Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 review

introduction

Gapless design, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and Gorilla Glass Victus 2: this is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 in a nutshell. But the small step for the Fold range could become a giant leap for the folding segment.

The Galaxy Z Fold5 addresses one of the main problems of the range so far: the unsightly and impractical V-shaped gap when closed is finally gone and you get the body without space to finally match the competition.

It is still only matched by the Huawei Mate X3 with its IPX8 rating, while its Armor aluminum frame and Victus glass exterior are the most reassuring on the market. The chipset has been updated to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 model for Galaxy with higher CPU and GPU clocks, while the storage has been boosted to UFS 4.0.

The rest is copy-pasted from Fold4. The foldable AMOLED screen remains the same: 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOELD 2X quality with 373ppi, 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and HDR10+. It has a smart 4MP camera under the display to avoid interruptions and supports S-Pen input. In fact, the new slimmer S-Pen case, while not part of the phone itself, could be one of the biggest updates we’ll get this year.

Outside, you get the same 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+. There’s a hole here, but no S-Pen holder.

The rear camera setup is another thing that has been lifted directly from the Fold4. The combination of 50MP primary OIS 3x telephoto, 12MP ultrawide and 10MP OIS hopes the new Snapdragon chipset will help it improve image quality with its computational muscle.

Another area where improvements can only come from the new chipset is battery life as the Fold5 features the same 4,440mAh battery with support for 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 specs at a glance:

• Body: 154.9×129.9×6.1mm, 253g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) (folded), plastic front (unfolded), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IPX8 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30min), Armor aluminum frame with increased drop and scratch resistance (advertised), stylus holder.
• Screen: 7.60″ foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, resolution 1812x2176px, aspect ratio 10.81:9, 373ppi; Cover display:, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, 6.2 inch, 904 x 2316 pixels, ratio 23.1:9 .
• chipsets: Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm): Octa-core (1×3.36GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• Operating system/software: Android 13, a 5.1.1 user interface.
• Rear camera: Broad (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 12mm, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: Under View: 4MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 2.0µm; Cover camera: 10MP, f/2.2, 24mm, 1/3″, 1.22µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (EIS gyro), 720p@960fps (EIS gyro), HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, Gyro EIS.
• Drums: 4400mAh; 25W wired, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; WiFi 6e; Bluetooth 5.3, aptX HD; NFC.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung DeX (desktop experience support), Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, that was probably written on the wall in the Fold5 R&D labs. The ugly gap is gone, but the Fold5 still feels more like a facelift than an all-new model. A Galaxy Fold 4s, if you will.

Could there be more to this new phone than meets the eye then? Has Samsung focused on hidden changes that improve the user experience without making the spec sheet? Let’s take a look inside the box and find out.

Galaxy Z Fold5 unboxing

The Galaxy Z Fold5 ships in one of those eco-friendly, but woefully under-equipped boxes containing the phone and a USB-C cable.

If you need a charger, case, or headphones, well, you better shop around.