**Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Review**

While Samsung improved the hinge this year, the crease on the main display is still very much present visually. It's not something that I really noticed when the phone is on, but you'll definitely feel it while touching the screen on that note.

Without a proper dust resistance rating, there are concerns about durability in the long term. However, in my own experience with foldables over the past couple of years, I haven't had any problems. The flip 5 could do with newer camera hardware and a larger battery for the price of admission.

Even despite the improvements in this area, however, in my opinion, I think we're at a point where the tradeoffs are worth forgoing in the name of unique functionality. Not only have I had a lot of fun testing the flip 5 over the past few weeks, but the fact that it's a proper flip phone does have practical benefits that change the way that I go about certain tasks.

For example, the form factor is very well suited for taking pictures, especially selfies and group photos. I found myself leaning on the flex window a lot, which gives a rather helpful preview of what the shot looks like. The phone also stands on its own, so you don't need to carry around a tripod or God forbid, a selfie stick.

A gesture is all you need to take a photo, which is to say that you can get pretty creative with the flip 5 camera in ways that would be tougher on other phones. I really can't blame people for thinking that the flippy form factor is nothing more than a gimmick, but it's surprisingly convenient and makes sense in ways that I didn't expect for everyday use.

For example, this phone is great to use on a table. I can set it down and watch YouTube on my lunch break, and set the screen to a comfy angle for viewing. In fact, YouTube will actually scale the app appropriately, so you can have it in this partially open mode putting the video on the top half and the rest of the interface on the lower half.

A handful of apps also have similar functionality with One UI Flex window, which will give you a touchpad and cursor for navigation. I found this to be weirdly intuitive with Google Chrome, which I wouldn't really use often, but on a table it does make a bit of sense.

Put simply, the Z flip is a very tactile experience opening and closing the clamshell adds a bit of action and flare to something as mundane as checking your phone. Why did I pull it up to my ear? I don't make phone calls anymore.

Also, I know a lot of you in the comments are going to be like, "Opening your phone like that is going to ruin it." But I'll take that risk because someone did open and close this phone like 400,000 times before it saw any break, so I'll take the chance.

My favorite feature on the flip 5 this year has to be the Flex window. Yes, we've already talked about it in the video, but being able to browse Twitter or X as well as take quick selfies or use a full version of Spotify without opening the phone makes the small form factor feel more justified than ever before.

So much so that I think that this will be my daily driver for the next long while. It's actually rare that I have fun testing phones, believe it or not. I mean, look at it – it's just so different and cool and small. Stop laughing.

I like it small. Plus, while I'm still on the fence about whether I like carrying the flip or fold more, I think that the flip is a far easier phone to recommend this year. The price is better there are more improvements done on this phone compared to last generation as well, and based on the reception that I've been getting on Twitter, people are genuinely more excited about the flip as far as foldables go.

The flip is King – my tech enthusiast brain gets all excited about devices like the flip 5 because they remind me a bit of when smartphones were still fresh new and rapidly evolving. Yes, we are five generations into Samsung foldables at this point, and there is still work to be done before it properly matures but having lived with the phone I can see why people love it a lot.

So, yes Austin, you win. Don't tell him though; he's not my boss. Well, by association, he is.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enMacho macho man this is the Galaxy Z flip 5 and it's been winning me over not only is it the newest entry to one of Samsung's most popular smartphones this generation brings a handful of substantial upgrades that add functionality and flare to make it a stronger cell than ever before so what exactly changed with the flip 5 why do people love it so much let's find out over the past few years Samsung has been working to make this Z flip line mainstream and generally speaking it's succeeded since the first generation launched in 2020 it's estimated that Samsung sold nearly 20 million units making it the most popular foldable on the market to date this honestly isn't much of a surprise given that past iterations were priced like normal Flagship phones at $11,000 but it isn't just price that makes the Z flip competitive the clamshell form factor that allows it to get pretty small when you aren't using it is its best selling point if it's comfortably in Pockets bags pouches and it's nice to hold if you simply want to carry it around normal smartphones can get pretty large these days so it's pretty cool to have a device that has a 6.7 in AMOLED display but can close to half the footprint of a standard smartphone it also helps that on the zflip 5 Samsung has made the outer screen or the flex window as they call it bigger at 3.4 in letting you do more stuff without having to flip it open is that Prime Z flip fan Austin Evans oh sorry what oh I was just Z flipping what's what's E apart from telling the time showing you push notifications and offering the usual slate of widgets like media controls calendar or timers the extra bits of screen real estate are enough to let you launch full Android apps which can open up a lot of possibilities for how you use the zflip now you can navigate with Google Maps watch YouTube videos or use Messenger to text your friends if you have any all of it works surprisingly well these apps and a handful of others are officially supported via the labs menu in the flip five settings but enable the goodlock multistar utility via the Galaxy store and now you're able to launch basically any app you'd like on the flex window just keep in mind that this is a pretty janky solution that Harbors no guarantees for how well certain apps will work especially given the small screen size and unique aspect ratio for example Instagram and Tik Tok are basically usable no they're not wow I forgot one crucial part of that word unusable but Spotify and X scale very well hell I even got genin impact running on it though the ergonomics of the controls on such a tiny screen are obviously impractical again some apps are going to be better suited than others for the flip 5's outer display with regards to functionality and usefulness but the sheer fact that basically anything will at least launch on it is super interesting while we're on the topic of upgrades the changes that Samsung made to the flip 5 are pretty minor on paper but I think are certainly welcome ones especially for those considering picking one up this year as always there's an annual spec bump this time it's to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy it's the best chip you'll find on an Android phone today which naturally yields great performance for things like gaming but the benefits of this chip also trickle down to battery life historically the Z flip was never the best at holding its charge for a full day but but the power efficiency gains of the 8 Gen 2 help add for an extra hour or two here and there which is enough to eliminate the charge anxiety I used to get in the evening with last generation Beyond power the main 6.7 in inner display on the flip 5 is also slightly improved peing at 1750 nits to match the rest of Samsung's flagship phones this means it'll also be easy to see outdoors in the sun additionally it might not be the most obvious visual change but the flip 5 also has a brand new hinge not only does it close the gap compared to previous generations but it also feels very smooth as well though nothing will feel as strong and rigid as the fold five hinge if you want to see my review on that I'll leave a link in the description below or click the card up top overall the minor spec bumps are good enough to bring the flip 5 to 2023 standards but what what is it actually like to live with as people will endlessly point out in the comments no one should consider buying a foldable expecting the level of maturity of conventional flat phones there are some downsides to consider while Samsung improved the hinge this year the crease on the main display is still very much present visually it's not something that I really noticed when the phone is on but you'll definitely feel it while touching the screen on that note without a proper dust resistance rating there are concerns about durability in the long term though in my own experience with foldables over the past couple of years I haven't had any problems also the flip 5 could do with newer camera hardware and a larger battery for the price of admission even despite the improvements in this area however in my opinion I think we're at a point with the flip where the tradeoffs are worth forgoing in the name of unique function ality not only have I had a lot of fun at testing the flip 5 over the past few weeks but the fact that it's a proper flip phone does have practical benefits that change the way that I go about certain tasks for example the form factor is very well suited for taking pictures especially selfies and group photos I found myself leaning on the flex window a lot which gives a rather helpful preview of what the shot looks like and the phone also of course stands on its own so you don't need to carry around a tripod or God forbid a selfie stick a gesture is all you need to take a photo which is to say that you can get pretty creative with the flip 5 camera in ways that would be tougher on other phones I really can't blame people for thinking that the flippy form factor is nothing more than a gimmick but it is surprisingly convenient and makes sense in ways that I didn't expect for everyday use for example this phone is great to use on a table I can set it down and watch YouTube on my lunch break and set the screen to a comfy angle for viewing in fact YouTube will actually scale the app appropriately so you can have it in this partially open mode putting the video on the top half and the rest of the interface on the lower half a handful of apps also have similar functionality with one UI Flex window which will give you a touchpad and cursor for navigation I found this to be weirdly intuitive with Google Chrome which I wouldn't really use often but on a table it does make a bit of sense plus put simply the Z flip is a very tactile experience opening and closing the clamshell adds a bit of action and flare to something as mundane as checking your phone why did I pull it up to my ear I don't make phone calls anymore also I know a lot of you in the comments are going to be like opening your phone like that it's going to ruin it but I'll take that risk and someone did open and close this phone like 400,000 times before it saw any break so I'll take the chance but really my favorite feature on the flip 5 this year has to be this Flex window yes we've already talked about it in the video but being able to browse Twitter or X as well as take quick selfies or use a full version of Spotify without opening the phone makes the small form factor feel more Justified than ever before so much so that I think that this will be my daily driver for the next long while it's actually rare that I have fun testing phones believe it or not I mean look at it it's just so different and cool and small stop laughing I like it small um plus while I'm still on the fence about whether I like carrying the flip or fold more I think that the flip is a far easier phone to recommend this year the price is better there are more improvements done on this phone compar compared to last generation as well and based on the reception that I've been getting on Twitter people are genuinely more excited about the flip as far as foldables go the flip is King my tech Enthusiast brain gets all excited about devices like the flip 5 because they remind me a bit of when smartphones were still fresh new and rapidly evolving yes we are five generations into Samsung foldables at this point and there is still work to be done before it properly matures but having lived with the phone I can see why people love it a lot so yes Austin you win don't tell him though he's not my boss well by association he isMacho macho man this is the Galaxy Z flip 5 and it's been winning me over not only is it the newest entry to one of Samsung's most popular smartphones this generation brings a handful of substantial upgrades that add functionality and flare to make it a stronger cell than ever before so what exactly changed with the flip 5 why do people love it so much let's find out over the past few years Samsung has been working to make this Z flip line mainstream and generally speaking it's succeeded since the first generation launched in 2020 it's estimated that Samsung sold nearly 20 million units making it the most popular foldable on the market to date this honestly isn't much of a surprise given that past iterations were priced like normal Flagship phones at $11,000 but it isn't just price that makes the Z flip competitive the clamshell form factor that allows it to get pretty small when you aren't using it is its best selling point if it's comfortably in Pockets bags pouches and it's nice to hold if you simply want to carry it around normal smartphones can get pretty large these days so it's pretty cool to have a device that has a 6.7 in AMOLED display but can close to half the footprint of a standard smartphone it also helps that on the zflip 5 Samsung has made the outer screen or the flex window as they call it bigger at 3.4 in letting you do more stuff without having to flip it open is that Prime Z flip fan Austin Evans oh sorry what oh I was just Z flipping what's what's E apart from telling the time showing you push notifications and offering the usual slate of widgets like media controls calendar or timers the extra bits of screen real estate are enough to let you launch full Android apps which can open up a lot of possibilities for how you use the zflip now you can navigate with Google Maps watch YouTube videos or use Messenger to text your friends if you have any all of it works surprisingly well these apps and a handful of others are officially supported via the labs menu in the flip five settings but enable the goodlock multistar utility via the Galaxy store and now you're able to launch basically any app you'd like on the flex window just keep in mind that this is a pretty janky solution that Harbors no guarantees for how well certain apps will work especially given the small screen size and unique aspect ratio for example Instagram and Tik Tok are basically usable no they're not wow I forgot one crucial part of that word unusable but Spotify and X scale very well hell I even got genin impact running on it though the ergonomics of the controls on such a tiny screen are obviously impractical again some apps are going to be better suited than others for the flip 5's outer display with regards to functionality and usefulness but the sheer fact that basically anything will at least launch on it is super interesting while we're on the topic of upgrades the changes that Samsung made to the flip 5 are pretty minor on paper but I think are certainly welcome ones especially for those considering picking one up this year as always there's an annual spec bump this time it's to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy it's the best chip you'll find on an Android phone today which naturally yields great performance for things like gaming but the benefits of this chip also trickle down to battery life historically the Z flip was never the best at holding its charge for a full day but but the power efficiency gains of the 8 Gen 2 help add for an extra hour or two here and there which is enough to eliminate the charge anxiety I used to get in the evening with last generation Beyond power the main 6.7 in inner display on the flip 5 is also slightly improved peing at 1750 nits to match the rest of Samsung's flagship phones this means it'll also be easy to see outdoors in the sun additionally it might not be the most obvious visual change but the flip 5 also has a brand new hinge not only does it close the gap compared to previous generations but it also feels very smooth as well though nothing will feel as strong and rigid as the fold five hinge if you want to see my review on that I'll leave a link in the description below or click the card up top overall the minor spec bumps are good enough to bring the flip 5 to 2023 standards but what what is it actually like to live with as people will endlessly point out in the comments no one should consider buying a foldable expecting the level of maturity of conventional flat phones there are some downsides to consider while Samsung improved the hinge this year the crease on the main display is still very much present visually it's not something that I really noticed when the phone is on but you'll definitely feel it while touching the screen on that note without a proper dust resistance rating there are concerns about durability in the long term though in my own experience with foldables over the past couple of years I haven't had any problems also the flip 5 could do with newer camera hardware and a larger battery for the price of admission even despite the improvements in this area however in my opinion I think we're at a point with the flip where the tradeoffs are worth forgoing in the name of unique function ality not only have I had a lot of fun at testing the flip 5 over the past few weeks but the fact that it's a proper flip phone does have practical benefits that change the way that I go about certain tasks for example the form factor is very well suited for taking pictures especially selfies and group photos I found myself leaning on the flex window a lot which gives a rather helpful preview of what the shot looks like and the phone also of course stands on its own so you don't need to carry around a tripod or God forbid a selfie stick a gesture is all you need to take a photo which is to say that you can get pretty creative with the flip 5 camera in ways that would be tougher on other phones I really can't blame people for thinking that the flippy form factor is nothing more than a gimmick but it is surprisingly convenient and makes sense in ways that I didn't expect for everyday use for example this phone is great to use on a table I can set it down and watch YouTube on my lunch break and set the screen to a comfy angle for viewing in fact YouTube will actually scale the app appropriately so you can have it in this partially open mode putting the video on the top half and the rest of the interface on the lower half a handful of apps also have similar functionality with one UI Flex window which will give you a touchpad and cursor for navigation I found this to be weirdly intuitive with Google Chrome which I wouldn't really use often but on a table it does make a bit of sense plus put simply the Z flip is a very tactile experience opening and closing the clamshell adds a bit of action and flare to something as mundane as checking your phone why did I pull it up to my ear I don't make phone calls anymore also I know a lot of you in the comments are going to be like opening your phone like that it's going to ruin it but I'll take that risk and someone did open and close this phone like 400,000 times before it saw any break so I'll take the chance but really my favorite feature on the flip 5 this year has to be this Flex window yes we've already talked about it in the video but being able to browse Twitter or X as well as take quick selfies or use a full version of Spotify without opening the phone makes the small form factor feel more Justified than ever before so much so that I think that this will be my daily driver for the next long while it's actually rare that I have fun testing phones believe it or not I mean look at it it's just so different and cool and small stop laughing I like it small um plus while I'm still on the fence about whether I like carrying the flip or fold more I think that the flip is a far easier phone to recommend this year the price is better there are more improvements done on this phone compar compared to last generation as well and based on the reception that I've been getting on Twitter people are genuinely more excited about the flip as far as foldables go the flip is King my tech Enthusiast brain gets all excited about devices like the flip 5 because they remind me a bit of when smartphones were still fresh new and rapidly evolving yes we are five generations into Samsung foldables at this point and there is still work to be done before it properly matures but having lived with the phone I can see why people love it a lot so yes Austin you win don't tell him though he's not my boss well by association he is