Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 in for review

31 July 2023
The Flex Hinge is a game changer and Samsung has a clever new design for a cover with an S Pen holder. 

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  • Anonymous
  • 0p}
  • 31 Jul 2023

Core, 31 Jul 2023It's just that every single competitor beat Samsung to... moreYour experience would be way better on samsung tablet, that costs half.

    justasmile, 31 Jul 2023Combine that with the case and S Pen, and it's a reall... moreI take it you've used the fold before. How can you use a pen to write when you know that the screen can be scuffed up with just your nails? Aren't you a little anxious that you may permanently write something on the display?

      • D
      • Dave Granger
      • pvZ
      • 31 Jul 2023

      Still just can't get on with these squishy creasy screens.

        • u
        • upn
        • DGV
        • 31 Jul 2023

        Samsung browsers where security holes actively exploited in January 2022 were not patched until June 2023. , updates is a mess

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • nD@
          • 31 Jul 2023

          Apple is not making a foldable until 2026.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • PWc
            • 31 Jul 2023

            it still doesn't actually close flat tho, just look at it

              • C
              • Core
              • mD0
              • 31 Jul 2023

              justasmile, 31 Jul 2023You can't say there's nothing interesting, there&... moreIt's just that every single competitor beat Samsung to that proper hinge and the Fold 4 also had a S-Pen case, didn't it?

              Just came back from trying out the Fold 5 and gotta say, the S Pen is a real joy to use on the inner screen. Probably best handwriting experience I've had yet on any device.

                Anonymous, 31 Jul 2023Nothing interesting .... You can't say there's nothing interesting, there's a new hinge and s pen case, but yeah that's it

                  Combine that with the case and S Pen, and it's a really great productivity phone. Save some money by going for the Z Fold 4 though.

                    I wish that blue color was on S23 omg it's so gorgeous!

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 0p}
                      • 31 Jul 2023

                      Nothing interesting ....

                        • C
                        • Core
                        • mD0
                        • 31 Jul 2023

                        I just spent a few hours poking at the Fold 5 and Honor Magic Vs (although shouldve been V2 but obviously not available just yet).

                        But yeah, if we ignore the price tag and forget how much it changed from Fold 4, the Fold 5 really is an impressive phone. I havnt used a stylus on any recent Samsung's but I have to say that the S-Pen or whatever on the inner screen on Fold 5 was probably the best stylus experience I've yet had. I personally use a Surface Pro for work and while I never considered the pen feel to lack anything on that (an older Surface Pro), the Samsung experience was just on a whole other level somehow. That said, I'm sure Surface stylus have improved over the 10 years too. Sadly didnt have a chance to try the Honor with it's magic pen or whatever its called.

                        The software felt pretty polished for the foldable. This is probably the biggest difference to the Honor I was poking at too. It's not HUGE things, but still meaningful. Like for example the Honor Magic Vs can't do splitscreen horizontally, so the split screen will be in portrait modes whereas the Samsung Fold 5 (and 4 and 3 probably too...) can split apps horizontally too. Fold 5 felt more like "alright now im a small tablet" when opened, whereas the Honor was more like "im a big phone uwu" in the user experience. Again, not huge, but this is a refinement thing. Samsung also has more features in the half-folded mode, where you have the inner screen at a 45-90 degree kinda angle and it shows you different content in both screens (like in camera and whatnot), but from what Ive seen the Magic V2 has addressed some of this.

                        As for the bads, I have to say that it feels kind of a bold move to stick with the really narrow cover display. I guess there are people who prefer it or the aspect ration it causes and no shame in that, but I do have to stay it definitely encouraged using big inner screen, cos the cover display feels ridicilous. It's enough for answering the call or whatever relatively quick and simple task, but it really didnt feel like using a real smartphone due to it's size. This is a big difference with the Honor Magic Vs, as I found myself using the cover display a lot more (almost forgetting that i can open it up too!) cos it felt like a regular flagship slab phone. Could 100% pass as a regular phone in cover display mode, that cant really be said for the Samsung. But again, I think these are DIFFERENCES which is nice that people have something to choose from, but regarding this topic for me, the Honor wins easily.

                        Even ignoring what the V2 will bring to the table soon, even the Magic Vs still felt to me like more bang for the buck. That's not really to say that the Fold 5 was bad, it's just that it's so fucking expensive that I dont think it brings enough extra on the table. And that's comparing the Fold 5 to an older generation foldable, I'm afraid the comparison wont look pretty with V2, OnePlus Open and other chinese competitors.

                        But again, if money isnt an issue, the Fold 5 is surely amazing. Samsung does seem to have some lucrative deals pretty often, so maybe that will work in it's favor. And it is a higher value brand and ecosystem, but especially compared to the Fold 4... i dont think enough improved to warrant the price tag, but that's just me.

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