Galaxy Z Flip5 review: what is Samsung's latest folding smartphone worth ?

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« Join the Flip Side ». During the presentation conference of its new folding smartphones, the president of Samsung Mobile enthusiastically invited us to join the folding side. Well-mannered as we are, we accepted his invitation.

It's been a week since we replaced our main phone with the Galaxy Z Flip5, the new folding clamshell smartphone from the South Korean. On paper, Samsung seems to have corrected everything that we criticized about previous generations.

New hinge, new larger external screen, new chip… Samsung presents its Z Flip5 as its best consumer folding smartphone, as powerful as it is elegant, as breathtaking as it is compact. The future is already here.

It's been five years now since the promise of a new kind of product was presented to us, without ever really convincing us, beyond the technical prowess. Nor the public for that matter. The folding smartphone market remains a niche that attracts geeks, the wealthy, or both. Last year, the Galaxy Z Flip4 came a little closer to a model designed for the general public. Samsung did not hesitate to bombard consumers with advertising campaigns that it has the secret to.

In 2023, the Galaxy Z Flip5 is supposed to mark a turning point. That of maturity. A successful bet ? After a week of use, we are able to reveal to you the tops and flops of this Galaxy Z Flip5.

Its new external screen

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Let's start with what we see first. Yes, the main improvement of the Galaxy Z Flip5 compared to its predecessor is its external screen. 272% larger than that of the Galaxy Z Flip4, the external screen stretches to 3.4''. Like Motorola's Razr40 Ultra, the Galaxy Z Flip5 is more often operated directly from the external screen.

Samsung has optimized its home applications as well as Google applications and those of some partners to adapt to this screen. Too bad it didn't think to offer a function to force the display of any application on this screen. Because as it is, the whole thing is a bit stingy and takes away all the interest of such a comfortable panel.

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However, we enjoy checking our notifications on the fly, looking at upcoming appointments on our calendar, checking the weather or controlling our music without having to open the device. This larger screen also makes it possible to further improve the photo experience (we will come back to this).

Thanks to the cutting-edge technologies used by Samsung (OLED panel, Full HD display and all that), the external screen is just as successful as the internal screen, which is breathtaking. In our opinion, it is the key element that previous generations were missing for the folding clamshell format to take on its full meaning. So, the Galaxy Z Flip5 is arguably the epitome of maturity.

Its impeccable design

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This maturity, it also owes a lot to its new hinge. Samsung corrects the One of the most cited aesthetic flaws by critics: the gap between the two sides of the internal screen when folded. Thanks to a new teardrop hinge, this gap no longer exists. When placed, the Galaxy Z Flip5 is perfectly flat. The downside: the crease on the internal screen is a bit more visible. We can't not have it all, for now.

This new feature contributes to the impeccable aesthetics of this flip smartphone. If the Razr40 Ultra had caught our eye, the Galaxy Z Flip5 has completely won us over. All dressed in glass, it shines with its elegance and its always very well-chosen colors (our sea green model is our favorite).

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Thin and light, the Galaxy Z Flip5 can be stored in any pocket, any bag and is forgotten. In the hands, it is comfortable even if its 21:9 ratio once opened will not please everyone.

So, yes, everything is not perfect. For example, we regret the lack of certification against dust, as on all folding smartphones. But the IPX8 certification (up to 1.5 m in fresh water for 30 minutes) reassures and further reinforces this impression of maturity.

The Galaxy Z Flip5 is beautiful. More than a simple technological product, it embodies and assumes its status as a fashion product wonderfully. Almost luxury.

Its performances

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Who says new generation says new chip. The Galaxy Z Flip5 inherits this year the best SoC from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. No need to dwell on futile technical data, the Galaxy Z Flip5 ranks among the most powerful smartphones on the market.

It can therefore run all the most resource-intensive applications and games and take on a heavy workload thanks to the 8 or 12 GB of integrated LPDDR5X RAM.

We therefore have nothing to reproach the Galaxy Z Flip5 in terms of performance except for a rapid tendency to heat up, especially during somewhat long gaming sessions. A defect that we already observed on the Galaxy Z Flip4, mainly due to the very thin chassis of the phone. So the new cooling system doesn't really fix the problem.

In concrete terms, this is not really a handicap on a daily basis, since the Galaxy Z Flip5 is intended to be a versatile smartphone and not a gaming specialist. For inveterate gamers, other models, including the Galaxy Z Fold5, are more recommended.

Its barely improved photo quality

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As you might expect from reading the technical sheet (the Galaxy Z Flip5 keeps the same two 12 Mpxl sensors as its predecessor), Samsung is resting on its laurels in terms of photography. The only technical change on the program: a front sensor a little larger than that of the Z Flip4. It's not much. Too little.

Samsung may argue that the new chip allows it to improve algorithms and thus improve photographic quality, but that's not the case. Thus, in all configurations, it's difficult to tell the difference between a photo taken on the Galaxy Z Flip5 and one captured on the Galaxy Z Flip4.

Ultra wide angle

Wide angle

2x zoom

4x zoom

10x zoom

Ultra wide angle

Wide angle

Ultra wide angle

Wide angle

Portrait

Overall, the photos are very good, both day and night, even if Samsung always tends to force the color saturation a little. The portraits are also of good quality. But like the Z Flip4 last year, the Z Flip5 never reaches the level of a premium model.

We understand the space constraints that forced Samsung not to integrate a telephoto lens, we understand less that the manufacturer did not push the engineers to obtain a result as successful as with a Galaxy S23.

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This small disappointment is compensated by an experience unique photographic,made possible by the Z Flip5's folding format. This year, the larger external screen allows you to push the boundaries of creativity even further.

Thus, you can position the Z Flip5 just about anywhere thanks to the Flex View, shoot remotely (you can trigger by displaying the palm of your hand facing the screen), or shoot videos with original angles. The flexibility of the Galaxy Z Flip5 therefore also extends to the practice of photography and video, to our great pleasure.

Its autonomy too short and its charging too slow

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Technically, the Galaxy Z Flip5 has the same tools as its predecessor: 3,700mAh battery, 25W max wired charging(said to be fast but not really) and a 10 W wireless charge. The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, announced as less energy-intensive, promised better battery life on paper.

This was all the more likely since Samsung chose to integrate a larger external screen, thus avoiding having to open the phone for each interaction. A good way to save energy, the screen being one of the most power-hungry components. After all, Motorola has managed to optimize its Razr40 Ultra so that it happily gets through the day of use, so why not Samsung ?

It was a great pity for us to be so optimistic. Because the battery life of the Galaxy Z Flip5 is just as disappointing as that of its predecessors.Reaching the day of use for the most connected among you will be difficult. For versatile use, we can hope to reach this psychological threshold, but no more. The autonomy is therefore not catastrophic but remains very average. In any case, very far from what we expect from a smartphone designed to be carried everywhere.

We could have consoled ourselves with the charge announced as “fast” by Samsung. Unfortunately, the absence of a charging block in the box (for pseudo-ecological reasons) as well as the charging power limited to 25 W finish us off. It takes 40 minutes to recover 50% of energy, plus 1 hour 15 minutes to reach 100%. For a 3,700 mAh battery, it's… very… slow.

Its high price

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Last year, the Galaxy Z Flip4 was launched at a price of 1& nbsp;109 euros. But for this price, Samsung offered 128 GB of storage. To get the 256 GB model (the minimum available for the Galaxy Z Flip5), you had to pay 1,169 euros.

Available from 1,199 euros, the Galaxy Z Flip5 only sees an increase of 30 euros. An increase contained in the extent that most manufacturers (including Samsung on its Galaxy S range) tend to inflate by justifying it by inflation.

However, we regret the price positioning of the Galaxy Z Flip5, which we still consider too expensive, and this for several reasons.

First, because after five years of existence, the prices of folding smartphones have not dropped, quite the contrary. However, investments in R&D and the reuse of many components allow manufacturers to reduce costs. This is all the more true for Samsung, which, thanks to its semiconductor branch and its Display division, charges its competitors for its technological innovations (Motorola's Razr40 Ultra, for example, has a Korean flexible panel).

Then, because there are not many developments compared to the previous generation. Apart from a larger external screen, an updated chip and a new hinge, the Galaxy Z Flip5 has everything a Galaxy Z Flip4 has.

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Some will say that these innovations have probably required investments in R&amp ;D. That's true. But in concrete terms, the experience is not really overwhelming compared to that offered by a Galaxy Z Flip4. Samsung improves the technique but not the use< /strong> (apart from the more comfortable external screen). However, at the time when the Galaxy Z Flip5 is released, the Galaxy Z Flip4 is displayed at a price almost halved.