Last year, Samsung was very eager to launch the world’s first foldable smartphone. Some might say it was too keen.
The original Samsung Galaxy Fold was sent out to journalists and tech vloggers ahead of a global launch. The problem is, it wasn’t quite finished. The device was buggy and in many cases broke (and it became quite the public shaming for a big brand like Samsung).
While the Galaxy Fold was eventually recalled, fixed and then sent out again, Samsung’s first foldable smartphone was very much a dud. A year later, the company is making a second attempt at a bendy smartphone greatness. But is the second time the charm?
Like the reimagined Motorla RAZR, the Galaxy Z Flip looks like an old-school flip phone with a clamshell design that opens to reveal a big, foldable display. This time around the plastic, prototype panel has been replaced with glass and that really makes the difference.
Straighten the phone out and you get a (very tall) 6.7-inch screen. The hinge system has been greatly improved, and the snap shut is incredibly satisfying. Obviously, the big benefit here is when folded it’s roughly half the size of a regular smartphone – meaning it will fit into the shallowest of skinny jean pockets.
From a tech perspective it has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a next-generation smartphone, but let’s be honest here – the real star is that screen. The phone will work when it’s slightly open (letting you use the bottom part of the phone as a stand, for example) and there’s a second much smaller screen on the front of the device so you can see whose ringing you without having to open up the phone.
Yes, the Z Flip is still not the phone-come-tablet that Samsung promised us with last year – for now at least, the clamshell design seems to make the most sense for bendy smartphones – but it is certainly very interesting. And while foldable smartphone tech is still in its infancy, we expect to see a lot more foldable phones in future.
