Samsung launched the first foldable smartphone in September 2019, and received a lot of flak for its durability issues. The units require so much care that media review units were extremely limited. But with each year, the folding mechanism and the flexible display get better, and by the third generation, the Z Flip3 and the Z Fold3 are in such good shape that you can use them without special care – except for the soft screen surface of course, you don’t want to apply too much sharp pressure and leave permanent marks.
The Galaxy Z Fold5 is the first time I am trying out this large fold form factor for a few weeks. While I had previously reviewed the Huawei Mate Xs, the folding mechanism is different. The Z Fold5 definitely feels less of a concern to use because the fragile display panel is protected when folded.
The external ‘cover’ display is tall and narrow at 2316 x 904 pixels, and feels comfortable to hold and navigate because it is narrower than most smartphones. But due to its unusual aspect ratio, even though it is technically 6.2-inch, it is unable to make full use of the screen to maximise content view. This resulted in an overall smaller text display. While the longer screen allows me to see more scrolling content, it might cause some apps to crop the left and right side of images. And if you are browsing websites with tons of ads (like Forbes), the main article is barely readable.
Unfolding the phone reveals the main display at 2176 x 1812 pixels, and more pixels allow you to view content in many ways. You can use the full screen, or split the screen to view multiple apps side-by-side (not all apps support this, like Carousell), or float the apps not unlike Windows. But naturally, the more apps you load, the smaller the window frame and the less you can see. I feel that having an optional S Pen will improve the usability as the pen will achieve higher accuracy in selecting content for moving across different apps.
While the full screen lets you enjoy the content with larger text and images, the aspect ratio is again not the standard that we are familiar with. This also means that the app will be cropped in unfamiliar ways, for instance, Instagram and Facebook will display the bottom row of icons at the left column, and the images will fill up almost the entire screen, such that I would need to scroll to see the captions. Also, with so much content created in the portrait orientation for the smartphone screens, browsing them on the squarish display just does not feel intuitive.
Apps like Whatsapp have design to display in 2 columns – the left shows all the chat list and the right shows the chat history. For TikTok, the comments page will appear on the right column without hiding the video. Given the increasing use of square-display format on foldable screens, app developers will have to design their UI to improve the user experience. One of the first apps that make good use of the folding screen UI is YouTube, as it automatically splits the screen into two and display the video in cinema mode.
Overall, the smartphone performs like a flagship should, running all the apps efficiently and moving from app to app swiftly. The fluidity is something that even the Honor Magic5 Pro could not achieve, so in that aspect, I enjoyed using the Z Fold5 as an Android device. Battery life is also quite good, though I am basing on my average usage of over 80% on the smaller secondary display. At 25W, the charging current is not as fast as the China-brand competitors, some of which can hit up to 120W. Wireless charging of up to 15W is also supported but I usually do not charge wirelessly because it takes too long and is less efficient (some power is lost in translation).
The camera quality on the Z Fold5 is generally similar to the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+, as they all share the same rear camera configuration – 12MP F/2.2 ultra-wide, 50MP F/1.8 main, and 10MP F/2.4 telephoto 3x optical. Slightly different is the front camera – Z Fold5 uses a 10MP compared to 12MP on S-series. There is an additional camera of 4MP F/1.8 hidden beneath the flexible panel. It has tiny AMOLED on the surface that activates when the camera is not in use. Naturally, this is the weakest camera and is probably not intended to be used for archival, but image quality is still passable.
All my test shots are taken with “Scene Optimizer” enabled, so the images might appear over-saturated. But with many filters available, users can tune the images to their liking. Again, given Samsung’s decades of smartphone camera experience, I can find little fault in the overall performance and quality. Image critics could pixel-peep and compare the resolution, dynamic ranges, and all technicalities, but most users would not be that concerned as long as the images turn out looking good.
For that, Samsung has turned up the saturation and the sharpness that borders on appearing too artificial, yet it creates an appealing quality for day-to-day shots for personal memory or flaunting the moments on social media.
The entire zoom range from 0.6x to 30x delivers rather consistent tonality and offers shooting versatility.
Naturally, the 30x zoom end exhibits digital artifacts, but 10x zoom is impressive as the below image shows that it is capable of capturing the ants harvesting the flower.
The portrait mode blurs the background to create bokeh that may not be as authentic compared to DSLR, but it isolates subjects and makes the image attain another level of impression. One that that annoys me when I use Google Pixel 7 Pro is that it does not apply background blur if face is not detected, because, well “portraits” are about people.
Having said that, there will be scenes that the blur might not yield convincing result, but I would try to frame the image so that the bokeh works. But for the standard close-up shots, the Z Fold5 makes me want to shoot more photos and post them.
Nevertheless, Google Pixel 7 Pro does deliver a more accurate image quality, and would appeal to those who prefer the authenticity.
Under the unfold mode, the camera app offers a few nifty features to improve shooting experience. For instance, you can display the live preview image at the cover display so that the other party can see his or her own preview when shooting, or you can use this for selfie shot. You can also turn on photo history on the left so you can review the recently shot photos.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is a very well-built foldable smartphone that I enjoy using it. The major compromise I have to accept is the different aspect ratios that result in the content displaying either too small fonts or in layouts that do not fill the screen optimally. The text displayed on the cover screen is small, while the text on the main screen cannot fill more content due to the square ratio.
I also noticed people using the Z Fold series on public transport but none of them is seen using it with the main screen unfolded,. Perhaps the unfolded screen is too big to be seen using in crowded spaces, as it lacks the privacy. Between this and the Z Flip series, I prefer the Z Fold series because I can use the device fully without the extra step of unfolding, but the Z Flip5 offers a glimpse of a larger cover screen that can interact with selected apps. Given the ability for all Samsung Galaxy devices to work with one another seamlessly through the Multi control platform, I wonder if it would be better to get a smartphone and tablet separately instead of a single foldable device that has yet to achieve the best of both worlds.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 retails in Singapore from S$2398 (256GB), visit the official website here for more info.
3 comments
I’ve been using the Vivo X Fold for 1.5 years but a stuck line developed on the outside screen so I need to send the phone to China for repairs. Due to that I rush out and bought the Z Fold5 on 2 Sep.
Overall, the software experience is very good because Samsung has a very developed software stack. Things just work and the taskbar is great! I’m still torn on whether I should get the case with S Pen at $128. The battery life is awesome! Even with all the 100+ apps I’ve installed, the OS intelligently throttle the apps without affecting notifications, unlike most China phones. The SD 8 Gen 2 probably helped. UI even feel smooth without affecting battery life and Game mode intelligently detect when you’re playing but not touching the screen so game doesn’t stop. This behaviour on is by default and don’t need user to adjust like in my X Fold. I also finally got stable 5G and it is very fast. My X Fold may be incompatible with M1.
Now the bad and they are the same reasons I didn’t buy the Z Fold4. The camera su** big time! Especially at night. Having paid so much for the phone, I can’t understand why they can’t put better camera like in S22 Ultra. The zoom is useless in the day too compared to S22U. The glass on the Z Fold cameras are mid-range at best. At least the S22U can zoom at night can get usable picture/video.
X Fold’s non zoom shots are so ahead it’s not funny and at night nothing beats the X Fold except for other recent X series like the X80/X90.
Samsung phones also don’t support APTX. Tested with Nuratrue and there is a difference although the Nuratrue (ANC off) did a great job filling in missing detail.
Z Fold5 charging is half as fast as the X Fold. Wifi speed is also noticably slower than X Fold (which has 2 WiFi radio and can act as a WiFi bridge or link to multiple points in a Mesh to increase download speed – MU MIMO). Storage speed also seem slower than X Fold, but I haven’t tested. Basically updating apps takes much longer.
That said, I feel like I will hold on to the Z Fold5 for now until the X Fold is repaired. Having some water resistance is good even though the X Fold was wet (more than 6 months ago) in my pocket when I got drenched. It was completely fine after I wipe down and put in a box of dessicant.
8/10
Hi Eric! Thanks for sharing your experience! It goes to show that Samsung’s UI is a lot more mature. They are cautious in the battery charging to prevent another case of meltdown.
Indeed, DEX was a concept Microsoft introduced with Windows Phone. That’s how far back, Samsung’s SW stack goes. The Note 7 battery issue was caused by the battery maker but I guess once bitten, twice shy. I don’t charge my batteries with FastCharge unless it’s urgent. It really hurt battery longevity. Wireless charging too because the induction coil is usually under the battery. Learnt the hard way with my Nokia/MS Lumia phones.