Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 review

Android 13 with foldable-specific One UI 5.1.1

The Galaxy Z Flip5 runs Android 13 with a layer of One UI on top - Samsung's custom overlay is in its latest 5.1.1 version, and the last .1 denotes the foldable-specific branch. In that sense, it has the same software as the Galaxy S-series, plus some additional Flip stuff. So let's cover those first (that attempt at a joke doesn't work if you insist on calling the cover screen Flex Window, like Samsung does).

Increases in quantity lead to changes in quality - or some such. That's more or less what's happened on the Galaxy Z Flip series cover display over the years, and the Flip5's new unit is a more useful tool than ever.

The interface remains essentially widget-based as opposed to a full-featured small-screen Android experience like you get on the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra - though there's a bit more to that.

Cover screen settings

The default interface starts off with a lockscreen of sorts, which itself is a customizeable stack of lockscreen cards, so to speak. Different kinds of those exist, and some feature just a clock, while others can show widgets with weather and notifications summary. To access the stack, you long-press on the homescreen, and you can then flip through the different cards, which you can customize on the main screen.

Swiping to the left gives you the onscreen unlock option (PIN, pattern, password) so you can access your cover screen if you've maxed out the fingerprint attempts, which happened all too often in the folded state.

Swiping to the right brings up the notification cards, and you can expand and read those without going onto the main screen. Pulling down from the top opens up a selection of quick toggles, complete with a brightness slider (there's an auto setting for that, too).

There's no separate setting for the always-on display on the cover screen. A common setting in the display menu defines its behavior on both panels (always off, always on, scheduled, shown only when new notifications are available, or tap to show for 10s), and the clock style on the cover screen follows that of whatever the active lockscreen card is.

Cover lockscreen • Cover lockscreen • Cover lockscreen • Notifications • Notifications • Quick settings

Once unlocked, you can swipe sideways to access a selection of widget-like apps. They've been well thought out to make use of the display size and proportions, so there's that. Long pressing on one of them lets you edit this sort-of task switcher and remove and rearrange widgets, though adding new ones from the list of available options requires a trip to the main screen. Pinch in, and you get a thumbnail view of all the active widgets.

Calendar • Weather • Stopwatch • Finance Watchlist • Rearrange mode • Thumbnail view

You can also run full apps on the cover screen, kind of, in one of two ways. The first one is by enabling a toggle in the Galaxy Labs. The catch is that at this point there are just five apps in there - Google Maps, Netflix, YouTube, and Google and Samsung's respective test Messages apps. It's something, but it's not quite the real deal.

Apps show in their own 'widget' • Maps • Netflix • YouTube • Messages

To get most other apps to work on the cover screen, you'll need to put your tweaker pants on. You'll need to install Good Lock from Samsung's Galaxy store. It's an advanced tool that unlocks hidden functionality on Galaxy phones via independently-installable modules. It does impressive things with your Galaxy but is only available in some countries (which is why you may have yet to hear of it). We had to sideload it ourselves since it didn't show up in the Store.

Once you get Good Lock going, search for the 'Multistar' module. Install that, and then inside, find the 'Life Up' tab, and within that, go into the 'I ♡ Galaxy Foldable' menu. Inside, you'll see the 'Launcher Widget', tap it, and enable all the apps you want to use on the cover screen.

Good Lock

Keep in mind that all of this is experimental, and some apps may not function as intended or even not function at all. Also, it's worth pointing out that during the course of this review, our Good Lock started acting out and lost its interface, though the Launcher Widget we had installed previously kept functioning. We're not sure what that means if you're only now trying to set it up.

Apps on the cover screen

Clicking on the power button twice when the Flip5 is closed will activate the rear camera, and the external screen will act as a viewfinder - but more on that in the camera section.

There's more of an AoD clock selection on the internal display. It's the familiar simplified version of the feature from One UI 3, with fairly basic (but still a few) clock styles or an Image Clock. Music info is also supported.

Always-on display • Always-on display • Always-on display • Always-on display • Lockscreen

The side-mounted fingerprint reader will likely be the primary method of unlocking for most, but you can still use face unlock either instead of or alongside it. It can be more convenient in certain situations, but it generally is less secure since it's just using the selfie camera. The sensor works reliably when the phone is in an extended state, but we did get a few more misreads in folded mode.

Security options • Biometrics • Fingerprint settings • Fingerprint settings • Fingerprint enrollment

The experience when dealing with the fundamentals is straightforward and familiar. The app drawer, notification shade, recent apps, lock screen and home screen, are all business as usual, as is the general Settings menu.

Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Task Switcher • Notifications • Quick toggles

Widgets can now be stacked, and you can switch between stacked widgets with a simple swipe. Keep in mind that not all widgets support stacking, so app developers might have to get around that pretty soon.

Widgets

Modes and routines, a feature similar to Apple's Focus, is present on recent One UI builds. You can choose a mode based on what you are doing right now and execute certain actions, change sound profiles, display settings, notifications, etc. For instance, the driving Routines profile can be set up to turn on DnD mode and launch Spotify automatically, for example. You can even trigger certain Routines with actions of your choice, such as turning on the hotspot or airplane mode.

Modes and routines

DeX has been missing on Galaxy Z Flips, and that's the case on the Flip5 as well. There is a Link to Windows feature, though, which provides you with an interface to your phone from your computer so you can exchange images, manage notifications on your PC or even make calls from it.

Other long-time proprietary Samsung features include the Edge panels - the panes that show up when you swipe in from the side and provide tools and shortcuts to apps and contacts.

Game Launcher, the hub for all your games, which also provides options for limiting distraction when gaming is here to stay as well. There's an in-house browser (Samsung Internet), as well as a reasonably powerful File manager. The Samsung Gallery also somehow still persists.

Edge panel • Game Launcher • Game Booster • Internet • File manager • Gallery

Finally, when partially unfolded (between 75 and 115 degrees), the Flip's Flex mode feature will split an app's interface by placing the 'consumption' portion in the top half and the 'interaction' part in the bottom half. It also makes some sense in the camera app for waist-level shooting.

Some apps support it natively, like YouTube or Samsung's own Gallery and Calendar. For others, you can force a generic Flex mode control panel. We reckon that's a solution in search of a problem, though for video call apps like Google Duo, it can be sort of useful.

Flex mode

Performance and benchmarks

The Galaxy Z Flip5 is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy - the Samsung-specific version of Qualcomm's high-end chipset for 2023. The main difference (that meets the eye) in this version of the chip is in the Cortex-X3 prime core of the CPU that's clocked at 3.36GHz as opposed to the regular variant of the SoC, where it maxes out at 3.2GHz (technically, 3.19GHz).

We have started seeing the 3.36GHz spec on other phones recently (ZTE nubia Z50S Pro and Honor Magic V2, for example), so maybe Samsung's exclusivity on those special Snapdragons has expired.

The Adreno 740 GPU has also gotten a boost, running at 719MHz in this souped-up version of the chipset, compared to 680MHz in the bulk of the SD8G2-powered models.

As was the case with the Galaxy S23 phones, the foldables use LPDDR5X RAM, and the Z Flip5 has 8GB of it. Storage options here are two - 256GB and 512GB (there doesn't appear to be a 128GB version anymore). Our Flip review unit is the 256GB spec.

The Z Flip5 generally posted results in line with the similarly equipped S23, with minor deviations here and there. The new Flip is a meaningful step up in performance over all the currently available clamshells, seeing how they're all powered by the previous-gen top-tier Snapdragon, or even lesser chips. Meanwhile, the Zenfone 10 does tend to inch ahead of the Galaxies in most tests - so if you're after a Z Flip5 in order to get peak performance in a compact package, the Asus might be an option to look at.

What the charts above don't tell you is that these numbers aren't really sustainable, and the Z Flip5's benchmark results do tend to drop relatively sharply with repeated test runs. For example, in the CPU stress test, the phone managed to stay above 80% of peak performance for only about 6 minutes and then settled around 50% for most of the hour-long test. In the 3DMark Wild Life stress test, it only got an appalling 38% stability rating too.

That's well in line with the behavior of the previous Flip, and the Razr 40 Ultra is no better, albeit with the older Snapdragon. Then again, both the vivo X Flip and the Oppo Find N2 Flip show dramatically more stable behavior. The vivo has that same Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 that the Moto has, and that should be running hotter than the SD8G2 of the Z Flip5, while the Find uses a Dimensity 9000+ chip.

CPU throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test