Foldable smartphones are here to stay and brands like Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus, Motorola, etc., are the reason these smartphones have gone mainstream. However, the pricing of these flagship foldables hasn’t exactly been cheap and affordable. It is only during sales when we see an appealing price drop on these devices and it has now happened with the 2021 flip foldable from Samsung, the Galaxy Z Flip 3, where it’s available for Rs 37,999 in India. Should you buy it for that price during the Flipkart Big Savings Day Sale or should you skip it? We have our thoughts outlined below.
Galaxy Z Flip 3 at Rs 37,999: Should You Buy?
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 launched for Rs 84,999 in India in August 2021 and we were also able to review it shortly after its launch. No doubt, the display panels on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 were top-notch. The cover screen you will interact with once the phone is folded is a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED panel with 260 x 512 pixels resolution. Once unfolded, you will interact with the foldable dynamic 6.7-inches AMOLED 2X display. There’s a 120Hz Refresh Rate with HDR10+ support and 1200 nits peak brightness.
The phone also had an incredibly premium feel. However, after two months, the hinge started becoming loose, and it wouldn’t hold the upper half of the phone at most angles. The device would either close at lower angles or just open at higher ones and won’t stay rigid in between.
Coming to performance, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 came with preloaded OneUI 3.1.1 based on Android 11. It gets 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256GB of storage options and has the Snapdragon 888 under the hood. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 will get updates till Android 15 so the software situation is sorted for another year as One UI in itself is a feature-rich and practical Android skin. You will notice some heating during sustained workloads, which does throttle the device, and on top of that, the Snapdragon 888 also doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to efficient heat management.
The battery was the weakest link of the smartphone. The device gets a 3300mAh battery. It further supports just 15W Fast charging which is a bummer. Moreover, you get fast wireless charging support with 10W of speed and reverse wireless charging support also at 4.5W. These stats suggest what the Flip 3 was lacking, and it was clear in real-world use, too. During my review, the max I could squeeze out from it was up to 4 hours of screen-on time and the device couldn’t even last a full day of use. On top of that, the device took 2 hours to charge which is a huge disappointment in today’s time.
Battery backup is quite an important aspect in today’s world as tasks become more power-hungry. While software can help to some extent, a larger physical battery is essential, too, and is needed more than software optimization. The cameras on the Flip 3 were decent, and we didn’t have any major complaints.
Answering the question we are here for, we think there are better options available than the Galaxy Z Flip 3 at this price point. The Processor in this device is outdated, and you’ll only receive one major OS update after purchase, both of which aren’t ideal considering the price. Other options not only have a better chip but also offer longer software support and far better battery backup.
If you primarily want the foldable form factor and that too in a device from Samsung, you may consider it but keep in mind that you’ll always have to carry a power bank with you because the battery life on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 just doesn’t cut it, and it can be a hassle at a lot of times.
