Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Overview:
Design and Build
Okay, they’ve done it, they’ve finally done it. After four long years in the foldable industry, Samsung has finally figured out a way to design a gapless hinge on the Fold 5. Well, fifth time’s the charm, right? And thanks to the redesigned “Flex Hinge” — as Samsung calls it — it’s also about a millimeter thinner and 10 grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 4 that it replaces.
Those are pretty impressive stuff but it still doesn’t compare to something like the Huawei Mate X3, Honor Magic V2, or the new Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 in terms of a sleek and lightweight design. Whereas this new droplet-style hinge also means a less noticeable crease on the main display.
As far as durability is concerned, the Fold 5 uses the same “Armor Aluminum” frame as last year. Although Samsung has upgraded to the newer Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection at the back and the cover display, which brings improved drop resistance against rough surfaces. While most of the early leaks suggested that the Fold 5 would finally get dust protection as well, it is still only IPX8 certified against water damage.
And like its predecessors, Samsung says its newest book-style foldable has been tested to survive at least 200,000 folds. Other than this, the Galaxy Fold 5 gets a couple of fresh color options this time. Including “Icy Blue” and “Cream”, while the classic “Phantom Black” finish carries on. All with a matte finish at the back alongside glossy side rails.
Display
Coming to the display, there’s not much to look forward to here. The one on the front is this 6.2” Dynamic AMOLED panel with an HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 23.1:9 aspect ratio yet again. Whereas its main display measures 7.6” tall and gets all the goodies of the cover screen. The only notable bit of upgrade is that the Fold 5’s main display now has a peak brightness of 1,750 nits compared to Fold 4’s 1,000 nits.And while it’s also S Pen compatible, Samsung still hasn’t managed to fit the stylus inside the phone itself. Instead, the company is offering a new “Slim S Pen Case” which — as the name implies — is pretty slim versus Samsung’s official case for the Fold 4. Oh, and the updated S Pen Fold Edition itself is 41% slimmer too.
Performance
On the performance front, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is powered by the bespoke edition of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Like the Galaxy S23 series. Just to jog your memory, this Samsung-exclusive “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy” chip has roughly 5% faster CPU and GPU than the regular 8 Gen 2. And complementing it all is 12GB of RAM and up to a terabyte of storage.
As for software, the phone boots on One UI 5.1.1, on top of Android 13. And it seems that Samsung hasn’t cooked up any new (at least any excitingly new) software tricks to go along with its latest foldable. That PC-like taskbar for quickly launching or switching between apps is still here and it can now hold up to four recent apps on the side. Although this feature should be coming to older Galaxy Z Folds shortly as well. And like Samsung’s other flagship phones, the Fold 5 will also be getting 4 years of OS and 5 years of security updates.
Cameras
Unfortunately, things get even worse in the camera department as Samsung has just copy-and-pasted what was there on the Fold 4. That means you’re getting the same 50MP ISOCELL GN3 primary, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto lens at the back with 3x optical and 30x digital zoom.With the main and telephoto cameras retaining optical image stabilization too. You can also take selfies from either of them, but there’s a dedicated 10MP front-facing camera on the cover display and a 4MP unit hidden underneath the main display.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Specifications:
- Body: 253 grams, IPX8 water-resistant, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Armor Aluminum frame
- Folded: 154.9 x 67.1 x 13.4 mm
- Unfolded: 154.9 x 129.9 x 6.1 mm
- Display:
- Cover: 6.2″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate (48 – 120Hz)
- Main: 7.6″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate (LTPO)
- Resolution:
- Cover: HD+ (2316 x 904 pixels), 23.1:9 aspect ratio
- Main: QXGA+ (2176 x 1812 pixels), 21.6:18 aspect ratio
- Other Properties: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (Cover display), HDR10+
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (4nm Mobile Platform)
- CPU: Octa-core:
– 1x Cortex-X3 (3.36 GHz)
– 2x Cortex-A715 (2.80 GHz)
– 2x Cortex-A710 (2.80 GHz)
– 3x Cortex-A510 (2.0 GHz) - GPU: Adreno 740
- Memory: 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 256/512GB/1TB UFS 3.1 storage (non-expandable)
- Software & UI: Android 13 with Samsung’s One UI 5.1.1 on top
- Rear Camera: Triple (with LED flash);
– Primary: 50MP f/1.8 sensor, DPAF, OIS
– Ultrawide: 12MP f/2.2 sensor, 123º FOV
– Telephoto: 10MP f/2.4 sensor, 3x optical zoom, OIS - Selfie Camera:
– Outer: 10MP f/2.2 sensor
– Inner: 4MP f/1.8, second-gen Under-Display Camera (UDC) - Audio: Stereo speaker with Dolby Atmos audio, No headphone jack
- Security: Side-mounted (capacitive), Face unlock
- Sensors: Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano + eSIM), Wi-Fi 6E (dual-band), Bluetooth 5.3, GPS / Galileo / Glonass / BeiDou, NFC, UWB, 4G LTE (VoLTE), 5G
- Battery: 4400mAh battery with 25W wired charging (no power adapter provided)
- Wireless Charging: Yes (10W), 4.5W reverse wireless charging
- Color Options: Icy Blue, Phantom Black, Cream
Rest of the specs
Despite its slimmer and lighter build quality, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 retains the same 4400mAh battery as its predecessor. But with that better-optimized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip, it should deliver relatively better screen time anyway. And when you need to fill it up again, the Fold 5 supports up to 25W fast wired charging. Alongside 10W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. In terms of security, you get a side-mounted fingerprint sensor here.
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