Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer of Apple, speaks about the the new Apple Watch Series 4 at an Apple Inc product launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, September 12, 2018.
Stephen Lam | Reuters
The Heartline Study app
Johnson & Johnson
"The Heartline Study is a nationwide, randomized, controlled, app-based, virtual research study sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a member of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson," the companies said. "The team worked with Apple to jointly design the research study and the Heartline Study app."
"Eligible participants will be randomized to one of two possible groups. One group will participate by only using the Heartline Study app on their iPhone," Johnson & Johnson explained. "The other group will participate by using the study app on their iPhone in addition to obtaining an Apple Watch to use the ECG app and irregular rhythm notification feature. Participants who already own an Apple Watch may be eligible to join the study as well, with certain restrictions."
Participants selected in the Apple Watch group can either purchase a watch at a discounted price or can borrow a watch on loan for no cost. Those who borrow will have to return the watch at the end of the study. The exact discounted price wasn't disclosed.
Heartline will last three years and includes two years of active engagement and one year of additional data collection, Johnson & Johnson said.
Apple and Stanford published the results of an earlier heart study in November. It was the largest of its kind and was covered in The New England Journal of Medicine. That research included 419,000 participants over 8 months and found that just over 2,000 people received a notification of an irregular pulse. But results of that were debated and many agreed that they were still preliminary.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect you do not need an Apple Watch to participate in the study.
Apple rumors have heated up in the past week, following the usual spring tradition. Apple doesn’t always have a keynote in the first quarter of the year, but when it does it’s a good time for it to update or announce products that aren’t necessarily central to its business. But the leaks and innuendo so far don’t have the air of inevitability that often accompanies Apple rumors yet, so I wouldn’t block off your calendar just yet.
But if you Want To Believe, the current best guesses point to something happening towards the end (or on the very last day) of March. Or somethings; the iPhone SE 2 (aka the iPhone 9), AirTag location beacons, Apple-branded over-the-ear headphones, an updated iPad Pro with a big square camera module, and even updated MacBooks with the better keyboard have all been rumored. Getting all of that at once would make for a Homer Car of an event — too many things unrealistically crammed into one package. So if this event even happens, I’d expect only a subset.
All of those rumored products are fairly straightforward. What has me thinking is a couple of other Apple rumors that are custom-designed to appeal to my particular obsessions.
You are reading Processor, a newsletter about computers by Dieter Bohn. Dieter writes about consumer tech, software, and the most important news of the day from The Verge. This newsletter delivers about four times a week, at least a couple of which include longer columns. You can subscribe to Processor and learn more about it here. Processor is also a YouTube series with the same goal: providing smart and surprising analysis with a bit of humor. Subscribe to all of The Verge’s great videos here!
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I’m not suggesting Apple will face exactly parallel issues if it ever releases an ARM-based MacBook, but I’m guessing they will be in the same ballpark. And while I’d like to express confidence that Apple will navigate the issues of app compatibility, developer relations, emulation, and performance well, recent history with the Mac gives me pause.
Catalina, the latest version of the OS, is widely derided right now. Catalyst, the system for getting iPad apps on the Mac, has also not worked out especially well so far (to put it mildly). Apple’s recent software track record for the Mac makes it hard to give the company the benefit of the doubt that it can gracefully handle a processor transition.
I didn’t even lead with the easy criticism of the Touch Bar, the keyboards, or the recently-ended long dark night of the Mac Pro. Those things aren’t strictly relevant to an ARM transition, but they are examples of other hassles that have drained the reserves of goodwill that Mac users might otherwise feel towards a big shakeup.
I’m not saying Apple isn’t up to the task of switching Mac laptops over to new processors, but I am saying it is going to need to show its work early and often if it’s going to engender enough trust to bring users along for the ride.
It seemed completely hopeless until, well, this report. It’s perhaps not a coincidence that many governments around the world are looking more closely at anti-trust and monopolistic practices.
Many of Apple’s default apps are very good. But on a whim, I have compiled a list of apps, services, or OS functions I would switch to a third-party default if I could, just off the top of my head: Safari, Messages, Calendar, Photos, Maps, Clock, Contacts, FaceTime, Reminders, Music, News, Notes, iCloud Drive, iCloud Keychain, Books, Podcasts, Voice Memos, and Siri. (Bonus though I may not use it: give third-party smartwatches fuller access to the OS.)
Whew — that list is much bigger than I expected it to be when I started it.
In some cases, Apple’s own iPhone apps are actually best of breed, so don’t take my list as a judgment of quality. Safari on the iPhone is easily the best mobile browser and iMessage offers secure messaging as the default, for just two examples. And I also recognize that the concept of “default app” gets fuzzy in some of these cases. Some of these functions also have replacement APIs, but they can range from pretty good (password managers) to pretty bad (third-party keyboards).
Anyway, the main reason I would want to switch away from most of the Apple apps and services I mentioned is that there are alternatives that work better across multiple operating systems and the web. It makes it easier for me to use the computer I want instead of being locked into Apple’s hardware ecosystem.
Plus, I can’t help but note that Android, Windows, and even the Mac all make it much easier to replace services and apps that ship with the OS with something you like better from a third party.
When Apple says that some of these default lock-ins are for user security and safety, I believe that’s at least partially true. I also believe that the fact that they make it somewhat more of a hassle for me to also use a Chromebook or a Windows computer is a feature of this system, not a bug.
A quick note: apologies for the long delay in newsletters — I was trapped in review land towards the end of last week. I may have some of my colleagues chip in on sending daily links in the future when I get busy, so please be nice when they pop up. For today, I limited the links to some big categories to keep things manageable. As always, I am honored to be in your inbox (mostly) every day.
If you’re researching Dolby Atmos-ready home cinema systems, you probably already know that you can spend a fortune on a high-end one. But Vizio’s entry-model system with a 36-inch soundbar, wireless subwoofer, and two rear satellite speakers is worth considering. It’s steeply discounted at Best Buy if you’re logged in with an account. Instead of $500, you’ll pay just $290.
Not Mobile World Congress
The world’s biggest smartphone show may have been cancelled, but the phones and tablets that would have been announced there still need to be announced. They’re trickling out now.
┏ Huawei’s P40 lineup will launch March 26th in Paris. In another world where Huawei wasn’t banned from using Google’s apps, these phones would be set up as direct contenders for the crown of most-specced out Android phone. They still are, I suppose, but their appeal is significantly dampened now.
┏ Huawei announces the Mate XS foldable with a more durable display and faster processor. I remain unconvinced that the outside of the fold is the right place to put the screen, but admittedly I have also not really used a device like this for an appreciable length of time. Everybody is trying really hard to figure out how to make these screens durable, but I would put money on this not being the way that works out long term:
This time around, Huawei says it’s using a “quad-layer” construction for the screen on the Mate XS, which it says should make it more robust. Up top are two layers of polyamide film, which were stuck together using a clear adhesive. Below that is the flexible OLED display. Then there’s a softer polymer layer that acts as a cushion and a final layer to connect it to the main body of the device.
┏ Sony’s new Xperia 1 II adds 5G to its lineup of tall phones. Every year we think “Sony makes everybody else’s camera sensors, will this be the year that its own phones have good cameras?” I don’t know if this is that year, but Sony has lost the benefit of the doubt. But I’m still intrigued, as off the top of my head I can’t think of another example of a headphone jack coming back to a phone.
Realme is releasing the X50 Pro in Europe, China, and India at first, and while pricing details aren’t yet final, the company tells The Verge it should come in between €550-650 (roughly $600-700) in Spain and cost less in China. That still makes it by far the most expensive Realme phone yet, but one that gets the company onto the list of those producing high-performance 5G devices for 2020. And with Samsung setting the floor for its new Galaxy S20 range at $999, Realme still has room to provide a significant discount in the 5G space.
┏ Vivo’s Apex 2020 concept phone is coming on Friday. Android 11 is going to make it easier for companies to make “waterfall” displays, where the thing curves aggressively around the edge. In general Google has had to spend an outsized amount of time teaching the operating system how to ignore or deal with weirdly shaped screens. With all that effort going in, I think it’s fair to say that Android phones are going to keep coming in odd shapes for years to come.
┏ LG V60 ThinQ shown off in leaked press render. I once gave an LG phone a Participation Award for, you know, existing and being fairly competent. This phone looks like it’s going to exist and be fairly competent. Much as I love a good DAC and headphone jack, I’m not sure it’s enough of a differentiator to get LG back into the conversation.
┏ Google addresses Huawei ban and warns customers not to sideload apps like Gmail and YouTube. I’ve been pretty hard on app stores in this newsletter for being walled gardens that take too large a cut from developers. I think that’s all true, but it bears repeating that they have a major, major benefit: trust. I wonder if someday Google would consider offering an app store for its own apps on non-Google Play Android devices. I seriously doubt it — it would take away one of the major pieces of leverage the company has against carriers and in the fight against fragmentation — but it’s interesting to think about. Here’s Google’s warning:
Sideloaded Google apps will not work reliably because we do not allow these services to run on uncertified devices where security may be compromised. Sideloading Google’s apps also carries a high risk of installing an app that has been altered or tampered with in ways that can compromise user security.
Microsoft and Xbox
┏ Microsoft reveals more Xbox Series X specs, confirms 12 teraflops GPU. I’m sure people will argue endlessly about the teraflops, but the below is the part that matters most to me, aka what all those teraflops make possible. I don’t know when I am going to buy my next TV, but I am quite sure that I won’t buy one without Variable Refresh Rate.
Xbox Series X will also support 8K gaming and frame rates of up to 120fps in games. Microsoft says it has partnered with the HDMI forum and TV manufacturers to enable Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) on the Series X as part of its HDMI 2.1 support.
┏ Which Microsoft Office product is each Democratic presidential candidate?. All of Makena Kelly’s designations in this story are accurate. I will add that had he still been in the race, Andrew Yang would have been Microsoft Access: the database software that’s ignored by most people but passionately loved by its users.
At the beginning of the night’s events, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tore into Buttigieg discounting his healthcare plan as just a “PowerPoint.” In a total weirdo move, Buttigieg responded by saying “I’m more of a Microsoft Word guy.”
┏ Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus review: better sound, even better stamina. Excellent review and video with Chris Welch. I’ve been using them too with various phones (including the Galaxy S20 Ultra) and agree with everything he’s saying here. The only missing feature is active noise cancellation, but the trade off to charging via USB-C instead of the AirPods’ proprietary Lightning is worth it for Android users.
The best thing about the Galaxy Buds Plus is how long you can listen to them uninterrupted. Samsung has managed to squeeze 11 hours of continuous battery life out of the earbuds, which now puts them at the top of the mountain. That’s even better than the Powerbeats Pro, which, until now, had been the longevity champion. Eleven hours will cover your entire workday or a long-haul flight with ease.
┏ Samsung Galaxy Z Flip review: temper your expectations. Here’s my review (and the reason I wasn’t able to send out a newsletter last Friday, apologies for that!). It really is the best folding phone, but that really doesn’t mean folding phones are ready for the mainstream yet.
Microsoft is rolling out its new Xbox One dashboard design to all consoles this week. The new design focuses on overhauling the home page of the Xbox One dashboard, with frequently used games and apps available immediately. The new Home design also includes the ability to add or remove rows to customize it further, and quick access to Xbox Game Pass, Mixer, and the Microsoft Store.
The Xbox maker has been testing this new home design for more than six months, and it definitely makes it easier to find and access frequently used games on the home screen. This was typically buried away in the past, and you can now turn an Xbox One console on and get right back to where you left off. The new design follows numerous changes to the Xbox One dashboard in recent years, including a Fluent Design update back in 2017, a big redesign in 2015, and updates that focused on speed.
Alongside the home screen changes, Microsoft is also allowing Xbox One owners to customize how notifications appear on a screen. It’s a useful feature to stop notifications blocking content and it surprisingly doesn’t exist on Windows 10 yet. You can now choose between six different locations on the Xbox One, which is five more than the default lower right-hand corner on Windows 10.
Microsoft is also tweaking the games and apps library with this update. New icons for games with trials and demos make it easier to spot them over full games, and you can also now quickly see your top games and apps in the library. Animated GIFs and images sent from the Xbox apps for iOS, Android, and Windows 10 can also now be viewed in conversations on an Xbox One.
The new Xbox One dashboard update is available immediately, and consoles will receive the 10.0.18363.9135 update automatically.
Ultimate Ears’ Bluetooth speakers are great in most situations, but not for big parties. Its new HyperBoom promises to be. It’s a tall, rectangular, 360-degree speaker that’s powerful enough to fill a room with loud, clear sound, and heavy enough to necessitate a handle to carry it around.
It’s not tough to find a party speaker that can blast music across a room full of loud partygoers. Some even cost less than the $399 HyperBoom. But this speaker is worth checking out for a few reasons. Its understated design lets it blend nicely into your room, and it has an adaptive EQ that automatically adjusts to the layout of said room. Plus, it has a bunch of unique features, some new and some borrowed from Ultimate Ears’ other speakers. Also, it can serve double duty both as a party speaker and a home cinema speaker.
Those familiar with the UE Boom will recognize the fabric exterior and the “+” and “-” buttons on the HyperBoom’s top surface. Those buttons can be used to adjust the volume or to check the battery level when you hold them both down. This time, though, they’re capacitive instead of being clicky.
This speaker supports one-touch playlists, another convenient feature you may remember from Ultimate Ears’ recent speakers. After you’ve configured the Ultimate Ears app, you can start playing your favorite playlist in Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, or Deezer by long-pressing on the play / pause button.
The HyperBoom’s buttons make it easier to share music from multiple devices, both wired and wireless. Unlike other Ultimate Ears’ speakers, partygoers no longer have to download the company’s app to connect to it. Two devices can connect via Bluetooth, and just pressing a button on the top-mounted controls switches between them. Ultimate Ears even thought to add a subtle two-second fade to make it less jarring while it hops over to a different device. The HyperBoom has two additional inputs: one 3.5mm auxiliary port and an optical audio port. You can cycle between those wired sources with the other two buttons that surround the play button. That’s an impressive array that lets the HyperBoom double as a party speaker and a sound system for gaming or watching movies.
The fun features are what sets this apart from any other party speaker. But what’s perhaps more important is that this speaker sounds really good. The HyperBoom weighs 13 pounds and is built with custom drivers, consisting of two 4.5-inch woofers, two 1-inch tweets, and two 3.5-inch passive radiators (Ultimate Ears notes those are each the size of one Boom 3 speaker). It’s rated IPX4 when the flap covering the ports is closed, so it can handle some moisture from any direction, be it a brief moment in the rain or a spilled beverage.
Like the Apple HomePod and the Google Home Max, the HyperBoom features an adaptive EQ that changes based on spatial info picked up by its microphone. However, Ultimate Ears insists that this is not a smart speaker. It doesn’t work with voice assistants and the company says that it’s not listening to you, which is a refreshing change of pace.
This big speaker is battery-operated, and according to Ultimate Ears, it has the equivalent of four Ultimate Ears Boom 3 batteries inside. The HyperBoom uses a 90W barrel charger, and it only takes two and a half hours to fully charge. With a full battery, the company claims 24 hours of battery life at half volume or three at full blast. The speaker also has a USB Type-A port, which can recharge your phone or tablet while you stream music from it.
The Ultimate Ears HyperBoom will be available for purchase on March 2nd for $399. For now, it will only release in the “basic black” colorway shown in all of the photographs above.
Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
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Fans who buy Cyberpunk 2077 for the Xbox One will receive the Xbox Series X upgrade free of charge as soon as it’s ready. The announcement was made this morning by CD Projekt Red on Twitter.
“Gamers should never be forced to purchase the same game twice or pay for upgrades,” CD Projekt said. “Owners of #Cyberpunk2077 for Xbox One will receive the Xbox Series X upgrade for free when available.”
It then linked out to an announcement Microsoft made just this morning highlighting the company’s announcement of Smart Delivery. The new technology doubles down on the console manufacturer’s history of backwards compatibility by allowing fans access to “four generations” of games across all of its consoles.
“This technology empowers you to buy a game once and know that — whether you are playing it on Xbox One or Xbox Series X — you are getting the right version of that game on whatever Xbox you’re playing on,” Microsoft said. It committed to implementing the feature for all of its own Xbox Game Studios titles, and opened up the opportunity to participate to other developers. CD Projekt is among the first to announce it will take part.
It’s notable that this is the first time that CD Projekt has announced a version of Cyberpunk 2077 for the Xbox Series X. What, if any, technical or performance improvements that version will feature is not yet known. Regardless, Microsoft says Smart Delivery will help ensure consumers always have access to the “best available version” regardless of what Microsoft console they choose to play on. Fans are already responding, with many thanking CD Projekt and Microsoft both for making their decision to opt in to the next console generation that much easier.
The new Xbox is due out this holiday. Pricing information has not yet been released.
It’s been a few months since Microsoft announced the impending arrival of the Xbox Series X. The somewhat redundantly named console made cameo during the Game Awards, getting a late 2020 date in the process.
We got at glimpse at the big, boxy design and peek into a handful of features, including the new wireless controllers and backward game compatibility. It didn’t, however, really get into the nitty gritty of what’s going to set the next-gen console apart. Thankfully, MS’s head of Xbox Phil Spencer is back with some honest to goodness specs.
“Xbox Series X is our fastest, most powerful console ever, designed for a console generation that has you at its center,” Spencer writes. “This means a high-fidelity gaming experience enclosed in a quiet and bold design, with the ability to discover thousands of games across four generations, all with more playing and less waiting.”
The headline feature here is, naturally, a new processor. Built on top of AMD Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architecture, Xbox says chip is able to deliver four times the processing power of the Xbox One. The silicon offers 12 teraflops of GPU performance — that’s double the Xbox One X and 8x the original Xbox One. Other notable additions include Variable Rate Shading for improved frame rates and resolution and DirectX Raytracing for better lighting.
Quick Resume is basically what it sounds like, letting players pick up on multiple games, exactly where they left off. Dynamic Latency Input aims to bring more responsive feed back from controllers, by reducing latency. 120fps video will be supported by the console, along with HDMI 2.1, which automatically switches to the lowest latency mode to reduce game play lag.
As noted above, backward compatibility is central, now that Microsoft has a few generations of consoles under its belt. Game Pass is increasingly important in the company’s play moving forward, as it ramps up focus on cloud gaming.
More information is promised in “coming months.” Once again, Microsoft will have a stiff competition on its hands, with the PlayStation 5 currently slated for “holiday 2020.”
Garry Kasparov dominated chess until he was beaten by an IBM supercomputer called Deep Blue in 1997. The event made “man loses to computer” headlines the world over. Kasparov recently returned to the ballroom of the New York hotel where he was defeated for a debate with AI experts. Wired’s Will Knight was there for a revealing interview with perhaps the greatest human chess player the world has ever known.
”I was the first knowledge worker whose job was threatened by a machine,” says Kasparov, something he foresees coming for us all.
”Every technology destroys jobs before creating jobs. When you look at the statistics, only 4 percent of jobs in the US require human creativity. That means 96 percent of jobs, I call them zombie jobs. They’re dead, they just don’t know it. For several decades we have been training people to act like computers, and now we are complaining that these jobs are in danger. Of course they are.”
Experts say only about 14 percent of US jobs are at risk of replacement by AI and robots. Nevertheless, Kasparov has some advice for us zombies looking to re-skill.
”There are different machines, and it is the role of a human and understand exactly what this machine will need to do its best. ... I describe the human role as being shepherds.”
Kasparov, for example, helps Alphabet’s DeepMind division understand potential weaknesses with AlphaZero’s chess play.
The interview also yielded this gem of a quote from Kasparov:
”People say, oh, we need to make ethical AI. What nonsense. Humans still have the monopoly on evil. The problem is not AI. The problem is humans using new technologies to harm other humans.”
It’s a fascinating read and one that should be done in its entirety, if only to find out why Kasparov thinks AI is making chess more interesting, even though humanity doesn’t stand a chance of beating it.
Foldable phones are mostly fantastic. I use a Galaxy Fold every single day, and while it's a great phone, it's too big for most people. Like a lot of flagships, the Galaxy Fold pushes the boundaries of what is pocket-friendly, and it's a problem affecting more people with every launch, especially as phones like the Galaxy S20 Ultra feature even larger screens than before.
Many of my friends lament the days of old where phones were smaller and fit in your pocket. When I showed one of them the Motorola RAZR recently, they fell in love with the small size, before immediately being turned off by the camera and battery life. It's for these types of people that a new wave of flip phones has launched, and the Galaxy Z Flip follows the Motorola RAZR in attempting to put big screens in a pocket-friendly phone.
Yet, as I discovered, small phones and early generations of foldable tech come with their own compromises. The Motorola RAZR has a great design, but misses the mark with so many areas. Thankfully, the Galaxy Z Flip proves that it was the phone, not the form factor, that was the issue.
Unlike the Motorola RAZR, or even the first attempt at the Galaxy Fold, the Galaxy Z Flip is a stunning foldable that's flipping fantastic.
About this review: This review is based on a week with a retail unit purchased from Best Buy. As you'll see in the battery section, I initially used this on Project Fi, before switching to Verizon's LTE network and drastically improving the battery life. Samsung loaned an initial review unit to Android Central for precisely 25 hours, and while a few of Andrew's initial observations are included in this review, the majority is based on my time with a retail unit that I personally purchased.
Bottom line: The Galaxy Z Flip takes a modern smartphone shape, and lets you fold it in half. It features a folding glass cover/display, a decent camera, flagship specs and decent battery life. There are compromises aplenty, namely in price and potential screen fragility, but this foldable gets closer than any prior to being a well-rounded phone.
The Good
Excellent specs
Decent battery life
One UI 2.1 is sleek
Fairly good cameras
Incredible design
The Bad
Expensive
Possibly fragile display
Long term durability concerns
Questionable claims of "glass"
Design: A stunning reflective fingerprint magnet
Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central
The Galaxy Z Flip is a stunning device; there's no other way to put it. When you see it in person, the Mirror Purple color will take your breath away. It's reflective and a giant fingerprint magnet, which means you'll be constantly cleaning it. You could put it in a case — a basic clear one is included in the box — but doing so is like buying a beautiful sports car only to keep it in a garage.
The Galaxy Z Flip feels incredibly refined, and far superior to the Motorola RAZR.
The phone itself features sleek lines and near-perfect symmetry. Unlike the Galaxy Fold there is no large, ugly notch on the inside screen. There's also a single front facing camera atop the screen which is in the middle of the phone, and is perfect for Google Duo video calls (more on that later). Around the whole screen, there is a raised bezel that prevents the screen from hitting itself when you fold over, as well as preventing dust and dirt from getting beneath the screen.
The Galaxy Z Flip is an exercise in refinement. With the original Galaxy Fold last year, it was clear that it lacked the polish that helped justify the cost of a very expensive smartphone. Similarly, with the Motorola RAZR, it felt like a first-gen smartphone with obvious compromises. The Galaxy Z Flip is clearly still a first-gen smartphone, but the hinge, display and overall design feel coherent and thoughtful.
It's also the first Samsung smartphone I can remember that you could describe as truly breathtaking. Most phones utilize the candybar form factor and stick to mostly neutral colors, but the Galaxy Z Flip looks iridescent and commands attention. It's the nicest-looking smartphone I've used in a long time.
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
The power button is located on the right of the bottom half of the phone, meaning it's easy to press when the screen is folded close. With the tighter hinge that Samsung has deployed, the Galaxy Z Flip is definitely thicker than most phones we've become accustomed to, but it doesn't pose a problem. The thickness is a by-product of the flip form factor, and considering that it makes a big phone much more pocketable, it's a trade-off worth accepting.
The taller 21.9:9 aspect ratio of the Galaxy Z Flip means it's also slightly narrower than a typical handset, allowing it to be more ergonomically friendly. It's one of the few phones I can remember that is so darn easy to wrap your hand around and grip both sides. The Galaxy Z Flip is so comfortable that it makes other phones feel strange in the hand, which is no mean feat.
Hinge and display: Polished and practical
Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central
When I think of ideal foldable smartphones or computers, the first thing that comes to mind is a hinge that stops at multiple angles. Using the Galaxy Fold and the Motorola RAZR reinforced these feelings, and the Galaxy Z Flip finally delivers.
You might be wondering why you should care about a hinge that can be positioned at different angles, and the answer is pretty simple. Whether you're lying in bed, having a video call while getting ready, or just scrolling while the phone is in front of you, being able to adjust the angle of the screen makes these tasks effortless.
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
The hinge is considerably tighter than that on the Motorola RAZR or Galaxy Fold, which is necessary to ensure it can be positioned at any angle between roughly 20 and 160 degrees. That's part of the Z Flip's charm, but also has some side effects. By re-engineering the hinge to allow it to stop at any of those angles, Samsung made the phone much harder to flick open and close. As a result, I've struggled to find a way to make opening the phone feel natural, although you quickly learn where to position your fingers so it's easy to adjust. When you do slam it shut, it offers that satisfying 'click' we've come to expect from foldable phones and closing it does end a call, although it takes a few seconds.
Beyond the practicality of the hinge, the Galaxy Z Flip shows just how many advancements Samsung is making around foldable technology. A year ago, the company's first foldable had a failed launch, before the big problems were addressed a few months later when it finally went on sale. I love the Galaxy Fold, and it's great to see improvements made around the hinge and fragility of the display in the Galaxy Z Flip.
There are a few parts to this, including the raized bezel, fibers that brush away dust beneath the screen, and reducing the number of gaps between the display and hinge. Most importantly, the design of the Galaxy Z Flip means the glass display is tucked beneath the raised bezel and there are far fewer opportunities for someone to accidentally pry up the screen, or for dust to get underneath and damage the display.
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
Alongside the edges of the screen, you'll find end caps that are so similar to the ones on the refreshed Galaxy Fold. Beneath the edges is Samsung's true hidden magic, as the Z Flip uses little fibers to sweep and brush away any dirt and debris before it can affect the integrity of the screen. Granted, I haven't had time to test these claims, but if it does work as described, it's an impressive improvement from the troubles of the original Galaxy Fold. An iFixit teardown, however, shows that an inundation of dust and debril will pose an ingress problem.
The ultra thin glass screen on the Galaxy Z Flip is a game changer for the future of technology.
Samsung is clearly very proud of the advancements in the Galaxy Z Flip's display. The company pointed out in many different ways that the Z Flip's screen is covered with "ultra thin glass," not plastic. This was enough to make the Z Flip incredibly interesting to me, especially considering the state of other foldable displays.
There's already considerable controversy over whether the screen is actually "glass" or not, but regardless of the exact material, it's clearly not the substrate we know from our time using smartphones over the past decade. At some point however, we need to move beyond these complaints and understand the technology and nuances for what they are. Yes, this display covering is clearly much more fragile than the Gorilla Glass 6 on the Galaxy S20, but it also *folds in half".
Source: Daniel Bader / Android Central
The switch to "glass," or a glass-like substance, also shows that foldable smartphones are progressing at a faster rate than anyone really expected. Launched within the last six months, both the Motorola RAZR and Galaxy Fold feature plastic screens, which are noticeable as being less durable to the smartphone screens we're used to. In comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip feels like a regular smartphone that folds, rather than one that uses an inferior display.
That said, there is still a compromise (as there will be with most foldable devices): the crease in the screen. While significantly less noticeable than the Galaxy Fold or Motorola RAZR, it's still present and you can feel it when scrolling over the screen. I did quickly learn to look past it, and within a couple of days it became second nature, but it's definitely there.
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
The main screen is a 6.7-inch FHD+ Foldable Dynamic AMOLED display, while the Cover Display measures 1-inches. The main display features all the characteristics of any Samsung screen, including vibrant colors and deep blacks. The Cover Display? Well, Samsung shouldn't have bothered.
The Galaxy Z Flip features the biggest screen in a tiny phone.
This is one of the worst parts of the Galaxy Z Flip. Unlike the Peek Display on the Motorola RAZR, the Cover Display is so small that it's basically useless. The display shows the time and date, and lets you scroll through select notifications and media playback. But it requires double tapping the tiny display to activate, and then takes another series of taps to display some limited scrolling information. The simplest way to sum it up is that the Cover Display times out while scrolling a notification, revealing nothing of value.
Don't let that detract you from the Galaxy Z Flip, though. The Cover Display is hit and miss, but the main screen is the best of any foldable I've used. There's no creak, no flexing when you press on it with force and the screen is completely flat. That's major progress for foldables, and this is the first foldable that doesn't feature a huge compromise in the quality of the display.
Cameras: Almost flagship level
Source: Android Central
The Cover Display sits next to the 'rear' cameras, and a double press of the power button can launch those cameras ready to take a selfie. Initially, adjusting to only seeing a 1-inch crop of the image was a challenge, however it only took a few days before I was able to take a selfie with a fair degree of accuracy.
There are two 12MP cameras present on the "rear" of the Galaxy Z Flip, which also double up as dual selfie cameras when the Z Flip is shut. This camera array is essentially the same as the one found on the Galaxy S10e last year, complete with missing telephoto camera.
As we saw with the Motorola RAZR — and unlike the Galaxy Fold — 'flip' phones present challenges in terms of space, which has the knock-on effect that they won't feature all the bells and whistles from comparable flagships. While some will lament the lack of telephoto camera, it makes sense for Samsung to offer features most people will use, and I'd much rather have an ultra-wide camera than a telephoto. It's just more versatile.
You won't buy the Z Flip for its cameras, but they get the job done.
The two main cameras offer similar performance to the Galaxy S10 range of last year. These were among of the best cameras last year, and the Galaxy Z Flip puts out photos and videos of similar quality. This isn't the phone you'll buy for its cameras, but they're mostly capable of taking pictures you'll want to share on social media.
In great lighting conditions, the Galaxy Z Flip takes great images full of detail and featuring a rich degree of sharpness. As with all of its phones, Samsung's image processing leans more towards higher saturation and more visually appealing images, as opposed to the more neutral and natural profiles found on the iPhone and Pixel series, respectively.
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android CentralRegular (left) vs night mode (right) on the Galaxy Z Flip.
As the light drops however, so does the camera's performance. Low-light has been one of Samsung's camera weaknesses — at least until the Galaxy S20 series — and the Galaxy Z Flip doesn't feature any big improvements in low light conditions. Images are usually lacking in detail and sharpness, and often they're unusable. None of this is new to Samsung phones and while it seems to have been improved in its new range of phones, the Galaxy Z Flip isn't a camera champion.
That said, it does feature the same set of features we've come to expect from Samsung, including Live Focus mode. Almost an extended portrait mode, this allows you to apply a variety of different depth effects to pictures including bokeh (blur), a big circle effect (essentially completely obfuscating the background), a spin effect, a zoom effect and my favorite, Color Point.
Color Point lets you keep one part of the image in color while desaturizing the rest so it's black and white. As a result, you can take some really artistic and creative photos of people and objects, as you'll see below.
What about when the phone is unfolded? Taking selfie with it in this mode definitely results in reduced quality, as it's not using the "main" cameras. Instead, the Galaxy Z Flip is outfitted with a pretty standard 10MP selfie camera that isn't the best but will get the job done.
One of the best things about the design of the hinge is that you can prop the Z Flip up to take a group selfie with friends. For the most part, this works just as you'd expect and the "wide-angle" selfie mode simply widens the angle of the shot a little. It can be handy, but if you're using it in low light, there's one big problem.
If you do prop the phone up or use it half folded, the low light conditions trigger the selfie flash. For most phones, this isn't a problem, but for the Galaxy Z Flip, the whole screen lights up meaning the bottom half of the screens shines a lot of light upwards. As a result, images have a lot of lens flare in them and look like they were taken with a five-year-old smartphone camera.
This is hugely frustrating, but even more frustrating is that it's a really simple yet glaring omission by Samsung. Considering the rest of the camera app cleverly adjusts layout when propped up – so all the controls are at the bottom and the viewfinder is the top half of the screen – it's strange that the company wouldn't disable the flash feature for the bottom half. This can be easily fixed via software, and I hope they'll do so, as this essentially ruins any low light selfies when the phone is "sitting".
The Galaxy Z Flip's cameras won't win any awards, but it's not designed to. You're not buying this phone for its cameras, you're buying it for the refreshing approach to smartphones it offers. While these cameras aren't on par with Samsung's latest flagships — as well as many others in the space — they are miles better than the only other folding flip phone, the RAZR. As such, the Galaxy Z Flip shows that while there are some trade-offs due to physical constraints, flip phones can feature reliable cameras.
Performance: Flagship specs with a couple of compromises
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
One area where the trade-offs are minimal is in the specs. The Galaxy Z Flip essentially features the internal specs of the Galaxy S10 from last year, meaning it's a flagship specs sheet that's slightly out of date. Considering the Z Flip has probably been in the making for several years, Samsung deserves plaudits for using a flagship specs list, rather than the mid-range specs found in the Motorola RAZR.
The whole package is powered by a Snapdragon 855+ processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. While not on par with the Snapdragon 865 processor and 12GB of RAM as base in the Galaxy S20 series, the processing package inside the Galaxy Z Flip is more than capable of handling anything you throw at it.
Category
Galaxy Z Flip
Motorola RAZR
Operating System
Android 10 One UI 2.0
Android 9
Main Display
6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2636 x 1080 425ppi 21.9:9 aspect ratio
6.2-inches Foldable P-OLED 21:9 aspect ratio 876x2142 (373 ppi) resolution
While there may be some concern around a slightly outdated processor, there's no noticeable performance issues as I never manage to hit any resource limitations or lag during my time with it.
For the most part, these specs are fairly future proof. In a year or two, the Snapdragon 855+ should be able to keep delivering a solid all-round performance, and 8GB of RAM should still give you enough headroom not to be held back.
Of course, the Galaxy Z Flip doesn't feature 5G. This is likely down to the physical constraints within the device — 5G requires more and larger antennas. If you decide to keep the Galaxy Z Flip for two years, your next flip phone could well have 5G and might offer the natural upgrade.
Battery life: More than acceptable despite limitations
Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central
Looking at the specs list, one number immediately jumps out: the 3,300 mAh battery inside the Galaxy Z Flip, First, this is actually two batteries which combine to form that capacity. Two cells is less efficient than one larger battery cell, meaning there are inherent compromises in the battery that are necessitated by the design. This was most apparent in the Motorola RAZR, which has a 2,510mAh battery that won't last more than half a day.
Now that we've got that out of that way, what about the Galaxy Z Flip? Does it feature the same battery issues as the Motorola RAZR? The simple answer is no. Having just reviewed the Motorola RAZR, I was incredibly wary of the Galaxy Z Flip's battery. Thankfully, I didn't need to be.
For the most part, the Galaxy Z Flip has delivered all day battery life to me. There were a couple of days of slightly heavier usage where it needed to be charged at around 13 hours, but otherwise, it would see me through 16-18 hours on a full charge.
During this time, on average I was able to use it for about five hours. That's not quite on par with some flagships that offers six or seven hours of usage, but considering the battery size, Samsung has optimized the battery life fairly well. On some days, usage was high as seven hours, while on days with heavier camera usage — or where I've been primarily using it outdoors and the screen is set at a brighter level — it can be as low as four hours.
Despite some variance in certain cases, I'm comfortable with the battery life the Galaxy Z Flip offers. Yes, it's not going to be win any awards for battery life but again, it's a phone that folds. There's always trade-offs when you have to split batteries, but Samsung has manage to mostly negate them.
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
There is one caveat to the battery life discussion: your choice of carrier. The area in Brooklyn that I live in features great cell signal on Verizon only, with the rest of the carriers mostly unusable. Initially using the Galaxy Z Flip on Project Fi, my battery life was atrocious, even worse than the Motorola RAZR. However, switching to Verizon delivered the consistently reliable battery life I've mentioned above. Simply put, picking the right carrier is crucial.
Software: One UI is sleek and reliable
Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central
Samsung has previously been panned for its software — I can still imagine TouchWiz and shudder to think what it would be like on foldables — but One UI is a marked shift for the company. Beginning with the Galaxy S10, we saw a user experience that featured deliberate design decisions rather than an incoherent experience. The result was a great software experience, which really shows in the Galaxy Z Flip.
I'm not going to go into minute details about all the changes in One UI 2.1, but check out the video below where Alex Dobie walks you through the key details.
I said in my Galaxy Fold review that Samsung's software feels like it was meant for foldables, and in particular, multitasking is a joy on the Galaxy Z Flip. Unlike the Fold which has a large display to make use of, the Z Flip simplifies the exeprience by allowing you to split the screen in two along the crease. Then, you can run one app on either half of the screen. It's not ingenious, but it feels very natural and exactly how you'd want to you multitask.
Similarly, Samsung has also made some key optimizations in the software to make use of the flip form factor. Working closely with Google, a small handle of apps feature "Flex mode" interfaces that have been specifically optimized for the form factor, which are activated when the phone is folded at a roughly 90-degree angle.
In the camera app, the viewfinder is in the top half, while the controls are in the bottom. In the gallery app it's similar, while the YouTube app is meant to support these customizations but wasn't available on my Galaxy Z Flip yet.
Folding the phone at roughly 90-degrees allows it to be near perfect for video calls. Google's Duo is preloaded in contacts and the dialer on the Galaxy Z Flip, as well as the Galaxy S20 series, and has been optimized for the Flex mode with a similar UI. I don't use Google Duo very often, but folding the Z Flip and propping it up certainly made me reconsider, especially when I'm outside in the cold New York weather.
Yet, despite all its improvements, it's clear that Samsung and Google still need to optimize things further. Although the Flex mode features will be available to all foldables, Android itself needs work. And with no set standard for the front display, each app will likely need to be optimized to work with specific features. Which is tedious and will result in a disjointed experience. For example, when a call comes in on Google Duo, nothing displays on the Cover Display.
Should you be worried about durability?
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
One of the biggest concerns everyone has raised with foldable devices is durability. And with some degree of truth: it's absolutely clear that folding displays are far less durable than other smartphones. Although companies like Corning are working to resolve this, it's one big caveat around buying a folding phone.
Similarly, there's no dust or water protection, meaning while this may be able to take a few drops of rain, it needs to be kept away from deluges and you should remove it from your pocket before going swimming. I've only used the Galaxy Z Flip for a week so it's hard to know if it can survive day-to-day long-term usage, but there are a few key takeaways already.
First, you need to treat it with a certain amount of care. When you unbox the Z Flip, Samsung makes it clear that you should make sure there's no dust, debris, coins, keys or anthing else sandwiched between the folded display when you put it in your pocket. This screen will get damaged more easily than a regular phone.
Second, the Galaxy Z Flip is slippery — really slippery. Put it on a flat surface, and it'll find a way to slide off. This means you'll be constantly on the lookout for it dropping, and if it does, it may end in disaster. That said, I accidentally dropped my Galaxy Z Flip on the top edge onto my bathroom tiles from about three feet, and it survived just fine aside from a couple of small scuff marks.
The best trick the Galaxy Z Flip pulls is feeling like a 'normal' phone when it's open.
Third, while it may still be somewhat fragile, it doesn't feel it. I can't specify this enough: it feels like a normal smartphone thanks to the "glass" screen, meaning you have to be mindful to treat it like it is potentially fragile.
With all of those caveats, I actually don't have any concerns about durability. In the past week, I've experienced nothing to suggest it will easily break (unless you take a sharped edge to the display, which you definitely shouldn't do). While it is fragile, it doesn't feel like it and this is probably one of Samsung's greatest tricks: it's made the Galaxy Z Flip feel like a normal smartphone.
The Galaxy Z Flip is flipping fantastic, but should you buy it?
Source: Nirave Gondhia / Android Central
Ultimately, the key question surrounding whether you should consider buying a Galaxy Z Flip is whether you trust Samsung's claims about durability. During the past week, I've had no durability concerns, but it's clear that the Z Flip is more fragile than a regular smartphone.
The Galaxy Z Flip is the sexiest smartphone I've ever used, and I don't want to put it down.
There's perceived value in being able to fold the phone in half, which is one of the main reasons to buy the Z Flip. Because, unlike the Galaxy Fold, you're not paying to get more screen real estate, you're paying to make your existing phone smaller. Yes, it features a great design and packs the wow factor, but this comes with its own set of compromises.
That said however, the Galaxy Z Flip is easily the best-looking smartphone I've ever used, and I found myself never wanting to put it down. Whether just to admire its iridescent looks, or to open and close the display instead of fidgeting or tapping my foot, the Z Flip found a way to leave a mark on me.
I didn't expect that I'd find value in being able to fold the phone in half, but the Z Flip has made me rethink phones all over again. While the Galaxy Fold showed the utility side of a foldable device, the Galaxy Z Flip makes all phones boring. I've already been mildly confused when trying to fold another phone closed and realizing it's not the Z Flip.
Samsung is clearly closing the gap between flat and foldable phones, but there's still compromises to be made.
Beyond the incredible design, the Z Flip also showcases an exciting future for foldables. Samsung is clearly closing the gap between flat and foldable phones at a rapid pace, and while the company isn't there yet, the advancements from the Galaxy Fold to the Galaxy Z Flip should not be underestimated.
Whether you should buy the Galaxy Z Flip is another question. Unlike the Motorola RAZR which no-one should buy, the few compromises in the Z Flip don't hugely affect the overall experience. At a price that's $380 more than the base Galaxy S20, you should probably be certain that you see value in the combination of the compact form factor and novelty (or wow factor, if you will) of folding the phone in half. Because in order to get those two things, you're making a few compromises that all detract from the smartphone experience we're all used to.
4out of 5
With all that said, I paid $1,380 for the Galaxy Z Flip and I am very happy with my purchase. The Motorola RAZR was an instant return back to Motorola for me, but the Galaxy Z Flip is going nowhere. It is already the phone I want to use when I go out, and it's fast becoming one of my favorite phones of all time. Simply put, it's a flipping fantastic foldable.
The Galaxy Z Flip takes a modern smartphone shape, and lets you fold it in half. There are compromises aplenty, namely in price and potential screen fragility, but this foldable gets closer than any prior to being a well-rounded phone.
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