Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: One Year On Review

It has been almost a year since Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Galaxy Z Fold 5. In fact, the launch of their successors is just around the corner, and we won’t have to wait too long. But back then, we only reviewed the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which you can read about here.

However, we also had a unit of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, which we’ve continuously used until this day. And since we didn’t get to review it back then, we decided why not do one now almost a year since we got our hands on it to see how it fairs today.

So in this review, we’ll be checking out a well-used Samsung 17 Galaxy Z Flip 5, and how it has held up after a year of use. More importantly, it also begs the question whether or not you should consider buying one right now.

Design and Construction

We’re all familiar with the clamshell design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series. But on the Z Flip 5, Samsung did fit a larger 3.4-inch screen panel to the front cover. On the previous model, this was only a small 1.9-inch screen, and you were limited in what you could do. We’ll discuss more about the front screen later though.

With the addition of the new larger screen, Samsung had to relocate the camera location. The most subtle but important change Samsung made would be the hinge on the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The redesigned hinge now allows the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to close almost completely flat without any gap at the rear.

The result? You get a cleaner-looking phone when it’s closed. It’s also a few millimeters thinner since there gap is now invisible. Specifically, it only measures 15.1mm thin now when closed. But the question you might be wondering is – how has the hinge held up after a year?

Well after a year, the hinge has become a bit looser, which is something I did expect. It’s not that loose that the screen will automatically close though. But compared to when we got it new, it has become looser, especially when closing it. Still, it can sit at a 90-degree angle without issue.

In terms of durability, I must say the aluminum frame is a lot tougher. Unfortunately, I did drop this phone accidentally over the year a few times, but there are barely any noticeable scratches on the frame. I also kept it in my pocket all the time which had another phone and sometimes house keys. Of course, if you nitpick you will see the small blemishes, but other than that, it has held up very well.

In addition, the volume rocker and power button still feel solid. There are also no signs of the phone coming apart whatsoever. So yeah, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has held up well even after a year.

Display and Multimedia

As mentioned earlier, the most significant changes Samsung made to the Galaxy Z Flip 5 are the displays. The cover screen now measures 3.4 inches and uses a Super AMOLED panel. Rather than just being able to do simple things like change music, check the time, and see notifications, you can now do more without having to open the phone.

The most convenient function is using the cover screen to take photos. This means you get to take selfies using the main camera. You don’t even need to open the phone anymore to do so. And you can even set it up in a way to record video and take photos of yourself or with friends from afar. It’s just so useful.

Outside of taking photos, you can also check out messages through the cover screen and even reply. There are also more widgets you can add including a dedicated Spotify widget, timer, step counter, and more.

After a year, I must say the cover screen is sturdy and very scratch-resistant. The Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 did its job protecting the cover screen from my keys and my other phone when it’s in my pocket.

Open up the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and you’re greeted by a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that features a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1750 nits of peak brightness. We already know just how beautiful the display can be since this is a Samsung AMOLED panel. And with 1750 nits of peak brightness, you can see everything on the screen even on a bright summer day.

The question on your mind about the display is about the crease. Depending on what kind of user you are, it can get worse, or you can try to preserve it to the best of your ability for as long as possible (however long that may be), but its quality will surely degrade over time. It’s just the nature of most folding-OLED displays on smartphones nowadays.

So far though, the crease has remained the same (it’s still very visible). The portion near the hinge isn’t folding up nor is the screen protector damaged, which is the important bit. It has accumulated some minor scratches, but it doesn’t affect the performance of the screen. So overall, the foldable display has held up well. As for the speakers, they’re still loud and they aren’t blown out even after playing games and watching videos.

Cameras

The cameras on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 have always been great, even at launch. You get a dual-camera system highlighted by a 12MP main shooter with PDAF and OIS, and it is paired with another 12MP ultrawide, giving you some versatility when taking photos. For selfies, you do get a 10MP front camera, which I honestly rarely used since it’s easy to take photos with the main camera.

So it’s not surprising that even after a year, the dual-rear camera still takes nice photos as before. Despite taking numerous photos and videos for almost a year, the images still come out sharp, and the colors are very accurate. The phone does a great job of enhancing the images, and they don’t look overly edited.

Check out the gallery here to see the photos I’ve taken over the course of a year, and see if there are any changes to the sharpness and clarity (hint, there is no change).

It’s a similar story when shooting video. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 can record video at a maximum of 4K@60FPS for those nice and crisp shots. At 4K, you even get some form of stabilization that helps when taking video. Even in low light, the video quality remains decent and workable.

But if you want to capture some smooth cinematic shots, you can turn on Ultra Steady mode. However, you will be limited to 2K@30FPS max. And do note that the quality of Ultra Steady mode isn’t the best, especially when in low light. Capturing the same scenery on 4K, you’ll notice the grain and lack of sharpness when Ultra Steady is turned on.

Check out the sample videos below for reference.

OS, Apps, and UI

When I first got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, it ran on an older version of One UI which was based on Android 13. At the time, it was already decent and the phone didn’t come with a load of bloatware apart from the usual Samsung apps. It was smooth too, and several personalization options made it easier to customize the look of the UI.

Today, it now runs on the latest Samsung software – One UI 6.1– which is based on Android 14. More importantly, you now get all of the cool features that the newer Samsung Galaxy phones have such as AI. These include the photo editor (allowing you to select the subject) and even a voice recorder that lets you transform recordings into text and summaries.

Of course, you still get your usual suite of Android 14 features including multi-window, the smart sidebar, and floating notifications to name a few. But with the update to One UI 6.1, the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s capability has gone up a lot since it was first released.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. Our unit comes with 8GB of RAM and only 256GB of internal storage. Since it has been my daily phone, I did install a bunch of apps and games that I play occasionally. Not to mention I also took a lot of photos since I got my hands on it.

With that, I’ve already used up around 94GB of space. Still, there’s no sign of the phone slowing down or lagging. That’s considering I have already updated the phone to One UI 6.1 which now comes with the newer AI functions.

Even if I leave multiple games and other apps running in the background, I can still go about watching videos on Netflix and YouTube on the Z Flip 5. Playing games is no issue too. I even installed the new Wuthering Waves game, which is a lot more graphic-intensive than Genshin, and it handles the game without any issues.

While we did run benchmarks before, I decided to run our usual benchmarks once more to see whether the scores went up or down. And so far, they didn’t seem to change that much. You may check out the benchmark scores below.

AnTuTu V10.2.6 – 1014704

AnTuTu Storage Test:
Sequence Read – 3027.7 mb/s
Sequence Write – 3005.0 mb/s
Random Access Read – 783.0 mb/s
Random Access Write – 626.0 mb/s

Geekbench 6 Single Core – 1802
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core – 5166 
Geekbench 6 GPU – 7465

3DMark Wild Life – Maxed Out! 
PCMark Work 3.0 Performance – 16858

Battery and Connectivity

One of the weaknesses of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip model has always been the battery life. It only comes with a 3700mAh battery pack, which isn’t that big. And if you’re someone who plays games a lot (like me), you will end up looking for a plug or a power bank after just an hour of gaming.

As you all know, the battery life of smartphones tends to degrade over time, and the Z Flip 5 is no exception. There is no battery health status on the Z Flip 5 to see how the phone’s battery is doing too. But so far, it doesn’t seem to be that bad compared to when I first got the unit.

I did end up running PC Mark’s Work 3.0 Battery test once again, and I got a result of 9 hours and 22 minutes. For reference, when I first ran the test, it scored 9 hours and 45 minutes. It’s not bad considering the numerous charging cycles the battery has gone through.

As for connectivity, there’s nothing new here. You get the usual 5G, Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC.

Conclusion

So if you’re having doubts about the durability of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, then there’s no need to worry. Samsung has made it a lot more durable especially compared to the phone’s predecessors. Specifically, the screen no longer lifts and no additional creases were made. The hinge is more durable too, and doesn’t feel like the two halves are coming apart.

With that, you can have peace of mind if you plan on buying a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 right now. For reference, prices for the Galaxy Z Flip currently start at PHP 58,491USD 997INR 84,496EUR 949CNY 7,259 for the 8GB+256GB variant on the Samsung Philippines website. This means the phone is being offered at a discounted compared to when it first launched. You can also save up to PHP 49,000USD 835INR 70,785EUR 795CNY 6,081 with Samsung Trade-In.

But with the next-generation Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Fold models just around the corner, the question now is whether or not you should wait for the new models. If you decide to get the Z Flip 5, then you definitely won’t be short-handed, and based on our experience it is quite durable. At the same time, you might also want to see what the new Galaxy Z Flip has to offer.

After reading everything, what would you do? Would you buy the Galaxy Z Flip 5 at a discount now, or wait for the next one? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

What we liked:
* The display still looks great
* Nice cameras
* Great performance
* More durable

What we didn’t like:
* The crease is still evident
* Short battery life

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 specs:
6.7-inch HD+ (2640 x 1080 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display, 120Hz refresh rate
3.4-inch (720 x 748 pixels) Super AMOLED Display, 60Hz refresh rate
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 Made for Galaxy SoC
8GB LPDDR5 RAM
256GB, 512GB
12MP f/1.8 OIS, dual-pixel AF main camera
12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide
10MP f/2.2 selfie camera
nano SIM w/ e-SIM
5G, 4G LTE
WiFi 6E
Bluetooth 5.3
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo
NFC
USB-C
Capacitive fingerprint scanner
Face Unlock
IPX8 water and dust resistance
Armor Aluminum body
Android 13 with One UI 5.1.1
3,700mAh dual battery, 23W fast charging
71.9 x 85.1 x 15.1mm (dimensions, closed)
71.9 x 165.1 x 6.9mm (dimensions, open)
187 grams (weight)