The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the newest generation of foldable phone from Samsung which is a combination of both the phone and tablet experience into a single device. Released in August 2023 together with the Galaxy Z Flip 5, it has a refined look, enhanced functionality, and a plethora of foldable innovations. All in all, the Z Fold 5 is perfect for those who don’t mind paying the extra dollar for a phone-tablet. Some of the new features include the Flex hinge, slim, lightweight, improved multitasking, performance, and battery. Still, these changes make the device retain its high level and creative possibilities in design even if they do not change the image substantially. This is Samsung’s fifth-generation foldable handset which means that Korean company is still fine-tuning its foldable tech and this makes the devices very attractive to fans and early adopters of this type of smartphones.
Galaxy Z Fold 5 Design & Build
Upon the first glance with the Z Fold 5, it is hard to distinguish it from previous models of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes in three colors: You can ask for Icy Blue, Phantom Black, or even Cream. However, each of the two display forms has its own issues. Looking at the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, when the device is opened, you can see a line in the middle, especially at the end part. During use, I do not think about the crease but my friends and colleagues do inquire about it. This is most apparent on the home screen, yet it is less distracting when are reading comics, and watching videos. However, we wouldn’t expect to see a crease on the device that costs nearly two thousand bucks.
The outer display does not have the most convenient aspect ratio that would be suitable for gaming. Games like Star Wars: In the case of Characters: Heroes of the Galaxy, characters seem compressed and almost unrecognizable. This outer display is good for scrolling through the different social media apps or checking notifications but not so good for texting as the keyboard is quite small. Samsung has reduced the thickness of the frame. It has made the hinge less rigid but more flexible. Establishing these improvements makes the foldable easy and comfortable to use.
On the positive side, however, note that Samsung has resolved the issue of the hinge. Previous models had a gap when the halves were folded leaving dirt and dust to bug the screens with scratches. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is equipped with a redesigned hinge which has very few components, and the effect of this is that when the device is closed, the screen lies completely flat. It, therefore, employs the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the outer screen to make the phone more resilient. I have had it for two weeks and every now and then, I drop my phone and it is still as good as new with regards to its physical appearance
Galaxy Z Fold 5 Camera Review:
Triple-Camera Setup
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a triple-camera system on the rear; it included a prominent 50MP wide camera. On my recent photo-walking around Midtown New York, this camera performed incredibly well; better than the mirrorless cameras in the market. The photos taken were clear with natural colours, ranging from close-up shots of flowers to tall buildings around Bryant Park.
Zoom Capabilities: It is equally important to show the capabilites of the zoom here. The built-in camera enables digital zoom up to 60 times however the 3-time optical zoom makes clear images of objects from a distance.
Low Light Performance: The Fold 5 is not very bad in low light but one needs to use it with some degree of hand steadiness. Shooting at night using the lights from street lamps and car lights was fine, however, the true low light sometimes made the picture turned out to be muddy just like the Fold 4.
Under-Display Camera: It is still advisable to avoid the under-display camera on the inner screen for any professional photography as the quality is still low. While the image is crisp for video calls, it is not ideal for any other purpose. Video quality is good to average and it is not very impressive.
Selfie Cameras: The front-facing hardware is a selfie camera on the cover display, which supplies satisfactory selfies with correct brightness and contrast and adequate sharpness, while the under-display camera performs a much worse. In general they have managed a good camera system for the compact size of the device, but in some situations it doesn’t perform so well, especially when it comes to low light.
Galaxy Z Fold 5 features
- 50 MP main camera
- 10 MP 3x zoom camera
- 12 MP ultra-wide camera
- 10 MP selfie camera on the outer shell
- 4 MP under-display selfie camera
Night Photography: The images taken by the Z Fold 5 at night look good, but the night mode has a certain amount of a yellow tint. The noise reduction does its best and over-worked sometimes at the cost of sharpness / edge such as a face. The addition of a 3x telephoto is not a problem for portrait use and zooms that go up to 10x are all right as well.
Ultra-Wide Camera: The ultra-wide lens does not perform as well as the rest of the cameras but it can come in handy when in need of wide scene photography and the color match with the primary lens is quite impressive. The battery is fine, entertainment camera is good to have, and the main 10 MP Selfie camera takes decent fast selfies but may over smooth the details. Videos are created very well and ideal for the stabilization making memories.
Overall Assessment of Galaxy Z Fold 5
Strengths:
- High-quality photos in good lighting conditions.
- Versatile camera system for casual photography.
- Useful zoom capabilities and good video stabilization.
Weaknesses:
- Not the best option for low light or professional-grade photography.
- Same hardware as the previous Z Fold 4, limiting potential improvements.
- Under-display camera and ultra-wide lens could be better.
Overall Camera Performance:
Overall, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 offers a good-enough camera setup although it is not the best lineup from Samsung for photographers. It delivers good image and video quality in most lighting situations and offers accurate, balanced exposure and dynamic range with sharp and natural colors.
Battery and Charging of Galaxy Z Fold 5:
It has manifested some fluctuations in battery performance which are common in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. At various times, I was able to squeeze almost six hours of screen-on time, which is a slight notch up from last year’s model with an identical 4,400mAh battery. However, there is even a day it fails to clock up more than four hours of the required activity. For example, once I managed to get 4 hours and 16 percent of battery, while the following day it was only 3 hours. 5 hours with 38% left despite having used it for other background tasks such as music or podcasts.
In general, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has the same “all day, but just barely” performance indicator, like its predecessor. If you are planning your night to go late, it is wise to charge the phone during the afternoon same as we did when we were comparing the QUALCOMM snapdragon 8+ gen 1 and the QUALCOMM snapdragon 8 gen 2 as they have the same battery capacity and slight increase in efficiency.
Again in terms of charging, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 lacks it. It only charges 25W; 15W wireless charge and 4.5W reverse wireless charging unlike the Galaxy S23 Ultra that supports 45W of fast charging. Faster charging may come in handy at times, but that could be replaced by longer time of charging. Charging drawbacks: It takes a relatively long time to charge the phone, and for a third of the price, competing devices like the OnePlus 11 can charge much quicker.
It makes sense to sacrifice battery capacity for the slimness of the device, but it is regrettable that such a massive device does not have a better battery. Still, using the latest Snapdragon chip, the battery life is quite disappointing. However, if battery life is a concern, there are better devices for this price range such as the S23 Ultra or the Pixel 7 Pro.
An Impressive Powerhouse for Multitasking and Gaming
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 uses the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor in the model that I have as part of the review, with 12GB of RAM and offers 256GB of built-in storage. This is the same ‘Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy’ processor which is used in the new released Galaxy S23 series flagship devices. This upgrade is to increase the performance concerning games played on the device and the battery life. Samsung has once again focused on multitasking with the Fold 5, and it is just perfect with it.
To assess the capabilities of my review unit comprehensively, I installed a number of apps and games onto the device. Overall, as many as launched at once, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 did not slow down and was quick to respond. Samsung has given side by side support so you can have a twitter window open while you are texting or Slank window side your email. This makes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 not only a powerhouse for productivity but also superior to the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 in multitasking.
Phone performance is remarkable, be it running the apps and When it comes to gaming, it handles graphics heavy games like COD and BGMI at the maximum graphical setting without a hitch.
