With the vast range of foldable phones coming out in the market today, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 still stands out as a top-tier choice. Its cutting-edge technology and innovative design redefine the possibilities of a smartphone, making it a frontrunner in the realm of foldable devices.
I have been using the Galaxy Z Fold5 for more than a month now, I was pretty much impressed by the new design as well as the upgraded features. So, let’s see what the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 has to offer.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is priced at PHP98,990 (12GB+256GB), PHP105,990 (12GB+512GB), and PHP119,990 (1TB+12GB).
Design
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is now sleeker and a bit lighter than its predecessor. When folded, it now has a thickness of 13.4 mm and the weight has also been reduced to 253 grams. This is made possible due to its new hinge design.
The new innovative hinge design was the key element for the Galaxy Z Fold5 to fold completely flat having no gap between the two halves when the device is closed.
The phone has five available colorways with Gray, Blue, Cream, Icy Blue, and our review unit in a classic Phantom Black.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes with durable glass on the back with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for added protection. It features a triple camera setup arranged vertically placed at the top left corner with an LED flash beside it.
The rest of the back is plain in a matte black finish and certification marks are slightly seen at the bottom center. A Samsung logo can be seen on the hinge and the frame is made of Armor Aluminum which makes the phone durable plus giving it a premium feel when you hold it.
Going through the edges of the phone, when the device is unfolded, the right side has the volume rockers and a power/sleep button with the fingerprint sensor integrated into it.
The left side edge features the SIM card tray and the antenna lines.
On the top edge, you’ll find the speaker grille and three microphones.
Finally, located at the bottom are a USB-C port, a speaker grille, and another microphone.
The device is also rated IPX8 for water resistance and can handle water up to 1.5 meters deep for up to 30 minutes.
Display
Coming to the display of the Galaxy Z Fold5, it is equipped with two screens – the cover screen when the phone is folded and a bigger main screen when it’s unfolded.
The main screen offers a large full rectangle 7.6-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, a resolution of 2176×1812 pixels, and supports a maximum refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
The cover screen is equipped with a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display still with a maximum 120Hz refresh rate and resolutions of 2316×904 pixels.
Both the display of the phone are vibrant, sharp, and very bright. You don’t have to worry about outdoor visibility, as the phone boasts a higher 1750 nits of brightness.
We could still see the crease on the phone but during day-to-day use, it is barely visible and it does not distract my viewing experience on the main screen.
We loved the generously sized main screen of the Z Fold5, it offers us a more comfortable and enjoyable viewing experience for any video content we played on it. From YouTube videos and video streaming apps like Netflix, it’s a mobile movie theater experience that’s as immersive as it is convenient.
The display’s high refresh rate and responsive touch capabilities on the Galaxy Z Fold5 ensure that playing your favorite games on this device is a seamless delight, with fast-paced action and intricate details coming to life with remarkable precision.
Performance
Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Fold5 is powered by a flagship chipset with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. The octa-core processor is specifically designed for Samsung devices has a maximum clock speed of 3.36GHz and is paired with Adreno 740 for its GPU.
It has 12GB of RAM which you can boost using your storage as virtual memory with RAM Plus. The RAM Plus is an intelligent memory expansion developed by Samsung to have more apps open in the background and launch apps faster. You have the option to select additional RAM ranging from 2GB to 4GB, 6GB, or even up to a maximum of 8GB.
Our review unit has 256GB of storage, but if you require additional space, there are also 512GB and 1TB variants available.
As anticipated from its impressive hardware specifications, the device effortlessly handles any task you throw at it.
Here’s our benchmark scores on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5:
- GeekBench 6 CPU: 2042 Single-core Score / 5403 Multi-core Score
- GeekBench 6 GPU: 9494 GPU OpenCL Score
- 3DMark Wild Life: Maxed Out
- CPDT: 0.98 GB/s Sequential Write (4MB) / 986.94 MB/s Sequential Read (4MB)
The RAM Plus feature provides intelligent memory expansion to the device by using your storage (2GB, 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB) as additional memory capacity.
For biometrics, the phone includes facial recognition and a fingerprint reader which is accurate and fast.
To add more layers of security, you can also choose the regular screen lock to assign either a PIN, Password, Pattern or Swipe security lock.
The sound quality is fantastic on this foldable phone! It has details, is high-quality, and is wide, with a pleasant amount of bass present.
Enjoying your movies or playing games on the larger inner display, coupled with the fantastic immersive sound quality, enhances the experience even further.
You’ll also benefit from Dolby Atmos support, enhancing audio immersion when using headphones. Plus, Dolby Atmos for Gaming will offer a three-dimensional audio experience for gamers creating a more realistic and captivating environment.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 has a total of five cameras which is the same as its predecessor.
You get three rear cameras comprising a 50MP wide (f1.8), 12MP ultra-wide (f2.2), and a 10MP telephoto (f2.4) with 3X optical zoom. It has an Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) for added stability and auto-focus for precise details, it ensures steady and sharp shots.
Zoom capabilities for the Z Fold5 can extend to as much as 30X digital zoom for capturing closer shots.
For the other two cameras, the 10MP (f2.2) selfie camera is located on the cover screen and a 4MP (f1.8) under-display camera is hidden in the folding screen. For video calls, it has better image quality if you use the selfie camera on the cover screen.
On the camera app, everything is laid out nicely with easy to access on the things you need to set or adjust before taking the shot.
You’ll have three shooting modes ready on the camera app with the portrait, photo, and video. Clicking the more option will have more additional shooting modes like expert raw, pro, pro video, night, food, panorama, super slow-mo, slow motion, hyperlapse, portrait video, director’s view and single take.
The zoom control slider lets you select three zoom options at 0.6x, 1x, and 3x. You have up to a maximum of 30x digital zoom on the phone.
On top of the viewfinder, you have the settings, flash, timer, motion photo, and color/beauty filters.
When using the camera app on the larger screen, you’ll notice a subtle layout change, such as the placement of the zoom switch in the left center, while the shutter button, gallery icon, and camera flip icon are positioned in the right center.
The benefit of the Flex Mode feature is that you can take hands-free photos or videos without reaching for a tripod
So far, the camera of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 does an outstanding job of capturing photos and videos. The photos we got have good details, contrast, and nice reproduction of colors during well-lit conditions or bright ambient lighting with the HDR handling it very well.
The telephoto camera performs admirably, but when zoomed beyond 10x, the quality softens, and details tend to be lost. Subjects taken in portrait mode have good separation from the background, you can even tweak the amount of blur effect you want.
Shots during low light on the phone’s camera does a very good job of balancing the shadows and highlights with less noise. The night mode proves quite useful, particularly in low-light conditions when you need it most, and slightly sharper too.
Here are sample photos captured using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5.
0.6x Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
1x Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
3x Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
1x Photo Mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
3x Night Mode, Outdoor, Low Lighting
0.6x Photo Mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
Portrait Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
Selfie, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
Wide Selfie, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
Selfie Using Rear Camera, Outdoor, Sunny Weather
Selfie Using Rear Camera, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
Night Mode, Outdoor, Low Lighting
1x Photo Mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
The video quality of the Galaxy ZFold 5 has also improved, which is noticeable when we record during the night or in low light. The phone supports recording in resolutions up to a maximum of 8K at 30fps, but if you prefer to save storage space, you can choose from 4K, 1080p, and 720p options as well. There’s a super steady mode which is a valuable feature to have that helps to stable video shooting in case you’re moving.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 runs on the latest Android 13 version with One UI 5.1.1 with a promise of four Android updates and five years of security updates.
You can still easily use multiple apps on either a pop-up window or split-screen mode on the larger display. The split-screen mode can only accommodate up to three apps at once.
Paired with the S-Pen, you get an extra portable productivity tool to take notes, convert handwriting to text, use air commands, or be creative with the Z Fold 5. However, the S-Pen is not included in the box, you may have to buy it separately.
The taskbar now has the ability to display up to a maximum of four recently used apps. While the default setting shows only two apps on the taskbar, you can choose to display three used apps as well.
With the flex mode, you can have the Galaxy Z Fold5 stay unfolded at a certain angle between 75 degrees to 115 degrees, similar to a laptop, enabling a range of convenient features. It can capture photos and videos from various angles while hands-free; make a video call while the other half to take notes; or have the other half turn into a PC-like touchpad for easy navigation on a certain app.
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is powered by a 4,400mAh battery with support for 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging.
The phone also has reverse wireless charging or Samsung calls it Wireless PowerShare to wirelessly charge Bluetooth accessories or another Galaxy phone that supports Qi technology.
With a Samsung 25W wall charger, the battery received a 37% charge in just 15 minutes, and after the next 15 minutes, it reached 56%. It took us around 1 hour and 2 minutes to fully charge the Galaxy Z Fold5 from 0 to 100 percent.
There’s also a Power saving mode accessible in the settings, it extends battery life with a few restrictions, including reducing the refresh rate to 60Hz, dimming the display, and limiting CPU speeds to 70%, among other adjustments.
What We Like
- Nice Aesthetics
- Build Quality with IPX8 Rating
- Still Lightweight
- Sharp and Vibrant AMOLED Displays
- Flagship Chipsets
- Virtual RAM Expansion
- Impressive Cameras
- Great Software
- Battery Life
- Support S-Pen
What We Want
- Less Crease Visibility
- Inclusion of Power Adapter
- Expandable Storage
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 offers one of the best premium foldable experience.
The foldable design of the Z Fold5 opens up new possibilities for multitasking and creativity, while the powerful hardware ensures a smooth and efficient user experience. With its large magnificent inner display, top-notch camera shooting capabilities, and a range of other practical features, it offers a full package experience perfect for tech enthusiasts and professionals alike.
We found the cover display to be a bit too narrow, which somewhat limits the overall experience of the device. However, if you don’t mind this shortcoming, it remains a solid choice for a great foldable device.
The Galaxy Z Fold5 proves to be a great all-around companion, whether for work or entertainment, making it ideal for watching movies on its expansive display and able to play the most graphics-intensive games with its powerful processor. I also found it exceptionally conducive for productivity, easily crafting articles and browsing the web, surpassing my Galaxy S23 Ultra due to the ample screen real estate.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 comes with a high price tag to match its cutting-edge technology, your investing a smartphone that can delivers on the promise of a unique and versatile mobile experience.
The Galaxy Z Fold5 represents a bold step forward that demonstrates Samsung’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and a glimpse into the future of mobile computing.
Full Specifications – Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5
- Main Display: Main Display: 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display with a resolution of 2208 x 1768 pixels
- Cover Display: 6.2-inch Super AMOLED Display with a resolution of 2268 x 832 pixels
- Refresh Rate: 120Hz
- PPI: 373
- Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
- GPU: Adreno 740
- RAM: 12GB
- Storage: 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- Battery: 4,400mAh
- Charging Support: 25W Fast Charging, 12W Wireless Charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless Charging
- Port: USB-C
- OS: Android 13 and One UI 5.1.1
- Rear Camera: Triple rear camera setup: 10MP 3x optical Zoom Telephoto, 50MP Wide Angle and 12MP Ultrawide
- Front camera: 4MP f/1.8 under-display camera, 10MP f/2.2 (cover display)
- Connectivity: UWB, NFC, 5G Ready, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
- Audio: Stereo Speakers
- Dimensions: 67.1 x 155 x 13mm folded, 130 x 155, 6.1 mm unfolded
- Colors: Ice Blue, Phantom Black, Cream, Gray, Blue
- Weight: 253g
- IP Rating: IPX8
