With the Galaxy Note, Samsung heralded the era of the giant smartphone. With the summer event that is currently taking place, the group has now officially buried it – and is relying fully on folding smartphones. The group also wants a fresh start with its smartwatch.
The S-Class in spring, the Note in summer – this is how Samsung had presented its top models of Galaxy smartphones for years. With today’s unpacked event, the tradition has now come to an end. That note is no more. Samsung is relying fully on folding smartphones for its mobile future.
They are now in the third generation. While the first models still looked like prototypes with a little more polish, the two new models of the Galaxy Z series, the Fold3 5G and the Flip3 5G, have long been extremely chic high-end devices. From the even stronger and brighter folding display to the chic hinge and a lot of extra effort in design: In every little detail you can see that Samsung is presenting the top of its skills here.
A real top smartphone, plus a folding display
This also shows technically. With the Snapdragon 888 from Qualcomm, both have the fastest current chip for Android devices on board, and in Germany too, Samsung does without the often-used Exynos chips from its own company. The unfolded 7.7-inch (Fold3) or 6.7-inch (Flip3) displays are the first to offer a 120 Hertz refresh rate and are 29 percent brighter than their predecessor.
After the wow factor of the folding devices has decreased somewhat, Samsung is now increasingly emphasizing the advantages of using them. Both form factors – the flip unfolds like a classic folding mobile phone, the fold unfolds from a normal smartphone to a mini tablet – support use in the half-opened state, can thus be used standing on the table and can show different content on both halves of the display. So you can watch a video call on the upper half and take notes below.
This is particularly interesting because Samsung has now released the last unique selling point of the Note series for other devices: Like the Galaxy S21, the Fold3 now also supports the S-Pen: Too bad: The pen is not included in the scope of delivery, it there is also no slot. Nevertheless, many users should be happy about the option to be able to write and draw on the large display. In addition to the simple S-Pen, Samsung is offering a particularly precise Pro model of the pen for the first time, which can also be attached to the display itself.
Learning from old mistakes
Samsung also places particular emphasis on the stability of the device. The group had to move the first model back in shortly before launch when testers found numerous problems. Samsung emphasizes that the new models should be even more stable and scratch-resistant. In addition, they are the first folding smartphones to be waterproof according to the IPx8 standard and can also last for a long time under water.
Incidentally, Samsung does not go into the cameras in detail, the telescope camera of the Galaxy S21 Ultra is missing, for example. How good the snaps of the folding smartphones turn out can only be answered in a detailed test, as can the question of whether the folding model is actually convincing in everyday life.
Finally a new strategy
Samsung has definitely learned something new when it comes to prices. While the first fold model cost well over 2000 euros, the new prices are much more realistic. The Flip 3 is available in the smallest memory version of 256 GB for 1049 euros, which is also what you pay for comparable premium smartphones without the folding option. The Fold is certainly more expensive with a price starting at 1799 euros, but for this type of device it is still the lowest manufacturer price to date. Samsung clearly wants to reach more people with the devices. The folding devices have shifted from the experimental luxury model to the mainstream area, albeit clearly at the premium end.
This decision is overdue. The Galaxy S series had lost a lot of its popularity in recent years, and sales figures continued to plummet. With only 13.5 million devices, the current Galaxy S21 will sell 47 percent worse in the first half of the year than the Galaxy S10 two years ago. The simple reason: The powerful mid-range smartphones offered almost the same experience, but cost significantly less. At Samsung, too, the A series, which was placed in the middle class, had overtaken the top devices. Foldables could change that: They offer a completely new user experience and are only offered by a few manufacturers at very high prices. With the mainstream foldable, Samsung could finally give new life to its premium division.
Old braids
Incidentally, Samsung is also trying to cut off old braids at another point. For years, the group had relied on its own Tizen operating system for smartwatches, while its competitors relied on Android Wear from Google. Now the group announced the first watch in cooperation with the search engine giant. The two models of the Galaxy Watch 4 are using the new WearOS for the first time, and they also have the One UI Watch 3.0 interface designed by Samsung. The watch is supposed to combine the best of both worlds: the intuitive use of the Samsung system with the larger range of apps offered by the Google system. The chic watches are available from 269 euros, depending on their size and features.
New wireless headphones were also presented. According to Samsung, the Galaxy Buds2 are even smaller and lighter, but still retain the sound that has been praised by many testers. They cost from 149 euros.
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