Samsung’s 2020 phone – the Galaxy Z Flip – is a throwback to those phones we remember from way back, like the 2005 Motorola Razr, only this flip phone will cost you over a thousand pounds.
The ‘OLED display’ screen measures 6.7 inches when open, but folds in half. When closed a clever 1.1 inch OLED mini screen on the outside of the phone posts notifications, and you can tap on the notification to get straight into the relevant app once you unfold the phone again. There are three cameras, one for selfies at the front, and one at the rear that acts as two different cameras: one as 12-megapixel ultra-wide and one as a regular 12-megapixel wide-angle camera.
The phone sold soon after going on sale, whether you were trying to buy it through Samsung directly, or through secondary retailers such as Best Buy. In Korea the phone sold out in just 7.5 hours. According to the 9TO5Google, Samsung only produced 900 units for the Korean market so no wonder it went so fast. It has now also sold out in the US and won’t be on sale again till Feb 21st.
I mean what the actual flip? Personally I would not spend that much money on a phone that reminds me of the Motorola that I had when I was like 10-years-old.
Samsung has obviously done well in promoting this new phone so as to make everyone rush to buy it, but I wonder if people in the UK will want to spend this much on a throwback to the Razr or the LG Chocolate that we associate with the early 2000s.
OK it’s got novelty value, but novelty does not last long, and it’s my hunch people will return to the sophisticated post-flip technology that Apple pioneered and which Samsung now does so well.
And if they want the nostalgia of a flip phone why not buy an original? On Ebay a Razr sells for under 40 quid!
