Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 review – Moving in on the mainstream

As you might guess from the number ‘five’ in the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s full title, Samsung has been doing this for a while now. If you’re a Stuff reader, you’re probably more familiar with the folding smartphone phenomenon than the average person but Samsung’s got a lot of money to buy advertising. So why don’t you know more than one (perhaps two) human being who actually owns one of these things?

The price is probably a significant factor. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 12GB/256GB review unit Stuff had to play with will set you back R42,000. If you opt for 512GB of storage, expect to pay R45,000. Those prices are considered… perhaps not reasonable but typical for a still-experimental form factor. But if anyone’s pushing these devices toward the mainstream, it’s Samsung. Well, they would.

Double down on design

We pointed it out when the phone was first announced but you’ll probably experience déjà vu when looking upon this tidily-handsome smartphone. Samsung’s saved a few bucks (not really) on the design by hanging onto 2022’s look. Oh, there are a few differences between this and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 but they’re incredibly minor. The flash has relocated itself on the camera bulge but that’s hardly enough to change your entire outlook on the planet.

Everything else important stays right where it was. The aluminium edge is identical to last year’s phone and even the displays aren’t different enough to be able to tell them apart without measuring the chassis. This year’s phone is smaller, officially. We’ve already dissected the granular differences between the pair but in terms of visual impact, you can expect the same thing as last year. If you liked the Fold 4 (and the Fold 3), you’ll like the Fold 5. Unless you’re getting bored now, that is.

It’s even possible you’re getting bored with the display(s). Both the interior 7.6in and outer 6.2in OLED displays are identical to last year’s device. That does mean 120Hz refresh rates all around, HDR 10+ support for the inner screen, and exactly the same dimensions. It is tempting to be mad about that but the fact is that Samsung’s OLED phone panels are incredible to look at. The only possible reason to get annoyed is because you’ve already got one at home. In that case, congratulations on your trust fund. You’re not supposed to buy the Fold every year (but Samsung would like you to).

Fastest foldable 

If power is something you desire, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will deliver. It’s officially the most powerful folding smartphone on the market (in South Africa, anyway) thanks to Samsung’s own custom edition of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset inside it. But that’s not reason enough to make you buy one of these phones on its own. You can have that same power from Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra for R12,000 less than the price of entry here. You have to want the more unique features available here too.

In which case you’re likely to be just as pleased. Samsung took some flack for the very minor gap between its facing screens with the Fold 4. That’s been ‘corrected’, so to speak, with almost zero gap visible between the two closed edges of the Fold 5. How Samsung did it is an involved process with words like “engineering” and “mathematics” being thrown about but the resulting hinge is as steady and stable as you might like. It’s also smooth in operation, though we can’t say for sure that it’ll stay that way. We’ve only had a couple of weeks and that phone’s supposed to last a couple of years.

The hinge does have a couple of tipping points at its open and closed extremes where it’ll tend to spring all the way open or snap all the way closed. They’re not issues — you’re unlikely to want the phone to sit in those positions, ever — but we will note that Huawei’s Mate XS3 offers a stiffer, arguably more stable hinge. In practical terms, though, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a difference between these two devices.

Snap happy

If you’re after camera technology in addition to a screen that’ll open to tablet size, you’re in a moderate amount of luck. The camera performance on offer is decent. We’d go as far as labelling it ‘excellent’ but only if we’re allowed to add the caveat ‘for a folding smartphone. Samsung’s own S23 lineup offers better camera performance at an appreciable fraction of the price Samsung’s asking for the Galaxy Z Fold 5. We’ll keep stressing this point — you have to want the Fold 5 as part of a package deal. An individual feature on its own isn’t enough to make this a compelling buy.

There are three main camera sensors, usable whether the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is open or closed. The 50MP main sensor, 10MP telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide are as capable as any Samsung smartphone that features the combination. There’s the catch, actually. The camera setup is the same as the Samsung Galaxy S23, a R20,000 smartphone. The Fold 5 will perform as well as that handset but not much better, if at all. It’s not an impossible bar to scale and this phone will provide serviceable images in most situations but we did find that it took a shade too long to capture images in low light. Here is where the Fold has an advantage. It can act as its own rest, provided you’re fine with snapping pics in landscape mode. That’ll make for some better in-the-darkness snaps.

Tiny little laptop

Samsung’s optimised some apps, and partnered up for a few others, to make its folding screen more of a practical affair. We’ve used Folds in a keyboard/display orientation for a while now and that’s just as good as it ever was. Samsung wants owners to have more tailored experiences, so there’s a little pop-out bar on the side and the bottom bar, which always includes the last four used apps, makes for easy switching between tasks.

It’s also possible to lock up to three apps side by side. You could have a video call and a video stream running at the same time, provided you remember to mute yourself. Google’s own apps now handle the folded screen a specific way. YouTube, for instance, will keep comments on the bottom half of the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s display, for some unearthly reason, while you watch on the top half. Why you’d do that to yourself is a matter for you and your therapist, but you can also just fullscreen that sucker and stay away from the toxic pool below the video.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 verdict

You probably didn’t need us to tell you that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is Samsung’s best foldable to date. The specs and design have carried over a bit more than we’re really comfortable with but all that means is that we’re expecting a more substantial refresh rather soon. Like, 2024. But if you choose to take the R42,000 (or R45,000) plunge, you won’t be disappointed with what you’ve got. It’s the slickest, fastest, best-constructed experimental smartphone you’re likely to get this side of a cyberpunk future. At some point, we’ll be installing these things right into our skulls but right now, folding them in half is about as advanced as it gets. And so is this, for at least the next twelve months.