Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 early thoughts

04 August 2023
Samsung played it safe with the Fold but it will still be successful.

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Akarius, 05 Aug 2023Yes, S Pen! Very useful, I love using it. Samsung not only ... moreThe crease has never been an issue for me. Ive tested out the Honor Vs in the store and i must say their crease is a little better than Samsung.

Some ridiculous comments saying 'no Spen cradle no buy' will for sure be the first people to hate if Samsung added thickness to the fold's body. The advantages for using Samsung right now is still more than cons.

The swapping and reselling oppotunities alone is so much better with Samsung than with other Android phones making it easier for me to grab the newest model when i want to.

EVEN IF I wanted to switch out to Honor V2 which has pen and ip rating itself, it will probably reach us by next year, so it will already be an old device.

One better advantage of Honor Vs here in UAE is they give out a VIP after sales service when you buy the Honor foldable - that means door to door service and repair for your device when you need it. When bubbles formed in the inner screen of my Fold 4 which we know will happen to most of the Samsung foldables (my brother's fold4 also bubbled up same time as mine but he just removed it and never bother to replace), i had to travel to their only 1 service center which is about 50km from my home just to get it replaced for $30. They could have at least made the replacement free.

    • o
    • ogoglass
    • gDg
    • 05 Aug 2023

    I don't know why people are so focused on the hinge, when the inner display is plastik, after 5 generations. And don't tell me there is a ultrathin glass, cause I can scratch it with my fingernail.

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      • Core
      • mD0
      • 05 Aug 2023

      Akarius, 05 Aug 2023Yes, S Pen! Very useful, I love using it. Samsung not only ... moreThe crease is definitely less noticeable on Honors, but I cant say I've minded the one on Fold 5. I mean, it exists for both and that isnt changing. But a more shallow crease will feel less under finger in every day use. Aesthetically you pretty much forget it's there after a while and I dont think it bothers the use either. I feel most people who complain about crease are not getting foldables anyways and they arnt any happier with Honors crease than they are with Samsungs. As long as its there its a problem for them. Of course, the smaller the better but itll always be there.

      The V2 has pretty comparable stylus functionality (with it also working on cover display), but yeah, still not available for most of the world. But also good to notice that I would guess that majority of foldable owners, even those of Fold 4/5 arnt heavy stylus users. It works for a lot of people productively, but I'd still wager most dont actively use it for anything. But it's definitely a merit for Samsung that it is indeed very well made and works brilliantly.

      With displays I've not noticed any real difference other than the size of course. The Honors are very much regular slab phones when using cover display, but same cant be said for Samsung. Samsung might have better folded aspect ratio though, but I think this is fine. Something for everyone: Samsung has narrow cover display with pretty optimal inner aspect ratio, Honor and few other chinese have a full slab phone + full tablet mode, then there's like Google Pixel Fold and Oppo/OnePlus with that short but wide that some prefer. That said, the least useful cover display of those is 100% on the Samsung Fold. There is just no two ways around that, but they compensate with the inner screen.

      I'm waiting for my Fold 5 to come, but when I was A/B demoing both that and the Magic Vs (that is still far inferior to V2), I gotta say I preferred the Vs, but I dont wanna buy a Vs with the V2 coming "soon". But most of that is due to price and the fact that I prefer the cover display to be a proper standalone phone too instead of a compromise.

        AresinUAE, 05 Aug 2023Exactly! I have the samsung fold, the main reason being ... moreYes, S Pen! Very useful, I love using it. Samsung not only made one of the few IPx8 foldables out there, but they also made a screen that folds, plus communicates with the pen that also is capable of drawing based on force applied, and yet some people moan every other manufacturer is better :D No global coverage for most of them, no S Pen alternative, no IPxx rating, lacking foldable Android functionality but hey, there's no crease! (arguably)
        I really wanted to see Honor's display in real life, though GSM Arena tests are the only option right now but from the pictures I can't see that much of a difference. People complain Samsung's crease is narrow but deep and they can feel it, plus the sun shining on the screen distracts from using it, yet they're perfectly fine with much wider, albeit shallower, Honor's crease and that somehow doesn't distract them.
        Go figure their logic out.

          justasmile, 05 Aug 2023I don't want to post that photo on the platform.Then make a different one where problem can be seen. For someone claiming this is an ongoing issue you sure as hell meander around proving it quite a lot.

            Akarius, 05 Aug 2023Your perception is really distorted here, though for a smal... moreExactly!

            I have the samsung fold, the main reason being it is the best fold available where Im at. Huawei X3 is a bit more.expensive, and Honor brought the Vs here about 4 to 5 months after it was announced - the guy selling Honor in the store doesnt even know when the V2 is coming as they dont have official plans as of the moment. So yes, the Samsung fold is the only option for now.

            Second reason for me is the SPen input. Without it, other foldables are just media toys for me while the Samsung is a productivity powerhouse. I was abke to ditch my tablet with the fold.

              justasmile, 05 Aug 2023Respective optical range? Of course that will be clear. I&#... moreAnd does that suprise you ? A clear zoom range up to 10x isn't enough ? Flagships are pretty decent up to 30x

                rosesarerosie, 05 Aug 2023Show some examples then I'd like to see blurred image... moreRespective optical range? Of course that will be clear. I'm talking about when you zoom in even further.

                  Akarius, 05 Aug 2023Just drop them to imgur and link'em here.I don't want to post that photo on the platform.

                    Crease = no buy

                      I Just Read, 05 Aug 2023Just looking at the differences Versus Fold4 https://ww... moreSamsung should really do this:
                      •Have a 19.5:9 aspect ratio for the outer screen, and make it 6.5" (personally, I prefer 20:9, but Samsung seems to like 19.5:9, so it's more consistent)
                      •Have a wider aspect ratio for the inner screen, and make it closer to 8.0" in size
                      •Make the outer screen work with the S Pen
                      •Have a dedicated S Pen slot
                      •Increase the battery capacity to 5000mAh
                      •Increase the charging speeds to 65W (S24+ and S24 Ultra are rumoured to do this already)
                      •Reduce the bezels on both screens
                      •Make the outer screen an LTPO that ranges from 1Hz-120Hz (inner one already does this)
                      •Give it better cameras, and especially use the same 12MP selfie camera as the S23 Ultra for both the outer screen punchole selfie and the inner screen under-display selfie
                      •Significantly reduce the display crease on the inner display
                      •Use E6 AMOLED panels on both screens rather than the E4 that is currently being used, as E6 is more efficient and so especially scenarios in which the display is very bright will use less power and make the phone less susceptible to burn-in

                      I know I've posted some less realistic (for Samsung anyway) business strategies for what Samsung should do with their foldables, but this is a solid plan going forward for them. They really need to step up their game with the Z Fold, because otherwise someone else is going to beat them at their game soon, and that one might just end up being Google.

                        Just looking at the differences
                        Versus Fold4
                        https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12418&idPhone2=11737#diff-

                        Versus Find 2
                        https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12418&idPhone2=12002#diff-

                        Versus Magic 2
                        https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?&idPhone1=12418&idPhone2=12383#diff-

                        I get the impression that people always want to see a TANGIBLE upgrade the following year, when at least for me standard contract were TWO years.

                        The only thing that explains this without Samsung making an announcement is this is to appeal to the NEW MARKET, Samsung has already announced it expects 50 % growth in foldables this year.

                        Overall tweak everything, fix the imperfections, and welcome anew.

                        In 2024 the Fold 6 will be released.
                        This iteration will be to retain? those upgrading from the Fold 4
                        I do expect significant improvements including the chipset (will it be 8 gen 3 who knows)

                        Fixing the issues that beset upto the Fold 4 means areas not upgraded this time round have to be.

                        The specifications do not disenfranchise Fold 4, attract new users, retain Fold 3 Camera spec's are in the same ball park.

                        Samsung are right in NOT taking lessons from the Galaxy Pixel on Folds infact on anything (you do realise the input field is advert free... for now)

                        However when you see the price compared to the Honor magic 2 seriously you could report a crime occurring at the network store.

                        I could fly out to China tomorrow and pick one up and would not have spent what Samsung are asking.

                          Anonymous, 04 Aug 2023Tab S9 + S23+ = better deal, also cheaper Sadly, I can't fit both in my pocket; would looking like a moron reading news on a 12" tablet, outside, on a smoke break. Even though I haven't seen many people using Fold in my office, barely anyone notices I have one and I like that it flies under the radar and people don't bother me with questions about it.
                          I can't imagine how dragging about the 12 inch monster with you everywhere, on top of phone in the pocket, is better than just a phone in your pocket. Slightly less money for the two doesn't work for me.

                            Anonymous, 05 Aug 2023Why the hell didn't they ever do a review of the Googl... moreWhich rock have you crawled from under? They don't buy every damn phone they're testing, they're getting phones sent by manufacturers for review.
                            The actual question is: why hasn't Google sent one yet?

                              justasmile, 05 Aug 2023Yeah, they're still blurry.Turn off portrait mode.

                                justasmile, 05 Aug 2023How am I going to show you though? I can, but theres no way... moreJust drop them to imgur and link'em here.

                                  Anonymous, 05 Aug 202380% of foldable phone user buy samsung, not because they ne... moreYour perception is really distorted here, though for a small percentage of users your claims may be accurate.

                                  But there are other reasons people buy Samsung.
                                  Global presence and warranty services (albeit sometimes questionable) are a very important factor. I don't care how much ahead Chinese hinges are if I can't buy the phone officially, with warranty, and without Chinese bloatware or Google Services. Google's phone (Pixel Fold included) are still not available in my country, why should I care about a company that doesn't care about me?

                                  Samsung has the best polished foldable Android version there is, period. Couple that with global presence and it's a reason good enough for majority of people.

                                  Those are important reasons as well, don't pretend they're completely unimportant.

                                  Also, I actually considered S23 Ultra, but looking at its price, it really wasn't that far from Fold 4. So - flagship phone + a tablet? Yeah right, show me $250 tablet that's comparable in performance to Fold 4 (let alone S23 Ultra).

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                                    • Msfold
                                    • n52
                                    • 05 Aug 2023

                                    "You can run any two apps side by side and even one app in two instances side by side"

                                    You can actually run 3 apps side by side. One app shares one half of the screen (left/right, top/bottom) and the other two share the other half. You can easily rotate these too.

                                      justasmile, 05 Aug 2023How am I going to show you though? I can, but theres no way... moreYou can leave the link for photos
                                      For example from GSMArena, other tech sites, or your own

                                        rosesarerosie, 05 Aug 2023Show some examples then I'd like to see blurred image... moreHow am I going to show you though? I can, but theres no way to show photos here.

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