The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the company’s fifth iteration of its folding phone-tablet hybrid, boasting a tweaked design, new colour options, and slick optimised One UI software.
The real question is whether it’s worth the asking price. The Z Fold 5 remains Samsung’s most expensive mobile device and while what it can do is cool, it’s still quite a niche thing to purchase.
Released alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series, here’s everything you need to know about the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
We even have a full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 review for you to check out too.
When is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 on sale?
You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 now direct from Samsung.
Here our full article on where to buy the Galaxy Z Fold 5 for the best price.
How much does the Galaxy Z Fold 5 cost?
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes in three different versions all with 12GB RAM that cost more if you want more storage:
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (256GB): $1,799/£1,749
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (512GB): $1,919/£1,849
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (1TB): $2,159/£2,049
That means there’s a little price hike for UK buyers this year compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4:
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (256GB): $1,799.99/£1,649
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (512GB): $2,009.98/£1,769
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (1TB): $2,249.98/£2,019
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What new features are in the Galaxy Z Fold 5?
There aren’t too many new things about the Z Fold 5 compared to previous generations, but there are the usual spec bumps where you’d expect. Here’s the full spec list:
- Unfolded: 129.9x 154.9 x 6.1mm
- Folded: 67.1 x 154.9 x 13.4mm
- 253g
- 6.2in 120Hz AMOLED cover display (23.1:9)
- 7.6in 120Hz AMOLED foldable internal display (21.6:18)
- Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on front display and rear
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB/512GB/1TB of UFS 4.0 storage
- Rear cameras: 50Mp main f.1.8, 10Mp f/2.4 3x telephoto, 12Mp f/2.2 123-degree ultra-wide
- 4Mp f/1.8 under-display camera
- 10Mp f/2.2 cover camera
- Up to 8K video recording
- 4,400mAh battery with 25W charging
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.3
- 5G
- NFC
- Available in Icy Blue, Phantom Black, Cream, Grey, Blue
There’s also a newly tweaked design that makes the Z Fold 5 the first Samsung Fold to shut completely flat. All previous versions had an angled gap at the hinge when closed but this year Samsung has caught up with the likes of the Google Pixel Fold and Huawei Mate X3 and got the thing level. Hooray.
It’s also a thinner device than eve when closed at 13.4mm. Despite the slimming it’ll still be a chonk to carry around as it’s 253g.
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The outer display is tall and thin, which makes the keyboard when typing a bit cramped but is an ideal aspect ratio for one-handed use for thumb typing and doomscrolling your way through X (can’t get used to that, it’s Twitter).
The inner screen is 7.6in and fully compatible with Samsung’s S-Pen. There’s even a new slimmer S-Pen Fold Edition that you can buy with a new swanky looking official case tht stores the accessory far better than previous attempts – though it’s still a little galling that you don’t get an S-Pen in the Z Fold 5’s box considering the cost of the thing.
A slew of new colours returns Samsung to its dalliance with pastel shades. The new ‘hero’ colour is an Icy Blue, which is resplendent in matt glass to hide your grubby fingerprints.
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Around the back are triple rear cameras led by a 50Mp main sensor that’s likely to be close in quality – if not the same components – as found on the Z Fold 4 or the regular Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. Cameras haven’t always been the Fold line’s strong point, with Samsung instead focussing on the multitasking and productivity benefits of the flexible foldable’s software.
That still amounts to features such as Multi-Window and App Pair, the software that lets you snap two or more apps onto the main display to share information between them or do more than one thing at a time. It looks like Samsung has its competitors beat here especially thanks to its mature apps and close relationships with Google and Microsoft to get third party software looking good and working well on the odd form factor.
Also inside the phone is Qualcomm’s special Samsung overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, meaning the Z Fold 5 should perform just as well as the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It’s great to see that Samsung doesn’t want to compromise its foldables on pure performance, meaning the Z Fold 5 could be a dark horse to be named one of the best gaming phones out there.
Henry Burrell / Foundry
Check out our round up of the best upcoming phones in 2023 to see where we think the Z Fold 5 ranks – will you be buying one?
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.