Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip has long been our favorite foldable phone — the Z Flip 4 in particular is excellent — but Samsung’s cute, compact clamshell has seen mostly iterative updates since it first landed back in 2020. It also just gained some very stiff competition in the recently released Motorola Razr+, which essentially takes the Z Flip design and adds in a huge cover display that lets you use all your key apps without even having to open up the phone.
So, how does Samsung answer for 2023? Well, by imitating right back. The new Galaxy Z Flip 5’s marquee feature is the Flex Window, which ditches the puny cover screen on last year’s model for a 3.4-inch display that’s much more useful for checking your calendar, snapping selfies and even using full-on apps like Google Maps and Netflix.
When you combine that with faster performance and a design that promises to be slimmer and more durable, you could be looking at a phone that retains the Z Flip’s spot on our best smartphones list. But can it compete with the Razr+? Here’s what we think after a few hours of early hands-on time.
Galaxy Z Flip 5 preorders and release date
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 improves on our favorite foldable phone with a larger cover screen, a faster processor and improved durability.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is up for preorder now starting at $1,000 and will be available widely on Samsung’s website as well as most major retailers on Aug. 11. You’ll have your choice of Mint, Graphite, Cream and Lavender from most stores as well as Gray, Blue, Green and Yellow options that are exclusive to Samsung’s website.
If you preorder through Samsung, you’ll get a free storage upgrade that’ll bump the starting 256GB model to 512GB. You can also save up to $900 on the device with an eligible trade-in. Additionally, folks who bundle their Z Flip 5 with the new Galaxy Tab S9 tablet and/or Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch can save up to $540.
Best Buy and Amazon are also offering a free storage upgrade for preorders as well as a free $100 gift card to each respective retailer.
When I first entered Samsung’s bright, pastel-colored event space and got my hands on the Z Flip 5, I had two immediate thoughts: “Dang, this place is really giving off Barbiecore” and “This phone sure looks a lot like the new Motorola Razr+.” I don’t mean the latter in a bad way, either. The Galaxy Z Flip was already one of the nicest-looking foldables around — and now it has a much better outer display that lets you do all your essential tasks before you even open it up.
Whereas the previous few Flips had a puny 2-inch cover screen for things like checking the time and seeing notifications, the Z Flip 5’s massively upgraded 3.4-inch Flex Window gives you a legitimate second display that does most of what you need a phone to do. That includes widgets that let you see the weather, check your calendar and view your text messages — and even respond to them with a full QWERTY keyboard. (The previous cover screen only allowed for preset replies.)
You can choose from a number of attractive outer lock screens for the Z Flip 5, from subtle options to a gorgeously animated cartoon heart whose reds and blues popped especially nicely on this screen. And when you want to take some rear-camera selfies, the Flex Window makes it much easier to actually see what you look like compared to the diminutive cover screen of old.
The Flex Window is a tiny bit smaller than the Razr+’s cover screen (3.4 inches versus 3.6 inches, to be exact), with an asymmetrical design that cuts off near the camera lenses rather than wrapping around them like Motorola’s display does. I find the Razr+’s screen to be sleeker and more seamless when looking at photos of the two phones side by side, but what really matters is how these two displays compare in real-world use. I also have questions about how versatile the Flex Window truly is — we were able to use most Android apps comfortably on the Razr+’s outer screen, while the Z Flip 5’s external display seems mostly designed for specific widgets. Either way, it’s great to see the other major flip phone embracing this kind of big cover screen. It’s a feature we found legitimately useful during our time with the Razr+ and helped us use our key apps without getting sidetracked by those accidental but endless social media scroll sessions.
Bigger cover screen aside, the Z Flip 5 is mostly the same attractive flip phone that earned a spot on our best smartphone rankings last year. While the larger Flex Window means there’s less of an outer chassis to admire, the phone’s shiny bottom half still looks attractive in a quartet of nice colors that include Mint, Graphite, Cream and Lavender. (I was most drawn to the latter two during my demo time.)
Samsung did make some noteworthy upgrades both inside and out, starting with a new “Flex Hinge” that promises to make the phone more durable for long-term bending and a slimmer overall body that promises to fold completely flat with no unsightly gaps. You’re also getting IPX8 protection against accidental water spills and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 across the entire back — something that should hopefully keep your phone safe from scuffs and scratches. I’ll have to put the Z Flip 5 side by side with the Flip 4 to see just how much has changed on the outside, but the phone’s sturdy yet lightweight aluminum design felt as great to hold as ever.
Once I flipped open the phone and started using some apps, the Z Flip 5 delivered the same snappy experience I’ve come to expect from a Samsung device. Scrolling through webpages and flipping through photos on that smooth 120Hz AMOLED display feels as great as ever, and Flex Mode, which automatically activates a number of cool dual-screen features once you prop the phone up in an L-shape, is still a novel delight. Doing this with the camera app open gives your Z Flip a built-in tripod of sorts, one that’s especially useful for snapping hands-free selfies or filming TikToks. And if you pick up the new Galaxy Watch 6 alongside the Z Flip 5, you can even use your smartwatch as a remote control for the camera — something that gives you all the perks of hands-free camera control without the pressure of that countdown timer.
Speaking of cameras, the Flip 5 promises to build on its predecessor’s solid photography chops with features like AI-powered Nightography for clearer, sharper pictures taken at night and digital 10x zoom for capturing more detail from a distance. We found the Z Flip 4’s cameras to be reliable — if not quite as good as the flagship Galaxy S series — so we’re eager to see how these improvements hold up in day-to-day use. Powering all these features is the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which delivered impressively fast performance on this year’s Galaxy S23 range and should give the Flip 5 a slight leg up on the Razr+ that’s powered by last year’s Snapdragon chip.
The Z Flip 5 is the most meaningful update we’ve seen to the Z Flip line in years, upgrading our favorite take on the modern flip phone with a large outer display that’s both practical and plain ol’ fun. If you like the idea of a super-pocketable phone that’s ideal for quick, minimalist use on the outside — much like the flip phones of old — while performing like a true modern smartphone once you open it, this could be the best version of the formula yet.
That said, flip phone fans have more quality options than ever now that the excellent Motorola Razr+ has hit the market. The Razr+ has a slightly bigger and potentially more versatile cover screen than the Z Flip 5, and its cleaner Android experience may appeal to folks put off by Samsung’s somewhat polarizing OneUI software. That said, the Z Flip 5 has better specs on paper, and judging by our time with previous models, it will likely offer a better camera experience than the Razr+’s somewhat underwhelming shooters. We’ll be putting the Z Flip 5 through its full paces to see how it stacks up — both against the Razr+ and the many great $1,000ish flagship phones out there — so stay tuned for our final verdict.
