-
Lorenz Keller
—1/17
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip costs 1,500 francs, digital editor Lorenz Keller has tested it intensively in everyday life.
—-
Lorenz Keller
—
2/17
The 6-inch screen can be folded in the middle.
—-
Lorenz Keller
—
3/17
The display is bright enough and beautifully resolved.
—-
Lorenz Keller
—
16/17
The interface adapts automatically when you flip the flip in half.
—-
—
17/17
So you can easily take selfies, the phone can also be easily placed anywhere.
—-
—-
As a digital editor, I test around two dozen new smartphones every year. Top models and entry-level phones from major brands and unknown manufacturers. Hardly ever have I experienced so many positive and negative emotions in everyday life as with the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.
–
The compact design is a pleasure to stow away in your pocket – until you flinch in terror because you think you have left your cell phone somewhere. Although it is still in your pocket, it is less noticeable than other current smartphones. Folding is fun every day, but at the same time you are annoyed that you have to open the screen every time, even to read notifications. And sometimes you hate the flip, for example when you’re afraid of water damage during downpours. Or it almost falls out of your hand when you fold it.
–
The start of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was emotional. There were initially no test devices for BLICK and other media with tech journalists. Then there were first tests from the USA, which showed that the screen with its glass layer is just as delicate as the plastic screen in the previous model,
–
Digitec has solved the first problem. Although sold out quickly in Switzerland and by no means in every retailer’s range at all, the online retailer organized models and provided BLICK with a flip for a detailed everyday test. The phone is currently sold out at Digitec and sold for CHF 1499, but new deliveries should come again.
–
As a folding pioneer, you also have to cut back
Overall, the flip should remain an exotic smartphone. Samsung’s predecessor sold less than half a million devices worldwide. A certain exclusivity is of course also appealing. And you also feel like a folding pioneer in everyday life and have to show and demonstrate the device again and again.
–
As a pioneer, you also have to cut corners. In this case in every technical area from the processor to the screen and camera to water resistance. There is also no 5G. Nevertheless, you pay the same price as for the Samsung top model Galaxy S20 Ultra.
–
Not everything bothers equally in everyday life: The lack of robustness is certainly a point that stands out negatively. The folding phone is treated like a raw egg. Yes, not near water, watch out for dirt and grime. And always be careful not to scratch the screen with your fingernail or anything.
–
It is simply important that you are aware of this weakness and handle the flip more carefully than with any other smartphone. The supplied transparent plastic cover in two parts is not really helpful. This is exemplary from Samsung, but the plastic is so smooth that the device in the hand is at least as slippery as the glass surface without a case.
–
You can live with the processor from last year, you can live with the good but not very good camera system. The screen is bright enough and thanks to the glass layer actually feels almost like a normal screen. Of course, the fold can be clearly seen and felt. That doesn’t bother you in everyday life.
–
The battery is small, but it lasts a day
The wide format is unusual. With videos you either have wide black bars on the sides – or the top and bottom are cut quite clearly. In daily use, you also have to get used to the fact that both the NFC chip and the coil for wireless charging are placed in the lower half. So you have to open the device differently on a Qi station than other phones. And when paying wirelessly, you should hold the lower part of the flip to the terminal, it doesn’t work.
–
Other features are even better than other models. For example, the fast fingerprint scanner on the page, which simply works more reliably than all the readers directly under the screen. The 3300 mAh battery, which seems to be very tight on paper, surprises positively. But the battery lasts well for a day, even if you use the phone a lot.
–
The biggest annoyance is the mini screen on the outside. It is actually only good for displaying the prehistoric times – and maybe even to switch to the next song on the music player. However, the touchscreen is so small that every operation with your finger is a pain.
–
It would also make sense if you could check your notifications without having to open the folding phone every time. But he’s too tiny for that. He can only display three symbols, for further messages it is called «Open phone for details». If you click on a notification, it runs through. In the standard setting, however, the mini display switches back to black before you could read everything. The result: you still open the cell phone all the time – and that annoys you every time you could have avoided it with a slightly larger outside screen.
–
You only buy the flip because of the great flap
Nevertheless, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is also really fun. End a call with a fold, that makes you happy even the twentieth time. And otherwise there is a nice dividing line between being online and consciously closing the device and arriving in the real world. Especially for people like me who check the news and notifications too often. Simply that you can put the device on the table closed and much less tempted to look at it quickly is an advantage.
–
One should also not forget that the flip with its 6-inch screen is more suitable for small hands. Among other things, because it is narrower, you can get anywhere with shorter fingers. And when folded, it fits in trouser pockets that a normal smartphone would stand out clearly. An unbeatable advantage for many women’s jeans, for example.
–
The BLICK test conclusion: The Galaxy Z Flip is only a valid alternative for all those who really enjoy the folding screen and definitely want one. From a technical point of view, it does not match what is otherwise available on the smartphone market for CHF 1,500. Nevertheless, the second folding phone from Samsung is a step in the right direction. It shows that the new technology will allow large screens to be packed into telephones in the future without the devices being really large and impractical.
—
Related
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/bea0e5c8-5ee3-11ea-a0b2-0217670beecd.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
