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Samsung just took the wraps off of the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 at its Unpacked event in Seoul, Korea. The first time ever that Samsung has held Unpacked in its home country of Korea.
At first glance, the two devices don’t show a whole lot of changes over the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4 from last year. Except for one major change. Samsung has a brand new hinge on these devices this year, which allows the foldables to fold completely flat. Now Samsung did tell us in our briefing that it is not 100% flat, because there is still a bumper inside that keeps the bezels from touching when folded. But it’s so minor that you won’t see the difference.
This new hinge is actually a really big deal. It makes the devices thinner, gives you a more comfortable feel in the pocket, and has fewer moving parts. That last part is the biggest deal, as it means that the hinge is less likely to break. Samsung claims that the new hinge is still tested for up to 200,000 folds. Which is the same as the previous Flips and Folds from Samsung.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5’s new cover screen
Apparently, the new Cover Screen is not being called a “Cover Screen”. This year, Samsung is calling it Flex Window. Which does make more sense, it does look a lot more like a Window here versus just a screen. But the outer display is now 3x larger than on the Galaxy Z Flip 4. It’s a 3.4-inch screen, and unlike the Motorola Razr+, it does not have a cut out for the camera. Instead, it’s mostly above the cameras, with a small portion next to the cameras.
The Flex Window opens all sorts of new possibilities for the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Samsung currently has about a dozen full-screen widgets available for the Galaxy Z Flip 5. And if you head into the Labs settings in the Galaxy Z Flip 5, you can enable apps on the front display. Now, not all apps will work there – in fact, most won’t. Currently there’s only a handful, including Google Maps, WhatsApp, Google Messages, YouTube and Netflix. Others will be coming in the future, however.
Similar to the Galaxy Z Fold models, the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 does have continuity. So you can open YouTube on the Flex Window, then open the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and continue watching a video. However, you can not close the phone and have it move back to the Flex Window. That’s something that Samsung might add in the future, however.
The Flex Window works a lot like the UI on the Galaxy Watch. Allowing you to swipe up for Samsung Wallet, swipe down for Quick Settings, and then you can swipe right for notifications or left for your widgets. Samsung also allows you to pinch in to see all of the widgets at once.
Galaxy Z Flip 5’s camera now gets three times more light
The other big change here is the camera. Samsung claims that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can give you up to 3x more light. Which is going to make tough lighting situations a whole lot better. Think, taking a selfie at the bar, or taking photos of things at night where there is very little light.
Combined with the new hinge, Samsung thinks that you will use the outside cameras more than the internal one. This is because you have a larger viewfinder on the front, versus before with that small strip of a screen.
Samsung is sticking with a wide and ultrawide camera on the back of the phone (or front when it’s closed) and then the front-facing camera on the folding display.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 specs
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 sports a 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display which also has a 120Hz Adaptive refresh rate. The Flex Window is a 3.4-inch display, Super AMOLED and its limited to 60Hz.
Inside, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is powering the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and it uses 8GB of RAM with 256GB or storage or 512GB. This is all powered by a 3700mAh capacity battery.
Cameras here aren’t too surprising. On the back, Samsung has outfitted the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with dual 12-megapixel cameras. That includes a wide and an ultrawide camera. The front is a 10-megapixel selfie camera.
Dimensions of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 are slightly smaller than the previous model. When folded, it is 3.35 x 2.83 x 0.59 inches. And when unfolded, it is 6.5 x 2.83 x 0.27 inches. And it weighs in at 6.6 ounces. It’s thinner, but weighs the same as the previous model.
Pricing and availability
The good news here is that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (and everything else announced today) will be available for pre-order today. And will be shipping on August 11. So just a couple of weeks before the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be in your hands.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four colors: Graphite, Cream, Lavender, and Mint.
As far as pricing goes, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 starts at $999. And this is for a 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage model. It no longer starts at 128GB of storage, so really good to see this upgrade without a change in price.
Buy the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (Samsung)
Buy the Galaxy Z Fold 5 (Samsung)
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the thinnest and lightest yet
It’s something we hear every year, but Samsung says that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the “thinnest and lightest Fold yet”. And of course, a big part of this is due to the redesigned hinge.
Another big change that Samsung made, was making the S Pen width about 41% thinner. That might not sound like a big deal, but this means that you will be able to have a thinner case that houses said S Pen. So those that really like using the Galaxy Z Fold 5 with the S Pen, this is going to be huge for you.
Speaking of the S Pen, it now works with more apps, including GoodNotes. So you can jot down notes inside GoodNotes using the S Pen.
A few other changes Samsung made to the software on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 include the ability to drag and drop things between apps. This includes dragging and dropping text, images, GIFs and anything else you can think of. Samsung still allows you to arrange windows how you like, something that the Pixel Fold doesn’t let you do.
Galaxy Z Fold 5 specs
When it comes to the specs, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 offers a 7.6-inch QXGA+ resolution Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display. This display also has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The front display is still a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, which is also using a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, but its 48-120Hz.
Inside the Galaxy Z Fold 5, there’s the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy powering the show. This is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage. This is all powered by a 4400mAh capacity battery that has charging speeds of 25W wired and 15W wireless.
On the camera front, there’s a triple camera setup on the rear. Which uses a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera. There’s also a 10-megapixel front-facing camera on the Cover Screen. And finally a 4-megapixel under-display camera on the main display.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is thinner and lighter this year. Coming in with dimensions of 6.1 x 2.64 x 0.53 inches when folded, and 6.1 x 5.11 x 0.24 inches when unfolded. It also weighs in at 8.92 ounces, which is a drop of about 4% compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Pricing and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 goes up for pre-order today, and will be in customers hands by August 11. It does come in three colors once again. Those include Icy Blue, Phantom Black and Cream. It also comes in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB models, all of which have 12GB of RAM.
Samsung will be selling some first-party cases for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 as well, including an S-Pen case, an eco-Leather case, Staging case and the all-important Clear case.
Pricing remains the same here, so it’s $1,799 for the 256GB model, and only goes up from there.
