When Samsung first rolled out its Galaxy Z Fold, I’ve always thought of foldable as a plaything of the rich. Could you blame me though? With pricing at the same level as a downpayment for a new car, the original Z Fold was an expensive, fragile toy, one that served more as a status symbol than an actual useful gadget. That’s no longer the case with the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3.

Samsung has managed to produce foldable phones that are tougher, more useful, and ultimately cheaper in just two short years, which is a pretty amazing feat in itself. 

Let’s start with the Galaxy Z Fold3. Samsung’s newest foldable is a massive improvement over last year’s offering in every single way, but the most important part here is how the company has solved the issue of water ingress into the device. Previous Galaxy Folds obviously didn’t have any water resistance rating, because how could they? The design is almost guaranteed to have holes where water could pass through. 

That’s no longer the case with the Galaxy Z Fold3 or the Z Flip3, which both carry an IPX8 rating, increasing their survivability considerably, especially in a country like ours. The Galaxy Z Fold3 also sports a tougher outer shell, as well as a new plastic protector on the folding screen (which the Z Flip3 also gets) and Gorilla Glass Victus on the main display. These durability upgrades make the new foldable considerably tougher than the first iteration, elevating the Galaxy Z Fold3 to daily driver status, an improvement over the “I’ll be babying this thing so it doesn’t break” status.

The most important thing that Samsung has done with both the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Z Flip3? Price – and while neither phone is what you’d call even remotely affordable, Samsung has managed to reduce the price of the two devices significantly, with the base model Galaxy Z Flip3 approaching the SRP of their Galaxy S21+ launched earlier this year. That’s also a far cry from the exorbitant price of the original Galaxy Z Flip when it launched back in 2020.

The base-level Galaxy Z Fold3 comes in at Php 87,990. Make no mistake, that’s still a princely sum, and honestly more than regular folks with pay for a phone, BUT it’s a lot more attainable than the Php 109,990 price tag of the original fold. That’s early-adopter iPhone prices, but instead of a boring phone that maybe has a new feature or two (plus Apple branding), you instead get a phone that folds. 

Of the two, the Galaxy Z Flip3 is overall better value as far as price is concerned. You’re getting the same protection level on the frame and folding display as the Galaxy Z Fold3 (Aluminum Armor chassis, strengthened plastic film, IPX8 dust resistance) as well as excellent optics and flagship performance for slightly above the price of the Galaxy S21+ when it launched this year. The Php 52,990 price tag is certainly far more palatable than the original. It’s still pretty expensive, but if you’re due for renewal with your carrier (or if you have the budget for it) it’s well worth the upgrade.