The fifth-generation Galaxy foldable phones “deliver flexibility and versatility without compromise,” said Samsung upon unveiling the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 at Unpacked in Korea today. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 appeared as the star of the show, perhaps even more so than the Z Fold 5, thanks to design improvements and an enlarged cover screen.
Available now for pre-order, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will officially hit the shelves on August 11. Here are its best features.
The new Flex Window opens up new possibilities
By far, the most striking upgrade Samsung brought to its foldable flip phone series at this year's Unpacked event is a larger 3.4-inch AMOLED cover screen. The company calls it “Flex Window,” and the latter elevates the flip phone user experience to a new level.
Matching the new cover screen is a new series of widgets, which are as useful as they are beautiful. They can be accessed at a glance or through the new Multi Widget View. Through these widgets, the Flex Window lets users check the weather, access Google Finance, control music playback, make payments and access digital keys through Samsung Wallet, quickly reply to messages using a full QWERTY keyboard, and more.
Content creators can use Dual Preview as well as review, edit, and delete photos from the cover screen. In addition, thanks to Flex Window, Galaxy Watch 6 users can sync their watch faces with the cover screen and express themselves more freely.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 gapless hinge, IP rating, and strong build
Samsung's new Flex Hinge for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a gapless design that allows the phone's two halves to meet perfectly when the device is folded shut. This hinge supports Flex Mode and Flex Cam. It also allowed Samsung to create a thinner foldable flip phone.
The Korean tech giant says the new hinge has a dual rail structure that diffuses external impacts. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 should have high resilience thanks to this new hinge combined with an Armor Aluminum frame. And the phone is also water-resistant, rated IPX8.
But if things go wrong, the optional Samsung Care+ support package lets Galaxy Z Flip 5 buyers get the best support for a foldable phone, with unlimited repairs, $29 same-day screen repairs, same-day replacement and setup, and more.
Solid performance, One UI 5.1.1, and stellar firmware support
Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip in every market worldwide, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 guarantees solid performance for virtually every use case, from browsing the web to playing mobile games. The phone also sports 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at the minimum, with a 512GB option that costs as low as the 256GB variant during the pre-order period.
Samsung ships the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a new version of One UI, 5.1.1, which brings clever new features for multitasking and productivity. But perhaps more importantly, Samsung will offer stellar firmware support for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and offer five years of security updates and four generations of OS upgrades. So, if the phone ships with Android 13, it will run Android 17 by the time it reaches end-of-life.
The foldable flip phone experience
It should go without saying, but one of the most exciting Galaxy Z Flip 5 features consists of its form factor. As Samsung puts it, the Z Flip 5 is “the ultimate pocketable self-expression tool without compromise.”
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the most compact Samsung smartphone, and the foldable display technology is guaranteed to draw people's attention. It's always a conversation starter and will wow most slab-type phone users who have never encountered foldable devices.
Any Samsung and mobile phone fan that's looking for a compact flagship phone with top-tier performance, great features, fantastic firmware support, and solid build quality should, at the very least, consider the Z Flip 5 as an option.
