Samsung has two new top phones, one of which leaves us at a loss

Should I also fold? According to Samsung’s calculations, more and more people will soon be asking themselves this question when considering buying a new smartphone. While the devices are still expensive, they have long since outgrown the status of immature pre-series products.

Samsung now proves this with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 (from CHF 1799) and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (from CHF 1149). We tested the two smartphones with flexible displays in everyday use.

Galaxy Z Flip 5 – the pocket star

The use of flexible OLED displays in smartphones has so far mainly served one purpose: to make the device smaller than the display actually is by folding it. When folded, the Fold series is roughly the size of a normal smartphone and can be enlarged considerably by opening it.

The flip, on the other hand, looks like a normal mobile phone when unfolded, but folds in the middle, making it extremely handy and pocket-friendly.

Strictly speaking, that’s the only important trick the flip phones have over a classic mobile phone – and that’s enough. Because even though the Flip 5 is almost twice as thick when folded as a typical “Candybar”-sized device (this is what technical jargon calls the elongated format that most smartphones have), it fits in a jeans pocket better than any other. smartphones on the market.

That is all that can be said about the three predecessors. (Yes, there are actually only three, by the way: the Galaxy Z Flip only appeared in the same year as the Galaxy Z Fold 2. The following year, Samsung called the devices Fold 3 and Flip 3 for convenience – no Flip 2 was ever released .)

In addition to some equipment updates, such as a current top processor, two things are especially new: the significantly larger external display and the end of the notorious folding gap.

Now works smoothly

Until now, the top and bottom halves of the device only folded together to reveal a small, wedge-shaped opening. This was especially necessary because the flexible display could not be bent too much. Functionally this is not a real problem, but aesthetically many were bothered by this design.

Thanks to the new flex hinge – which is of course also used in the Fold 5 – both halves now fold flat on top of each other, as was the case with competing devices from Oppo, Huawei or Google.

In addition, the hinge offers a very pleasant usability. When folding, the device offers enough resistance and will hold at any angle you want – even though, in all honesty, in most cases you just need to “unfold”, “fold in” and “fold out to a 90-degree angle”. It cannot be opened with one hand, but it can be closed with one hand.

Sand and fine dust are still the last opponents of the folding hinge – Samsung cannot protect against their ingress. Excursions to the beach with the foldable phones should therefore be avoided as much as possible, otherwise it would creak painfully. Aside from that, the mechanics seem very mature and stable.

At a glance on the second display

However, the Flip 5 offers real value over its predecessors with its significantly larger external display. This takes up almost all of the top half of the back – and then folds the front accordingly.

If you now expect to be able to use your mobile phone normally on this small display, you will be disappointed: Samsung only offers a few widgets that can be used here: for example the weather app, the calendar, a dictaphone or even a timer or alarm clock.

But it’s almost more important: WhatsApp or Slack messages can be read or answered directly here without having to open the flip. If you want to respond longer, you can open the flap after reading and you will be taken directly to the relevant message in the right app.

Flip Verdict: Puts standard smartphones in your pocket

At its core, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 promises exactly one thing: it wants to be a high-end device with no compromises, but that is much more portable than the rest and almost succeeds. The performance of the smartphone is absolutely sufficient: it does not set any speed or endurance records, but can easily keep up with the upper class: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a razor-sharp 120 Hz main display (the display on the front only offers a 60 Hz refresh rate ), the battery. It’s easily enough for a day, has at least 256GB of memory built in – and it’s waterproof too. The vast majority of users have nothing to complain about here, especially since Samsung, as usual, offers a minimum of 5 years of software support.

However, the Flip 5 shows one weakness: the camera is good, but not top-notch. Photo enthusiasts will not be happy with this, also because there is only a wide-angle (12 MP) and an ultra-wide-angle camera (12 MP). A smear that you don’t have to make with a device price of 1000 francs or more. However, most users will find nothing wrong with the quality of the images.

A big plus – and currently even a minor exotic status in the streetscape – is the folding function: the compact size makes it so much easier to plug in the mobile phone in many situations that you soon no longer want to do without this advantage.

The question remains: who is it worth the price of about 1100 francs? A device with solid mid-range equipment for half the price would probably be much more successful – and probably not economically viable at this point.

If you can do without a large external display and top-end CPU, the Motorola Razr 40 is an excellent foldable smartphone alternative for around CHF 250 less. Other cheaper alternatives are the Oppo Find N2 Flip and of course the Galaxy Flip 4 and the Flip 3, which is now available for less than 700 francs.

Galaxy Z Fold 5: is bigger always better?

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 doesn’t really offer major innovations compared to its predecessor. Of course, the new Flex hinge is also present here, which ensures that the Fold 5 is only 13.4 millimeters thick when folded instead of the 14.2 millimeters before it.

The other changes are more of a facelift in detail: the peak brightness has increased on the outside and inside to an extremely bright 1,750 nits. Previously, the 7.6-inch main screen could ‘only’ offer 1,300 nits, the 6.2-inch outdoor screen 1,500 nits. And instead of Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, there is now a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the device.

That provides a little more performance, a little more battery power and slightly better photos too – although the excellent cameras themselves (50 MP main camera, 10 MP telephoto, 12 MP ultra wide angle) have remained unchanged.

On the hardware side, hardly anything has changed – which is at least an indication of how good Samsung’s foldable device is now.

Better window management

There are more innovations in the software, especially when it comes to multitasking a lot has happened. Drag & drop from one app to another now works better. The windows of individual apps can now also be freely adjusted in size and position and moved as desired. This also works quite well – Samsung is considerably more advanced than, say, Apple.

But to be fair, it should also be said that working with more than two or three windows on a 7.6-inch display doesn’t really make sense in most cases. After all, it’s not a tablet. If you really want to work effectively with multiple windows open at once, you’re better off buying a tablet – or even a compact notebook. At least it would be cheaper.

Folding conclusion: Great device and still prefer to keep your hands off it

From a technical point of view, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is an excellent device: top cameras, top processor, top-class displays – and it’s foldable too. Smartphone nerds can hardly wish for more, especially since the Fold 5 comes with software updates for at least 5 years.

But from a broad user perspective, the Fold 5 is still literally nothing half and nothing whole. Nothing half done, because when folded it is too bulky, too thick and too heavy – and the display on the front is still a very unfavorable size.

Everything is possible, but any normal mobile phone is easier to use. So why use it this way instead of opening it directly?

It’s not a complete solution as all these compromises aren’t offset by a big enough screen: true multitasking still isn’t much fun at this size in our opinion.

Videos are better viewed this way – but the squarer format creates thick black bars above and below the videos – a lot of space is wasted here. In our test, the device simply did not appear to be a cohesive concept.

If you also take into account the extremely high price, then there is probably hardly anyone left for whom the purchase is really worthwhile. There is undoubtedly a very special target group for which the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is exactly the right device.

And if you simply enjoy very good technique and at the same time feel little pain for a price of about 2,000 francs, you will certainly be happy with this top device. Everyone else better save the money and use the money to buy a top cell phone AND a top tablet, say the new Galaxy Tab S9.

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(t online)