Samsung peppered the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with upgrades, big and small. The most obvious is the new 3.4-inch cover screen, a.k.a. Flex Window, but there are other, less obvious areas in which the foldable flip phone evolved from the last generation. The upgraded USB-C port falls in the latter category.
While the Galaxy Z Flip 4 had USB-C 2.0, Samsung upgraded its new foldable flip phone with a USB-C 3.2 port. Why does it matter? Well, the upgraded port supports video output, which means that Galaxy Z Flip 5 users should be able to mirror the content of their screens to an external monitor via USB-C.
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USB-C 3.2 video output but no Samsung DeX
The upgraded USB-C 3.2 port raised our hopes that the foldable flip phone series may have finally gained support for Samsung DeX. However, that's not the case.
Although the Galaxy Z Flip 5 should be capable of transmitting video data to an external monitor via USB-C, Samsung clarified that the phone doesn't offer DeX support and explained why, i.e., the phone lacks the necessary “heatproof performance in the structure.”
Nevertheless, the option to mirror the Z Flip 5's screen via USB might be useful to a degree. Without DeX, the phone won't offer a desktop-grade environment for office work, but the USB-C 3.2 video output could come in handy for gaming with controllers and streaming videos on bigger external screens.
Will Samsung ever implement DeX on its foldable flip phone series? If it overcomes the heatproofing issue, it might. But there's no official word on the matter, so for the time being, the feature remains exclusive to the Galaxy Z Fold series, high-end slab-type Galaxy phones, and Galaxy Tab S tablets.
Samsung now offers the Galaxy Z Flip 5 on pre-order terms, and early adopters can get a storage upgrade to 512GB for free, as well as Samsung Care+ bonuses in select markets. The phone will officially be released on August 11.
