Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Finally, a larger cover display and no more ‘thigh gap’

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The latest Galaxy Unpacked event is finally here and with it, Samsung is calling for you to join the flip side. While last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 offered minimal upgrades, the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 does actually have once major improvement that brings it on par with its competitors such as the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and the Oppo Find N2 Flip.

The big upgrade with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is of course its significantly larger cover display. Gone is the tiny 1.9-inch secondary screen, replaced with a new 3.4-inch Super AMOLED display that Samsung is calling the Flex Window. Shaped almost like a file icon and 3.78 times larger than the cover display on its predecessor, the Flex Windows has a 720 x 748p resolution allowing for a 306ppi pixel density. No fancy high refresh rate here though there is a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 over it for scratch resistance.

While other clamshell foldables already have larger cover displays, what likely sets the Galaxy Z Flip 5 apart from the crowd is its software. According to Samsung, the new Flex Window will allow for more usability, with widgets to easily access information such as the weather, control your music, check on notifications and so on. Multi Widget View also lets you view all of your widgets on the Flex Window just by pinching the screen. It also offers easy access to your Quick Settings such as toggling your WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as to get to the Samsung Wallet page.

Perhaps the most practical use case for the Flex Window though is the ability to reply messages using the cover display now. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 will allow you to reply to texts even when its closed, complete with a full QWERTY keyboard on screen and the ability to scroll through your text history. On top of WhatsApp, there’s also support for other commonly used apps like Google Maps, YouTube and Netflix. The larger Flex Window means you can now take better selfies than before too, as the viewfinder now won’t be cropping away the preview of your selfie.

As for the hinge, it’s now been revamped with a more durable, double rail design so that it no longer has a ‘thigh gap’ when closed, though you’ll still be able to fold it halfway and use it in Flex Mode like before. The new hinge gets the Galaxy Z Flip 5 down to uniform 15.1mm thick when folded, compared to the 15.9-17.1mm thickness that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 had. Its frame continues to be built out of Samsung’s Armor Aluminum, and despite the new hinge the Galaxy Z Flip 5 still retains an IPX8 rating.

When unfolded, you’ll find a 6.7-inch, FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display that’s capable of a 1 to 120Hz refresh rate, making it largely the same as its predecessor. The crease is also still there, and while it’s not as noticeable as before it still lags behind the Oppo Find N2 Flip’s main display. There’s also of course the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy mobile processor under the hood with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. It comes with Android 13 out of the box running One UI 5.1.1 skinned over it and Samsung is again promising 4 years of Android OS upgrades and five years of security patches.

In the camera department meanwhile you unfortunately don’t get much in terms of upgrades. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 retains the same dual camera setup on the rear: a main 12MP, f/1.8 camera with dual pixel AF alongside a 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide shooter offering a 123° field of view. The selfie camera is also mostly the same, with a 10MP, f/2.2 camera housed in a punch hole cut out in the main display, though you’ll probably be using the main rear camera for selfies with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 folded anyway.

Other features of note include a 3,700mAh battery, the same as the one on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, along with 25W wired fast charging, 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. You’ll also find a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers and support for WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC and 5G wireless connectivity.

Available in a flurry of colours such as Mint, Lavender, Cream, Graphite as well as the online exclusive Gray, Blue, Green and Yellow, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will start at RM4,499 for the 256GB model while for RM4,999 you get double the storage.