It was revealed three months ago that Samsung is working on an affordable smartphone, the Galaxy A03s. The device is expected to launch in Europe and India. Ahead of the upcoming launch, the specifications and pricing of the Galaxy A03s have been leaked along with its design.
The Galaxy A03s (SM-A037F) reportedly features a 6.5-inch TFT LCD Infinity-V display with HD+ resolution (1,600 x 720 pixels). The smartphone has a 13MP+2MP+2MP triple-camera setup at the rear and a 5MP selfie camera at the front. The rear-facing 2MP camera sensors are used for depth sensing and macro shots. The phone can record 1080p videos as well. The phone will be powered by a 5,000mAh battery and supports 15W fast charging.
In terms of internal hardware, the Galaxy A03s features a MediaTek Helio P35 octa-core processor, 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM, 32GB/64GB/128GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot. The phone runs Android 11 out of the box with One UI 3.1. The phone will reportedly be available in three colors: black, blue, and white. The phone also features a dual-SIM card slot, LTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The upcoming smartphone misses out on a fingerprint reader. It was leaked a few days ago that the Galaxy A03s could start at €150 in Europe.
No other smartphone manufacturer is shaking up the premium segment quite like Samsung. It’s no secret that growth has stagnated in the top-end of the market. There’s only so much you can chance on a candybar-style phone every year. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve seen Samsung focus so much on its mid-range and entry-level devices.
The company also wants to increasingly rely on foldable smartphones to dominate the premium segment. It’s singlehandedly trying to mainstream foldable devices. By moving into this space before some of its biggest rivals, Samsung has capitalized on the first-mover advantage.
The foldable device market is expected to grow 3x this year compared to 2020. The total shipments are likely to be around 9 million units. Samsung is likely to account for 88% of the entire market this year. Even as the foldable market sees a predicted tenfold expansion by 2023, Samsung is still expected to dominate with a 75% share.
At $2,000 and $1,380, Samsung’s first-generation Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip were quite expensive. It would be difficult for many customers to rationalize the purchase. After all, these were the first iteration of a new series that had yet to be proven in the real world. There were concerns about durability and longevity as well.
Samsung has gradually been building up the market’s confidence in its foldable smartphones. The Galaxy Z Fold is now in its third iteration. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is significantly better than its predecessors. It’s more capable, durable and even water-resistant. It’s also cheaper than before.
Despite a $200 price cut, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is still going to be a niche device at $1,800. A lot more people might take a chance on it this time around but the price will remain a hurdle in truly bringing this device to the mainstream.
This hurdle has been removed rather brilliantly by Samsung for the Galaxy Z Flip 3. By pricing it at $999, the company has broken the psychological barrier that would have prevented the average customer from viewing the Galaxy Z Flip 3 as anything but a normal device.
Customers who want a high-end smartphone are quite used to the $999 price tag. Samsung has itself sold plenty of flagship smartphones for $999. This is the same price as the Galaxy S21+. You can now get a foldable smartphone for less than the cost of a Galaxy S21 Ultra, the top-of-the-line “normal” phone from Samsung this year.
The average customer probably doesn’t read blogs or follow rumors about upcoming devices. They’re more likely to discover new devices in a retail store. So imagine someone coming across the Galaxy Z Flip 3 for the first time. They like the way it looks and the way it feels. They get pulled in by the device’s unique nature.
The customer doesn’t get a sticker shock when they look at a price. If anything, they would have been expecting it to cost $999 at the very least. They no longer have to justify the purchase in their mind since the price isn’t out of the ordinary. If they’re used to buying smartphones that cost that much, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 would feel just like any other device.
This is what Samsung is counting on to sell a ton of Galaxy Z Flip 3 units this year. It has managed to strike a balance for the two different types of customers. There are those who love to keep on top of rumors and devour spec sheets for breakfast will appreciate the Snapdragon 888 chipset with 8GB of RAM, larger cover display, more durable foldable display and the water resistance rating.
Then there are also customers who just walk into a store and buy a phone that makes sense to them for a price that doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. The $1000 psychological barrier that Samsung has broken for the Galaxy Z Flip 3 will also entice the fans and knowledgeable customers to get off the fence and actually buy the device. It’s the best of both worlds, really.
The price has remained one of the biggest hurdles in popularizing foldable smartphones. Samsung has taken a step in the right direction for one of its models this year. The price may not fall below $999 by much in the coming years for future Galaxy Z Flip models, but many are going to find it perfectly acceptable at this level.
So the only question that remains is, are you buying one?
Anyone in the U.S. still hanging on to their carrier-issued Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ can expect a new security update to land on their device shortly. Namely, T-Mobile and its subsidiary Sprint have started pushing out the August 2021 patch level this morning. The new firmware version to be on the lookout for is either G960USQS9FUG2 or G965USQS9FUG2, depending on whether you’re rocking the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+.
Verizon, AT&T, and prepaid carriers in the country are likely to follow suit in the coming days. Or weeks, at worst. Regardless, this is one of the final firmware updates for both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. Samsung’s 2018 flagships are nearly three-and-a-half, at this point. They have accordingly been relegated to a quarterly release schedule earlier this year, back in spring.
This is one of the final security updates for the Galaxy S9 series
Meaning that as things stand right now, the Galaxy S9 series is only guaranteed two more security patches. Or half a year’s worth of updates, if you like. But getting four full years out of a smartphone sounds like a good deal in this day and age. Afterward, you might want to consider upgrading. A Galaxy S9-series smartphone was a suspect purchase even last year.
As for the August 1st, 2021 security patch level, this update already made its way to the unlocked variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in the U.S. It started to, at least, about a week ago. If you still haven’t received your download, try going to Settings > Software update > Download and install. Or turn to our firmware archives and do things the good ol’ manual way.
Samsung’s latest clamshell foldable smartphone has us under its spell. It’s one heck of a device that checks all of the right boxes. Our initial Galaxy Z Flip 3 hands-on left us feeling very impressed. After using it for a full day, I am confident that this device will have me falling in love with it.
That might seem like high praise but it’s true. The clamshell form factor is already a perfect fit for foldable smartphones. Samsung leveraged it perfectly with the original Galaxy Z Flip and that has now been refined brilliantly.
We said in our Galaxy Z Flip review last year that the best compliment you could give the device was that it felt normal. Despite having a foldable glass panel and a very complicated hinge, it didn’t feel like a concept or a device that felt out of the ordinary.
Samsung has doubled down on that with the Galaxy Z Flip 3. All of the design changes made to the new device contribute to that. The flatter edges make the design appear cleaner and modern. Not only does it look more like a normal phone but it also feels like one. While we’re on the subject of looks, we already face a first world problem with the device. It looks so good that we don’t want to put a case on it!
There was one element that really needed an upgrade and that was the cover display. The Galaxy Z Flip’s 1.1-inch display wasn’t that useful. Samsung has given the Galaxy Z Flip 3 a larger 1.9-inch cover display and it makes a world of difference. I no longer have to flip open the device as many times as I would its predecessor.
Notifications can be easily handled through the larger cover display. It also makes the device more visually appealing due to the animations and color details in the clock and other widgets. It’s great to see that Samsung has addressed one of the biggest pain points of the Galaxy Z Flip.
While we would have liked to see some improvement in the camera hardware, Samsung hasn’t shaken things up in this department for its 2021 foldables. However, it has done some work on the camera software to improve results.
The image processing has been improved just to obtain some better results out of the familiar camera hardware. We look forward to testing it more over the coming weeks to provide more insight about the camera performance in our detailed review.
The hinge is one of the most important parts of a foldable smartphone. Samsung introduced its Hideaway Hinge with the Galaxy Z Flip. It was more durable, had more protection against dust and foreign objects and even brought us Flex Mode.
Samsung has made further improvements to the hinge on the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Not only does it look nicer but the movement itself feels more solid and nicer compared to the predecessor. It reinstates our confidence that the Galaxy Z Flip 3 has been built to last. Flex Mode works like a joy, too.
It’s tough to provide a verdict on the battery life after just using the phone for 24 hours. Since it has the same battery capacity as the original Flip, we aren’t expecting any major gains. As long as it’s able to hold out over the long as well as its predecessor did, there won’t be many complaints about the battery life.
It’s been wonderful getting to know the Galaxy Z Flip 3 so far. Using it evokes feelings of awe and wonder. It’s like being a kid in a candy store, you just don’t want to stop throwing money at it. That only just makes us excited for the days to come as we put the Galaxy Z Flip 3 through its paces for our full review. Stay tuned for that!
Fancy yourself as a Samsung superfan? Take our quiz and see how many answers you can get right! This is a fun activity that we do with our readers every week to test their knowledge of the Korean giant. The quiz has a mix of easy and difficult questions that most fans should be able to answer without turning to Google.
We make a new quiz for you every weekend so we hope that you’ll participate and learn a thing or two about Samsung in the process! Don’t forget to share the results of the quiz with your friends and see if you can outscore them. A little competition never hurt anybody!
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The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is Samsung’s first smartphone to adopt under-display camera (UDC) technology. It’s also the only one to boast UDC, even though Samsung’s other foldable flagship — the Galaxy Z Flip 3 — got unveiled at the same event.
Samsung explained why the Galaxy Z Flip 3 doesn’t have UDC and why the Fold 3 does. It has to do with the fact that UDC technology can’t match the quality of a standard selfie sensor, so the Galaxy Z Fold 3 was a natural launchpad for UDC, seeing how the phone also benefits from a standard cover selfie camera.
So how does the new under-display camera compare to the cover selfie sensor in terms of quality? Well, we’ll talk a whole lot more on this topic in our upcoming reviews, so stay tuned for that, but until then, we’re sharing a couple of sample selfie shots to give our readers a quick side-by-side comparison. Check the gallery below (the picture to the left was captured with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 cover camera; the other one with UDC).
The UDC’s lower quality is not as evident on the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s displays
There it is. The UDC sensor’s larger pixels do a pretty respectable job at keeping decent luminosity and color levels compared to the 10MP cover camera selfie, but the picture is not as crisp.
Because of this, the difference in quality is not as obvious on smaller displays like the ones the Galaxy Z Flip 3 has. But these differences will be a lot more obvious when viewing the photos on a bigger screen such as a monitor or a TV.
Stick around for our upcoming review and check our hands-on story if you want to learn more about the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
Samsung unveiled its newest foldable smartphones a couple of days ago. The new devices have better build quality, a water resistance rating, brighter screens, faster processors, and improved software. While the phones are already available for pre-order in Europe, South Korea, and the US, the company had not revealed the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3’s pricing or availability for the Indian market.
Today, Samsung India tweeted a reply to Indian filmstar Alia Bhatt and mentioned “a special delivery coming your way on 20th August. Unfold and pick your foldable!” with hashtags #GalaxyZFold3 and #GalaxyZFlip3. Looking at the tweet, it is expected that the two foldable smartphones will go on pre-orders in India on August 20, 2021. The company is already allowing Indian customers to pre-book (not to be confused with pre-orders) the devices.
The South Korean firm is making its foldable phones more affordable. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 are cheaper than their predecessors. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 starts at just $999.99, and that’s without considering the trade-in deals and pre-order offers. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 starts at $1,799.99.
Earlier, it was rumored that the Galaxy Z Flip 3 could cost anywhere between INR 80,000 (~1,076) and INR 90,000 (~1,211) in India, while the Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be priced around INR 1,35,000 (~$1,817). Samsung could also offer pre-order gifts with its new phones, and those benefits could include free Galaxy Buds 2 and cashbacks.
