At Samsung Unpacked 2023, the leading seller of folding phones unveiled the much-anticipated updates to its compact foldable, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. The device joins a market with stiff competition from Motorola and OPPO. The former has revamped its foldable strategy with the 2023 Motorola Razr and Razr+, striking an outstanding balance between price and performance, while the latter has hit the ground running with the OPPO Find N2 Flip.
It’s clear that Samsung has its work cut out, and here we will look at everything new with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to see whether it’s up to the task.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Price and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is available for pre-order from July 26, 2023, via Samsung.com, with general availability starting on August 11, 2023, where you can also buy the device from Samsung Experience Store, major carriers, and retailers. The device starts at $999.99 with 256GB of storage, and an upgrade to 512GB will be available. As for colour variants, Samsung offers four options across all retailers — Mint, Graphite, Cream, and Lavender — and four colours exclusive to Samsung.com — Gray, Blue, Green, and Yellow.
If you choose to place a pre-order in the initial few days, you will receive a free storage upgrade. You can get up to $900 off if you offer an eligible trade-in. And lastly, pairing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a Galaxy Tab S9 series or Galaxy Watch 6 series device will save up to $540.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
The Latest Release
The latest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a sizeable 3.4-inch cover display, a 6.7-inch AMOLED foldable display with 120Hz refresh rate, an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, dual-12MP cameras, and much more.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Technical Specifications
| Category | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 |
| Operating System | Android 13 with One UI 5.1.1 |
| Inner Display | 6.7-inch, 2640 x 1080 resolution, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1-120Hz, 1200 nits (peak) |
| Exterior Display | 3.4-inch, 748 x 720 resolution, Super AMOLED, 60Hz |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| Memory | 8GB |
| Storage | 256GB / 512GB |
| Rear Camera |
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| Front Camera | 10MP, wide, HDR, f/2.2 |
| Security | Side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner |
| Connectivity | 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Ports | USB Type-C |
| Audio | Stereo Speakers |
| Battery | 3,700 mAh, 25W wired charging, fast wireless charging, reverse wireless charging |
| Water Resistance | IPX8 (water-resistant) |
| Weight | 187g |
| Materials |
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| Colours |
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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Design
Adam Z. Lein / Pocketnow
Many have commented that in the past couple of years, Samsung has seemingly settled in terms of the advancements it’s making on its foldable devices. We feel there is some truth to this statement, but for 2023, Samsung is shipping a major design change on the Galaxy Z Flip 5.
The exterior display that has only served as a window to some of the device’s capabilities is finally seeing a much-needed upgrade that aligns it with its competition.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 now has a 3.4-inch AMOLED exterior screen supporting more robust widgets. You can check the weather, control music playback, and navigate via Maps, to name a few. There are also intuitive gestures to view all widgets, access tools like Samsung Wallet, and respond to messages via a QWERTY keyboard.
But if you look past the front display, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 mostly stays the same in its successful recipe. Its robust build quality, IPX8 rating, and reliable hinge are still ever-present. And the upgrades to the hinge once again increase reliability and help it seemingly close flat.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Display
As we mentioned above, a significant change on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the exterior display, and here we’ll delve a little more into the hardware aspect of it. The external show features a 3.4-inch AMOLED panel with a 748 x 720 resolution, covered by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, with a peak refresh rate of 60Hz. Samsung hasn’t commented on the brightness levels yet, but we can tell you it’s pretty easy to read.
Coming to the inner screen, it features a familiar 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with 2640 x 1080 resolution and an adaptive refresh rate of 1Hz~120Hz. We expect the brightness to remain at a peak of 1,200 nits, but we will report in case of an upgrade. Samsung hasn’t mentioned any changes to its Infinity Flex display materials too.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Camera
Adam Z. Lein / Pocketnow
Moving onto camera hardware, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 maintains its position as a fashion-forward device, meaning it’s not a camera powerhouse like other devices in Samsung’s smartphone portfolio — we’re looking at your Galaxy S23 Ultra — but we’d like to add that it doesn’t need to be one.
The dual-camera system on this device uses the familiar 12-megapixel comprehensive and 12-megapixel ultrawide combination we’ve seen previously. And as for the internal front camera, there’s a 10-megapixel sensor on duty.
We’ve listed the exact specifications in the table below:
| Camera | Specifications |
| Rear Camera |
|
| Front Camera | 10MP, wide, HDR, f/2.2 |
With the Galaxy Z Flip 5, a lot of the improvements when it comes to the camera experience revolve around its hardware and software features. There’s FlexCam, which improves the hands-free experience, and Dual Preview, which uses the 3.4-inch screen to show proper visuals, helping frame your photo. Then there are the improvements to software brought by the AI-powered image signal processor, which allows nighttime shooting.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Performance and Battery
Adam Z. Lein / Pocketnow
Lastly, we will touch upon the performance and battery life offered by the Galaxy Z Flip 5, as the processor on this device is one of its few notable upgrades, which is likely to bring improvements in both aspects.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is known for its improved ability to handle heavy processing tasks without impacting battery life and generating excess heat. On the Z Flip 5, this will mean that you will experience more extended periods between charges and performance that doesn’t drop the ball when it’s needed.
As for the battery, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 ships with a 3,700 mAh cell packaged into its chassis. We expect it to deliver all-day battery life like the previous generation and perhaps last a little longer due to the new processor. The processor has already shown outstanding performance on the Samsung Galaxy S23, which features a similarly-sized battery.
As for its charging specs, these remain unchanged. The device will still accept 25W of power via wired charging, up to 50% in 30 minutes. Then there’s support for 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Here’s what we think!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 doesn’t change much in its recipe, remaining an excellent choice for those who want a compact folding phone. There’s a new outer display for users to enjoy — along with its software advantages — and the improvements to battery life due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor make it more attractive than ever. If you’re looking for a folding phone that provides a balanced experience that doesn’t feature significant compromises on camera, battery, or performance, this is the device to consider. But don’t discount the competition if you’re not too gripped by camera performance or battery longevity, as Samsung’s lead on the competition is cut short once more.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
The Latest Release
The latest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a sizeable 3.4-inch cover display, a 6.7-inch AMOLED foldable display with 120Hz refresh rate, an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, dual-12MP cameras, and much more.
