Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: the flip phone we’ve been waiting for

With the ability to declare an absolute class winner is uncommon within the smartphone house. However within the case of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, it’s really fairly simple: that is the very best flip-style folding cellphone you should purchase. 

It’s a small class, in order that helps. It’s even smaller if you happen to’re taking a look at choices obtainable within the US since your selections are principally the Flip 5 or Motorola’s Razr Plus. They’ve lots in widespread, together with the truth that they each provide a a lot larger, rather more helpful cowl display screen than their predecessors. They share the identical $999 price ticket, too. However Samsung’s flip cellphone is extra sturdy, its cowl display screen widgets are extra helpful, and its digital camera system is best total. 

That’s to not say that the Flip 5 is the right flip-style cellphone or the very best cellphone you should purchase for a thousand bucks. It’s sturdy for a foldable, however that huge “X” in its IPX8 ranking means there’s no assure in opposition to mud intrusion — and mud in a folding cellphone spells actual bother. You’ll discover higher digital camera {hardware} on most different $999 slab-style telephones, together with a telephoto lens, and also you’ll wrestle to get by means of a full day of heavy use with the Flip 5 on a single battery cost. If any of the above is a serious concern, then a flip-style cellphone won’t be for you. However if you’re prepared to place up with these tradeoffs, then the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is a superb system. 

The flip kind issue is especially good for somebody who desires to get extra of the essential chores completed on their cellphone with out getting sucked into mindlessly checking app notifications and scrolling by means of information feeds unintentionally. The larger, improved cowl display screen on the Flip 5 makes it potential to reply to a textual content shortly, look at strolling instructions, or verify the climate with out coming face-to-face with completely every little thing in your cellphone. It’s a robust software within the battle in your consideration, and the Z Flip 5 is hands-down the best choice in its class.

Let’s begin with the principle attraction: that 3.4-inch cowl display screen (excuse me, Flex Window, in response to Samsung). That won’t sound like a lot, but it surely’s greater than 3.5 instances larger than the 1.9-inch display screen on the Z Flip 4. It’s like getting out of a Good Automotive and right into a sedan — buckle up as a result of you may go locations now. Reasonably than simply checking notifications, you should utilize a full QWERTY keyboard to reply to texts. You possibly can see your day by day schedule alongside a month-to-month calendar in the identical view. 

Samsung supplies a bunch of useful widgets you may allow, disable, and rearrange to your liking. They’re glorious and take nice benefit of the obtainable display screen actual property; the climate widget exhibits you present circumstances at a look, and you’ll scroll down for the following week’s forecast. Tapping on a calendar occasion brings up all the main points. It’s all as the nice lord meant — and a a lot better expertise than on the Motorola Razr Plus.

In no specific order, listed here are some issues I used the duvet display screen to do up to now week:

• Reply to textual content messages
• Signal my child out of daycare
• Test arrival instances at my bus cease and be aware that I’m undoubtedly lacking the following bus
• Learn my Threads notifications (all 4 of them)
• Dismiss roughly 2,000 spam calls

Widgets are nice, however a part of the attraction of a flip cellphone — at the least for me — is the flexibility to run sure apps on the duvet display screen. You want a little bit of a way of journey right here as a result of a lot of apps are unequivocally terrible on a small display screen. However I’ve found just a few of the apps I exploit for fast duties are literally positive on the duvet show. It’s a trouble many Flip 5 homeowners most likely gained’t wish to undergo, however for the adventurous few, it’s an enormous profit to proudly owning a flip cellphone.

For causes talked about above, Samsung makes it very troublesome to run simply any previous app on the duvet display screen. You possibly can allow a handful of preselected apps by means of the Labs menu, however for something exterior of messaging apps, Google Maps, or YouTube, you could obtain Good Lock (and an extra module known as MultiStar) from the Galaxy App Retailer. Then you may add further apps to the duvet display screen. 

You don’t wish to scroll by means of Instagram posts on a display screen this small, but it surely’s completely appropriate for quick-hit duties like checking transit arrival instances or translating an unfamiliar Spanish phrase to English. Putting a cellular order in your neighborhood Starbucks is a stretch, however I’m joyful to report that it may be completed.

Some apps don’t work fairly as effectively on the Flip 5’s cowl display screen as they do on the Razr Plus’ barely larger show. I had bother typing in sure apps since Samsung’s cowl display screen keyboard doesn’t offer you a persistent textual content enter field, and no matter you’re writing is liable to get lined up by different UI components. However on both cellphone, there’s a really experimental vibe to utilizing a full app, so proceed at your individual danger.

The Flip 5’s cowl display screen itself isn’t the nicest display screen I’ve ever used, but it surely does the job. It’s a 720 x 748 60Hz panel — not as sharp or easy because the Razr Plus’ display screen. Nevertheless it does get brilliant sufficient to be used even in direct daylight, and it’s not a display screen you wish to take a look at loads of images or play video games on, anyway. One factor it has over the Razr Plus? An always-on show. You possibly can see the time, date, battery share, and app notification icons with out having to faucet the display screen. Fairly actually, you like to see it.

On the draw back, the AOD does appear to pull down battery efficiency noticeably. The Z Flip 5 has a small 3,700mAh battery, in order that’s a professional concern. With the AOD enabled, I used to be in a position to get by means of a full day of heavy use with 4.5 hours of screen-on time — however solely with a nail-biting 5 % left within the tank as I used to be calling an Uber on the finish of the evening.

On a extra typical day with three hours of screen-on time, I had 40 % left by the top of the evening. It’s adequate to get most individuals by means of a full day, however heavy customers will wish to work in a noon top-off to keep away from going to cellphone battery jail.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy chipset is simply as snappy right here as within the S23 collection. It appears to run just a little hotter within the Flip 5, perhaps as a result of there’s much less house for cooling mechanisms, but it surely by no means bought too toasty in my pocket. The bottom mannequin Z Flip 5 comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — a bump up from the Flip 4, which began at 128GB. There’s 25W wired charging (BYO charging brick, in fact) and 15W wi-fi charging with 4.5W reverse wi-fi charging to high off your earbuds. I’ve to open the cellphone and set it juuust so on my stand-style Belkin Qi charger, but it surely works. 

The Z Flip 5 and its larger Fold 5 sibling are the primary Samsung foldables that shut flat — earlier variations had a visual hole between the 2 halves close to the hinge when closed. The hole is gone, a brand new droplet-style hinge is in, and there was a lot rejoicing. It makes the Z Flip 5 a bit sleeker-looking, although it feels simply as chunky as ever within the pocket of my joggers.

The aspect rails are a flat, polished aluminum that appears good and feels sturdy. Samsung says that the brand new hinge’s design can face up to impacts higher, however the cellphone’s IPX8 ranking is similar as final yr’s. Meaning it’s proof against full immersion in water, which is not any small feat on a cellphone with transferring elements, however there’s no assure in opposition to mud intrusion. Samsung’s apparently engaged on that, however within the meantime, it’s a nasty thought to take the Flip 5 to the seaside. 

The Flip 5’s new cowl display screen supplies a much bigger canvas for lock display screen customization, and Samsung supplies loads of personalization choices. It’s lots like customizing a smartwatch face — you decide a fundamental wallpaper model, choose your favourite fonts and colours, and reserve it. From the duvet display screen itself, you may lengthy press to view and change between your custom-made lock screens. As a lock display screen enjoyer, I’ve wasted loads of time making an attempt to get the background shade framing a photograph of my child excellent. You bought me, Samsung.

New to the Flip and Fold this yr is an up to date flex mode panel — that’s the set of controls you can allow whenever you use the cellphone in an L-shaped laptop computer mode. You don’t want it in an app like YouTube that’s already optimized for folding telephones, but it surely’s useful for the bodily remedy video I observe day-after-day most days that’s solely obtainable embedded in a browser window.

I can faucet the display screen to maneuver the video to the highest half of the display screen, and the flex mode panel now features a thumbnail picture and customizable controls. It is a very minor replace within the grand scheme of issues, but it surely makes the expertise of utilizing the cellphone on this manner really feel just a little extra polished and rather less “beta.” 

Extra vital than minor software program tweaks, the Z Flip 5 continues to come back with a robust software program help coverage: 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches. Motorola, then again, is providing three years of OS updates and 4 years of safety patches — and it doesn’t precisely have an important monitor file for well timed updates. Of all the explanations to think about the Flip 5 over the Razr Plus, that’s a robust one.

Usually talking, folding telephones don’t include the newest digital camera {hardware}. That continues to be true of the Flip 5 — similar as final yr, it comes with a 12-megapixel f/1.8 stabilized predominant digital camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. There’s a 10-megapixel selfie digital camera on the within display screen, however one of many good issues concerning the flip kind issue is that it’s simple to make use of the higher rear-facing cameras for selfies, so it’s sort of simply there for video calls. 

The imaging {hardware} is run-of-the-mill, and so are the Z Flip 5’s images. The principle digital camera does simply positive in good lighting and turned in just a few photographs I actually dig — give it ample oblique lighting and a few vibrant colours, and also you’ll be impressed. Portrait mode is nice, if not class-leading, just like the S23 cameras. 

General, although, it’s a reasonably mediocre digital camera system for a $1,000 cellphone. There’s no telephoto lens, and I’m not impressed with Samsung’s digital zoom. Images from the ultrawide in good lighting are just a little flat, and colours look off in dim lighting with loads of smoothed-over noise. Even low-light selfies with the principle digital camera are hit-and-miss — it selected a shutter velocity of simply 1/35sec in a dim enviornment that left me with only one sharp picture out of a handful. 

Video clips are positive total. Samsung says it’s utilizing AI to enhance low-light video high quality, and I feel my low-light video clips look alright. However above all, it’s enjoyable capturing images and video with a flip cellphone. You possibly can fold the cellphone into an L form and set it down on a desk for an on the spot tripod and hands-free video. You possibly can maintain it up camcorder model or transfer the picture preview to the underside half of the display screen like an old-school twin-lens reflex digital camera and shoot from the hip. 

I appear to get essentially the most pure reactions in images and movies of my toddler when my cellphone isn’t proper in entrance of my face utilizing any of these strategies. I really feel just a little extra engaged within the second, too. In any case, I’m hoping Samsung upgrades the cameras on the Z Flip 6 so we are able to get the very best of each worlds: good {hardware} and all that flip cellphone enjoyable.

There are many ways in which the Galaxy Z Flip 5 might be a greater flip cellphone — the cameras might use an improve, I’d prefer to run apps extra simply on the duvet display screen, and dustproofing could be a welcome addition. It’s a bit sleeker with the brand new fold-flat hinge however nonetheless a chunky system that will profit from some trimming down. 

Regardless that it might be higher, it’s simply the very best broadly obtainable flip cellphone choice proper now. For a similar value because the Motorola Razr Plus, you get a extra constant digital camera, strong water resistance versus splash resistance, an additional yr of software program updates, and a lot better cowl display screen widgets. That’s actually no contest. The Oppo Discover N2 Flip is an alternative choice exterior of the US, however its cowl display screen is smaller and fewer helpful, and its sturdiness is unsure because it lacks any sort of IP ranking.

If you happen to’re contemplating leaping from a standard slab-style cellphone to a flip cellphone, the Z Flip 5 is a good entry level. The quilt display screen isn’t only a neat get together trick — it’s a genuinely useful gizmo that made my life just a little simpler in quite a few methods whereas utilizing the cellphone. It’s a tool finest fitted to somebody with a way of journey and curiosity on the subject of expertise — somebody prepared to attempt a brand new manner of doing issues and in a position to roll with it whenever you inevitably hit a snag. For that sort of individual, the Z Flip 5 is a really rewarding expertise.

Images by Allison Johnson / The Verge