Things I already love
Even after just a relatively short time with the Z Flip, when I use my Pixel, it feels weird that I can’t fold it shut. I even find myself trying to bend my Pixel, my fingers itching to fold the Z Flip like they’re searching for a phantom fidget spinner.
Folding screens tend to be more damage-prone, but Samsung’s “Ultra-Thin Glass” here feels like a massive improvement over the Motorola Razr and the Galaxy Fold. It’s more rigid and it held up even as I repeatedly pushed into it with my thumb for leverage to close the phone with one hand.
Shutting the Z Flip before tucking it away in my coat pocket also made me feel like it’s more protected. My fingers sometimes activate my Pixel’s lock screen when I stick them in my pockets for warmth, so I end up accidentally skipping a track on Spotify or inputting inexplicably long PINs. It’s not a big deal when this happens, but it’s nice to know that when I put the Flip away, it won’t randomly get triggered. There’s something oddly satisfying about the act of physically shutting your phone before putting it away, too, that makes you feel more present.
Of course, when you get a message, you need to take the extra step of unfolding the device before you can reply. Depending on how adept you’ve become at opening the Flip with one hand, this could be a quick, simple task or a longer two-handed affair. But so far I’ve found the Flip well-built enough that I can flick it open with some force, which speeds up the process, and not worry about breaking the hinge. I became somewhat of an expert at opening the Flip with one hand within about two hours.
Another thing I adore is the hinge. Samsung describes this as a “freestop folding system,” which is marketing speak for the way the phone can be folded to rest open at any angle. Unlike the Razr, which is only usable completely open or closed, the Z Flip’s hinge offers the same amount of resistance from zero to 180 degrees. This makes it impossible to simply snap the phone shut at the end of an infuriating phone call, for example. You’ll have to close the device quite deliberately — don’t expect it to be as easy to shut as the original Razrs. This isn’t a big deal, though. I’d rather have a reliable hinge than the petty satisfaction of dramatically hanging up on someone.
But the sturdy hinge does make it easy to position the Z Flip like a tiny laptop and adjust the top half of the screen to whatever viewing angle you want. Once you fold the Flip to about 120 degrees or smaller, “Flex Mode” kicks in, splitting the interface in half for more-intuitive use. In the Gallery app, for example, Flex Mode places the photos in the top section and turns the bottom panel into a trackpad-like area so you can swipe horizontally on it to scroll through your pictures. Flex Mode only works with Gallery, Camera, Always On Display and Duo for now, but Samsung says it has an SDK for developers and that it will work with Google to make this more compatible with Android overall.
My absolute favorite thing about the hinge is the ability to set the Z Flip up on any surface with the selfie camera facing you, perfect for making hands-free video calls. As someone who has to call home with Chinese New Year greetings annually, being able to easily set my phone down while I wave two oranges around in front of the camera is a godsend. I had to prop my Pixel 3 up against the armrest of my couch to wish my parents well, and every so often an incoming alert caused the device to crash to the ground. The self-supporting setup that the Z Flip offers is surprisingly clever.
Maybe it’s because of the glass, but the crease running across the Z Flip’s screen is a lot less noticeable than on other foldable displays. It’s barely there when you’re using the phone face-on, and you’ll really only see it at an angle. Also, when I’m running my thumb up and down the 21.9:9 panel and I feel the slight bump under my finger, it feels oddly satisfying. The screen stays in place and doesn’t move, unlike the foldable Razr’s screen, which actually shifts up and down as you open and close it. The Razr’s plastic-OLED panel looks like a roll of scotch tape that someone peeled back and then tried to re-stick in place but left a gap behind. Plus, the Motorola foldable makes an unsettling creak each time you close it; the Z Flip is delightfully silent.
