Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Review: The Samsung foldable gets better with each generation!!

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 brings a refreshing look and some more!!

Samsung is the market leader in foldable as the Z Fold and the Z Flip lineup have had great success in the market. With a lot of foldables from different brands like OnePlus, Oppo, and OnePlus in the market, Samsung is now facing stiff competition, so Samsung has come up with yet another foldable in the form of the Galaxy Z Fold 5. 

With each iteration of its foldable, Samsung improves on each functionality and it is similar to the case with the newer Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 (Review) was a well-packaged foldable as it brought some very good specifications like a 120Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, a triple camera setup and a 4400mAh battery. 

Now the Galaxy Z Fold 5 sports almost similar specifications but comes with slight tweaks when it comes to the slightly newer design, a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and slight changes in software. So should you upgrade from the Galaxy Z Fold 4 to the Galaxy Z Fold 5 or is the Galaxy Z Fold 4 still value for money option?

Let's find out in the full review.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Design:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 brings almost a similar design to that of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 except that there is a newer hinge this time which ensures no gap is present when the two halves are closed. Unlike the previous generation of Samsung foldable which had gaps in between while folding both halves, this one does not have any gap which helps prevent dust or anything from accumulating in between.

As a result, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 feels lighter and thinner compared to its predecessor i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold 4. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 with the gap present between two halves, is thinner at 15.8mm and weighs around 263grams but the Galaxy Z Fold 5 with no gap present between two halves, it is even thinner at 13.4mm and is 2mm thinner compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Also, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 weighs around 253 grams which is a whole 10 grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Around the sides, there is the typical Armor aluminium frame which feels sturdy to hold and houses the dual SIM card slot, the volume buttons, and a power button that doubles up as a fingerprint scanner which works accurately and is faster. 

On the top, there are three microphones and a secondary speaker whereas at the bottom, there is a single speaker, a loudspeaker grille and a USB Type-C port. If you look at the camera module at the back, the LED flashlight instead of being placed inside the module below the triple cameras as present on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, here the LED flashlight is placed outside of the camera module on the Galaxy Z Fold 5. 

Just like the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the outer display remains similar at 6.2 inches and houses a front camera and the inner display at 7.6 inches for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 there is also an inner selfie camera which remains hidden except for that it will visible if you look closer in the inner display. There is also support for IPX8 rating which makes it water resistant as it can survive under 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

In terms of protection, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back as well as the front. As soon as you switch the foldable from an outer display to a larger inner display, the crease is easily visible. Overall, the build and design feel strong and premium and the small improvements with the newer hinge make it even better.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Display:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 sports a similar-sized display as that of its predecessor i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold 4. The inner display gets a larger 7.6 inches (1812x2176 pixels)  whereas the outer display is 6.2 inches (904x2316 pixels), both of which are 2X Dynamic AMOLED displays and have LTPO panel which supports 120Hz refresh rate.

You choose the refresh rate under Motion Smoothness in settings between two different profiles - Standard and Adaptive. Setting the display to Adaptive, both the outer and the inner displays refresh at standard 60Hz whereas if you set the Adaptive mode, the outer display refreshes between 48-120Hz and the inner display refreshes between 1Hz-120Hz depending on the content in the display.

For example, while watching a 24fps video, the display refreshes at 24Hz or 40Hz, whereas while watching static content i.e. viewing an image in the gallery, the display refreshes at 10Hz and when scrolling through web pages, the display can refresh at 120Hz. Combined with the 120Hz refresh rate, there is support for a 240Hz touch sampling rate for faster touch responses. 

Both the inner and outer display have thinner bezels all around which makes it look good. The outer display of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 can reach a peak brightness of 450nits whereas the inner display can reach a peak brightness of 1750nits which is around 30-40 per cent even brighter compared to the display on its predecessor i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold 4. 

Under direct sunlight, both displays provide good visibility and also there is an Extra Brightness option which after enabling increases the brightness further. The display has two different settings to choose from - Vivid and Natural where setting the display to Vivid will cover the DCI-P3 gamut and on the other hand, the Natural mode covers the sRGB colour space. 

Choosing the Vivid mode provides punchier colours whereas choosing the Natural mode provides off-white colours which look realistic. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 display has support for Widevine L1 so you can stream HDR content on OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime, etc. and there is support for HDR10+ on YouTube. Overall, both the displays on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 are great for multi-media consumption.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Performance:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 sports a newer and powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset which is around 30-40 per cent more powerful compared to last year's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Samsung has slightly overclocked the chipset as in the Galaxy S23 series as well as the Galaxy Z Flip 5. This chipset is based on an efficient 4nm process and provides great performance on a daily basis.

In terms of daily activities such as scrolling between webpages, switching between applications, watching videos on YouTube or OTT platforms, and playing games like BGMI, COD MObile, etc. the smartphone can handle all these tasks easily. In BGMI, the smartphone easily ran at Ultra frame rates with HDR graphics without any frame drops or stutters noticed.

In the CPU throttling test, the smartphone could easily achieve a sustained performance of around 80-85 per cent without any throttling detected. In benchmarks, the scores came out really good. In terms of network connectivity, there is support for good carrier aggregation and 13 bands of 5G. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is available in three different variants -  12GB LPDDR5 RAM with 128/512GB/1TB storage having UFS 4.0 speeds.

Overall, the performance and gaming feel really good on the smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Software:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 runs on the latest OneUI 5.1.1 built on top of Android 13 out of the box. With each generation of the Galaxy Z Fold, the software experience has been improved to a larger margin as you get multiple newer features like improved multi-tasking, newer camera controls and some noticeable changes. The rest of the user interface remains unchanged.

Some of the features include an improved taskbar where you can see the minimized view of the dock icons present anywhere while using the display. This feature comes in handy as you can drag the applications and open multiple applications in the form of a Multi-Window, you can also see the recently used applications, and there is a shortcut present on the left side in the app drawer.

Samsung has even intelligently placed the app drawer and the home screen in two different halves of the display vertically and there is the screen mirroring feature which enables a similar screen as seen on the outer as well as the inner display. There is the dual split mode present which works in two different ways - horizontal and vertical where you can open two applications simultaneously in both ways here.

With the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung has introduced a new feature where you can drag or insert a text or picture simply by dragging from one application to another. For eg. dragging a human image from the gallery to the default messages application when sending to someone. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 with its newer software allows up to four active applications where the fourth application is present in a Pop-Up View mode. 

The Pop-Up View Mode is not applicable for each and every application but you can force to work it simultaneously alongside Multi-Window under Samsung Labs in settings. There is also the Samsung DeX mode where you can use where you can connect the smartphone both wired and wirelessly to a monitor, television or personal PC which provides a Desktop-like experience. 

The Samsung Flex Mode is present where the hinge can be kept stable between 75 degrees and 115 degrees with both the respective controls present in the top and the bottom half. For eg. while watching a video, the top half shows the video whereas the lower half provides the video player controls, the Gallery application provides the images in the top half whereas the bottom half provides the trackpad-like touch area to move between different images. 

As the Galaxy Z Fold 5 supports the S-Pen, you get a host of features like Screen-Off Memo, Air Command, Air View and Quick Note. Then there is the Apps panel where you can set eight different applications where you can have two different rows having applications from recent usage and the ones you choose yourself.

In terms of bloatware, there are some amount of third-party applications that can be disabled or uninstalled easily which is a slight disappointment since being a flagship, there is bloatware present. In terms of software updates, this one will receive another four years of AndroidOS updates and five years of security patches which is the segment best.

Overall, you get a great software experience with the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Camera:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 sports a triple camera setup which is similar to its predecessor i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold 4 which consists of the 50MP f/1.8 Samsung GN3 sensor for the main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with OIS and provides 3x optical zoom. There is a 10MP f/2.4 selfie camera present on the outer display whereas the 4MP f/1.8 under display camera.

The images from the main camera come out with details that look sharper and have a good dynamic range with less noise present in the background. The colours look natural without any oversharpening in the background. By default, all the images are saved at 12MP by default but if you switch to the 50MP mode, the details look good, the dynamic range is wider and slight oversaturation is present in the background.

The images shot during the night come out with sharper details, good dynamic range, punchier colours and less noise in the background. All of these were shot using the Auto Night Mode which triggers automatically and it can be turned off and you can use the manual night mode also. The images taken without using the night mode come out with realistic colours and good dynamic range with slightly higher noise.

The images taken from the ultrawide camera come out with details that look sharper and have good dynamic range, and the colours look natural without any oversharpening in the background. There is some amount of noise present in the background and around the edges, there is some amount of distortion present. At night, the images have a good amount of detail but the dynamic range comes to be average.

The ultrawide camera gets a dedicated night mode which when turned on, provides slightly better details, and better dynamic range compared to the shots taken without using the night mode, and exposure is slightly better handled in the background. Without the night mode, there is a larger amount of noise present in the background and there is slight oversharpening in the background present.

The 10MP telephoto camera does a good job in terms of details that look sharper, have great dynamic range, noise is less in the background, and colours look punchier without any oversharpening in the background. However, the contrast is not as good as that of the main and the ultrawide camera but still the 3x zoomed images look equally good as that of the images taken from the main camera.

At night, the images from the telephoto camera come out with details that look sharper and come out with good dynamic range and contrast with less noise in the background. The 3x zoomed images with the dedicated night mode provide an excellent level of detail that looks sharper, has great dynamic range and less noise in the background. The noise is less in the background though.

There is no dedicated macro camera present so you can still take some macro shots by bringing the focus of the main camera closer towards the object. In terms of portraits, the main camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 can take portraits in 1x and 2x zoom levels whereas the telephoto camera can take portraits at 3x zoom levels.

The portraits from the main camera come out with good edge detection and the details look good, skin tones look natural, and the background blur is proper also. However, the portraits have slightly better details than the ones shot using the main camera but very little difference between portraits shot from both the main and the telephoto camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

In terms of selfies, the 10MP selfie camera present on the outer display takes some very good selfies as the details look sharper with good dynamic range, skin tones look natural without any oversharpening, and the noise is less in the background. The selfie portraits come out with good edge detection and background blur. The skin tones also look natural and have a wider dynamic range.

On the other hand, the inner selfie camera takes images with average details, and decent dynamic range and there is a significant amount of noise in the background. It is better to use this camera for video calls instead of taking images. In terms of videos, the primary camera can record 8K videos at 30fps whereas the telephoto camera and the ultrawide camera can only record 4K videos.

The primary, telephoto, and outer selfie cameras come with OIS though. The 8K videos from the main camera can now shoot at 30fps which is a good upgrade from the Galaxy Z Fold 4 which could only shoot 8K videos at 24fps. The 8K videos come out with excellent levels of detail that look sharper, have a wider dynamic range and colours have good contrast with a natural tone. 

The noise is almost non-existent which is good and the same goes for the videos shot in 4K at 60fps. However, the 8K video taken in low light comes out with slightly softer details and an average dynamic range, the noise is slightly on the higher side but the colours look natural without any oversharpening in the background.

The 4K videos shot at 60fps taken in low light have slightly softer details, but still, you get a wider dynamic range and noise is also slightly less compared to the 8K footage. The 4K videos at 30fps from the ultrawide camera come out with sharper details, good enough dynamic range and slightly less noise in the background. 

However, during the night, the videos provide softer details, average dynamic range and more noise in the background. The 10MP telephoto camera takes 4K videos at 60fps where details look sharper, the dynamic range is wider and colours look natural. Also, since it has OIS, the level of noise is almost non-existent which is great. 

In terms of low-light videos from the telephoto camera come out with slightly softer details, but the dynamic range is very good and the level of noise is very low in the background. The 4K videos at 60fps from the front camera come out with an excellent level of detail, good dynamic range and less noise present in the background.

The under-display camera can only record 1080p videos at 30fps and these videos have an average dynamic range, softer details and a lot of noise present in the background. However, colours look natural without any kind of oversharpening as such. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Battery Life:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 sports a similar sized 4400mAh battery as that on its predecessor i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold 4. With normal usage, you can get around 6-6.5 hours of standard screen-on time whereas with heavy usage, you can get around 4-4.5 hours of standard screen-on time which is a slight improvement over its predecessor i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold 4. 

With normal usage including casual gaming, web browsing, and streaming social media, etc. the smartphone easily lasts for one and half days with some charge left whereas with heavy usage that includes playing games like BGMI, rendering videos, attending calls continuously, etc., the smartphones lasted for a single day easily with some charge left.

In terms of charging speeds, everything remains unchanged as the Galaxy Z Fold 5 just like its predecessor has support for 25W fast charging, 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. However, there is no 25W fast charger bundled inside the box as you have to rely on third-party fast chargers or separately purchase a 25W Samsung fast charger.

Using the 25W Samsung proprietary fast charger takes around 1 hour 40 minutes for a full charge from 0 to 100 per cent. Overall, the battery life is a slight improvement but the disappointing factor remains the charging speeds which are much slower than the competition and similar charging speeds have been seen in past generations of Samsung foldables.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Audio Quality:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 sports a dual stereo speaker setup that sounds adequately louder and clearer with a proper level of bass and does not feel muffled even at the highest volume settings. There is support for Dolby Atmos for enhanced sound output. However, you do miss out on a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Verdict:

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 provides a complete flagship package as it brings the foldable form factor which remains unchanged from its previous generations thus enhancing the productivity and usability of Samsung's feature-rich OneUI experience. You get a solid build and design and this time with the newer hinge that allows the two halves to close flat with no gap left.

Other than that, there are the 120Hz AMOLED displays (inner and outer) combined with stereo speakers thus providing a great experience in terms of multi-media consumption, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset provides excellent gaming and daily performance, the cameras are well-tuned in terms of images except for the under-display selfie camera. 

The software experience feels premium with enhanced and newer features that come in handy while using this foldable. Combined with it you also get a good longevity of assured software updates. The battery life also is a good improvement over its predecessor. However, there are some areas where Samsung could have improved. 

In terms of charging speeds, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is not the fastest around, though you get a solid camera performance, the videos taken from the telephoto and the ultrawide cameras do struggle under low-lighting conditions and, the Galaxy S23 Ultra (Review) though cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 5 provides much better camera performance.

As an overall package, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a good upgrade over its predecessor only if you want that newer design, a slightly better chipset, better battery life and the newer software features introduced with OneUI 5.1.1 but still, you won't notice much of a difference compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4 which is still a very solid option considering it is now cheaper which makes it a value for money option.