The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is lighter and thinner than the Z Fold 4 and features a sleeker Flex hinge with less moving parts. But the other upgrades aren’t that impressive and Samsung takes very few risks with its flagship $1,799 foldable phone.
Here’s the pros and cons of the Z Fold 5 based on our hands-on impressions, including the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, slightly better cameras and improved multitasking.
Here’s the pros and cons of the Z Fold 5 based on our hands-on impressions, including the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, slightly better cameras and improved multitasking.
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00:02 On paper, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 seems
00:04 like one of the most incremental upgrades in years.
00:07 But now that I have it in my hand,
00:08 I can say that it definitely feels different than the Galaxy
00:10 Z Fold 4.
00:12 And that's because of a new flex hinge that
00:14 results in a more thin and light design.
00:17 And you can definitely feel it in your hand.
00:19 It's also a design that folds completely flat,
00:21 which is really nice.
00:22 Now, the specs are pretty much the same as before.
00:25 So let's take a walk through what's new
00:27 and what's not with the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
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00:33 The Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a new flex hinge.
00:38 And the idea is that the durability
00:40 is about the same as before.
00:41 But you are getting a design that closes fully flat.
00:45 And it's also thinner and lighter.
00:47 So the fact that they were able to deliver that
00:49 without sacrificing durability is definitely
00:52 a point in Samsung's favor.
00:53 And you can see that it closes and it opens fairly fluidly.
00:58 And it seems like it's better protected than before.
01:00 And because you don't have this opening
01:03 like you did on the previous fold,
01:05 there's less of a chance for debris getting in there.
01:08 When folded, the Z Fold 5 measures 0.5 inches thick
01:12 and 0.24 inches when unfolded, compared to 0.62 and 0.25
01:17 inches for the previous model.
01:18 By comparison, the Pixel Fold is even thinner.
01:21 But it weighs a heftier 10 ounces.
01:24 The Z Fold 5 is IPX8 water resistant,
01:26 which means it can survive 1.5 meters of fresh water
01:29 for up to 30 minutes.
01:30 But it's not dust resistant.
01:32 I do like how the Z Fold 5's camera bump is a bit less
01:35 prominent, as the flash is now positioned
01:37 to the right of the three lenses.
01:39 But it's still big enough to make the phone wobble on a table.
01:41 The Z Fold 5 comes in three colors.
01:43 My favorite is ice blue.
01:45 And there's also phantom black and cream.
01:50 Just like the Z Fold 4, the Galaxy Z Fold 5
01:52 packs the same size displays with a 6.2 inch OLED panel
01:55 on the front and a 7.6 inch screen on the inside.
01:58 But the inside panel now has a ray of brightness of 1,750 nits,
02:02 up from 1,000 nits on the previous model.
02:04 Yes, the crease is still very much present.
02:06 But it's not much of an eyesore.
02:08 The front display is crisp and supports
02:10 the same smooth 120 hertz refresh rate
02:13 as the inner screen.
02:14 But it's fairly narrow compared to the Pixel Fold's wider
02:17 cover display.
02:19 So both of them have a cover glass that's protecting
02:22 the underneath display.
02:24 But if you look at it up close, it
02:26 looks like the protective layer is going all the way
02:29 to the edge.
02:30 So if you compare that to something like the Pixel Fold,
02:33 you could see that the protective layer does not
02:35 go all the way to the edge.
02:37 So over time, it is something that could peel off.
02:39 And some users are already complaining
02:41 that it is only a month or so after sale.
02:47 The Galaxy Z Fold 5 has the same camera specs
02:49 that the Z Fold 4.
02:51 In early side-by-side testing with the Z Fold 4,
02:54 I found the 3x zoom on the new Fold
02:55 to deliver sharper details on a backpack
02:57 and more natural-looking colors.
02:59 I also like that you can use these three cameras
03:02 for taking selfies via the rear camera selfie mode, which
03:05 is now easier to engage with the display open.
03:08 Just press an on-screen button and flip the Z Fold 5 around.
03:12 The cover display still houses a 10 megapixel selfie camera
03:15 for when you'd rather not perform those gymnastics.
03:17 Unfortunately, the inside of the Z Fold 5
03:20 still has a low-res 4 megapixel under-display camera.
03:23 But once again, in my side-by-side tests,
03:26 the image quality looks improved with better detail
03:28 and contrast.
03:30 Part of this is likely due to the image processing
03:32 power of the new Snapdragon 8Gen 2 chip.
03:36 If you like to multitask, the Galaxy Z Fold 5
03:38 has some notable upgrades.
03:39 Just like before, you can run up to three apps at once.
03:42 But you can now quickly add a second app
03:44 by simply swiping in from the bottom of the display
03:46 or from the left.
03:47 It gets better.
03:48 The taskbar at the bottom of the screen
03:50 displays not only your favorite apps,
03:52 but also your four most recently used apps, up from two before.
03:55 And you can turn any app into a floating window
03:57 by simply dragging down from the top right
03:59 of the display diagonally.
04:01 You can even perform two-handed drag and drops.
04:04 So for example, you can select an object in a photo
04:06 and press and hold with one hand,
04:08 then open the messaging app with the other hand
04:10 and just attach the image.
04:11 Speaking of apps, Samsung says that Instagram and YouTube
04:14 have all been better optimized for the Fold's larger display.
04:18 So that's just our first look at the Galaxy Z Fold 5,
04:21 which doesn't really seem that different
04:22 than its predecessor.
04:23 But a lot of it is going to come down to our testing.
04:25 How much faster is it with the Snapdragon 8Gen 2 processor?
04:28 How much more battery life do you get because of that chip?
04:31 And how much better is the camera system,
04:32 even though the specs are basically the same as before?
04:35 Stay tuned for a full review of the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
04:38 And be sure to follow us on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube,
04:41 and more.
04:42 For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhauer.
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04:47 (upbeat music)
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