The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G folding phone just got much more appealing

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is the best folding phone for most people in our minds here at T3. It delivers top-tier specs, 5G connectivity, buckets of style and simply fantastic portability thanks to its clamshell folding screen.

And the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G has just had a huge price cut on Amazon UK: instead of the £949 RRP the black one's available for just £599. That's a discount of 37%, taking it down to the sort of price you'd pay for a refurbished one.

The Flip is a really great phone, and I was amused to see my colleague Rob Jones' shock and confusion when he reviewed it: while he was expecting to like the much more expensive Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 more, it was the Flip that he liked best. It wasn't just its undeniable good looks. As Rob said, "the capabilities of the phone are really, really impressive."

With the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 on the horizon, the discounts mean the price is really, really impressive too. At this price I reckon it's one of the best smartphones around right now, folding or otherwise.

Why the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is a great buy

The specification of the Flip 3 is excellent. The 6.7-inch AMOLED screen's a silky 120Hz, there's a decently quick Snapdragon 888 inside and while the cameras are only 10MP for selfies and twin 12MP on the rear Samsung's photo processing is very good. And you can take shots without unfolding the phone, which is really nifty.

It's tough, too. The case is Armor Aluminum, the glass is Corning Gorilla Glass Victus and it has IPX8 waterproofing, which is the highest possible rating. So it can survive even the harshest environments, such as the inside of my chaotic everyday bag.

This is the first folding phone that I've genuinely liked: others feel awfully bulky, and given that the whole point of folding your phone is to make it as small as possible that feels like a bit of an own goal. Not here, though: the Flip is small enough to fit in your hand when you fold it, and it'll sit happily in your back pocket without making passers-by think you've got some sort of horrible buttock disease. At just 183g it's no heavier than a regular smartphone.

Personally I'm still holding out for a folding iPhone 15, if or when that ever arrives. But if you reckon that the best phones are Android phones, this is a fantastic foldable at a really good price.