What Is a Flip Screen Camera and How Does It Work? | The Selfie Screen Explained

A flip screen camera has a hinged LCD that rotates to face forward, so you can frame yourself while shooting — and on foldable phones like the Galaxy Z Flip7, a cover screen does the same job.

A single hinge decides whether you see yourself while recording. That is the whole idea behind a flip screen camera: rather than guessing where you sit in the frame, you rotate the display toward your face and compose the shot live. The mechanism shows up in three places — vlogging cameras with a side-flip LCD, DJI’s folding drone, and foldable phones that borrow their outer display as a viewfinder. Below is how each one actually works, plus the step-by-step on getting a selfie out of a Galaxy Z Flip.

How Does a Flip Screen Actually Work?

The screen sits on a hinge or fold-out arm, so the panel can swing away from the camera body and rotate until it faces the subject. Once it faces forward, you see exactly what the lens sees — no mirror, no guessing.

That design solves a specific problem. A fixed rear LCD points away from anyone standing in front of the camera, which is why self-recording and vlogging used to mean flipping the whole device around and hoping. On a fully articulating screen the display pivots on two axes, so overhead shots and low-angle shots stay frameable with the camera pointed wherever you need it.

The term trips people up, though. A “flip screen” always refers to the display. A “flip camera” can mean something else entirely — a rotating or retracting lens module — and foldable phones add a third meaning, where the front-facing cover screen handles framing instead of the main rear panel. Check which one a product listing means before you compare specs.

Which Devices Use a Flip Screen Setup?

Three product families rely on it, and each implements the flip differently — one hinges the LCD, one folds the whole body, one folds the cover panel.

• Vlogging and mirrorless cameras: a side-hinged LCD that swings out and rotates 180 degrees toward the subject.
• DJI Flip: the drone’s camera is controllable through a Camera Control Dial that adjusts zoom by default, and can be reassigned to focal length, EV, shutter speed, or ISO.
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series: the phone folds, and the outer Cover screen becomes the camera viewfinder.

Samsung’s support documentation lays out the foldable workflow plainly: unfold the phone, open Camera, pick a shooting mode, then fold it and use the cover-screen camera instead. On supported models you swipe to change modes and zoom. Samsung’s FlexCam material names Galaxy Z Flip7 and Galaxy Z Flip7 FE as the models where that cover-screen camera launches with a double-press of the Power button.

How Do You Shoot With a Galaxy Z Flip Cover Screen?

Double-press the Side button to launch the cover-screen camera, then swipe and tap your way through the shot. It works with the phone closed the entire time.

1. Double-press the Side button. The camera opens on the Cover screen.
2. Swipe left or right to switch between PHOTO and VIDEO. Supported models also offer PORTRAIT.
3. Swipe up or down to zoom in and out.
4. Tap the screen to start recording video; tap again or press Volume to stop.
5. Unfold the phone and tap the thumbnail to review what you captured.

The saved shot appears as a thumbnail in the corner of the Cover screen — that’s your confirmation the capture landed. When you unfold and tap it, you’re looking at the finished file in the gallery.

The most common snag is model drift. Samsung’s documentation ties PORTRAIT on the cover screen specifically to the Z Flip4, Z Flip5, and Z Flip6, so older or newer hardware may not offer it in that spot. If a mode is missing, shoot in PHOTO or VIDEO and crop after. Behavior also varies by region, since Samsung publishes separate U.S. and Latin America English support pages. If you’re weighing which folding model earns your money, our roundup of the best camera with flip screen compares the tested options side by side.

Do You Need a Flip Screen at All?

Only if you regularly record yourself or shoot from angles you can’t see. Everyone else can point and shoot with a fixed display and never notice the difference.

The real value is confidence while recording. Framing yourself live means fewer retakes, and a screen that rotates out means you can hold the camera low, high, or turned inward without contorting to check the result. That’s the entire payoff, and it’s a genuine one for vloggers, travelers, and anyone shooting solo.

The trade-offs are modest. An articulating hinge adds a moving part and a bit of bulk, and on foldables the cover screen is smaller than the main panel, so fine composition is harder. There’s also no subscription attached to any of this — Samsung’s and DJI’s documentation list no plan requirement for the flip-screen camera features covered here. Between a hinged LCD and a folding phone, pick the one whose screen you’d actually use. A phone you already carry that doubles as a selfie viewfinder often beats a dedicated camera that stays in the bag.