMOLED display that can also show incoming calls and more. It can even be used as a viewfinder for taking selfies with the main camera.

Samsung is also offering some colors for the Galaxy Z Flip including a standard black, of course, but also a radiant purple color too and a gold version in some regions.

Perhaps the most important thing about the Galaxy Z Flip is its price tag. Where the Galaxy Fold cost $1,980, the Galaxy Z Flip starts at $1,380. It’s still quite the investment, but a much easier pill to swallow. Plus, the Z Flip is available at all major carriers in the US and there will be deals to help with that cost.

The Z Flip is available on February 14th.

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