Foldable tech has come a long way in a relatively short span. In just five years, manufacturers have eliminated gaps, devices have become more robust and creases hidden more and more effectively. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 presents a very refined design and mature user experience that shows just how far the tech has truly come in that time.
Samsung have been busily adding and refining unique functions that are irreplicable on non-foldables over the years. For one, the flip design presents unique photo and video functionality and the cameras have been built to take advantage.
Read More: Samsung Ireland Announce Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Galaxy Buds FE
The clamshell Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 is around the same price as premium ‘pro’ devices and is available now in Ireland with prices starting at €1,239. Z Flip5 is available in the US SIM-free from Samsung from $999.
Robust and Mature Foldable Tech
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 feels quite sturdy and the hinge mechanism presents no gap when closed. There are also no gaps either side of the display at the fold. When open, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 feels like a slim non-foldable at 6.9mm thick, and that’s impressive.
The device doesn’t wobble or wave if you hold the bottom half only and move it around. It’s also worth pointing out that the rear of the device is practically flat when unfolded except for the tiny protrusions of the dual lenses.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 opens easily with two hands but the hinge keeps open fairly stiff at any angle. That is, except for almost fully closed or almost fully open when they gently click to their nearest end point, a trait which aids in opening or closing the device.
This also makes sure the device has closed fully as you quickly ram it into a pocket or toss it into a bag. Which, once again, maximises a benefit of the form factor; the peace of mind of a clamshell keeping the big vulnerable screen safe.
Little design considerations like this sum the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 experience. As if the hardware was perfected and the little things are being taken care of. One of the bigger things is also taken care of with Z Flip5 featuring IP8 water resistance. The device can survive a dunk in water up to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.
Flip Display
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5’s main display is a large at 6.7 inches. The 1,080 x 2,640 pixel display is a Dynamic AMOLED 2X which has a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz and uses HDR10+.
A variable refresh rate coupled with the maximum rate of 120Hz lends its that premium smoothness. This all adds up to a vibrant and sharp display that gives the user a flagship visual experience.
Z Flip5 can also sound as good as it looks with support up to 32-bit/384kHz audio, something we weren’t expecting.
Hidden Fold
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5’s inner display features a crease that is almost invisible on a white screen when looking at it at the perfect angle. It’s truly impressive but there is still a little compromise with viewing angles.
The aluminium frame doesn’t create a large bezel and neither do the hinges each side. When open it looks like a premium non-foldable most of the time.
A filter over the display seems to cause a blue/green tint from around 45 degrees when the device is rotated away from the user in portrait mode. When tilting the bottom of the display upwards in portrait mode, the bottom half of the display looks darker than the top.
These aren’t angles you’ll often be looking at the main display in but they will be noticeable.
Tangible Foldable Benefits
The 3.4-inch Cover Screen features a raft of customisation with user-created videos and images available to use as backgrounds. Quick tiles can be added, removed or created from certain apps to this outer screen.
Additionally, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5’s outer AMOLED display has several Always-On elements to choose from. These range from useful stuff like clocks and widgets to personalisation touches like GIFs and animations.
Z Flip5’s Cover Screen alone lets you make calls, reply to texts, unlock the car and even control the SmartThings Scene widget.
Users can look at their notifications and, in certain apps, interact with them, be it a Like or a reply. Spotify and other media apps can be called up to offer playback functions. There is so much functionality available on the outer screen, that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 stayed closed for hours on end.
Flip Camera
The most obvious benefit to the form factor of Z Flip5 is that it allows for hands-free video or photography without a tripod or stand. Users can then shoot hands-free video or capture full group selfies at various angles. Partially folding Z Flip5 with the camera will activate the FlexCam mode.
Z Flip5 also lets users take selfies right from the Cover Screen with the main camera via the Quick Shot applet. Additionally, users can take selfies in Portrait Mode and see previews in the actual photo aspect ratios when using Quick Shot.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5’s Quick Shot also lets users begin video recording in Portrait Mode then seamlessly switch to Flex mode all while recording hands-free without stopping the video. Flex mode also allows users to control their shot from either half of the inner screen or use the outer screen to focus, add a timer or pinch zoom.
Mostly Main Camera
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 allows users to take advantage of the main lenses to shoot selfies and groufies where a regular phone would not. Users can also take selfie video or video calls with Z Flip5’s superior main lenses.
This pair of 12MP lenses – one a wide angle with dual-pixel and optical image stabilisation, the other an ultra-wide – are probably better than the selfie-cams on any non-foldable.
They do fall short of the best main cams in the business though. However, in daylight and well-lit environments, Samsung Z Flip5 produces some gorgeous imagery. The colours are saturated and vibrant by default, contrast is excellent. Certain types of photo from Z Flip5 have a certain ‘pop’ to them.
Images of highlights in darkness also have that visual impact thanks to the image processing capabilities of the devices. The dark blues of the night sky explode into vivid colour by street lights, fireworks, or the moon.
With so many of Z Flip5’s innate powers so attractive to active social media users and influencers, excelling at the types of image desirable to this cohort is a smart move.
Similarly, the video suite of the device focuses on wow factor. Samsung Z Flip5 can capture video at up to 960 frames per second for super slow motion video at 720p. Z Flip 5’s main cams can shoot 1080p at 240 frames per second as well as 4K@60.
It’s worth mentioning that there’s no optical zoom on Z Flip5. And with just two 12MP sensors to play with the digital zoom tops out at 10x is a little noisy at the upper end of the zoom.
Samsung Stamina
Perhaps it was the amount of time I spent looking at the smaller display saving me a few precious milliamps here and there, but Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 seems to do longer days than my usual daily driver, a non-foldable of the same size. And this is despite a smaller-than-average 3,700mAh battery inside Z Flip5.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 reliably lasted the day with 20-30% battery left as I went to bed. On busier workdays, I never needed the charger before my shift was over.
The device can charge up to 25W using Samsung Superfast chargers or 15W using the USB-PD standard. 25W is not particularly fast for a device above €1,000 but in practice, the smaller 3,700mAh can do 0-50% in a still-convenient 30 minutes.
A full 0-100% wired charge using a Samsung Superfast 25W charger takes about 75 minutes. Wireless charging at 15W is acceptable and quick enough to be truly useful.
Impressively, the device offers reverse wireless charging and can charge devices up to 4.5W to get your friend’s phone back to life or give you some music on your compatible wireless ear buds.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Specifications
| Chipset: | Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm) CPU – Octa-core; 1×3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 GPU – Adreno 740 |
| RAM: | 8GB |
| Storage: | 256GB (reviewed), 512GB |
| Display: | Main: 6.7″, 1080 x 2640 pixel Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+ Outer: 3.4″, 720 x 748 pixel Super AMOLED, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
| Camera: | – 12 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, HDR – 12 MP, f/2.2, 123 degree (ultrawide), HDR Video: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+ |
| Selfie Cam: | Photo: 10 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), HDR Video: 4K@30fps, 1080@60 |
| OS: | Android 13, One UI 5.1.1 |
| Battery: | Li-Po 3,700 mAh |
| Charging: | – 25W wired – 15W wireless – 4.5W reverse wireless |
| Connectivity: | – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct – Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE – GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| Dimensions: | Unfolded: 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9mm Folded: 85.1 x 71.9 x 15.1mm |
| Weight: | 187 grams |
| Colours: | – Mint, Graphite, Cream, Lavender available in Ireland and worldwide – Gray, Blue, Green, Yellow available in other regions |
Everyday Foldable
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 does everything your traditional smartphone does while fully open and does it just as well. More importantly, Z Flip5 also maximises the benefits of the folding form.
Read More: Samsung S90C OLED (2023) 65-inch review – Contrast King
Flex mode and Cover Screen photography are not just fun and convenient, they’re valuable tools for the social media starlet. An increasing number of apps can avail of the split screen mode to offer a greater number of control options. The device is also eminently pocketable and captures that clamshell security of old.
As is Samsung’s style, Galaxy Z Flip5 is visually striking without being garish. The polished aluminium frame, dark glass and choice of colours are bold but still elegant. The design language definitely marks it out as part of the brand.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Price and Availability
Z Flip5 is available now in Ireland in Mint, Graphite, Cream and Lavender with prices starting SIM-free at €1,239.
