Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 review

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Introduction

Gapless design, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 - that's the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 in a nutshell. But could the small step for the Fold lineup become a giant leap for the foldable segment.

The Galaxy Z Fold5 addresses one of the major issues of the lineup so far - the unsightly and impractical V-shaped gap when closed shut is finally gone and you get the gap-free body to finally match the competition.

It is still only matched by the Huawei Mate X3 with its IPX8 rating, while its Armor aluminum frame and Victus glass exterior are the most reassuring in the market. The chipset has been upgraded to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy model with higher CPU and GPU clocks, while storage has been boosted to UFS 4.0.

The rest is copy-pasted from the Fold4. The foldable AMOLED screen remains the same - 7.6-inches of Dynamic AMOELD 2X goodness with 373ppi, 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and HDR10+. It has a clever under-display 4MP camera to avoids interruptions, and it supports S-Pen input. In fact, the new slimmer S-Pen case, while not part of the phone itself, might be one of the bigger upgrades we are getting this year.

On the outside you get the same 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+. There is a punch hole here, but no S-Pen support.

The rear camera setup is another thing to have been lifted straight from the Fold4. The 50MP OIS primary, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP OIS 3x telephoto combo will be hoping the new Snapdragon chipset will help it improve image quality with its computational muscle.

Another area where improvements can only come from the new chipset is battery life as the Fold5 features the same 4,440mAh battery with 25W wired and 15W wireless charging support.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 specs at a glance:

• Body: 154.9x129.9x6.1mm, 253g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) (folded), plastic front (unfolded), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IPX8 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), Armor aluminum frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (advertised), Stylus support.
• Display: 7.60" Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1812x2176px resolution, 10.81:9 aspect ratio, 373ppi; Cover display:, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, 6.2 inches, 904 x 2316 pixels, 23.1:9 ratio.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, One UI 5.1.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 12mm, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: Under Display: 4 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 2.0µm; Cover camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 24mm, 1/3", 1.22µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@960fps (gyro-EIS), HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4400mAh; 25W wired, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6e; BT 5.3, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung DeX (desktop experience support), Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

If it ain't broke don't fix it was probably written on the wall in the Fold5 R&D labs. The ugly gap is gone, but the Fold5 still feels more like a facelift than an entirely new model. A Galaxy Fold 4s, if you will.

Could there be more to this new phone then meets the eye then? Has Samsung focused on under-the-hood tweaks that improve the user experience without making the specs sheet? Let's take a look inside the box and find out.

Unboxing the Galaxy Z Fold5

The Galaxy Z Fold5 ships into one of those eco-friendly, but severely under-equipped boxes containing the phone and a USB-C cable.

If you need a charger, case, or headphones - well, you better get shopping.