Samsung just released its new Galaxy Z Flip smartphone alongside the S20 series and the Galaxy Buds+ at their Unpacked 2020 event in the US. After getting a poor response for its Galaxy Fold launched last year, Samsung has taken the foldable design to the drawing board and iterated the design and materials in the form of this new clamshell designed Galaxy Z Flip smartphone.
Galaxy Z Flip
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip carries a 6.7-inch FULL HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 21.9:9 and a resolution of 2636 x 1080 pixels. This panel called the Infinity Flex display has the company’s proprietary bendable Ultra-Thin Glass which as the company claims will last up to 2,00,000 folds. Similar to the Moto Razr we saw recently, the Galaxy Z Flip too comes with a useful little 1.1-inch external display for displaying time and some notifications. However, unlike the touch screen provided on the Razr, the Z Flip does not offer much control or usability. What is remarkable is that the company has taken the next step in optimising the content using the “Flex Mode” to take advantage of that foldable design that puts the control on the bottom half and viewing area on the top. Internals are top-notch, as the Z Flip comes packed with the latest Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset with 8 gigs of RAM and 256GB of storage. Optics include a dual rear camera setup of 12MP Wide-angle lens and a secondary 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens, while the front camera includes a 10MP shooter with f/2.4 aperture. The smartphone runs on Android 10 with Samsung’s UI on top and a whole lot of useful little apps. It has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that helps it stay secure and packs in a 3300mAh battery with fast charging support.
Galaxy Buds+
With Apple launching its EarPods Pro, Samsung decided to upgrade its Galaxy Buds+ with a range of improvements and features. The company has leveraged their ties with AKG to provide a tweeter and woofer integrated into the buds for a rich and powerful sound stage. The company now promises better balance and enhanced sound quality from its perfectly tuned Buds+. Samsung also fixed the microphone quality, as the new Buds+ come with three mics which use beamforming technology to give users an enhanced audio call quality. The Ambient Sound feature gives the user the option to choose from four levels of background noise so they don’t miss out on conversations.
Battery life is immensely improved as the 85mAh unit promises 11 hours of music playback, which can be doubled using the charging case. To top this all off, the carrying case also supports quick charging which gives an hour of listening time with just 3 minutes of charging via wired, wireless, or power share. What remains same is the touch-based control system that lets user play/pause, skip tracks, answer calls and even perform a customisable action.
Pricing and Availability
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is priced at US$ 1380 and will be available in the US and Korea starting February 14th, 2020, with India launch expected soon. The Samsung Galaxy Buds+, on the other hand, will be offered in three distinct colours namely the white, black and blue and will be priced at $149.99.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip specifications :
- Display: 6.7-inch FULL HD+ 21.5:9 Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Flex display
- Secondary Display: 1.1-inch Super AMOLED display
- Processor: Octa-Core Snapdragon 855 Plus with Adreno 640 GPU
- RAM: 8GB RAM with 256GB storage
- SIM: Dual Sim
- Rear camera: 12MP Wide-angle SuperSpeed dual pixel + 12MP Ultra-wide; LED flash, HDR10+, OIS, Up to 8x digital zoom; 4K 60fps
- Front camera: 10MP (f/2.4)
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802., Bluetooth 5.0, ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC, GPS, Enhanced 2X2 MIMO
- Security: Samsung Knox, secure folder, facial recognition, Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
- Battery: 3300mAh battery with 15w fast charging, 9w Qi wireless charging
- Colours: Mirror Black, Mirror Purple, and Mirror Gold
