Mario Bautista
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: Performance and battery life
Inside, Samsung has added the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip to handle all of the phone’s processing duties. This is the same, slightly tweaked, version of Qualcomm’s flagship chipset that we saw in the Galaxy S23 series, with a boosted clock speed of 3.6GHz versus the usual 3.3GHz. There’s also 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM as well as a 3,700mAh battery, which is the same as the Flip 4.
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So, as expected, performance compared last year’s model has improved, especially when it comes to CPU-related tasks. Running the Geekbench 5 test, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 achieved 18% faster speeds in the single-core portion of the test, with a 21% improvement in multicore processing.
Gaming is also faster, with the improvements here just as stark. When running the GFXBench Car Chase benchmark, the Z Flip 5 achieved an average frame rate score of 93fps, compared to the Z Flip 4’s 79fps.
Sadly, the 128GB model is no more, and the Z Flip 5 is only available with 256GB or 512GB of storage. Technically, this means we’re getting a price increase on what counts as the base model, with the 2023 phone launching at £1,049 compared to 2022’s £999 – while you might be getting double the storage, it would have been nice to at least have the option of a cheaper model with less storage.
In our battery benchmark tests, the Z Flip 5 had stamina that was about what you’d expect. Thanks to the more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the battery life is now a little longer – 22hrs 17mins in our video playback test, which was 1hr 6mins more than the Z Flip 4 achieved last year. Unfortunately, charging is still on the slow side, topping out at 25W when plugged in or 15W if you charge wirelessly, and there’s no charger in the box either.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5’s camera offerings remain unchanged: you’re getting a 12-megapixel (f/1.8) main camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) alongside another 12-megapixel (f/2.2) 123-degree ultrawide unit, or flip the phone open and you have the same 10-megapixel (f/2.2) selfie camera as before, housed within a central hole punch notch.
It’s no surprise then, that image quality is the same as before – not the best around, but, broadly speaking, you can still capture some lovely pictures with loads of detail and rich, bold colours. In fact, I was most impressed with the Z Flip 5’s use of HDR, which effectively softened highlights without dropping the overall brightness of the image.
I also really liked the quality of the Z Flip 5’s portrait images. My subject was well defined and nicely separated from the blurred background. Night mode shots are rather good, too, with minimal visual noise and natural-looking lighting.
However, the 12-megapixel ultrawide camera continues to be the weakest aspect – while it’s nice to have the option to squeeze more stuff into the frame, there’s a noticeable drop in quality, especially if lighting conditions aren’t ideal. Some of the wide images were a little too soft for my liking, and the lack of OIS made for some rather shaky shots.
As before, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can record video up to 4K resolution at 60fps but, unlike with Samsung’s S23 series, there’s no 8K recording, though its absence isn’t really an issue. The footage looks great and is rock steady even during fast movement.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: Verdict
Yet again, I’m impressed with Samsung’s latest flip-tastic smartphone. While last year’s model was the first foldable to really dip its toe into the mainstream, this updated 2023 version has been refined to such a degree that I’m now confident to say that foldables are finally worth considering, especially if it’s something you had initially dismissed.
