Review Summary
Expert Rating
To flip or to fold, that is the question that Samsung fans will be asking themselves now that the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 phones have been announced. Both foldable phones come with incremental upgrades over their predecessors, with improved hardware and some design-level tweaks. The latter is more noticeable on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 as Samsung has increased the size of the cover display, offering you a larger screen real estate to work with without having to flip open the device. And with this upgrade (and a few more under the hood) comes a new price tag of around Rs 1 lakh as well!
Table of Contents
Verdict
With the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung offers you a cover screen that is actually usable, although not all apps are worth using. The new hinge allows the phone to fold flat, enhancing the overall design even more than before. The snappy chipset and dependable cameras round out a nearly complete package.
Cover screen
Let’s talk about the biggest, most noticeable upgrade on the Galaxy Z Flip 5: the cover screen. It is now a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED screen as compared to the 1.9-inch screen on the Z Flip 4 and the Z Flip 3. This is a much-needed upgrade and instantly makes the cover screen a lot more attractive and useful. While the screen isn’t a perfect square (there’s an awkward cutout for the cameras), it still manages to cover a good portion of the exterior top half.
The cover screen’s UI is still restricted to a few widgets, which is somewhat disappointing. One hoped that Samsung would allow a more functional interface now that the screen is bigger. But what you get are widgets for Calendar, Weather, Alarm, Steps tracking, and a few more. However, these widgets look great on the now-larger cover screen, providing a lot more information at a glance.
Ironically, the enhanced usefulness of the cover screen will make people who want to use their phones less a lot happier.
Samsung only allows a handful of apps to work on the cover screen, such as YouTube, Netflix, Messages, and Maps. These apps need to be enabled via Samsung Labs in Settings. I found myself using Google Maps often to get a quick look at the traffic situation without having to flip open the device. So, that was convenient. But watching anything on Netflix and YouTube on the cover screen was just amusing at best.
Note: You can add additional apps like Instagram, Twitter (now X), Chrome browser, and more on the cover screen, but you need to download the Good Lock app through Samsung’s Galaxy Store to do that. Scrolling through Instagram and X on the cover screen won’t offer the best experience but it’s not bad for a quick pop-in.
Apart from Samsung’s native messaging app, you can also use WhatsApp on the cover screen. Thanks to a bigger screen, you can use a full QWERTY keyboard for typing. I found it quite convenient using WhatsApp from the cover screen as it saved a lot of time and effort having to flip open the device every time I received a message. You can also have a conversation right from the notifications panel, which is pretty neat.
Always-On Display is present on the cover screen. Enabling it makes it quite convenient to quickly glance at the time, date, and notifications without touching the device. In fact, and ironically, the enhanced usefulness of the cover screen will make people who want to use their phones less a lot happier.
Main screen
Unfolding the Galaxy Z Flip 5 reveals a familiar 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED display that supports FHD+ resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. It’s an edge-to-edge screen with only the border acting as bezels. It’s a vibrant and sharp display, in case you were wondering. The main screen’s 22:9 tall aspect ratio makes it less useful for consuming entertainment as you’ll see thick black bars on either side. It’s a nice screen for any app that requires you to scroll.
To make the most of the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s foldable form factor, you can place the phone half open, allowing you to watch a video on the top half of the screen and scroll through comments on the bottom, or use the bottom portion as a trackpad to scroll through emails or swipe through pictures in the gallery, and more.
Note: Labs is where you also need to enable the Flex mode panel to be able to use additional controls like the trackpad on the bottom of the screen while the phone is folded upright.
Design
The overall form factor and foldable shape aren’t all that different from its predecessor. Samsung has improved the hinge design in a way that the phone closes flat without showing any visible gap where the two halves meet. To recall, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and older versions had a noticeable gap, which made it easier for dust to enter. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is IPX8 rated, which means you can immerse it in water when you go swimming but try not to drop it in the sand when you’re on a desert safari!
The hinge remains sturdy as ever, allowing you to prop the phone in a few ways. You won’t be able to flip open the device with one hand, but the satisfaction of folding it shut with a loud snap after a bad call is as good as ever. The fingerprint sensor on the right side of the frame might require a couple of your fingerprints depending on which ones you use to unlock the phone when folded and unfolded.
Apart from the two camera sensors jutting out on the cover screen, you get one more in-screen camera on the main display. The earpiece doubles up as a speaker to offer stereo speaker support. Lastly, you get the phone in a variety of flavours ranging from Graphite to Cream, including a pleasing Mint colour which is the one I received for review.
“Who is the Galaxy Z Flip 5 for?”
Well, since the Z Flip 5 features a foldable design that doesn’t provide a tablet-like experience like the Fold 5, the phone is better suited for those seeking style over functionality. The sleek, pocketable device encourages more frequent use of the smaller cover screen, which reduces interactions with distracting apps and, consequently, limits screen time.
Cameras
The cameras on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 are actually impressive. There are two 12MP sensors on the cover screen, one for regular 1x photos and the other for wide-angle shots. The primary camera manages to capture lively photos in daylight, offering pleasing colours and good dynamic range. I was quite happy with low-light shots as well, with the camera offering just the right amount of brightness and contrast to make nightlife scenes look vibrant. The wide-angle lens doesn’t drastically change the colour scheme of a wide-angle scene, bringing some consistency between the two lenses. That said, you won’t get the best detailing when you zoom in on wide-angle shots.
The 10MP selfie camera captures acceptable selfies, but the neat thing with the Z Flip 5 is that you can use the 12MP camera on the cover screen (using the viewfinder on the cover screen) to capture sharper, warmer, and less washed-out front-facing photos. The difference between the two is quite stark.
Performance and software
A new flagship phone means a new chipset, and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Rest assured that this chipset delivers snappy performance no matter what tasks you throw at it. However, I don’t see the Galaxy Z Flip 5 being used for intensive gaming or heavy workloads of any kind. It’s simply not designed for that purpose. But even if you do use it for said purposes, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will not disappoint.
Nevertheless, the phone can get warm during extended gaming sessions or extended use of the camera app, likely due to the device’s compact form factor. The device comes with 8GB of RAM, and you have the option to allocate additional virtual RAM (up to 8GB) via Settings to ensure a smooth multitasking experience.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs on Android 13 out of the box with OneUI 5.1 on top. Anyone familiar with a Samsung phone knows the UI is clean and easy to use, with little to no bloatware. Perhaps the best part about the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s software is the support that the company is promising to offer – four years of major OS updates and five years of security patches. This means the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will stay relevant, at least on the software side of things, for years to come.
You can answer a call using the bottom speaker in its folded state, or unfold the device to use the earpiece. During the review period, I did not face any call drops or connectivity issues. Voice clarity was absolutely fine. I used the Galaxy Z Flip 5 on Airtel 5G Plus, and here’s the speed I got in Gurgaon, Haryana.
Battery life
Samsung has upgraded a lot of things about the Galaxy Z Flip 5, but the battery isn’t one of them. You get the same 3,700mAh battery that was present in the Flip 4 as well. It is good enough to take you through a full day with regular usage, but not more than that. You should be able to get anywhere between 4 to 4.5 hours of screen time. If you’re upgrading from the Galaxy Z Flip 4, you might notice some improvement in the battery life thanks to the power-efficient processor.
That said, you will most definitely need to recharge the phone once at least by the end of the day, and you should do so with a 25W PD fast charger. You don’t get a charging brick in the box, so you’ll have to buy Samsung’s own 25W adapter or a compatible third-party fast charger. It takes roughly 90 minutes to fully charge the phone, which is rather slow for a phone that costs Rs 1 lakh.
Final verdict
To flip or to fold, that is the question I started this review with. The answer? If you’re someone looking for a compact and stylish foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is for you. If you’re looking for a foldable that actually turns a regular phone into a tablet for better productivity, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the one to buy. If you still want a flip phone but don’t want to spend a lakh of rupees, you have the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra (review) as an option that also comes with a large and usable cover screen and a smooth performance, although its cameras don’t hold up well.
By increasing the cover screen’s size, Samsung is encouraging you to use the Galaxy Flip 5 much more in its folded form. It’s a great option for those trying to limit their screen time, as they can use the cover screen to quickly glance at notifications, reply to messages, take a brief look at social media, and then return to reality. Everything else about the phone is impressive as well, including its fast processor, solid cameras, and robust software support. Battery life could have been better, and Samsung could have made running more apps on the cover screen easier, but hey, we seldom get everything we want.
Editor’s rating: 8 / 10
Reasons to buy
- Flip form factor with a larger, more usable cover screen than before.
- Widgets look great on the cover screen, offering more information at a glance than before.
- Improved hinge design means the Galaxy Flip 5 can fold flat, and the IPX8 rating means it can survive immersions in water.
- Dependable cameras that offer bright and vibrant photos in daylight and low light both.
Reasons not to buy
- Battery life remains iffy, forcing you to charge the phone at least once every day.
- Apps do not transition seamlessly between the main screen and the cover screen.
- At Rs 1 lakh, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is on the expensive side.
 | Rs. 99,999.00 | Go To Store |
 | Rs. 99,999.00 | Go To Store |
 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 | vs |  Motorola Razr 40 Ultra |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 | vs |  OPPO Find N2 Flip |
