Reviewing phones is easily the most privileged part of my job. Not only do I get to test out cool devices for extended periods of time, but it means that unlike most people I can really put it through the wringer before spending my own money on a phone. See what I mean by privileged?
Right now I am using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 as my daily driver, and I am enormously enamoured with it. But when people ask me if they should buy it, I always find myself saying no.
It is odd, and a bit hypocritical, I know. As an expert in the field I have chosen this device, and yet I actively tell people not to make the same choice. Why? Simple, the reasons that I love the Z Flip 3 doesn’t make it a rational choice for most people.
The Z Flip 3 is one of Samsung’s latest foldables, and in my opinion the best use of foldable tech so far. Folding a phone out into a tablet seems pointless until Android’s tablet apps get better, but being able to make a phone more compact without compromising on the big screen experience just makes sense.
Unfortunately, the Z Flip 3 does come with compromises, and they just happen to be two of the main metrics that I use in order to recommend a phone. In my experience, most people want a phone that takes amazing photos, and that lasts all day without needing to recharge. The Z Flip 3 just can’t offer that. The cameras are still good, but not up to Samsung’s usual standard, and the battery only lasts for about two hours of screen time. For most people, these issues are a deal breaker on a phone you’ll want to keep for the next two to three years. You don't want to be running to the charger constantly, or comparing your camera shots to the iPhone 15 in two years.
I, on the other hand, am not most people. Battery life and camera quality are important to me, sure, but I am a sucker for unique and interesting tech I had the HipTop Slide back in the 2000s, and begged my high school boyfriend to get the original HipTop with the screen that spun just so that I could play with it. When my friends were clothes shopping I would peruse the new phones in the Vodafone, Optus or Telstra store. I have always been obsessed with finding something unique, and with phones all being different versions of glowing rectangles these days, it has gotten harder to do.
Pretty much every mobile phone you can get now is the same, but different. Multiple cameras, glass fronts and backs, some fancy lense or photography feature. The biggest differences you tend to see nowadays are design factors like Apple's notorious notch, or the Pixel's camera bar rather than the usual camera bump. Tech is still fascinating, but it takes a lot for a phone to really stand out amongst the rest.
Hence why foldables are the most engaging mobile innovation out at the moment. It takes the evolution of mobile phones over the past two decades, and repackages it in a more modern way. With a pitch like that, I was always going to fall in love with a foldable smartphone. The fact that this one actually fits in my pockets is just another added bonus.
As I mentioned before, the Flip 3 series is the best practical application I have seen thus far. In the words of Marge Simpson, “I just think it's neat”.
The Z Flip 3 is a legitimately interesting device at a time when phones all ostensibly look and feel the same. It is new and captivating, and yet the return to the flip phone form factor brings with it a sense of comforting nostalgia. And while nostalgia and novelty are not reasons to recommend a phone, they are my reasons to use it.
Anula Wiwatowska
Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram
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