Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5

Samsung has recently released its latest 5th generation foldable smartphones, including the new Galaxy Z Flip5 and the Galaxy Z Fold5. We got to try out the Galaxy Z Flip5, featuring a new outer display, upgraded specs, and more. Here are our thoughts about the foldable device.

Design

Samsung is now in its fifth year of dealing with foldable devices, and the Galaxy Z Flip5 is the latest iteration of its Z Flip series smartphones. While the primary chassis looks identical as its predecessors, the company has indeed introduced new changes, both specs-wise, and for the design of the cover screen.

Even with the inclusion of a larger cover screen, the new Z Flip5 shares the same weight and similar dimensions as the previous Z Flip4 smartphone. The Z Flip5 features dimensions of 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9 mm (unfolded) and 85.1 x 71.9 x 15.1 mm (folded state). And the device weighs only 187g. While the main foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel sports the same 6.7-inch display size and 1080 x 2640 screen resolution, the peak brightness has been upgraded and reaches up to 1750 nits, and this is crucial for outdoor visibility. On the contrary, the Z Flip4 could hit up to 1200 nits.

The crease on the screen is also barely visible for daily usage unless you place it directly under the light at a specific angle. The volume rocker and the fingerprint scanner are located on the upper right side of the device, while the SIM slot is placed on the upper left side. The AKG-tuned speaker is placed next to the USB-C port on the bottom. Samsung mentions that the Flip5 comes with a new and improved Flex Hinge, featuring a durable, dual rail design for long-lasting design performance. The Armor Aluminum frame of the Z Flip5 is designed to withstand accidental drops and scratches, and the device comes with IPX8 water-resistant certification.

When fully folded, there aren’t any signs of the gap between the two halves of the display. This prevents any dust from entering in between. Apart from the outer display, the rear panel features a glass finish. The Flip5 comes in four different colors and this includes Mint, Graphite, Cream, and Lavender. Users will also be able to purchase accessories such as a Clear Gadget Case, Flap Eco-Leather Case, Flipsuit Case, and easy-to-carry Silicone Case with Ring attachment for a more personalized look.

Samsung calls the outer screen the Flex Window, a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED display with 720 x 748 pixels as the screen resolution and 306ppi. Both the main display and the Flex Window outer screen feature Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for protection. The outer Flex Windows display is the largest cover screen offered on a Galaxy Z Flip device as of the time of writing. With the Flex Window, users will be able to customize the screen with different applications such as Camera, Calendar, Dialer, Weather, Messages, Google Maps, NetFlix, and YouTube. While the apps that are allowed to be displayed can easily be customized from the cover display settings, not all applications are available to choose from as an option. This may be because of compatibility issues between other different applications and the small screen size of the cover display. Perhaps Samsung may allow that in a future firmware update.

Since the Flex Window resides in the same place where the main cameras are located, users will be able to use the cover display and the main cameras as the perfect selfie tool. Samsung calls this feature the FlexCam selfie, where you can snap images and tweak the captured photos without the need to unfold the device.

You can also activate hands-free selfies with the smartphone’s Flex Mode, whereby, by unfolding the device partially, the second half of the device acts as a built-in tripod, while you take normal or wide-screen selfies with the main cameras.

Performance

While Samsung added larger cover displays and FlexCam capability, the company also upgraded its internal specifications to ensure that the device performs as fast as other high-end devices. The new foldable now sports the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, an octa-core chip that rocks one 3.36 GHz Cortex-X3, two 2.8 GHz Cortex-A715, two 2.8 GHz Cortex-A710, and three 2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 cores. While the device comes with 8GB of RAM, the Flip5 comes with 256GB and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage options.

It’s unfortunate that Samsung did not include a MicroSD card slot for internal storage expansion. The Z Flip5 doesn’t fall short with respect to gaming capability, as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC packs the Adreno 740 integrated GPU. We ran different benchmark tools such as Antutu, Geekbench 6, PC Mark Work 3.0, 3DMark WildLife, and SlingShot tests. Check out the scores below.

Other features of the smartphone include support for NFC, 5G, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity. The device also houses a 3700 mAh Li-Po battery with support for 25W fast wired charge, 15W fast wireless charging, and a modest 4.5W reverse wireless charging. We ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery test and the Flip5 lasted from 100% to 18% for 9 hours and 33 minutes.

Camera

The main camera setup of the Z Flip5 includes two 12MP sensors. The main 12MP sensor comes with an F/1.8 aperture lens, 1/1.76″ sensor size, and support for Dual Pixel PDAF and optical image stabilization. The second 12MP sensor features a F/2.2 lens and ultra-wide focal length. The camera has support for 4K videos at 60fps, 1080p videos up to 240fps, and 720p videos up to 960fps. While the main 12MP cameras can easily be used for selfies, there is another 10MP sensor on the top side of the main display with support for 4K videos at 30fps.

We took some image samples using the main 12MP camera and the 12MP wide-angle shooter for both daytime and nighttime situations. I also tried the digital zoom feature for night-time occasions. Check out the image samples below.

Daytime sample

Nighttime sample

Verdict

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 is definitely a worthy upgrade for those looking for a foldable and compact smartphone. Compared to the previous generations, the new Z Flip5 features a larger 3.4-inch Super AMOLED Flex Window cover display that allows users to use different applications without the need to unfold the device. Users will also be able to use the main camera for selfies and use the Flex Window as a large preview screen. The cameras can also capture 4K videos at 60fps.

The main 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel is same as the before in terms of screen resolution but features a higher 1750 nits of brightness. The device also packs the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC and 8GB of RAM for smooth performance. The device also runs on the latest Android 13 OS with One UI 5.1.1. The Flip5 also holds a 3700 mAh battery with 25W wired charging, along with 15W wireless charging capability.