Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 review
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 offers cutting-edge smartphone technology for nearly $2,000. With its most powerful chipset yet, excellent cameras, and the ability to fold flat thanks to a revamped hinge, it's a top-of-the-line device. One of its standout features is multitasking options, allowing users to work and play in new ways. Additionally, the phone supports a stylus, making it ideal for note-taking, drawing, and more. However, for those who don't need the latest and greatest, last year's Galaxy Z Fold 4 offers many of the same features at a significantly lower price point. Despite this, the Z Fold 5 is still worth considering if you're after the absolute best foldable phone experience. Camera-wise, the Z Fold 5 excels with its 50-megapixel main camera, 10-megapixel telephoto cam, and 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens. Photos taken in good lighting are detailed and vibrant, while low-light shots benefit from automatic night shot processing. Video recording capabilities also impress, with up to 8K resolution at 30fps available on the main camera. Battery life is a mixed bag, with a 4,400mAh battery that provides around 95 hours of usage time when using the inner display. Wireless charging and fast wired charging (up to 25W) are also supported. Ultimately, while the Z Fold 5 is an exceptional device, it's worth asking yourself whether you really need its advanced features before shelling out nearly $2,000. For those who do, however, this phone is sure to impress.
Build Quality and Design
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is a marvel of engineering, boasting a sturdy build quality that's sure to impress. The device's hinge has been revamped, allowing the phone to fold flat with ease, making it a joy to carry around. The exterior shell is made of a durable glass material, protecting the internal components from scratches and drops. The design of the Z Fold5 is sleek and sophisticated, with a seamless blend of metal and glass panels. The device's frame is sturdy and well-built, providing a comfortable grip in the hand. The exterior display is crisp and vibrant, making it perfect for quick glances at notifications or to check the time. One of the standout features of the Z Fold5 is its ability to fold flat, allowing users to easily slip it into their pocket or bag. This design choice also enables the phone to be used in a variety of ways, such as with the external display facing outwards or folded shut for added protection. While the Z Fold5's build quality and design are undoubtedly impressive, they may not be revolutionary compared to its predecessor. The device's price point is still around $2,000, making it a significant investment for those looking to upgrade their smartphone experience. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's build quality and design are top-notch, providing a premium feel that's hard to find in other smartphones. However, whether or not it's worth the hefty price tag is ultimately up to individual consumers to decide.
Battery Life
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's battery life is a mixed bag. With a capacity of 4,400mAh, it's identical to the previous model, but the new chipset and software tweaks have had a negligible impact on overall endurance. In our testing, the inner display achieved an impressive Endurance rating of 95 hours, with moderate to heavy usage. However, the cover screen's battery performance was slightly better, earning a rating of 96 hours. This suggests that the phone's power management is efficient, but not particularly optimized for heavy users. Wired charging is supported at up to 25 watts, which is decent, although a charger is not included in the box. Wireless charging is also available, but it doesn't seem to have any significant impact on battery life. In daily use, we found that the phone could easily last a full day with moderate usage, including some social media scrolling, email checking, and photography. However, if you're a heavy gamer or streamer, you might need to top up the charge during the day. While not spectacular, the Galaxy Z Fold5's battery life is solid for a flagship device. It won't last long enough to justify a second-day use case, but it should get most users through a typical 12-hour period without any issues. Overall, we'd say that battery life is merely adequate – not remarkable, but sufficient for most needs.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 boasts an impressive display that sets the tone for a premium smartphone experience. When unfolded, the device reveals a stunning 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2208 x 1840 pixels. This expansive canvas is perfect for multitasking, watching videos, or browsing through your favorite websites. One of the standout features of this display is its vibrant color accuracy and high contrast ratio, making it ideal for content creators and gaming enthusiasts. The visuals are crisp and clear, with minimal ghosting or motion blur to speak of. Whether you're scrolling through social media or editing a photo, every detail is rendered with precision. The cover screen, measuring 6.2 inches in size, serves as an intuitive interface for everyday tasks like checking notifications, taking selfies, or making quick calls. The display's responsiveness and accuracy make it feel seamless to interact with. In low-light conditions, the Fold5's display shines bright, showcasing excellent brightness and color consistency. Night mode is equally impressive, accurately capturing nuanced details in both photos and videos. For video enthusiasts, the Galaxy Z Fold5's display is a dream come true. With support for 8K resolution at 30fps and HDR10+, this phone can deliver cinematic-quality visuals that rival standalone TVs. Whether you're streaming your favorite shows or watching movies on the go, every detail is meticulously rendered on this stunning display. The Galaxy Z Fold5's display is undoubtedly a highlight of this device, offering an unparalleled visual experience that will leave you mesmerized. If you value high-quality visuals and are willing to invest in the latest technology, then the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's display is sure to impress.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 boasts an impressive camera system, consisting of a 50MP main camera, a 10MP telephoto camera, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera. While the overall performance is commendable, there are some areas where it falls short. The 50MP main camera produces excellent photos with good detail, sharpness, and vibrant colors. Foliage looks natural without over-sharpening, and the dynamic range remains wide. Portrait mode shots are great, with detailed, colorful subjects and convincing background blur. The main camera can capture 12MP photos by default, which is sufficient for most users. However, there's a slight issue with focusing on the subject sometimes choosing something in the background instead. To avoid this, it's best to tap on your face to ensure accurate focus. Selfies taken using the main camera are also impressive, with great detail balance, processing high contrast, and vibrant colors. The 10MP telephoto camera offers three times optical zoom, producing good photos with detailed and noise-free images, accurate colors, and decent contrast. In low-light conditions, auto-night shot processing works well, resulting in bright photos with lively colors, good contrast, wide dynamic range, and low noise. The 12MP ultra-wide camera produces decent photos with vibrant colors, high contrast, and enough dynamic range. However, the detail level is somewhat uninspiring, but still suitable for this type of camera. At night, with auto-night shot processing kicking in, the ultra-wide camera produces photos with popping colors, wide dynamic range, and bright exposure. All cameras, including the main, telephoto, and ultra-wide, can capture excellent 4K video footage with consistently good color rendition, contrast, and dynamic range. The detail and sharpness are just average, but still acceptable. In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's camera system is capable of producing high-quality photos and videos. While there are some minor issues with focus accuracy and ultra-wide camera performance, overall, it's a solid effort from Samsung.
Price and Value
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is an ambitious device that pushes the boundaries of what a smartphone can do. With its advanced hinge design, powerful chipset, and excellent cameras, it's a phone that's sure to turn heads. However, at nearly $2,000, it's a price point that may deter even the most die-hard fans. When considering the value proposition of the Z Fold5, it's hard not to compare it to its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold4. Released just last year, the Z Fold4 offered many of the same features as the new model, including a powerful chipset and excellent cameras. And at a significantly lower price point, it was a much more attractive option. Now, if you're after the latest and greatest in foldable technology, the Z Fold5 is certainly the phone to get. The revamped hinge design is smoother than ever, and the addition of new multitasking options and stylus support takes the device to the next level. And let's not forget about the cameras – they're some of the best on the market, with excellent low-light performance and video capabilities. But for those who don't need the absolute latest technology, the Z Fold5 may be a hard sell at its current price point. The value proposition just isn't there, especially when you consider that last year's model is still available and significantly cheaper. Ultimately, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is a device that will appeal to a niche audience – those who are willing to pay top dollar for the latest and greatest in foldable technology. For everyone else, it may be worth waiting until prices come down or exploring alternative options.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 boasts an impressive performance that's sure to meet the demands of even the most demanding users. The phone is powered by the latest chipset, which provides seamless multitasking and rapid app loading times. In our testing, the Z Fold5 consistently delivered smooth performance, handling demanding tasks such as video editing and gaming with ease. The phone's quad-core processor and ample RAM (16GB) ensured that apps launched quickly and ran smoothly, even when multiple applications were open at once. We also put the phone through its paces with various benchmarking tests, and it performed admirably, outscoring many of its competitors in both CPU and GPU-intensive tasks. The phone's performance was particularly impressive during our gaming sessions, where it handled demanding titles like Fortnite and PUBG with ease. Furthermore, the Z Fold5's performance remained consistent even when using the phone's external display, which is a notable improvement over previous models. This means that users can enjoy uninterrupted performance whether they're working or playing on the phone's internal or external screen. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's performance is truly impressive, making it an excellent choice for those who need a powerful and versatile smartphone. With its rapid app loading times, smooth multitasking, and consistent gaming performance, this phone is sure to meet the demands of even the most discerning user.