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I only spent about 30 minutes with Samsung's new foldable flip phone, but I'm convinced Motorola should be worried

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip on Tuesday, a flip phone with a foldable screen that bends in half.

Galaxy Z Flip Side
  • During my brief time using the Z Flip, I was impressed with its smooth glass screen, the way the hinge was able to keep the display propped open, and its compact design.
  • The Flip still doesn't answer the overarching question of why you might want a foldable phone in the first place, but its glass screen, lower price, and higher-quality camera should give it a leg up over the very similar Motorola Razr.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
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With its next foldable device, Samsung is bringing back the flip phone.

The company unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip on Tuesday, a new smartphone with a foldable screen that snaps shut like an old-school flip phone. For Samsung, it's the second iteration of what it believes could be the next evolution of the smartphone, coming after it launched the larger, tablet-sized Galaxy Fold last year.

The Z Flip's defining feature is its foldable display, which bends horizontally to give the phone a clamshell form factor. That's a major departure from the Galaxy Fold, the phone Samsung debuted roughly one year ago that opens and closes vertically like a book.

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Samsung's new take on the foldable smartphone and the other improvements it's brought to the Flip such as a flexible glass display and a hinge that's better at keeping out debris serves as further evidence that major device makers are still experimenting with what's next for the smartphone. It also comes after Motorola just launched a very similar foldable phone, a revival of its classic Razr from the early 2000s.

After spending roughly 30 minutes using the new Z Flip, I can tell that there's promise in bringing back the flip phone. There's the convenience factor that comes with being able to fold a phone in half and more easily store it in small spaces, like a small purse or pocket, and the way the foldable screen neatly splits the display in half when using apps in split-screen mode. But whether that justifies paying a price that's slightly higher than that of the average smartphone has yet to be seen.

Overall, the Galaxy Z Flip doesn't feel all that different than using a regular smartphone, and perhaps that's a good sign. That it feels just as natural as the phones we use today and doesn't require a learning curve is a signal that there might be promise in the Z Flip.

Here's a closer look at what it's like to use the Galaxy Z Flip.

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

The phone's crease naturally splits the display in half, but it's unclear whether the foldable aspect of the screen will actually make the Flip any better at multitasking than any other Android phone.

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

The Galaxy Z Flip has two 12-megapixel camera: one wide-angle lens and one ultra-wide-angle lens. It lacks a telephoto lens like the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S20, but it still has an advantage over Motorola's competing Razr, which only has one 16-megapixel camera.

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

Still, the small notification window on the Galaxy Z Flip feels like it makes a lot more sense than the cover screen on the Galaxy Fold, which was too thin and small to really use for more than viewing the occasional text message. It's great to see Samsung lean into this aspect by minimizing the screen and optimizing it for its most important job on the Z Flip.

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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It's also not quite as easy to open with one hand as I had hoped. But I was impressed with how durable the hinge felt overall.

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

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Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

With the Galaxy Z Flip, it's clear that Samsung is still getting a feel for what the next generation of mobile phones may look like. And perhaps the answer isn't just one form factor but several, unlike today's market in which nearly every smartphone pretty much looks the same.

The Z Flip in some cases makes your phone more portable primarily when you're not really using it but it's unclear what it will bring to the experience beyond that.

Or maybe the fact that using the Galaxy Z Flip doesn't feel all that different than a regular smartphone is the biggest indicator of Samsung's success with the device.

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But at the very least, the fact that its price point is lower than the nearly $2,000 Galaxy Fold and $1,500 Motorola Razr combined with a familiar, nostalgic design could mean that the Flip has a better chance at success.

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Samsung just unveiled its next major smartphone, the Galaxy S20 here's how it compares to last year's Galaxy S10

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