Review Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 - Flipping to Android

So, I’ve been an Apple user for over a decade, and an iPhone user since 2014. I switched over to iOS as a consequence of me being hired by Apple back in 2012, when they also paid for my move over here to Ireland. And while I stopped working for them in early 2016, under some rather fractious circumstances, I was firmly ensconced in their ecosystem, with iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, Apple TV and a MacBook being mine. Employee discounts and knowledge of the company’s internal support processes can be a powerful motivation for brand loyalty. However, I haven’t set foot in the Apple Campus up in Hollyhill for years now, and my enthusiasm for the Church of the Disciples of St. Jobs has waned considerably in the intervening years. While the company still builds excellent products, I’m typing this very blog post on a MacBook, the iPhone line has become stale, if still well-built, effectively the Toyota Corolla of smartphones. So, when my mobile phone contract came up for renewal in early October, I decided to look over the fence of Apple’s walled garden.

I’d been interested in foldable phones ever since Motorola reintroduced the category back in 2019 with the reimagined Motorola RAZR, a device that I’m still kicking myself for not getting. However, the first foldables were prohibitively expensive, even by flagship phone standards, and also, let’s be real here, these first devices, be they the RAZR or the first-generation Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, were pretty fragile, often underpowered, and in many ways compromised devices. And even their follow-ups in the intervening years weren’t always great, or even available for purchase here in Ireland, which is pretty much a smartphone backwater as it is. 

Things changed earlier this year. Motorola launched a new generation of its RAZR line in Europe with both the RAZR Ultra and a more affordable RAZR 40, while Samsung introduced the fifth generation Galaxy Z Flip. However, while the RAZRs are available here in Ireland for a change, Samsung’s negotiating power has ensured that their products, rather than the Motorola devices, has taken pride of place at all major carriers here in Ireland. So, with my contract up for renewal anyway, I decided to replace my old iPhone 12 mini with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, my first Android device in over a decade.

First Impression

Get Bent! - It still feels weird to be able to fold a massive 6 inch touchscreen!

Damn, this thing is big. Seriously, after two years on the 5.4" iPhone 12 mini, the 6.6” screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 feels positively gigantic. The weight reinforces that impression, you really feel every gram of the device’s 187 gram weight, but not in a bad weight. The phone’s Gorilla Glass exterior and “Armour Aluminum” frame make the Flip 5 feel rock solid and not unlike one big square block of metal.

The USB-C port is the only port you're going to find on the entire device. 

The exterior is dominated by a 3.4-inch exterior display that Samsung calls a “Flex Window”. I wonder how much the product design & marketing teams got paid to come up with that term, but I digress. This display is the biggest differentiator between the Flip 5 and previous phones in the Flip line and dominates the top half of the phone’s back when it’s folded open. The bottom half is made of a plate of coloured Gorilla Glass, mint green in my case. I’m not a huge fan of this split, since this means that the colour remains hidden a lot of the time, but that’s just a minor niggle. The edge of the device is made of the aforementioned “Armour Aluminum”, including the hinge that is the device’s whole raison d’etre. And honestly, between the frame and the hinge mechanism, this gives the device the impression of being bullet-proof, something that is vital for a device category that still has the reputation of being fragile.

The cover display, which Samsung calls the "Flex Window" in a move which probably got someone in the design department a massive, if questionable, bonus, is actually surprisingly useful!

Both the bottom and top halves of the Galaxy Z Flip 5's back (or is it the outside?) are covered with Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Yeah, getting pics of the outside is a bit tricky with this device...

It's the interior that is the big deal, literally. The flexible 6.6-inch FHD+ AMOLED display looks simply stunning. This isn’t a surprise, Samsung displays have been excellent ever since my first Samsung device, the good old SGH-E700 back in 2003 & 2004. The flexible glass is covered by a plastic screen protector and while that might be off-putting for some, I don’t really mind. The same goes for the hole-punch for the internal selfie camera, which is pretty inconspicuous and honestly a better solution than the massive notch or “dynamic island” that Apple keeps sticking on their iPhones. As for the display crease, a major bone of contention for many reviewers, for a first-time foldy boy like me, this is noticeable but hardly an issue.

Internals

All right, enough with this shallow surface-level talk, let’s dig into the guts of this thing. It feels weird to actually be able to talk about Specs after ten years of Apple’s vaporware internals. The heart of the system is an eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen. 2 chipset with up to 3.36 GHz, which is supported by 8GB of RAM, while internal storage amounts to 256GB for my device, of which 216GB are usable. A 512GB version of the phone is also available. All major networks are supported, as is WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC. Unfortunately, the phone only has a USB-C port at the bottom and no headphone jack. Listen, Samsung, you don’t need to copy EVERYTHING that Apple does!

Software

Ah, Android. It’s been a while. Literally. My last Android device was my old Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S back in 2012, which ran Android 4 “Ice Cream Sandwich”. Thankfully, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has somewhat more modern software, coming out of the box with Android 13 and Samsung’s One UI 5.1.1 interface. I’m going to do an in-depth blog post about breaking out of Apple’s Walled Garden in a couple of weeks, but for now, let me just say this: The difference between iOS and Android 13 at this point is minor. Most regular users will be able to use both without any major issues, apart from a little retraining of muscle memory. 

Having said that, there are still some appreciable differences. The big one for me is the ability to have dedicated profiles for work and personal use. Unlike on iOS, I can easily keep my work email separate from my personal emails without having to change my default email app every time I have some time off. This is a major thing for someone like me who uses their phone for work as well as personal use. What is also obvious is just how much more mature widgets are on Android. This makes sense since Android had them basically from the beginning while Apple only introduced them a few years back. Then, there are the device-specific modifications that Samsung has added for its flip phones and large-format foldables. While a lot of these features will probably make more sense on the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 5, a device that is so far outside my financial range that it's not even funny, it is good to have them on here as well, just in case. It's just a pity that Samsung hasn't included it's Dex desktop emulation solution on the Flip 5, I would have loved to try it. But hey, if anyone wants to drop over a Z Fold 5 to help a poor, starving blogger, I'll gladly take it ;)

I guess it's good to have flex mode available for when you need it, I'm just not sure how much utility it actually provides.

The one definite downside that I’ve noticed since moving back is the software update situation. Out the gate, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has been slated to get OneUI 6, Samsung’s flavour of Android 14, however, the timing is a pure mystery. Some of Samsung’s non-folding phones, such as the Galaxy S23 series, seem to already be getting theirs, but a tentative schedule outlining the live dates for other devices was recently pulled from the Samsung support forums, leaving users pretty much in the dark. However, while this may be frustrating, Samsung has still committed to providing four years of platform updates and five years of security updates, which is a far cry from my first experiences with Android, which often only got one or two updates before being dropped by their manufacturer. The only real problem, if you want to call it that, with Android 13 is the fact that it tends to move app controls to the top of the screen, which can make them quite difficult to reach on a device like the Z Flip 5, which is quite tall when folded open.

Everyday Use

There’s no denying this. Is a premium device. Everything about it just screams flagship, from the Armour Aluminum frame to the glass backplate, to the hinge and the cover display just feels rock solid. Even the aforementioned internal display feels good. Granted, it does have a plasticky feel to it due to the factory-installed screen protector covering the ultrathin flexible glass, but that does not detract from the quality of the device one bit. Even more surprising however has been the cover screen. I’ll let you in on a little secret here: I wasn’t originally planning to get the Z Flip 5. My hope was that I’d be able to catch a clearance offer for its predecessor, but for some reason my carrier got rid of all its Flip 4s the moment the 5 launched. Either way, because of this, I hadn’t expected to get a device with a usable cover screen. 

Yep, I still flip out when I do this. The hinge on the Z Flip 5 fold completely flat, by the way, unlike previous editions of the Z Flip series, which had to leave a gap. The new hinge should also reduce strain on the display and reduce the risk of spontaneous cracks.

The hinge certainly feels rock solid.

And yet, it is the 3.4” Flex Window that has come to be one of the most useful features of the device. By default, Samsung has only enabled a limited number of widgets out there, and only a limited number of apps that can be launched. However, this can easily be changed with the help of Samsung’s Good Lock customisation suite. As a result, the device is pretty versatile even while closed. Triaging notifications, having a quick peek at what’s next on my calendar, or quickly skipping to the next song in your playlist, all of this is easily done without opening the phone. Oh, and since the cover display is also an always-on display, propping the phone open in “tent mode” will give you a nice impromptu desk clock.

With the right cover screen selected, the always on cover display actually turns the Z Flip 5 into a passable desk clock...

The cover display is customisable, but stock options are somewhat limited.

However, you can get more apps to run using Samsung's Good Lock customisation suite.

Unfortunately, the phone doesn't adjust the front screen according to its orientation.

The main display is equally excellent. Samsung has always knocked it out of the day with its OLED and AMOLED panels, all the way back to my first Samsung Phone, the E-700, and the Z Flip 5 continues that tradition. The colours pop, scrolling is butter smooth on this 120 Hz display, and with a maximum brightness of 1750nits, the display should be readable even in very bright conditions. Having said that, I don’t think I’ve gotten to that level of brightness yet in my use. Either way, it’s a massive jump in quality compared to my previous iPhone, to the point where taking notes on the phone is actually viable again, even with my rather sizeable hands. Plus, it’s always worth remembering that this is a foldable display.

Whether it's in bright daylight,...

...in the dim lighting of a late night blogging session,...

...or just resting, the internal display, which is also an always-on-display, is one of the best I've seen so far.

And what’s displayed on that display is equally impressive. Even if Samsung’s OneUI skin for Android is of questionable quality in my eyes, this can easily be customised or, if needed, replaced with a third-party launcher or icon pack. Android 13 itself, meanwhile runs smooth as silk on the device’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and even in my few attempts at gaming, I’ve only been able to get the device to be lukewarm at best. Honestly, the device heats up more when charging in my experience. Speaking of which…

Battery life so far has been excellent, though I would have expected nothing less from a factory new device. Now, I’m not one to run endurance tests, there are sites fare better suited for that, but in my experience, even with some rather battery intensive apps such as Transit and Bluetooth music playback during my morning and evening commutes, I’ve usually made it home with between 30-40% still “in the tank”, which is plenty for me. Mind you, that is despite the fact, that I’ve been fiddling with the device much more than I would have with previous devices simply because it’s a foldable. Yes, I’m one of those guys. And when you do need to charge it, this can be done either via the USB-C port or wirelessly via the Qi coil underneath the back plate, which can handle up to 15W of wireless charging. The latter has made the transition from Apple a child’s play, since I have a well-developed Qi infrastructure here at home.

Wireless charging is most welcome and honestly, it should be standard on mobile devices!

Then, there are the cameras. Samsung devices seem to have a reputation for being extremely generous with adding on saturation and honestly, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is no exception. Photos shot with the Flip 5 seem to have the saturation slathered on with a paint roller, and many seem a bit brighter than they should be. Mind you, I’m not talking about overexposure here, simply that Samsung’s colour science seems to prefer things to be a bit brighter and more colourful, something that I’m actually totally onboard with. Back in my iPhone days, and even when wielding my Eos M50, I tend to turn up the saturation in Lightroom or Photos after the fact I mean, our lives are often grey and dull enough, why should our photos be? Beyond the colour science, and the camera hardware that I’m not going to comment on, Samsung has made sure to exploit the advantages of a foldable for for photography to the fullest. With both main cameras on the top part, you’ve got a tripod basically built in. And with the 3.6” cover display as a viewfinder, main camera selfies are finally possible, for those who are into that sort of thing. 

Please enjoy the following sample images!

Having said that, it’s not all sunshine and roses though. For starters, it is not possible to use Google Wallet on the cover screen, even though the NFC chip still works in that state and other apps, such as TFI’s Leap Card Top Up app, work fine. I’m not sure whether this is an issue on Google’s part or whether this is Samsung’s attempt to “encourage” users to use its own proprietary Samsung Pay instead, but it does stick out like a sore thumb, especially given how unreliable Google Wallet seems to be on the Galaxy Watch 6, but more on that in the dedicated review for that device.

Then, there’s the power button with the integrated fingerprint scanner. I’ve found its position a bit awkward to put it mildly. I’ve had it more than once that I inadvertently woke the phone while getting it out of a pocket, with my fingers being so out of position that the phone wouldn’t recognise them. This has in turn led to a number of incidents where biometric login was disabled as a result. This can easily be resolved by unlocking the device with your pin, but it is still not the best from a design point of view. The same goes for the internal display which, while plenty bright and colourful, attracts fingerprints in the same way a black hole attracts matter or a post about Bill Gates attracts nutjobs. 

But these, and a few other issues such as inconsistent battery life or the tendency of some apps or widgets to crash on the cover screen, are minor issues in my eyes. As a whole, the phone is excellent. It’s basically a flagship hone with a hinge in the middle. It stands out, especially when folded, and even though we’re now on the fifth generation of full-screen flip phones, is still a conversation starter. And to be honest, I haven’t had this level of new device excitement for a phone since getting my first iPhone, all the way back in 2014! While I wouldn’t recommend paying full price for it, I definitely recommend getting it if you can get a good deal from your carrier. It’s just flipping amazing!

(Yes, I had to get that in there!)