Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Unique $50 Samsung.com discount thru 8/11
The Fold 5 might be the shiny and new foldable, but has it done enough to warrant an upgrade for Fold 4 owners? Beyond that, has it improved enough that new foldable customers should pick it up over the discounted predecessor? The Fold 5 has a lot of work to do to convince consumers to buy it.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has been one of the best phones on the market for the last year, but now it has to contend with the Z Fold 5. However, the upgrades are small enough that the Z Fold 4 is still worth considering for most buyers.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 has just been announced, and it seems we have another year of iterative upgrades. The new foldable looks almost identical to theGalaxy Z Fold 4from the outside, with the differences on the inside. Does that make the Z Fold 5 a disappointment, or do the minor changes come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts? Let’s break everything down and find out.
Price, availability, and specs
Both the Z Fold 4 and Z Fold 5 are available in most markets worldwide, either unlocked from Samsung or from most major carriers. Both phones also have an MSRP of $1,800, but the Fold 4 can frequently be found for less, thanks to its age and the attention now focused on the Z Fold 5.
Specs don’t tell the whole story, but seeing how similar the two phones are is interesting. However, there are some key differences that we’ll address shortly.
Although the Z Fold 4 and Fold 5 look similar, they’re easier to tell apart than previous generations. Aside from the color differences, the camera flash has been moved outside the camera bump to the right, on the phone’s back. The new cameras protrude a bit more, featuring silver rings around each lens.
The biggest difference can be seen when the phone is folded up. Due to the new hinge design, the Z Fold 5 folds flat, which will be a lifesaver for those who hate getting dust and pocket lint on their inner display. Thanks to removing the taper, which has existed since the original Fold until now, that redesigned hinge makes the phone more comfortable to handle when closed.
The final change is that after two years, green is no longer the hero color for the Fold family; it’s been replaced by Ice Blue. While green is one of my favorite colors, I have to say that blue looks lovely. Black and Beige stick around again like last year, and if you order from Samsung’s website, you can get gray or a different shade of blue. It’s a shame the matte black and red combo didn’t come over from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but we can’t get everything we want.
The displays are essentially the same as last year, with the same size, resolution, aspect ratio, and refresh rate. That’s not a bad thing, though. The Z Fold 4 has great displays; there’s no reason not to use them again this year. Despite the new hinge design, the crease remains identical on both phones.
While the screens are the same, we’ll highlight the key specs for those unfamiliar with either phone. The cover screen is a 6.2-inch, 120Hz, 2316x904 AMOLED display covered with Gorilla Glass Victus. Open the phone, and you’ll find a 7.6-inch, 120Hz, 2176x1812 flexible AMOLED display with a built-in screen protector. Both displays get plenty bright, but the inner screen is more reflective, making outdoor usage more difficult.
Performance
The Z Fold 4 was a huge upgrade over the Z Fold 3 in this department, thanks to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. This chip’s main benefit was efficiency and thermal performance, as it stayed cooler than the Snapdragon 888 it replaced in the Z Fold 3. The Z Fold 4 can handle any task you throw at it without overheating, including extensive multitasking.
The Z Fold 5 uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and it takes all of the improvements from the 8+ Gen 1 (these names are ridiculous) and turns everything up to 11. Raw performance is even more robust, yet the chip runs even cooler than before and merely sips power.
While we haven’t spent enough time with the Z Fold 5 to judge performance, we can look at how theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultraperforms and assume that things will be similar since they share the same RAM and SoC, with only battery and display size separating them. The S23 Ultra has been one of the best performing Samsung phones we’ve ever seen, and it refuses to put a foot wrong, so we can assume that Z Fold 5 will be just as flawless. Like the Z Fold 4, the Fold 5 comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage.
Battery life
The Z Fold 4 was a pleasant surprise when it came out last year. The efficient chip meant that it was the first Samsung foldable that could easily last all day. Battery life isn’t anywhere near as good as battery life on something like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but that isn’t surprising since the Z Fold 4 battery is smaller, and there are two displays.
The Z Fold 5 is still brand-new, so we can only speculate about battery life for now; however, things are looking good. It has the same 4,400mAh battery as the Z Fold 4, but the 8 Gen 2 is even more efficient than last year’s. I doubt we’ll see a huge difference in battery life, but any improvement is welcome. Also, when the phones are empty, you can charge them at 25W wired or 15W wireless Qi charging.
On paper, the cameras are identical to the Z Fold 4. We have a 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, and a 12MP 3X telephoto. On the cover screen, you’ll find a 10MP cover screen camera, while the folding screen houses a hidden 4MP camera designed for video calls.
We don’t have much experience with the Z Fold 5 cameras yet, but it’s safe to assume performance will be almost the same as the Z Fold 4. These cameras takegoodphotos, but not the best. Space constraints prevent Samsung from using top-tier cameras on foldables, but at least they offer decent quality.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 launched with One UI 4.1.1 atop Android 12 and has since been updated to One UI 5.1 and Android 13. The Z Fold 5 is One UI 5.1.1, a new version still based on Android 13. This update adds some new features, such as improved app previews in the recent apps screen, a gesture to switch pop-up apps into split-screen, swiping pop-up apps off to the side of the screen iPad style, and getting a preview of minimized pop-up apps when hovering with the S Pen.
Luckily, those improvements will come to all currently supported tablets and foldables. TheZ Fold 4 has been beta testing 5.1.1since the start of July, and if we use previous years as examples, the stable version should arrive within six weeks of the Z Fold 5 shipping to customers.
Both phones are promised four years of Android upgrades and a fifth year of security patches. The Z Fold 4 has used up one of these upgrades already, so it will end support on Android 16 with another year of security patches to follow. The Z Fold 5 will get Android 17, once again with security patches keeping it updated for a year after that.One UI 6based on Android 14 isn’t that far away at this point, and looking at previous years, we should see both phones updated by December.
Which should you buy?
The Z Fold 5 is the obvious choice. The 8 Gen 2 chip might not be another giant leap, but even a small improvement in efficiency matters on a device like this. The phones are very similar, but the upgrades make the Z Fold 5 worthwhile, as does the extra software support.
But what if you already own the Z Fold 4? Then stay where you are. While the Z Fold 5 is the natural choice for new buyers, if you already own the Fold 4, there is no reason to spend $1,800 only a year later when so little has changed.
Special $50 Samsung.com discount thru 8/11
The Fold 5 might be the shiny and new foldable, but has it done enough to warrant an upgrade for Fold 4 owners? Beyond that, has it improved enough that new foldable customers should pick it up over the discounted predecessor? The Fold 5 has a lot of work to do if it’s to convince consumers to buy it.
Having said all that, we’ll probably see some incredible savings on the Z Fold 4 soon. It was as low as $1,200 on Prime Day, and the special offers will only go lower as the Z Fold 5 is launched. If you may get a Fold 4 for less than $1,000, I’d argue it would be worth it over the Fold 5.
