The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G introduces significant improvement compared to its predecessor, with the most apparent improvement being the notably larger 3.4″ Flex Window.

Despite its hefty price tag of RM 4,499, the device is loaded with flagship hardware. If you place a pre-order before 17th August 2023, you’ll receive a doubling of the storage capacity at no extra cost.

For unboxing and what comes inside the box, check out my unboxing and first look at the device HERE!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G’s Specification

Here’s my review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G after using it for over a week now.

Design & Built

Compared to the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G and Galaxy Z Flip4 5G, the Galaxy Z Flip5 5G is now slimmer when folded, and the new hinge lets the phone fold flat for the first time. It may sound like a small change, but having gapless help reduce dust entering between the folded screen as the device is only IPX8 water resistant and has no guarantee against dust intrusion.

The crease is still present and notice no difference even with the new hinge.

Both the Flex Window and the rear glass are now shielded by Corning Gorilla Victus 2, renowned as the most robust glass protection available for mobile devices.

The flip form factor is one of the reasons why someone would want to get the Galaxy Z Flip. The best size for clutch bags for the ladies and pocket friendly for men with tight jeans.

Flex Window

When I use the Galaxy Z Flip4 5G as my daily, I struggle trying not to flip open the screen to read notifications, not to mention responding to it. With the new large 3.4″, which Samsung called Flex Window, it can now have a full QWERTY keyboard to respond to texts, stream videos, navigation with Google Maps, and even post status on social media.

Samsung also provides a bunch of handy widgets; Calendar, Weather, Direct Dial, Recent Calls, Alarm, Stopwatch, Timer, Voice Recorder, Steps, and many more.

By default, Samsung also enables a handful of apps through the Labs menu; Maps, Messages, Netflix, and YouTube. If you want more than that, you can download Good Lock from Galaxy Store and install an additional module called MultiStar. This workaround basically enabled you to run any apps you installed on the Galaxy Z Flip5 5G. Worth noting that not all apps run optimally due to the odd screen ratio of the cover screen.

The apps that I frequently use include WhatsApp, Google Maps, Gmail, and Spotify, which I find to work very well. Occasionally, I also enjoy watching YouTube on the device. To be honest, the cover display has a rather impressive AMOLED display with 720p HD resolution. It also boasts a 1,600 nits peak brightness for its cover screen, visibility is good even under bright sunlight.

The customization of the cover screen is endless, from picking your cover backgrounds (photo or gif), toggling the battery icon, changing clock style, size & font, quick launch, and notification.

Folding Display

Moving on to its primary screen, it retains the same 6.7″ 2X Dynamic AMOLED panel. On paper, there isn’t a huge upgrade here, having the same tall 22:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz LTPO display, and 2,640 x 1,080 resolution. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G now boosts up to 1,750 nits peak brightness.

This display offers excellent performance with precise colors, deep black levels, and clear visibility even in bright daylight conditions.

Performance

Under the hood is the most powerful Qualcomm chip, a 4nm process Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, the same chip found on the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. Paired with 8GB of LPDDR5X memory and given storage option of 256GB or 512GB UFS 4.0 storage.

It’s a flagship-grade performance without any stutter on all applications including high-intensive 3D graphics games. Because of its compact form factor and space limitation, it does feel a bit warm on hand after running the game for over an hour. I notice no throttling during the gameplay.

Unfortunately, Samsung DeX is still missing, although the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G is packed with the same powerful flagship chip and updated with a speedy USB 3.2. I assume that this particular feature is exclusively available for the Galaxy Z Fold and the Galaxy S-series.

Here are the synthetic benchmark test results

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G has two 12-megapixels cameras at the bottom of the cover screen and a 10-megapixels selfie camera on the top folding screen.

The primary and ultrawide camera has not changed since the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G but don’t get me wrong. The sensors are great, paired with the powerful ISP from the Qualcomm chip, it can capture good images and decent videos, minus the optical zoom capability. I hope there’s at least some upgrade, maybe an autofocus ultrawide that can enable macro shoot or perhaps adding a 3x optical zoom lens. Perhaps to see them in the next iteration.

Here are some photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G;

For full resolution, you can view it on GDrive

Another issue I noticed when I use the Flex Window to take selfies, the cover screen is only limited to shooting photos or videos on its primary camera only, as the Galaxy Z Flip4 5G allows to use of both cameras. I guess, some software update would enable that.

OneUI 5.1

Running on Samsung OneUI 5.1 based on Android 13. Aside from the general Samsung UI which offers one of the most refined Android experience, the Galaxy Z Flip5 get extra features such as Flex Mode. This pushes apps to the top when the Z Flip/Fold is folded into an L-shape, and it also grants the capability to utilize apps or the camera from the cover screen.

Like any other Samsung flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 5G will receive at least 5 years of software updates including four major Android version updates and monthly security patches. This means you will see Android 17 on this device before it goes obsolete. This is something that no other foldable rivals can offer.

Battery

I’m surprised that the battery life on the Galaxy Z Flip5 5G has improved compared to its predecessor despite they packed the same battery capacity at 3,700mAh.

I get a slightly better screen on time at about 5 hours before I need to tether it to the wall plug. Supports 25W wired and 15W wireless fast charging.

Because of the new Flex Window that allows me to have a quick response to some important apps and even navigation, I actually lessen flip open the main screen. This not only helps with better battery life but reduces the distraction from picking up my phone and start scrolling social media.