REVIEWS
Price: £1,049 from fave.co/41LmnxG
I can’t decide if folding phones are great or stupid, and it’s messing with my brain.
On one hand, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 is a marvel. It folds down from a regular smartphone size into a smaller, pocketable square shape. It’s fun. It comes in mint green.
But on the other hand its outer screen, while larger than on previous versions, is an admission of the compromise of a folding flip phone. It is meant to be folded shut sometimes. If you need a screen, just open it up. Don’t make me run apps on a tiny outer screen.
I’ve also found battery life to be merely okay, and the cameras on this £1,000+ phone are not good enough – both areas have not improved from 2022’s Z Flip4.
None of this changes the fact the Z Flip5 is still probably the best foldable you can buy in various ways. That’s mainly down to Samsung’s five years of software support, and the better after-sales support globally compared to flip phone rival Motorola. It’s also a cheaper foldable than Samsung’s own Galaxy Z Fold5. But after using the Flip for more than a week I can’t help but conclude you can get better cameras, battery life, and display from several phones that cost less. I don’t think you should buy this phone just because it folds in half, yet that remains the main reason to buy one.
DESIGN
The Galaxy Z Flip5 folds shut like the classic flip phones of the early 2000s, so it’s smaller to hold in your hand or store in a pocket or bag. It’s the opposite idea of the Galaxy Z Fold5, which is the size of a normal
