The Samsung Fold 5: A Review of its Features and Performance

The Samsung Fold 5 has finally arrived, bringing with it a plethora of exciting features and improvements that are sure to delight fans of the series. The device boasts a stunning 7.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, which provides an immersive viewing experience like never before. The screen is also equipped with a new image signal processor courtesy of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which should improve images taken by the camera.

Speaking of cameras, the Fold 5's hardware remains largely unchanged from its predecessor, the Fold 4. This includes the same 10 megapixel front-facing camera, the four megapixel under display camera, and the rear-facing cameras featuring a 12 megapixel ultra wide-angle lens, a 50 megapixel primary sensor, as well as a 10 megapixel three times telephoto camera. While this may not be the most exciting news for photography enthusiasts, Samsung has made some notable improvements to its software features, including support for the S Pen on the Fold 5.

The S Pen is undoubtedly one of the standout features of the Fold series, and Samsung has done an excellent job of refining it for the new device. The pen itself is now IP68 rated, making it more durable than ever before, and it's also smaller and more compact than its predecessor. This makes it easier to carry around and use on the go. However, I couldn't help but feel that the S Pen was still a bit of an afterthought in terms of design. The case that comes with the device is bulky and doesn't do much to conceal the pen, which can make it stand out awkwardly when not in use.

The S Pen also has some impressive software features, including compatibility with Good Notes and new drag-and-drop capabilities. This allows users to quickly access their notes and apps, as well as utilize the bottom half of the screen as a touchpad. I was particularly impressed by the flexibility mode panel, which provides quick controls and lets you customize your experience.

One of the main reasons why I won't be switching to the Fold 5 is its price tag. In the UK, the base model will start at £2,200, which is an additional £100 more than the same model last year. While this may not seem like a lot to some, it's still a significant increase, especially considering that the device itself has only incremental updates compared to its predecessor.

However, Samsung is offering some attractive trade-in deals, up to $1,000, which could help offset the cost of upgrading. Additionally, users can get double storage using my affiliate link in the description below. This may not be enough to convince me to switch to the Fold 5, but I'm sure others will find it more appealing.

In conclusion, the Samsung Fold 5 is a solid device that offers many exciting features and improvements over its predecessor. Whether or not you'll want to upgrade depends on your individual needs and preferences. If you're coming from a Fold 2 or Fold 3, this may be your first foldable, and you'll likely love it. But if you're looking for the most significant upgrades, you might want to consider the Flip 5 instead.

The Samsung Fold series is still the only folding device that supports the S Pen, which is undoubtedly a unique selling point. The new pen is smaller and more compact than before, making it easier to carry around. However, the case that comes with the device is still bulky and doesn't do much to conceal the pen. If Samsung had done a bit of design tweaking, I think this would have been an even more compelling feature.

One thing that I do want to give Samsung praise for is its support for the S Pen on the Fold 5. This is something that many other manufacturers have not caught on to yet, and it's clear that Samsung has put a lot of thought into refining this feature for their latest device. The fact that you can quickly access your notes and apps using the S Pen is a game-changer, and I was impressed by the flexibility mode panel.

Overall, the Samsung Fold 5 is a solid device that offers many exciting features and improvements over its predecessor. While it may not be the most significant upgrade, it's still worth considering for fans of the series. With its stunning display, impressive software features, and unique S Pen support, this device is sure to delight those who are looking for a premium folding experience.

If you'd like to see my coverage of the Fold 4 from last year, that video is going to be linked here, as well as coverage from the other foldable from Samsung this year, which in my opinion has had a much bigger upgrade, the Flip 5. What do you think of the Fold 5? Will you be getting one? Do drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts. If you want to see more videos with the Fold 5 as well as the Flip 5, consider subscribing and hit that bell icon. I hope you enjoy this review, and I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 is here, it's in the house,but this year, I won't be switching.Now that doesn't mean youdon't have to switch to it.Let's talk about all of that.But before we do that, let'ssee what we get inside the box.Now the unboxing experienceis pretty straightforward.It is a slim box becausethere is no charger included.Inside, we do get the device.There's a pack with a USB type C cable,some paperwork, as wellas a sim card tool.(upbeat music)And here it is.Now from the front andmost other the angles,I wouldn't blame you if you thoughtthat this was the Fold 4,because it looks almost exactly the same.Now, if you rememberwhen the Fold 4 came out,I was very excited.I actually switched to thatdevice as my daily smartphonefor quite some time, butthen I decided to switch backto the S22 Ultra, and therewere a few reasons for that.Reasons which I don't feelhave been addressed on Fold 5.Now the Fold 5 is actuallybuilt really well.We've got a solid designwith Armor Aluminumand Gorilla Glass Victus 2with the ultra thin glass,and it still has an IPX8water resistant rating,which is amazing for a foldable device.And I believe the Flip andthe Fold series are still someof the only foldabledevices with this rating.Now the biggest physicalchange on the Fold 5 comparedto the Fold 4 is that wenow have this new flex hingeand there is no gap in the middle.So Samsung has now optedfor the tear drop designwhich we've seen manyof the manufacturers do.And having that zero gap meansyou're going to get less dustinto the device when you're putting itin and out of your pocket.It's also around 10 grams lighter.I've got the icy blue color here,which I think looks really nice.There's also a phantomblack as well as a cream.There are two exclusive colorsavailable from samsung.com.There's a gray as well as a darker blue.If you are interested in picking those up,there will be an affiliate linkdown in the description below.That's also going to giveyou double the storageas well as up to $1,000 for a trade-in.That is for a limited time only, however.Right, so overall it's a nice designand if you hadn't seenmany of the foldables,you might actually think this isthe best foldable design out there.However, we do now havesome more competition.So here is the Google Pixel Fold,and my favorite foldableright now, the Honor Magic V2.The thing you'll notice on both of theseis that we have a much wider,a much more usable coverdisplay in my opinion.Now arguably having a narrow displaylike this may make theFold 5 easier to usewith one hand, especially ifyou're using swipe to type.However, in my personal experience,having such a narrow display meantthat I would have tokeep unfolding the deviceif I wanted to do anything practical.With the Pixel Fold aswell as the Honor Magic V2,you can pretty much use itas a regular smartphoneon your day to day.But when you do want to experience maybesome gaming, viewingcontent, doing multitasking,what you need a bigger screen for,then you can fold them openand utilize that folding display.And the Pixel Fold,although it's heaviercompared to the Fold 5,it is actually thinner.And the Honor Magic V2,not only is it lighter,around 16 grams lighter,it's also considerably thinnercompared to the Fold 5.Now despite this, the Honor Magic V2has a larger 5,000 milliamp hour battery overallcompared to the 4,400 on the Fold 5.Now this is the same aswhat we had on the Fold 4,and although the batterylife was relatively goodon the Fold 4, it wasn't amazing,and I did find myself havingto charge it a lot morethan I would've liked.The other thing to keep in mind isthat maybe the reason why youdon't get great battery lifeon the Fold 4 is becausethe display is so narrow.You do have to open it up anduse the larger folding displaywhich takes up more battery as well.Now there's obviouslylots of other factorsto consider when you'relooking at a foldablesuch as the different softwareexperiences, the durability,the hinge, but in termsof the overall hardware,I think Samsung has started to fallbehind some of the competition here.If you do want me to doa detailed comparisonbetween the Fold 5 and say the Pixel Foldor the Honor Magic V2,then do consider subscribinghere to the channel.Let me know down in the comments below.Now, I don't necessarily wantto take away from the displaysof the Fold 5, they're still really nice.They're bright, 120hertz for both the coveras well as the main display.And the main display is nowactually bright to 1,750 nits.Now, although thebattery size is the same,this is now poweredby the Qualcomm Snapdragon8 Gen 2 chip set,which is a lot more efficient.So that should improve battery life.But again, with the different form factor,you would've been able toget in a large battery.Now moving on to the cameras,although we do have a newimage signal processorwith the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2that should improve images,we still have the same camera hardware.So there's a 10 megapixelcamera here at the front.There's the four megapixelunder display camerawhich has remained pretty much unchangedsince it was introduced on Fold 3.And the rear facing cameras, again,they're the same 12 megapixel ultra wide50 megapixel primariesas well as a 10 megapixelthree times telephoto camera.Now I'm not sayingthat these cameras arebad and in my experience,the Fold 4 actually hadreally good cameras.However, there isn't muchof a change compared to the Fold 4.Now one thing I do wantto give Samsung praise foris support for the S Pen on the Fold 5.Now we've had this before,however, on the Fold 4,I decided not to use it becauseit just had a bulky casewhich made this alreadythick device even thicker.But the Fold series isstill the only foldingdevice that has support for a pen.The new pen is now IP68 rated, just the pen,and it's much smaller.So although it's not enclosed,the case that you get is not as bulkyas what we've had previously.Now with the S Pen, I like it.The case is a little bit more usable,but because the Fold 4 is alreadythick and thicker comparedto other folding devices,it's still not that practical.And the S Pen still only workson the foldable display,not the cover display.So if you just want totake it out of your pocket,and just do a quick note,you're not going to beable to do that like youcan do on say the S23 ultra.Now again, in my opinion, ifthe device was slightly wider,even if it wasn't any thinner,that would've given space toenclose an S Pen potentially,and that would've meantthat you wouldn't haveto have this separatelyin a case which is morecompact compared to beforebut it's still bulky.Now I don't want to discreditthe S Pen on the Fold entirely.It is very unique andit's something that youdon't necessarily have toget if you don't want to,but this is just my feedback.And Samsung does have someof the best foldable softwarebecause they have beendoing it for so long.So the S Pen is nowcompatible with Good Notes.We've got some new drag and drop features.The task bar has beenupdated, so you've got yourfull recent open apps andyou also have flex mode panelwhich is going to giveyou some quick controlsas well as being able to use the bottomhalf of the screen as a touch pad.Now the final reason whyI personally won't beswitching is the price.So the Fold 5 is actuallygoing to be 100 pounds morein the UK for the base model.However, in the US, it willbe starting at the same price.Now I get it,the UK economy hasn't beengreat over the past year.(crowd groaning)And there is inflation, but consideringthat this is quite an incremental updatecompared to the Fold4, having to pay extrafor it as well isn't the best thing.Now Samsung is giving somereally good trade-in deals,up to $1,000 that you can getas well as giving you double storageusing my affiliate link downin the description below.And although those are thereasons why I personallywon't be switching to the Fold 5,it doesn't mean that you don't have to.You might prefer the more narrow display.You might like all ofthe software featuresand the support for the S Pen,which you're not going toget on any other foldable.Maybe you're comingfrom a Fold 2 or Fold 3,maybe this will be your first foldable.I do think you will really enjoy it.I'm just sharing withyou my personal reasonswhich might be different to yours.If you'd like to see mycoverage of the Fold 4from last year, that videois going to be linked here,as well as coveragefrom the other foldablefrom Samsung this year,which in my opinion hashad a much bigger upgrade,the Flip 5.What do you think of the Fold 5?Will you be getting one?Do drop me a comment below.Let me know your thoughts.If you want to see more videoswith the Fold 5 as well as the Flip 5,do consider subscribingand hit that bell icon.I hope you enjoyed thisvideo and found it useful.If you did, then do smashthat Like button for me.Thanks for watching.This is Saf on SuperSaf TV,and I'll see you next time.\n"