Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Hands-on and first impressions
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galazy Z Flip5. Picture: Samsung.
At their Galaxy Unpacked event in Seoul, Korea, Samsung unveiled its newest line of foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Galaxy Z Fold5. Less than a week before the event, I had the opportunity to test the Galaxy Z Flip5 and here are my initial thoughts following a few days with the device.
The Galaxy Z Flip5 bends horizontally to mimic the experience of using a flip phone from the past. When folded, the Z Flip5 has a much smaller footprint; when opened, it is the size of a regular smartphone. Compared to the previous generation, the design of the Z Flip5 has not changed much, although it now finally folds flat, so there’s no gap. This means dist and lint don’t creep into the gap as it does on the Z Flip4. The Z Flip5 is now only 15.1mm thick, whereas the Z Flip4 is 17.1mm due to the wedge shape design.
When unfolded, the inner display is the same 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex panel with a resolution of 2640 x 1080 and a 22:9 aspect ratio. The refresh rate can switch between 1Hz and 120Hz, and it gets brighter, too, at 1600 nits peak.
The cover display is one of the biggest changes on the new device. It’s now a much larger display at 3.4 inches and uses a Super AMOLED panel running at 60Hz with a resolution of 720 x 748 and 306 PPI. The cover display looks gorgeous and provides access to 13 native widgets plus third-party support. You can also use shortcuts; the default is the camera app, or you have quick access to currently running activities (music, timer, stopwatch, call and voice recording). You can also reply to messages with a full QWERTY keyboard. A new informative preset cover screen allows you to see basic information at a glance, such as time, weather, battery and notifications.
In the short time I’ve had with the Z Flip5, I can’t say the larger cover display provides tons more functionality than the Z Flip4 cover display, but it looks nicer, is awesome for taking selfies and will hopefully improve with time and future updates.
When comparing the Z Flip4 and Flip5 around the edges, it’s hard to see any difference apart from the wedge shape on the Z Flip4. The new foldable weighs the same as the Z Flip4 at 187g and has the same 3700mAh battery. It also feels the same in the hand, with a great balance and weight distribution.
The volume rocker and the fingerprint sensor are on the right edge. The USB Type-C port and the speaker grill are on the bottom edge. Antenna cut-outs can be found on all edges, and the phone is still IPX8 water-resistant. Lastly, the hinge is slimmer by 1.2mm.
The internals have been upgraded to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 mobile chipset for Galaxy, with 8GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The battery can charge at 25W and supports wireless PowerShare. Unfortunately, there's no charging brick in the box. According to Samsung, The phone will charge from 0% to 50% in roughly 30 minutes. It also has 5G, Wi-Fi 6E and the latest Bluetooth 5.3.
The camera hardware has mostly remained the same — (Ultra Wide) 12MP F2.2, Pixel size: 1.12µm, FOV: 123˚ (Wide) 12MP Dual Pixel AF, OIS, F1.8, Pixel size: 1.8µm, FOV: 83˚. The front camera is also similar, with a 10MP sensor with a slightly brighter f/2.2 aperture, Pixel size: 1.22µm, FOV: 85˚.
There are several new software features with Flip5, such as Flex mode, multi-angle camera, and Nightography, which Samsung say has been enhanced to correct noise and improve detail and colour accuracy. According to Samsung, the 10X digital zoom has been improved thanks to multi-frame processing and AI super-resolution, but more testing will be done for a full review.
The Galaxy Z Flip5 comes in Graphite, Cream, Lavender, and a new Mint colour. The Galaxy Z Flip5 price starts at €1,239, while the Galaxy Z Fold5 starts at €1,999. Both are available for pre-order from 26th July and will be on sale from 11th August. All products will be available to purchase via www.samsung.com/ie and select partners.
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