Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G vs Note 9

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G vs Note 9

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) that was released on August 11, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, which is powered by Exynos 9 Octa 9810 and came out 36 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • 81% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (792K versus 437K)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Delivers 41% higher peak brightness (938 against 663 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 10
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888 5G
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • The phone is 3-years newer
  • Supports higher wattage charging (25W versus 15W)
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Shows 39% longer battery life (27:58 vs 20:09 hours)
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Comes with 700 mAh larger battery capacity: 4000 vs 3300 mAh
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • 21% higher pixel density (514 vs 426 PPI)
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G and Note 9 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.7 inches 6.4 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2640 pixels 1440 x 2960 pixels
Aspect ratio 21.9:9 18.5:9
PPI 426 ppi 514 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 850 nits 520 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 84.7% 84.32%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 95.3% 144.6%
PWM 242 Hz 227 Hz
Response time 6.5 ms 8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)

Design and build

Height 166 mm (6.54 inches) 161.9 mm (6.37 inches)
Width 72.2 mm (2.84 inches) 76.4 mm (3.01 inches)
Thickness 6.9 mm (0.27 inches) 8.8 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 183 g (6.46 oz) 201 g (7.09 oz)
Waterproof IPX8 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Green, Pink Black, Blue, Brown
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810
Max clock 2840 MHz 2700 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1)
- 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3
L3 cache 4 MB -
Lithography process 5 nanometers 10 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 660 Mali-G72 MP18
GPU shading units 1024 324
GPU clock 840 MHz 572 MHz
FLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS ~370.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 227108 135620
GPU 239255 103023
Memory 147100 87524
UX 175227 108426
Total score 792147 437260
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 39.1 °C 48.7 °C
Stability 71% 95%
Graphics test 27 FPS 13 FPS
Graphics score 4597 2333
PCMark 3.0
Web score 12140 5059
Video editing 7704 5466
Photo editing 30191 9362
Data manipulation 10606 5812
Writing score 16498 6149

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6, 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2750 MHz 1794 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 512 GB

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 8.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 10)
ROM One UI 5.1.1 One UI 2.5
OS size 29 GB 19 GB

Battery

Capacity 3300 mAh 4000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (10 W) Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (40% in 30 min) Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 35 min)
Full charging time 1:30 hr 1:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:58 hr 09:13 hr
Watching video 09:12 hr 12:59 hr
Gaming 03:32 hr 04:40 hr
Standby 64 hr 93 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Zoom Digital Optical, 2x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° -
Lenses 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.5 - 2.4
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L3 (ISOCELL CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (ISOCELL CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 22 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.06", Sony IMX258 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.4 f/1.7
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 1.22 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS ISOCELL CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2" 1/3.6"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1440p at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.1 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 1 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support * Yes No
Hybrid slot No Yes
LTE Cat * 20 18
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced August 2021 August 2018
Release date August 2021 August 2018
SAR (head) 0.86 W/kg 0.381 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.58 W/kg 1.509 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included -
* Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is definitely a better buy.

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