The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 loses the gap, gains a much larger cover display

2023-07-29

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 arrives with two key improvements – the Flex Hinge and the Flex Window. Those fix the two biggest criticisms of the Z Flip4, the large gap that was left when it was closed and the tiny cover display.

The Flex Hinge finally allows the phone to close flat. This also makes it thinner – the thickest part now measures 15.1mm, 2mm down from the Z Flip4. When opened, the new Flip is 6.9mm thick, 165.1mm tall and 71.9mm wide.

The weight is the same as before at 187g. This phone is built out of Armor Aluminum and features Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover display and the back panel. The body is IPX8-rated, meaning it can dive up to 1m/3.3ft under water for half an hour. The new Flex Hinge design also has a dual rail structure, which helps dissipate external impacts (i.e. when you fumble and drop your phone).

The new Flex Window is 3.78 times larger than the display on the Z Flip4. As expected, this allows the user to interact with widgets – weather, music, check stocks, toggle settings (e.g. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and even reply to incoming messages on a full QWERTY keyboard. Additionally, you can pull out the Samsung Wallet and access all payment services, QR codes and coupons that you have stored there. Multi Widget View allows you to quickly glance at widgets and switch between them with the familiar pinch zoom gestures.

The Flex Window also serves as a much better viewfinder so you can take selfies with the rear cameras. Selfies aside, Dual Preview lets you photograph friends while giving them the option to check their look on the cover display. Super Steady stabilization can be used for handheld videos, but if you’re using the Z Flip5 as its own tripod then Auto Framing will track you as you move around the room.

The main display inside the Z Flip5 is a 6.7” FHD+ panel (22:9) with an adaptive refresh rate, 1-120Hz.

The Flex display has a 3.4” diagonal (keep its odd shape in mind) and a 720 x 748px resolution (306ppi). This one runs at 60Hz.

The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset (the one found in the S23 series). It is paired with 8GB of RAM and you have a choice between 256GB and 512GB storage.

The camera setup is unchanged from last year. The main 12MP module has a 1/1.76” sensor with huge 1.8µm pixels with Dual Pixel AF, the f/1.8 lens offers OIS. Also here is a 12MP ultra wide camera with an f/2.2 123° lens (1.12µm pixels).

Those are usable for selfies, of course, much more now than last year thanks to the large Flex Display. There is still a dedicated selfie camera on the inside, however, a 10MP shooter with an 85° lens (f/2.2, 1.22µm pixels).

There have been no major changes to the battery, it still has 3,700mAh capacity and supports 25W wired charging (50% in around half an hour) and 15W wireless charging.

The fingerprint reader is mounted on the side (it’s a capacitive reader). There is also a card slot for a single nano-SIM, which combines with the eSIM to give you the option for two phone lines.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 goes on pre-order today, open sales will begin a couple of weeks from now on August 11.

There is some good news and some bad news on the pricing. The bad news is that Samsung is skipping the cheapest model (128GB), the good news is that the other two are a bit cheaper, despite what the rumors were saying.

In the UK, the 256GB variant will sell for £1,050, the 512GB one for £1,150. Last year those capacities were priced £1,060 and £1,200, respectively.

The Z Flip5 is available in Mint, Lavender, Cream and Graphite. As usual, there are several colors that are only available from Samsung.com: Gray, Blue, Green and Yellow.

You can also pick up a Clear Gadget Case, Flap Eco-Leather Case, Flipsuite Case or a Silicone Case with Ring.

By the way, this generation of Z foldables uses more recycled materials than their predecessors, including pre-consumer recycled glass and aluminum and post-consumer recycled plastics, sourced from discarded fishing nets, water barrels and PET bottles. The box is, of course, made out of 100% recycled paper.

Check out our hands-on review of the Galaxy Z Flip5 here.