The Galaxy Z Flip is the best foldable phone I’ve ever used. Considering this is still a new field with only the Motorola Razr, Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X for competing devices you can buy today, that might not sound like much. Don’t believe it. Samsung has done most things right with the Z Flip’s design, creating a foldable phone that’s fun to wield and practical enough for everyday life.
How it stacks up
Like
Sits open for selfies and video calls
Foldable glass screen
Camera quality
Ultraportable
Don’t Like
Expensive
Overly small outer display
Susceptible to damage
With the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that foldable phones have a right to exist as more than just experimental toys. That’s quite an impressive feat for Samsung’s second stab at foldables, especially after its first attempt had such a disastrous start. To see Samsung pivot so quickly to a design that’s sturdier, recognizable as a phone and straightforward to use is worth acknowledging.
I’ve quickly fallen in love with the Galaxy Z Flip — particularly the way the 6.7-inch glass screen stands upright on its own — but Samsung still has work to do. At $1,380 (£1,300), the Z Flip is wildly expensive for the specs, and beyond the reach of most budgets. The bendable glass display is fragile and the phone is vulnerable to water and dust. Battery life is only so-so, and its 1.1-inch outer screen is stupid small.
Most people shouldn’t run out and buy the Galaxy Z Flip. While it’s good enough to rely on in the real world, foldable phones remain largely showpieces for early adopters and hobbyists. You’ll get more camera options, longer battery life and a bona fide water-resistance rating from other flagship phones (I test the $1,400 Galaxy S20 Ultra next).
That said, if you’re debating between this and the Motorola Razr, get the Z Flip without compunction. I also prefer it to the Galaxy Fold, although I’d honestly just wait for the Fold 2 if you want a tablet-size foldable.
Overall, Samsung has done an excellent job bringing thrilling innovations to the Galaxy Z Flip that are simple to understand and surprisingly easy to use. I expect that the next generation will be even better.
You’re staring this phone’s best feature right in the face.
Juan Garzon/CNET
What I love about the Galaxy Z Flip
A cohesive device that’s easy to pick up and use right away.
Closed, it feels sturdy and compact. Gripping it by the hinge end feels secure.
The screen stays open on its own at a wide variety of angles (more on this below).
The foldable glass screen — a world’s first — helps keep the dreaded crease to a minimum. There’s no damage so far to the one I’ve bought.
Camera quality is strong on all three sensors (see breakout).
Solid specs include a Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, 256GB of storage, fast charging and reverse wireless charging (all specs below).
A swipe-out screen is helpful for launching favorite apps and split-screen mode, especially during one-handed use.
It comes with a free plastic case for extra peace of mind.
The cover display is too small to be useful. Samsung missed a sizable opportunity (more below).
Battery life is a tad disappointing.
Many videos and games don’t fit perfectly into the 21.9:9 screen dimensions, resulting in black side bars.
The fingerprint reader would be more conveniently placed on the lower half — at least for my hands.
It’s vulnerable to damage from exposure to water and dust (you get a one-year warranty and 24/7 customer service).
Since you have to unfold it first, it takes longer to do most things than on a standard phone. I’ve missed a few camera moments as a result. (On the flip side, I like the finality of snapping it closed.)
The Galaxy Z Flip is incredibly portable and easy to carry around.
Jason Hiner/CNET
Flex Mode is the Galaxy Z Flip’s killer feature
Open the Galaxy Z Flip from either side and let go. The half you pulled up hasn’t snapped back down into closed position or slowly arched back to fully open. Chances are, it’s stayed exactly where it is.
The hinge’s freestanding ability is something Samsung called Flex Mode, and it’s the Z Flip’s most unique, interesting and effective feature by far because it lets you interact with the phone hands-free.
I didn’t have to invent reasons to keep the screen propped open. That happened naturally. Sometimes I was taking a selfie without awkwardly getting my arm in the way (the wide-angle lens and timer worked great). Or reading an article or scrolling through my inbox or social media feeds while eating lunch. Any time I was tired of holding the phone and wanted to set it down. Making a video call. Making a speakerphone call from the couch. Even bending the phone in the middle in landscape mode to watch a video solo or to show a friend.
Using Flex Mode does come with a few trade-offs I’m willing to make. It winds up bisecting the screen, so the part you’re interacting with is relatively small, often less than 4 inches diagonally. The camera app is dynamic enough to readjust to Flex Mode, with other apps to come, Samsung says, but for me, the convenience of going hands-free outweighed my other objections. It’s just that nice to use the Z Flip as its own stand.
You can watch a video or read a story hands-free. With split screen mode on (pictured), you can do both at once.
Patrick Holland/CNET
On foldables with larger screens, you can envision a real benefit to using one half as a virtual keyboard and the other as the display screen.
The only immediate downside I can see to Flex Mode is that a stiffer hinge means it takes a little more force to flick the phone open when it’s closed, especially if you’re trying to impress someone with your gunslinger skills. I’m curious (and perhaps a little concerned) to see if the hinge will loosen over time and lose some of that self-supporting capability, slumping one way or the other.
Tiny cover display is the Z Flip’s worst trait
The Galaxy Z Flip is so good that my disappointment with the phone’s outer screen pangs me all the more. Samsung gave the foldable flip phone a tiny pill-shaped display next to the main cameras.
Unfortunately, it’s too small, squat and narrow to really do anything meaningful with it, and that’s something the Razr can brag about. For all its foibles, that phone’s 2.7-inch exterior display is large enough to view notifications and will let you respond to them with voice dictation and canned messages.
On the Galaxy Z Flip, you can double-tap to see the time, date and battery percentage. You’ll also see the battery percentage while charging up. Swipe the cover screen to see app icons that represent notifications. Tap one to see the subject or read a message on a scrolling ticker. You may need to open the phone to truly see what’s going on. It’s not entirely useful.
You can’t do much with that tiny outer screen.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Samsung also envisions this mini window as a viewfinder for you and others. The problem is that you can’t really place yourself within the photo, and the window is too small to see what you really look like. I do like that you get access to the two main 12-megapixel cameras that way, and that you can swipe on the outer screen to swap between standard and ultrawide-angle sensors.
In one selfie I took with the phone closed (the only photo type you can take this way), a friend and I looked centered as I held the phone at arm’s length. It’s only when checking in the photo gallery that I noticed a third person in our group had just as much screen share, a person who we didn’t see in the viewfinder.
Outer screens are tricky for foldable phones. They suck up battery reserves and internal space. If they’re irregularly shaped, like the Fold’s too-tall-and-narrow 4.6-inch screen, you start to resent the cramped quarters that make typing and using apps feel unnatural.
To me, this design is clearly Samsung compromising usability for battery life and to undercut the Razr’s price. I don’t think that’s a winning strategy in the long term.
You get dual 12-megapixel cameras here and a 10-megapixel shooter inside.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Camera quality puts Motorola Razr to shame
I feel for the Motorola Razr. The concept is terrific, but the execution pales in comparison to the Galaxy Z Flip. That’s especially apparent in the camera category.
Samsung’s 12-megapixel wide-angle and ultrawide-angle sensors take better photos and give you more options than the Razr’s single 16-megapixel camera, especially with low light shots. Inside, the Z Flip has a 10-megapixel shooter that’s also good for selfies (like when you want more control over the shot) and for video calls.
The Razr has a 5-megapixel interior camera that the company admits is really just there to start a video call before closing the phone and switching to the better camera, but smaller outside screen. Stay tuned for a deep dive comparison between the Motorola Razr and Galaxy Z Flip cameras.
The internet has approved of the photos I’ve been posting on Twitter from the Galaxy Z Flip. Keep in mind it’s essentially using the Galaxy S10’s camera sensors. Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S20 phones all use at least one 12-megapixel camera apiece as part of their arrays, but those lean on larger sensors that Samsung says have been completely redesigned and greatly improved.
Single Take camera mode is more trouble than it’s worth
One camera feature that the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy S20 phones will have in common is Single Take, a new photography mode that will take up to 10 photos and four videos when you select it and then press and hold the record button. The mode uses multiple cameras and settings to quickly get you variety that you can choose from.
I tried this out several times, and… it’s just not for me. Single Take works best during action shots or when you’re photographing a group of friends hanging out, but I never got a photo or video that I liked better than one I’d take myself. Some of that probably comes down to me and my Type A personality that wants to compose the shot to my specifications. Some might come down to my reluctance to sort through the haul and delete what I don’t want.
The idea here is convenience, and I could see myself using it if I only had one chance to capture a moment. I could also see myself adding the Live Focus portrait mode to my menu bar instead.
That gorgeous purple finish can get gunked up with fingerprints fast.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Galaxy Z Flip battery life is just so-so
What good is a $1,400 phone if it can’t take you through the day? Thankfully, that’s not the Galaxy Z Flip’s problem for me most days. With a combined capacity of 3,300 mAh spread across two battery cells, it gives you more juice than the Razr (2,510 mAh). In my real-world tests, it’s lasted from the time I wake up until evening, when I can easily plug it in again.
On my heaviest use days with hotspotting, streaming video and maps navigation, it ran about 13 hours, lasting overnight on lighter days. In CNET’s lab test to simulate mixed real-world use, it lasted 12 hours. In our battery drain test using looping video (and airplane mode), the result was 15 hours of run time on a single charge.
How long with the Galaxy Z Flip last? That depends on the screen and hinge.
Jason Hiner/CNET
That’s on the lower end of the spectrum for most phones, and a far cry from the Galaxy Note ($800 at Amazon) 10, which easily takes me from early morning to the wee hours without concern. I wouldn’t plan a late night with the Galaxy Z Flip without bringing a charger along with me or topping it up first.
For reference, the Galaxy S20 battery starts at 4,000 mAh and goes up to 5,000 on the Ultra, a phone that costs $20 more than the Z Flip. Battery life is clearly a challenge for foldable phones, and one that I hope Samsung and others are working on for future generations.
Will the Z Flip’s glass screen last?
Longevity is something we can’t test on a product a week out of the box, but it is something we’re keeping an eye on with foldable phones — on our review units and on others’ reports. Samsung says that the Z Flip’s screen and hinge will hold up for 200,000 flips, a volume it estimates will take five years to achieve during typical use. That’s the same rating as the Galaxy Fold.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
