Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5
Samsung has made a significant leap with the Galaxy Z Flip5 this year. Even though this clamshell form factor might seem the same as its previous iterations, one should never overlook the engineer’s effort at improving the software and hardware.
On the surface, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 finally took the modern approach of incorporating a larger display at the front cover. This elevates the practicality and functionality of the device when paired with an optimised software layer.
Flex Window
The obvious upgrade this year is no other than the front cover display. Samsung is calling this display a “Flex Window”. As cringy as it sounds, you can’t deny how obsessed Samsung is with the “Flex” term. However, what really boggles my mind is there isn’t a hint of “Flex Window” available even on the phone settings page. You can only access the front screen settings under the “Cover Screen” menu. I guess this entire “Flex Window” naming is currently limited to the marketing side while the software team need time to slowly migrate the features.
Putting aside the naming, the screen itself is a 3.4-inches Super AMOLED panel with 720 x 748 pixels resolution. The small notch at the bottom serves as the navigation and somehow makes the display look larger.
With stock configuration, Samsung OneUI allows you to customise the lock screen design as well as the widgets. You can choose from a number of default templates or use your own image and customise the clock text to match.
The larger front screen allows more information to be displayed. My favourite is no other than the camera viewfinder now has more controls available on the front screen. You can change aspect ratio and resolution directly from the front display which is extremely useful for on-the-fly TikTok footage recording.
While the default widgets are kind of limited to my taste, the good news is you can run apps on the cover screen as well. However, this feature is currently under experimental and only a few selected apps can be used. That doesn’t stop the developers from working on an alternative solution to allow ALL apps to run on the cover screen. Introducing the Good Lock app that allows you to list your favourite apps to run on the front display.
Beautiful Inner Display
The inner display is still the excellent 6.7-inch Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, albeit it is ever-so-slightly larger than the Z Flip4 (0.5cm2). Technically they are not identical panels as the new screen is now capable of reaching up to 1750 nits peak brightness. At 1080 x 2640 pixel resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, this is an excellent display for all purposes – social media, movies or games.
Unfortunately, we are still nowhere near to total elimination of the crease. Despite so, the crease is now spread out slightly further and the “bump” is not as prominent as before.
Waterdrop-Hinge Design
This is all thanks to the use of a waterdrop-hinge design. There are 2 major benefits of such a mechanism. First, it allows the folding panel to form a water droplet shape when the device is folded.
This will spread out the folding zone, hence reducing the crease. Secondly, the Galaxy Z Flip5 can now be folded flat without any gaps between the panels.
Camera
The primary cameras remained the same from last year. After all, they just received a major upgrade by increasing the sensor size and having a brand new lens. What really changed is the more advanced ISP on the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 and software algorithm.
Each shutter press is responsive and frankly speaking, the smartphone camera tech has come to a point that you can hardly tell the photos apart unless the software algorithm is programmed to stylise certain shots.
Again, the main selling point of the Z Flip5 is the ability to use the primary camera in all sorts of creative ways. Flex Mode allows the camera app to adapt to different positions of the hinge. This is the ultimate social media phone!
Better Performance & Longer Battery Life
Even though the new flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen2 is the most powerful SoC in the market right now, we have to understand there are multiple factors that will affect its real-life performance. In the Galaxy Z Flip5, the limitation is the thermal headroom. Due to the lower surface area for heat dissipation, the chip is not able to sustain long periods of load. For example, you will feel the gaming performance is slightly lower than the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Don’t get me wrong, the benefit of using the flagship chip on this phone is having the ability for a short burst of performance when it is required. For instance, launching apps, and photo editing.
The battery department stayed the same as last year – a 3700mAh battery with 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. Overall, the battery life is ever-so-slightly better than the Z Flip4 due to the use of more power-efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen2 SoC.
Conclusion
Ever since Samsung launched its very first Z Fold and Z Flip foldable devices, I have started to see more users choose to get them as their daily driver. Despite all the challenges with the device design, durability and software support, I am glad that there is a group of users who are willing to be part of this evolution. I can’t say for sure that foldable will replace all the conventional candybar smartphones, however, it is important to recognize it as part of the smart device ecosystem that meets certain use cases.
Again, foldable is not for everyone. No one should get themselves on this bandwagon due to the fear of missing out (FOMO). It has its own niche and entices users with a specific use case or fashion sense. Even though the price is slightly more expensive than last year, I am happy that Samsung has decided to bump up the minimum storage to 256GB.
The Galaxy Z Flip5 perfectly reflects all the advancements Samsung has learnt throughout the years. Through brilliant engineering and non-stop improvements to the existing features – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series stands as a well-balanced smart device that people can afford while packing all the flagship features.
