The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is one of seven gadgets announced during the secondUnpacked event of 2023, and it’s the most remarkable of this new series. While theGalaxy Z Fold 5,Galaxy Watch 6, and Galaxy Tab S9 series are all iterative updates, the Z Flip 5 is the biggest change from theZ Flip 4. That said, it isn’t a huge upgrade from its predecessor.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5’s biggest upgrade is a larger and more useful outer display. Elsewhere, the device is similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 4, but if you don’t already own that phone this may be a great time to purchase your first foldable phone or upgrade a first-gen device.
If you own a Z Flip 4 or even a Z Flip 3, you’re unlikely to be running out to buy this right away. But if you’re looking to jump into the world of foldable phones for the first time, you may find the Z Flip 5 is the perfect opportunity. Samsung’s flip-style foldable has always been the more affordable, cute, and mainstream option compared to the company’s phone-cum-tablet counterpart. While my time with the Z Flip 5 has been limited, its new cover display only further cements why this style of foldable is so compelling.
The cover display on the Z Flip 4 was a 1.9-inch display and, if I’m being honest, largely useless. You could swipe through notifications or use it as a viewfinder for the selfie camera when the phone is folded. Otherwise, there was very little you could actually do. This year, Samsung wants to change that by adding a much larger and more vibrant display on the front.
This is a welcome addition, especially considering the growing competition in the foldable space. Phones like theMotorola Razr+and the Oppo Find N2 Flip both sport much bigger and more useful outer displays. Samsung’s 3.4-inch screen here is eye-catching from the jump, and its 720 x 748 resolution is more than sharp enough to dart around various One UI widgets. It’s a 60Hz screen, but at this size, you’re unlikely to need a higher frame rate.
At launch, apps on the outer display are still limited to a handful of services. You’ll find Netflix, YouTube, Google Maps, WhatsApp, and both Samsung and Google Messages as your only options. Why you’d want to watch Netflix or YouTube on this screen when the main display is just a flip away is confusing to me.
The main way you’ll interact with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is through a variety of Samsung-specific widgets. During my testing, these included Calendar, Weather, Recent calls, Direct Dial, Alarm, Stopwatch, Timer, Voice Recorder, Steps, SmartThings scenes, Apps, and Finance watchlist. Expect this list to change over time, but each of these proved useful enough, with the highlights being the timer, calendar, and weather options.
Another big change here is the introduction of a full QWERTY keyboard on the front display that allows you to reply to messages without unfolding the device. You’ll have to concentrate on what you’re typing to make this keyboard work at this size, but it worked well enough during my initial testing.
To see all of your widgets, you can pinch on the outer display to bring up a new Multi Widget View. This shows all of your available apps and widgets in one easy-to-click-through view, and makes it much easier to find what you need on the home screen.
Don’t expect to be able to use every app on the cover screen just yet. That may change in the future, but right now the functionality is limited to these widgets and those few select choices. The third-party apps available worked well in my quick testing, but there aren’t enough of them right now to compete with the likes of the Motorola Razr+, which lets you run any app you like on the smaller screen.
Elsewhere on the phone, it’s mostly business as usual. There’s a 6.7-inch AMOLED display inside, which looked similar to the Z Flip 4 during my time with the phone. The picture quality looked good, and the brightness seemed good enough for most of what you’ll want from this display. I’ll want some more time with both of the phone’s displays before coming to a final verdict, so expect that in our upcoming full review.
The design is largely the same as previous Z Flip devices and this time you have the option of Mint, Graphite, Cream, or Lavender as your main choices. There are also four Samsung.com exclusive colors, which are Blue, Gray, Green, and Yellow. Samsung has swapped back to a glossy finish for this generation, similar to theGalaxy Z Flip 3from 2021.
Inside the phone, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is doing all the heavy lifting, complete with Samsung’s own Galaxy-branded tweaks to the chip. Samsung hasn’t clarified exactly what those modifications will do for performance, but the company assures everyone that it’ll provide better performance than other handsets. It also comes with 8GB of RAM.
In one of its best moves this year, Samsung has dropped the 128GB version of the Z Flip 5, leaving only 256GB or 512GB storage options in its place. That’s a much-needed change, and while the company hasn’t opted to deliver a 1TB version of its flip phone just yet, it still delivers more storage in the base model than in prior years.
One concern is the built-in battery. The same 3,700mAh cell is included here as it was on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, a phone we criticized for its mediocre battery life. There may be small battery life improvements with the new chipset included, but I wouldn’t expect any dramatic difference here. The improved user experience of the front display may mean longer battery life though, which is something we found with Motorola’s latest Razr device.
The change to the outer display is necessary on the Z Flip 5, and while I’m uncertain of the way Samsung has done it so far, it’s good to see the leader in this category of foldables keep pace with its more innovative competition. Whether the Z Flip 5’s outer display can topple the Motorola Razr+ 2023 from our position as the best foldable phone remains to be seen.
If you’re first jumping onto foldables with the Galaxy Z Flip 5, you’ll likely enjoy everything on offer here with the package now offering a better outer display experience. If you own a Galaxy Z Flip 3 or last year’s Z Flip 4, there’s likely little reason to upgrade. We’ll hold off on a final verdict until our full review.
The Z Flip 5 is available for pre-order now, and it’ll be arriving on shop shelves on August 11. The launch price is $999.99 for the Z Flip 5, and if you pre-order the 256GB version, you’ll also get automatically upgraded to the 512GB version for free. As ever, you can also trade your eligible device with Samsung to get up to $900 off.
With its upgraded outer display, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 promises to be one of the most popular foldables again this year. If the outer display works as well in everyday life as we hope, it may prove to be one of the best foldable phones.
