New Samsung phones impressions

Few weeks ago I jumped into the Samsung Store to see the recently presented S20 (don't care about the +), S20 Ultra and Z Flip as well as maybe, just maybe have a glimpse on the Fold, released almost a year ago!

The S20 is nice, and despite the renewed cameras and updated design I was mostly interested in the improved display, which now supported 120Hz refresh rate albeit on a lower screen resolution. In short: those 120Hz look fabulous, not sure why Samsung has the higher resolution 60Hz mode by default though. You can't see the difference between 1440p and 1080p, but the difference between 60 and 120 Hz is much more noticeable. The hogher refresh rate looks so smooth that I now want to have it on my daily phone as well. Too bad Samsung's software is far from that screen smoothness - I've experienced stutters in their stock Camera, Photos apps..

Enough with the S20. Fast forward to yesterday when I was passing their store again, I noticed they added something new for display.

First I saw the S20 Ultra with its Ultra-sized camera bump:

Immediately I tried the advertised 100x zoom just to realize that it's not that great and no magic's happening:

Other than the bigger camera bump, a bit better specs, battery and size, the S20 Ultra is no much different to the regular S20 and S20+.

Next what I noticed was the new Z Flip, laying there, open for use! I grabbed it and of course started folding/unfolding it immediately:

First bending a screen felt very weird, In a second or two it felt so natural like if I would have done it for a long time now. And it felt cool, something phones didn't feel for a while.

I overheard the salesman telling other customers that both the Z Flip and the Fold are pre-ordered for months, despite being one of the most expensive phones on the market, which means folding phones are hot, ignoring their immaturity and downsides, and downsides there is. As mentioned by many, the Z Flip is unusable while folded, because the tiny screen fits only notifications and for every operation, unlike the Fold you have to unfold it. Also the screens, they are delicate. Very. From what I've been told, the Z Flip has been on display only for a single day, and it already had scratches from fingernails all over the display. But the screen itself actually looked quite well, the crease was not that visible, although I definitely felt it while moving my thumb across it. The tactile feel of moving your finger around this plastic-y screen is very close to glass. But its long-term durability is still under question, that's probably why the Fold is kept in a glass cube for now..

Also I really liked the feeling of the Z Flip's hinge - it feels sturdy and solid and stops at many angles. Maybe for now folding a phone doesn't have a lot of practical sense all the time, but it definitely feels cool and novel doing it. It would be interesting to see what the competitors, with more polished software will bring to the table, especially when the technology matures, the screen will be less delicate and cheaper to manufacture, overall bringing the currently high price down. I'm actually looking forward to a future like this.