Okay this is a hard post to write to be honest, and I have really tried to fall in love with my FLIP 3 but there's so many CONS and most of these just can't be avoided... So is it time to change it up? DEFINITELY I think it's time to abort the FLIP Life.
The Samsung Flip is definitely a innovative phone but there's quite a lot of people that the FLIP lifestyle isn't for, and I am definitely thinking it's my time to abort the flip life and that's definitely quite sucky - At the end of the day I think being with the FLIP life it definitely is a great process to be honest but why do I feel like it's time to break free, I feel like Samsung has tried and has come out of the FLIP game strong but I feel like there's just so much left open and so much negative around the flip that makes me wanna flip it the bird.
I think the best way to do this is too give you guys detailed dot points with reasons to keep the flip lifestyle and reasons I am aborting it, and pleaser note some of these issues won't be fixable by Samsung and I totally acknowledge that and respect that.
Positives:
Form Factor - the phone is small enough that it fits in some pockets where other phones might not like the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 features is amazing and the integration is great and I am sure the same can be said with the watch working with other Samsung phones as well to be honest with you. I'm not totally sure though as I don't have another Samsung Phone to test this theory!
Interior Screen is always protected.
Reverse Wireless Charging but this is a CON too, so let me jump down on that one shortly.
Conversation starter - Everything about this phone is a conversation starter and it allows people to start the conversation with you on FLIP phones and that's not a bad thing. (Handed out so many Business cards, about this phone I am out)
Screen - I find the screen to be nice though however it's not as nice as the OLED screen on the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion.
Front Screen - The front screen acts as a HUD meaning heads up display and that's good I find that really useful when I have it sitting on my desk and that's definitely a big bonus for me.
Performance it's a fairly fast and quick phone for every thing I do on the daily to be honest with you which is good to be honest but honestly I don't push this phone to it's limits due to various reasons which I will explain in depth in the cons.
So can the 8 positives outweigh the negatives I am about to drop? I don't know why don't you tell me, I am dropping the truth bombs these truth bombs are the truth bombs that your local retailer won't be openly telling you cause at the end of the day they want to sell...sell and sell.
The Negatives and the DEAL BREAKERS for me.
Google Pay - even when you disable the Samsung Wallet/Samsung Pay google pay doesn't work, I am not sure if this is a SAMSUNG thing but it doesn't work no matter what, and I have cards that just don't work with Samsung Pay and it sucks majorly.
Camera - I don't find the camera on the Samsung Z Flip 3 to be that great to be honest and that's just me, I think the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion has a better camera performance and better video performance.
Reverse wireless charging - while it is a good feature to have I guess if you need to quickly top up your buds on the run for a few minutes I don't think it's worth engaging this feature and if you are asking why? The battery size 3,300 mAh battery is barely enough for a full day for someone like me.
Life with out Buds - this is based on my own personal experience and I can't speak for other Z Flip 3 users, but if your using the phone with out ear buds on max volume you can barely hear the person on the other side of the phone and that's not good for commuters and people making phones call out side, even the volume on the speaker phone isn't very loud and that's not good at all, the performance on the S21 FE 5G is much better in my mind.
Lack of Quad Lock , the quad lock system is a handle bar mount for the cyclists that allows us to use our phone as a Heads up display, it's quite beneifical to be honest, while Quad Lock don't make a native case for the Z Flip 3 they make their Universal adaptor which can attach to the back of your standard EDC case though given the nature of the phone being a flip that means your every day carry case is two pieces or two parts and that means any sudden movements and brakes I would be worried that it would go flying off the handlebars and that would seriously cause some major major damage to the phone I believe.
Service - look don't blame carrier issues on this one, the service for the first few weeks were fine, but now I am finding the data service to be really choppy and it constantly drops out which is not what you want on a mobile yet I can find my Motorola Edge 20 Fusion using the same carrier is fine it works out if I have the social phone with me I feel way more comfortable hotspotting from that and that's just a fact of life.
Cases - genuine leather samsung cases peel, crack and deteriorate faster than you can count to 1,000 the life span of my Mustard case was about 3 weeks for a $119.00 it's really piss poor it doesn't feel like a premium case, maybe Samsung should have let Bellroy handle the designs of that those cases, as at $119.00 it's a CON, these cases are more like a protective sleeve than a case and even then they wouldn't protect much also they get very hot when being charged and it's a danger ⚠️ concern for me to be honest. casemate case - this one slips and slides more than a slippery side on a hot 🥵 summer day and definitely what the ACL meant when they say NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE this fits that bill very well, the case was scratched to all buggery and back within a couple of weeks. Samsung Z Flip 3 with Strap - So let's talk turkey this in my mind is the ONLY CASE you should buy for the Z Flip 3 and I am not even joking to be honest with you. Out of all the cases I have owned for the Z Flip 3 this case is the most secure, most functional and most protective.
Screen Protectors - okay this is another con and definitely another hard one to be honest with you and I have tried one for the front and one for the internal and they are BOTH TOTAL and UTTER BULLSHIT FLOPS. You can definitely flip the bird to these screen protectors to be honest with you. The Panzer Glass one is a CROK of CRAPOLA. It bubbles the moment you close the phone its thinner than 80 GSM paper it's TPU it feels crappy on your fingers and is a total nightmare to be honest with you, it just doesn't do it's job it's another one of those $49.95 products that's just not FIT FOR PURPOSE. Then I tried a Zagg Invisible one for the front screen and much the same it bubbles it peels and it's a finger print magnet. Screen protectors are just useless for the flip it's waste of flippin' time and flippin' money.
HotCakes more like HOT FLIP - The flip seems to have issues with charging it gets quite hot to touch and that's not good that makes me think of ⚠️ danger and fire hazards and fire risk, but I am sure it's within the safe limits in terms of heat though.
Battery Performance - This is possibly one of the most MAJOR reasons I am flipping the Samsung Z Flip 3 the bird If I set out of home by say 8 am by 12/1pm in the afternoon under my use case scenario my battery is down to around 20% begging for life support that's not good at all, that sucks though I rarely commute with out having a power bank by my side but knowing that I wouldn't be safe to leave the house without one for long trips is just annoying as fuck.
Conclusion: There are definitely some good positives about the flip 3 and definitely some negatives and honestly the negatives out weigh the positives for me and that's just a fact of life, I am not sure where the next daily driver will be for me but one thing I know is the flip and I are breaking up. Once I installed Android 12 it was clear we got some quality of life improvements that was extremely nice but these extra features came at a massive cost to the battery performance and battery life and I knew that it would be longer acceptable for me to use as my daily phone without a massive power bank in my back pocket and that's not always an option. So I had to flip it with the flip.