Lab – Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3’s external screen really more useful? – Digital

Like the Galaxy fold, his first foldable smartphone which he has just unveiled the third iteration, Samsung endowed the Galaxy z flip an external screen. On the first version of the model, it was really small (1.1 inch) and barely usable. The lesson seems to have been learned by the South Korean firm which offers on its recent Galaxy Z Flip 3 a cover display 1.9 inch. The display area is therefore four times larger in 2021, offering more options to hope to open your smartphone as little as possible. Well, that’s on paper. What is it really worth in practice?

Good little Oled display

On a purely technical level, the external screen of the Z Flip 3 is based on Super Amoled technology and displays a definition of 260 x 512 pixels. We measured its maximum brightness, which reaches around 400 cd / m². A very good value for such a puny display. If you find it too high, know that it is possible to manage the brightness directly from the cover display swipe down from the top of the screen. We would have liked to be able to measure its reflectance rate, but the panel is not wide enough to face our probe.

A screen that works almost like that of a connected watch …

As on the first model, the external panel mainly displays the time and notifications. By pressing it twice or by pressing the start button, the screen reveals widgets similar to what can offer us a smartwatch. Display of the time, appointments or even a voice recording: you can consult all this information without opening the smartphone. Music control is also possible through a Spotify widget. Good to know, this only appears if you have already launched the app on the main screen of the phone. It is indeed not possible to start music or browse through its playlists from the external screen. Pity. Note that, like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung specifies that it is up to the developers to play the game of providing widgets compatible with its cover display. However, don’t expect to be checking out your Instagram or TikTok feed anytime soon. Your timeline Twitter in a pinch, but in such a small space, readability seems compromised.

Personalization is also essential since, as with a connected watch face, you will be able to modify the main display of the small screen. Samsung also praises the possibility of matching its screen with Galaxy watch 4 to that of the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

But this small external display is not just for widgets and other notifications. It also allows you to take a picture without opening the smartphone. By pressing the start button twice, the photo application opens with instant screen feedback. By swiping right or left, you can switch between video mode and photo mode. By performing the same gesture, but here up or down, you change the module (wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle). To trigger a shot, simply raise your hand in front of the lens or press the volume controls. Handy for selfies.

… but which is not without limitations

For the time being, the use of this external screen is severely restricted. Only some Samsung apps make use of it, to which we must add Spotify. We would have liked that for the release of the smartphone, applications such as Gmail or WhatsApp could have a widget allowing you to consult our emails and messages – without necessarily responding to them. On the other hand, the messages received are displayed entirely on this 1.9 inch screen. It is already that, but to answer it is necessary to unfold the smartphone.

Itou, it would have been nice to be able to see the progress of the various downloads of apps or files on the smartphone. A quick glance without opening the latter is always more pleasant. This leads us to regret the absence of a more complete quick settings panel. As it is, only the brightness of the external display and the volume of the alerts can be adjusted. Note that this external screen will no longer work once the smartphone is open, even in tent mode. The outer panel appears to be designed for closed Z Flip 3 use only, with one exception: when taking photos, you can turn the cover display into a mini-monitor so your subject can see your framing.

For the moment, it is not certain that the outer screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 allows enough interactions that you do not systematically open the smartphone. The possibilities are limited, mainly because app developers do not yet offer adequate widgets. In the next few months, it may be possible to use the external display more than the internal one. At the moment, it only seems really useful for checking its notifications and, of course, taking better quality selfies than with the internal photo module.