I've been team iPhone for seven years in
the Samsung Galaxy Z flip 5 is making me
question my loyalty but is it actually a
good phone or just a nostalgic gimmick
and after using the z-flip 5 for a few
weeks I'm here to tell you how
remarkable if it times underwhelming
this thing can really be remember the
z-flip 5 costs the same as a new iPhone
and clearly Samsung cares about this
idea because wow the external display is
massive compared to the z-flip 4. and we
finally have the wedgeless it still has
a negligible two millimeter Gap but
who's counting foldable that everyone's
been dreaming of but I just don't
understand why I'm so drawn to this
thing when I'm perfectly comfortable
with my iPhone 14 pro Max well Brett
satiated my morbid curiosity and gave me
permission to take this bad boy home and
I can't believe he trusted me that much
the foldable hinge is obviously the main
selling point I mean flip is in the name
of the device but it's a feature that
houses several others within it which
we'll get to but I have to address a few
things first yes if super satisfying to
flip open and closed
and I could probably do this until the
end of time but my squishy mortal body
just won't let me do that like me the Z
flip 5 is very much Mortal although it
is ipx8 water resistant or submersible
up to around one meter for up to 30
minutes there is no dust resistance this
is why it's so important that the model
has the new wedgeless design to make it
less prone to straight up clam shelling
into a pile of dust and ruining the
screen it can still happen but now it's
a tiny bit safer coming from an iPhone
though this is a little concerning all
modern iPhones and even the flagship
Samsung mobile devices have an ip68
rating meaning they do have dust
resistance and can be submerged up to
six meters for up to 30 minutes I feel
very confident about my iPhone's
durability but the flip 5 not so much
but that's just one of the sacrifices
that has to be made for the flip that
and the crease which is definitely
noticeable but really only when the
interior screen is either off or you're
viewing it from an angle it feels a
little weird gliding your fingers over
it all the time but you get used to it
pretty easily thankfully it's sturdy
enough for usual wear and tear which is
important moving from the standard candy
bar the z-flip 5 could be a cause for
concern for those worried about their
device's durability it's definitely not
going to be as sturdy as my iPhone 14
pro Max while the hinge is open anyway I
have yet to feel the need to be delicate
with this thing any more than other
smartphones also when the z-flip 5 is
closed it feels incredibly solid the
cover screen is made out of Gorilla
Glass which is more necessary than you'd
think because the device is super glossy
and slippery to the touch I'd really
recommend getting a case to give the
flip 5 a more grippy texture so you're
not misinputting and dropping the device
like I've been Samsung's nomenclature
referring to anything having to do with
the z-flip fives flippiness is flex
which is where things get interesting
you can enable Flex mode in any app you
want which enables you to control the
phone entirely from the bottom portion
of the screen whenever you partially
fold it I actually really like it
because it essentially just turns your
phone into a tiny laptop with a little
touch pad on the bottom and a cursor
that you can move around on the top
portion of the Interior screen and it's
really cool to see it happening in my
hands because this is the kind of
experimental Jank that we would never
see come out of an iPhone until it's
anything less than cohesive at least
some apps on the Z flip 5 like the
camera and YouTube even have custom
supported versions of this that
justifies such an overall weird feature
that should technically still work to a
certain extent on a normal non-foldable
device even if you're not in Flex mode
you're still able to use the flex
orientation as a sort of kickstand this
makes it good for watching YouTube
videos while you're cooking cleaning or
basically anything else which is awesome
because I'm just always watching silly
little videos while doing other stuff I
just can't help but be a little
disappointed though because watching
videos on my 14 pro Max propped up with
a pop socket just looks better I'll tell
you what my iPhone can't do though run
multiple apps on the same screen at the
same time and while that's not
necessarily a new Android feature it's
new to me dang it and it tickled my
lizard brain to be able to watch Family
Guy compilations on one side of the
screen and play Subway Surfers on the
other you could all also probably use
this for like productivity and work and
emails and other stuff but I like the
family guy thing I am able to watch
things in picture-in-picture mode on my
iPhone but the ability to run two
non-video oriented apps side by side
just isn't integrated in the iPhone
ecosystem and while videos might not
look as amazing while the screen is
flexed the sound is way better since
there's a speaker on the bottom of the
device it shoots the audio straight
towards you which makes up for the
smaller picture of it I did toy around
with slightly bending the screen while
in landscape mode and cropping it up to
watch videos on the flip 5 but it just
kind of didn't look right and the
viewing angle was terrible so I would
not recommend this what I would
recommend is the flex display which is
the external display on the z-flip 5.
and oh boy is this thing nicer than the
one on the Z flip for on this generation
you're getting a 720 by 748 AMOLED
display that has a max brightness of
1600 nits making it fully visible
outside in daylight which is great
because it all almost functions like a
smartwatch display it's kind of like a
separate OS that complements the main
event if that makes sense it's something
Apple can't even pretend to compete with
right now we've heard rumors of a
foldable iPhone but even if it's real
we'll never get a good look at it until
this type of Technology becomes more
meaningful to potential customers other
reviewers have talked about how the flex
display sort of functions as a way to
use your device with less of a
commitment because there's fewer
features available to you until you fold
and open which I agree with since it
gives you the time easy camera access a
handful of widgets like the weather or
calendar call history notifications Etc
but what I really like is the ability to
have a separate app drawer available
from the external display for certain
apps that have been optimized for this
weird screen size I have YouTube
WhatsApp and Google Maps loaded on right
now and it's legitimately impressive and
satisfying to be able to type back to my
group chat on a full-sized qwerty
keyboard on this awesome tiny display
and what's more is that the supported
apps here have continuity so for example
if you have the YouTube app open up on
the external display and open up the
phone bam you'll be in the same app in
the same spot on your phone is that
completely necessary no is it convenient
absolutely that continuity also applies
to the camera too which makes it super
versatile Google Maps is a cool addition
as well as janky as it looks on the tiny
display this could be really useful for
when you're walking around you don't
have to have a massive block that is the
iPhone in your hand instead you just
have a cute little folded up flip 5 that
sits safely in your palm Maps kind of
wants to position you off center a
little bit which is annoying but still
cool I did try putting a pop socket on
the back part of the flip to use with my
pop socket car mount I have on my
dashboard but since so much of the flip
5 is screen real estate it just became
an inconvenience because it sits so low
on the phone you can't use it as a
landscaped kickstand like on my iPhone
because it's not centered enough and
when the flip is in Flex mode it just
Falls over so if you do want to mount
the flip 5 in your car one of those
magnetic pad things might be a better
idea also I want to bring up what I've
been calling tent mode
that if you're using the cover display
you can sort of half open the phone to
use another kickstand orientation and
while it's cool to have it as an option
and it kind of reminds me of the Lenovo
Yoga it doesn't make a ton of sense the
only thing I can see using this for is
watching videos and the cover display is
lower resolution and now the speakers
aren't firing towards you so the audio
quality is noticeably worse and while
this isn't a feature that's comparable
to anything that an iPhone can offer
when you think about how much more
useful this is than the flip 4 screen
that's way smaller and basically only
shows notifications it seems like a
massive chunk the flip 5's camera is
something I'm equally disappointed and
excited about on one hand having access
to the two 12 megapixel rear facing
cameras makes taking selfies effortless
and photos can look amazing but on the
other hand it feels less fleshed out
than Apple and Samsung's other Flagship
devices I feel like the flip in the flip
5 provides a unique photography
experience because of the built-in
selfie capabilities and the ability to
use the device itself as a kickstand or
tripod the photos are definitely
comparable to the ones you can take on
an iPhone 14 pro but the lack of a
telephoto lens is kind of painful at
this price point oh yeah this thing
costs a thousand dollars which is the
same price that the 14 pro is going for
that being said the portrait mode on the
z-flip 5 genuinely surprised me this
thing actually takes some Awesome
Selfies you can even pinch to zoom out
while on the selfie mode on the exterior
display to access the wide-angle lens
which makes taking selfies where let's
say your entire family is sitting at the
table at a restaurant way easier to
capture the first day I spent with the Z
flip 5 I was driving home and noticed a
person riding a motorcycle a few cars
back wearing a really weird helmet while
we were stopped at a red light I was
able to confidently pick up the flip 5
while it was closed open the camera and
then confidently snap this picture with
the 12 megapixel camera to get a better
look at the guy for later that's
something I would have never even
thought of doing with my iPhone because
I know too much quality would have been
lost at the distance to make anything
out with the built-in selfie cam the
internal camera on the flip 5 though
it's actually kind of whack I think it
just looks washed out and grainy
especially when compared to the other
cameras this wouldn't be a problem
really except for in some apps like
Snapchat that don't allow you to close
the device and use the good cameras for
selfies as far as I could find which is
a little bit of a letdown but you can
always just use the native camera app to
import photos into those apps which
again is an absolute Joy on the external
display the camera icon is right there
when the little screen lights up and you
can even set the power button to Auto
open the camera when you double press no
you're not just locked to one by one
like I thought at first and take photos
videos and even portrait mode photos
right from your tiny little Flex display
all of which also applies to whenever
you have the device unfolded too but
while it's unfolded you can also display
a preview of the photo on the exterior
display too which I thought was pretty
neat you can even adjust your Zoom
levels from the external display which
believe it or not you couldn't do on any
of the other z-flip phones it's not as
high quality of an experience as an
iPhone 4 14 pro Max but it is much more
of a tailored one something that you
definitely couldn't do on the older
phones is the insane levels of
customization that the z-flip 5 gives
you access to you can legitimately give
this device a meaningful makeover using
just the pre-installed configurations
for the lock screens both the interior
and exterior lock screens are fully
customizable from the wallpaper patterns
so the variations of those patterns to
the colors and the variations of those
patterns all the way down to how your
notifications are delivered to you want
a different font on your clock here you
go move it slightly to the left and make
it really small you bet you can spend a
lot of time setting up your ideal look
in this thing and it's all part of the
experience it kind of reminds me of when
Apple released iOS 16 and they had all
those new lock screen customization
options but here it's somehow done even
better you can somehow legitimately
create a really personalized lock screen
without even using any of your own
custom images which is really cool this
phone is adorable and I love making it
even cuter with these little features
but with the device this quirked up
there's actual draw drawbacks that are
kind of hard to ignore this thing Sports
a 3 700 milliamp hour battery which is
fine but nothing more it's got a little
more juice to it than the flip 4 but not
much especially if you're like me and
really enjoy having an always-on display
on the device's exterior which is
something I've really grown accustomed
to while using the iPhone 14 pro Max the
flip 5's outside screen is locked to 60
hertz unlike the interior's 1 to 120
variable refresher and because of this
there's way too much power being
constantly delivered to the outside
display so I wouldn't recommend keeping
it always on but I'm going to keep it on
anyway and just keep complaining about
it and you can't stop me what an
effective
until the end of the day but nothing
really beyond that unlike my iPhone that
I've occasionally forgotten to charge a
night and it got me through the next day
no problem and since the z-flip 5 is
such a weird shape you'll probably
notice it only gets hot on the top part
that's because that's where the battery
is and also that prevents proper thermal
dissipation so it throttles hard
especially when you're doing some
intensive Android gaming it's something
that you may or may not notice but at
the very least can serve you some
battery life speaking of gaming it
actually feels really nice to play
something like Call of Duty Mobile on
the flip 5 because the screen has a
weird aspect ratio of 22x9 but it gives
a really cool Ultra wide effect that
I've never experienced in Mobile gaming
before and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen
2 for Galaxy is the expected amount of
Snappy and performancy
you mean dragoning
Dragon what nope but unfortunately the
goofy screen shape also makes this thing
weirdly thin in certain apps like
Discord and chrome I actually found that
using the Samsung web browser is
preferable to me because you can adjust
the default Zoom levels and make it look
a little less cramped also just a couple
of side notes even if you don't have the
Flex View enabled on the YouTube app
it'll still do this cool thing where it
blacks out the top and bottom portions
of the upper half of the Interior
display when you bend it it made me way
more excited than it should have but
does all of that stuff make the gimmick
that is the flip worth the money well
maybe if you're someone who values your
time you could argue that the separation
of functionality between the open and
closed states of the flip 5 can keep you
from wasting your day on your phone in
certain instances iPhones don't give you
that are you sure you want to commit
step that is opening the phone and one
wrong move can send you doom scrolling
for the next hour checking your messages
on the Z flip 5 isn't nearly as risky
because you can just do it without fully
unlocking your device and you won't get
tempted by Reddit if you get bothered by
little things it's important to note
that the flip 5 a lot of the time won't
lay at a perfect 180 degrees but more
like 179. let me be clear
from a technical perspective this device
is all around a downgrade from an iPhone
14 pro but you're also getting two
screens for the price of one or more
accurately one and a half screens for
the price of one committing to the
z-flip 5 is compromising on quality and
usability to effectively Dual Purpose
your mobile device as a fidget toy but
if that fidget toy also had a bunch of
cool and unique features I personally
would like to see some better folding
integration with apps that use the
camera so I can do things like take
higher quality selfies on apps like
Snapchat but that would require way more
mainstream adoption of the flip format
but also a more robust battery life and
wider vertical aspect ratio might sell
me more on the flip 5 too probably the
biggest barrier for me to switch though
is my Apple credit card no I got you
locked in oh yeah see apple makes you
set up their credit card payments
through the settings in your iPhone
which makes it seem really daunting to
try and Escape their platform and if
that's scaring you into staying with
them don't worry it's just like a normal
credit card you are able to pay your
bill through their website just like any
other credit card you'll just be
foregoing the Apple pay capabilities
I've seen a lot of people excuse the
fact that the z-flip 5 compromises on
Hardware by saying that it makes up for
it in charm and customization and
they're not wrong but the Sarah dopamine
that I get from snapping this thing
closed is
foreign
kiss and I think I understand why now
it's just fun swapping to the z-flip 5
from the iPhone 14 pro Max isn't a
practical decision but neither is buying
a Miata staying up late playing fortnite
or being a YouTuber I could go into more
detail about how revolutionary the
external display is by limiting your
access to time wasting apps while
consuming less battery life but I just
don't feel like I have to if you like
the idea of having this coupled with the
nostalgic oh so satisfying snap you get
when you flip this thing shut you're
likely already sold on the idea of
buying it's understandable to be
skeptical of using this thing but I
promise you if you're excited about the
flip aspect this device gives you every
opportunity to make as much use out of
it as possible don't get me wrong it's
completely unnecessary and honestly a
little hard to get used to it first but
I just think it's neat and who knows
maybe we'll look back at this in 10
years wondering why the heck did we want
to have foldable screens anyways but for
now I'm just glad that I got to be a
part of this mess if you want this thing
I said get