The very best Black Friday Android phone deal might surprise you

Don't flip out, but you really should buy a Samsung foldable for Black Friday.

There are a ton of Black Friday phone deals that could qualify as the best, from $400 off the S21 Ultra or Z Fold 3 to $100 off the new Pixel 6. And expensive carrier upgrades can give you big price cuts too. But our favorite holiday deal is on Samsung's site.

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is $100 off (or $150 off the Bespoke Edition), plus you get free Galaxy Buds 2 thrown into the mix. That may sound tame for Black Friday, but it's the enhanced trade-in offer that matters here. You can get up to $650 off from your old phone, dropping the bundle price down to $350.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

From $350 at Samsung From $350 at Samsung (Bespoke)

Save $100, free Galaxy Buds 2: Samsung is discounting its powerful-but-compact foldable for Black Friday. Best of all, this deal applies to the Bespoke Studio custom colors, so yours can be one-of-a-kind.

Technically, Samsung is offering a "better" deal on the Z Fold 3, with a $250 rebate and up to $900 in trade-in credit. But you'll need a truly premium phone to trade in to make it remotely affordable. With a phone as old as the Pixel 3a or iPhone XR, you'll drop the Z Flip 3 down to $600, while the Fold 3 would still cost you $1,500.

Another Z Flip 3 deal comes from the carriers. If you use AT&T or Verizon, you can trade in an older phone and possibly get the foldable for free.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

Free w/trade-in at AT&T Free w/trade-in at Verizon

Save $1000 w/trade-in: If you're on AT&T or Verizon, this is probably the only deal you need to look at; you can't beat free. Both carriers are offering $1000 trade-in value to get you into a foldable for free, but AT&T's more generous, giving the full $1000 even with phones as old as Galaxy S8 or Pixel 3/3a.

That's definitely the "best" Black Friday phone deal, as it won't even cost you anything except the time to go to a store and hand over an old phone. But since some people use other carriers, Samsung's Unlocked offer may work better for you.

The Z Fold 3 has outshone the Z Flip 3 somewhat, but you can't discount how powerful and fast the Z Flip 3 is. It has the cutting-edge Snapdragon 888 chipset, a 6.7-inch 425 PPI display with 120Hz refresh rate, water resistance, and great foldable-focused software.

You can buy a super-cheap Motorola or TCL for $100 bucks, or "save" but still spend close to a grand on a flagship. It's the Z Flip 3 that'll give you flagship performance but at a reasonable price, with free earbuds bundled in for your trouble.