Samsung Debuts New Fifth-Generation Foldable Galaxy Z Smartphones

[MacRumors]

Samsung today announced the launch of its fifth-generation foldable smartphones, introducing the Galaxy Z Flip5 and the Galaxy Z Fold5. Samsung has been producing foldable smartphones since 2019, and the latest models have a range of new features that improve upon the foldable design.

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The Galaxy Z Flip5, priced starting at $1,000, is Samsung's smartphone that folds in half. When unfolded, it measures in at 6.7 inches, and when closed, there is a 3.4-inch interactive Flex Window available, which is the best new feature. Prior models had a small window that showed the time, notifications, camera controls, and other limited information, but the expanded window is 3.78 times bigger and almost functions as a full smartphone display.

In addition to supporting clocks that can match the face of Samsung's latest watches or Flipsuit Cases, the Flex Window supports widgets for checking the weather, taking and editing photos, texting, controlling music, making payments, browsing social networks, and even watching YouTube videos.

The flip design allows users to take hands-free selfies when the phone is half open, and there is a Dual Preview mode that lets a person being photographed see the result and make adjustments in real time. There are improved "Nightography" capabilities that optimize photos in situations with low light, and there's an AI-powered noise correction feature.

Camera hardware has not seen notable updates, with the Z Flip5 featuring a 10-megapixel selfie camera, a 12-megapixel ultra wide camera, and a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold5 is its flagship foldable smartphone, priced starting at $1,800. The Galaxy Z Fold5 opens like a book, and there is a new Flex Hinge design that improves the folding functionality. Samsung says that the Galaxy Z Fold5 is its thinnest and lightest Fold yet, and it is paired with a slimmer, more compact S Pen Fold.

There is a 6.2-inch Cover Screen that's usable as a standard smartphone when the Galaxy Z Fold5 is closed, and a 7.6-inch AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate when the device is unfolded. The main display's brightness has increased by upwards of 30 percent for improved viewing in bright sunlight.

Fold4 (top) vs. Fold5 (bottom)​

The Galaxy Z Fold5 is powered by the Snapdragon Gen 2 mobile platform (as is the Flip5). Samsung improved the software-based Taskbar of the device by allowing for quick switching between frequently used apps, and there is a two-handed drag and drop for moving content between apps.

Cameras include a 10-megapixel selfie camera, a 4-megapixel under display camera, a 12-megapixel rear ultra wide camera, a 50-megapixel rear wide-angle camera, and a 10-megapixel rear telephoto camera. Other features include 12GB memory, up to 1TB internal storage, a 4,400mAh battery, and a fingerprint sensor.

Along with new smartphones, Samsung today also introduced the Galaxy Watch6 series and new Galaxy Tab tablets. The Galaxy Watch6 and Galaxy Watch6 Classic feature slimmed-down bezels, 20 percent larger displays, improved peak brightness, longer battery life, and an improved user interface.

Health features include sleep score calculations, sleep consistency ratings, body composition measurements, personalized heart rate zone information, fall detection, irregular heart rhythm notifications, menstrual cycle tracking, and skin temperature measurements. Pricing starts at $300 for the Galaxy Watch6 and $400 for the Galaxy Watch6 Classic.

The Galaxy Tab S9, S9+, and S9 Ultra feature 11-inch, 12.4-inch, and 14.6-inch display sizes, respectively. The S9+ and S9 Ultra have dual rear camera setups, with all three tablets offering on-screen fingerprint recognition, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips, and S Pen support... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Samsung Debuts New Fifth-Generation Foldable Galaxy Z Smartphones

 

[McJobs]

Deleted.

 

[steve09090]

First words from MKBHD: This is what happens when Samsung settles!

New hinge, new chip. Wow!

 

[Brain Damage]

I used Samsung for a while and never again. They amount of bloatware are crazy. The whole feel of it all is...cheap. It looks cheap and feels cheap.

Android are obviously a great OS, no denying that. But what Samsung does with it and with their products are not the greatest showcase for it. It baffles me that Samsung are such a big player in the phone/tablet business.

 

[steve09090]

Maybe someday Apple will sell foldables too.

I guess if Samsung are going to be lazy and barely make a change year on year, what would Apple have to offer? The only benefit I see for a flip is the outside screen, and that would require a massive upgrade on iOS to have that as a benefit.

 

[klasma]

The Flip form factor could actually win me over to Android once the mini 13 becomes obsolete. I hope Apple will provide an alternative.

 

[bobcomer]

Maybe someday Apple will sell foldables too.

I certainly hope so!

I'll probably get a flip 5. But not as a replacement for my iPhone, yet. If they ever make a decent watch, maybe. (I have 2 phones right now, one android, one iPhone.)

 

[contacos]

I am willing to try one of those someday. Simply because I like to play around with new things and having a phone and tablet in one sounds interesting. I am also getting a little "bored" with iOS and iPhone. I am not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, it just means it is good enough but I like to try some new tech every once in a while.

However, the Fold is unfortunately still too narrow in "Smartphone Mode". Last year I was already like "maybe next year" and here we are, same problem *sigh* Maybe next year ...

I do love the bigger outside screen on the flip though!

 

[Darren.h]

GREAT PRODUCT UPDATES FROM SAMSUNG.

very tempting. especially the fold 5

I'm waiting for closer performance to apple m series processors before I get the big Samsung tablet.

 

[Kylo83]

Folds are still a gimmick

 

[Darren.h]

I certainly hope so!

I'll probably get a flip 5. But not as a replacement for my iPhone, yet. If they ever make a decent watch, maybe. (I have 2 phones right now, one android, one iPhone.)

Flip 4 would break quite often right where it folds according to ATT employees they told me.

Very expensive to fix when this phone screen breaks. No issues with the Fold 5 screen.

 

[The Game 161]

Samsung just aren’t really trying when it comes to fold. Flip looks good though

 

[Leon Ze Professional]

I would like to give Samsung credit for creating really nice slick looking tablets with very inviting screens.

In addition, a shout out to Samsung for providing blood pressure and ECG monitoring and the irregular heart beat notifications are great and meaningful consumer additions to the Galaxy Watch.

 

[orbital~debris]

The bundling option is nice, I’ll give them that.

Something like this would be appreciated by those of us Apple users who upgrade multiple devices around the same time.

 

[syklee26]

Folds are not gimmick. It has value as Blackberry type business phone. In fact, Samsung should drop their attempts to make their phones “cool” and “stylish” and try to add more business features to penetrate that market.

Looks like the hinges are improving in terms of usability and looks. Hope Samsung keeps improving. Competition is always a win for consumers.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Still treating their customers like lab rats I see. It says it all when they’re still marketing an improvement to the core feature - the folding - over meaningful additions. Is it any wonder Apple is watching and waiting?

 

[steve09090]

GREAT PRODUCT UPDATES FROM SAMSUNG.

very tempting. especially the fold 5

I'm waiting for closer performance to apple m series processors before I get the big Samsung tablet.

I’m wondering what the great updates are?

 

[ninethirty]

Solution in search of a problem.

 

[ofarlig]

I’m wondering what the great updates are?

Much thinner than the Fold 4 is what makes me very interested, add some extra battery improvements from the chip and maybe a more efficient display. Just wondering if I can get out of the Apple ecosystem or not without it becoming annoying.

 

[ninethirty]

Folds are not gimmick.

Yeah, they are. There's a reason Apple hasn't made their own.

 

[one more]

I used Samsung for a while and never again. They amount of bloatware are crazy. The whole feel of it all is...cheap. It looks cheap and feels cheap.

Android are obviously a great OS, no denying that. But what Samsung does with it and with their products are not the greatest showcase for it. It baffles me that Samsung are such a big player in the phone/tablet business.

Well, Samsung do excellent screens, used by Apple, as well as put large batteries inside.

IMO these two components alone + affordability (check out their Galaxy A series, for example) make them very attractive to many people.

 

[one more]

Yeah, they are. There's a reason Apple hasn't made their own.

Apple will follow the money. If they see that people want foldables, they will cook something up, stat.

 

[JCCL]

Folds are still a gimmick

Still a much more interesting gimmick than your “dynamic island”

 

[ELman]

The flip looks like a hit to me. It's nice to see Samsung trying out different styles and designs.

 

[ofarlig]

Yeah, they are. There's a reason Apple hasn't made their own.

The reason Apple haven‘t made their own is because they haven’t made much interesting at all lately. They got scared and stopped innovating to stay ahead of others which means it gets less and less interesting to be in the ecosystem. I think their current “same as last year but slightly faster” is getting old fast, which means I gotta look elsewhere for innovation.