Despite chip shortages and other issues, 2021 was a pretty great year for smartphones. We saw continued improvements to new form factors, the arrival of potential game-changers, and more. What was your favorite Android phone of 2021?
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Samsung’s flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 3, is great for content consumption thanks to its larger display, but the phone seemingly just lost a big service. Some Galaxy Z Fold 3 owners are seeing that Hulu has apparently pulled support for the device.
Update: This appears to be a false alarm, caused by the One UI 4.0 beta and Android 12 builds on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Users still on Android 11 are unaffected. This is why Netflix is also listed as such on Samsung’s betas.
We offer our apologies for any confusion caused.
Foldable smartphones still feel like a technology of the future, despite having been real and for sale for over two years at this point. I still nerd out just a little bit every time I open up my Galaxy Z Fold 3. Last week, Oppo unveiled its first foldable, the Oppo Find N, and it actually addresses a lot of the Fold’s pain points while still showing there’s no “right” way to make a foldable.
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Samsung is moving along quickly with its Android 12 update, with the company’s new foldables being updated now in some regions. However, some serious issues with some of those devices may lead Samsung to pause the Android 12 rollout for Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3.
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After pushing the update to the Galaxy S21 series in November, Samsung is moving along with its rollout of Android 12. Today, Samsung is bringing Android 12 and One UI 4.0 to its flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
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Android 12 brings a lot of exciting features to the OS, even in Samsung Galaxy devices. With the beta release of One UI 4, Samsung devices are able to take advantage of new color-theming options and privacy features. Fortunately, Samsung is making the beta available to a few select devices before Android 12 is completely released.
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Samsung’s Android 12 update is scheduled to hit the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 sometime next month, and this week another patch is rolling out. Now available in the US, Samsung is rolling out an Android 12 Beta update for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 that brings the December 2021 security patch with it.
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I’ve been an avid fan of foldables since I first laid my hands on one, and three months into using Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3, there’s one piece of the experience I keep coming back to. For me, the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s S Pen support has been handier as of late, but I’m still annoyed at how difficult it is to bring around.
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Samsung’s Android 12 update delivers quite a few cosmetic and functional changes, and the rollout is picking up steam in terms of its rollout with the S21 series seeing a wide release just yesterday. Now, Samsung is rolling out an update to the Android 12 beta on its Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 that, among other things, fixes the 120Hz display.
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With Android 12 having been launched on Pixels, Samsung seems to be coming up quick with its own update to the latest platform revision. After closing its beta program for the Galaxy S21 last week, Samsung has now launched the Android 12 beta for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 in the US.
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Work on Android 12 for Samsung Galaxy smartphones is moving at a shockingly quick pace, with the company this week releasing a third beta update with bug fixes and more. Now, Samsung is preparing to add its foldables, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3, to the Android 12 beta program.
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Android 12L is an expansion focused on foldables and other large-screen devices with plenty of exciting new designs and features to go with that. During its launch, Google confirmed that Android 12L’s features would be coming to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in the not-too-distant future.
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One of the areas in which many Android devices fall behind Apple is the lack of easy access to repairs, but that’s something Samsung is actively working to change. This week, Samsung has announced a partnership with Best Buy that will bring smartphone repairs even for foldables to US Best Buy locations.
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Samsung is now at its third generation of flagship foldables, and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the pinnacle of its achievements to date. Between better, more durable hardware, evolving foldable technology, and prices that keep inching their way down to sanity, the Fold 3 is a showcase for refinement in this field. But is it ready for the average customer?
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Samsung’s flagship foldable is not a cheap device, but as prices have inched down each year, it’s become just a bit more viable for more people. In China, though, Samsung is selling a special version of the Fold 3 called the “Galaxy W22,” which comes with a much higher price tag.
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Foldable smartphones are often thought of as fragile compared to traditional devices, but Samsung has done quite a bit of work over the past couple of years to change that. In a video, the company is showing off how it tests the durability of its Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3.
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Foldables are still in relatively early days, but it’s hard to deny that Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are very much in the mainstream consciousness. As it turns out, that’s definitely translating to sales, as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3, combined, are about to pass 1 million units sold in Samsung’s home country.
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Samsung’s new foldable phones are picking up an option to extend battery health. On both the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3, a new toggle allows users to put a hard limit on charging.
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The first generation of foldable smartphones was infamous for durability problems, with the original Galaxy Fold being pulled before launch and redesigned due to some severe problems. A few years later, though, Samsung has come a remarkable way, even offering water resistance in new models. Now, a durability test is pushing the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to its limits, and it’s holding up well.
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Samsung has forgone the Galaxy Note series this year in favor of its foldables, specifically the Galaxy Z Fold 3. While there are arguments in either direction for why that’s a good thing or why it’s a bad thing, there’s one point I can say for certain — Samsung’s S Pen case for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a sad replacement for the Note’s legacy.
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As of today, Samsung’s new foldables and smartwatches are officially available to customers. That means that Samsung has ended its pretty killer pre-order promos for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3, but it doesn’t mean the company is done offering deals.
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After a few years of effort, Samsung’s foldable lineup is finally seeing popularity with pre-orders apparently far surpassing what most people expected. Now, it seems that the sudden popularity has Samsung looking at potential delays for its foldable phones and its new smartwatch.
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Early adopters of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 have found that Samsung is intentionally disabling the foldable phone’s cameras when the bootloader is unlocked.
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Foldable smartphones seem to be hitting their stride with the third generation, and Samsung is reaping the rewards. New pre-order data out of Korea claims that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are not just the most popular foldables yet, but also Samsung’s best-selling devices in almost two years.
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