Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Z Flip 4: Is it worth upgrading?

• 

  Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

  Our top picks

  $800 1,000 Save $200

  The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 brings some major improvements over its predecessor, including no gaps when folded and a larger, more usable external display. There are also performance upgrades.

  advantage

  • A more practical external monitor
  • Performance improvements
  • Gap-free design

  shortcoming

  • No changes to the camera
  • Batteries remain the same

• 

  Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

  a good choice

  $725 1,000 Save $275

  The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 remains a solid choice for flip phones. It has a cute, space-saving design and offers a sturdy display and camera, flexible hinges, and multiple color options.

  advantage

  • Quality design
  • Excellent display
  • IPX8 rating

  shortcoming

  • no zoom camera
  • External monitor limited

Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Flip 5 at the Unpacked event on July 26, 2023. The cute, pocket-friendly flip phone launched alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Watch 6 series, and Galaxy Tab S9 series, but while those devices all offered the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with subtle updates to its predecessor that elevated it Up a level.

Some of the features we love about the Galaxy Z Flip 4 are the same as the Galaxy Z Flip 5, but there are a few differences that make it the best Galaxy Z Flip update yet. Here, we’ll look at how the Galaxy Z Flip 5 compares to the Galaxy Z Flip 4 to highlight the changes that have been introduced and help you decide if you should upgrade.

Although it’s still available on Amazon, the Flip 4 is becoming increasingly difficult to find new. The price has dropped significantly since the Flip 5 launched, so if you don’t have a Flip 4 yet, it’s now a very affordable phone. Likewise, if you’ve got your eye on the Flip 5, it’ll be cheaper when Samsung inevitably launches a new flip phone, so you can wait for costs to drop.

Prices, specifications and availability

The Flip 5 is a premium device for a pricey price

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 was officially released on July 26, 2023, and pre-orders started immediately. It will be available in the United States on August 11, with an initial price of $999. It’s available in mint, lavender, graphite and cream, as well as four colors exclusive to Samsung.com, including blue, green, gray and yellow.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 will start at $999 when it launches in the United States. It’s available globally and you can buy it from a number of different retailers, online and in stores, and there may be some discounts now that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has been announced. There are also a variety of colors to choose from, with four standard options: Bola Violet, Graphite, Pink Gold and Blue. Galaxy Z Flip 4 also comes in customization, allowing you to mix and match front, back and frame finishes to find your unique style.

We’ve put together a spec sheet comparing the key differences between the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 below, but if you want more details on how these two flip devices compare, keep reading for these numbers content other than.

• 	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
  system on chip	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy	Snapdragon 8+ first generation
  exhibit	6.7-inch AMOLED, 2640 x 1080, 120Hz (inside); 3.4-inch AMOLED, 748 x 720 (outside)	6.7-inch AMOLED, 2640 x 1080, 120Hz (inside); 1.9-inch AMOLED, 260 x 512 (outside)
  Battery	3700mAh/25W wired charging, 15W wireless charging	3700mAh/25W wired charging, 15W wireless charging
  Camera (rear, front)	12MP f/1.8 main camera, 12MP ultra-wide rear camera, 10MP f/2.2 front camera	12MP f/1.8 main camera, 12MP ultra-wide rear camera, 10MP f/2.2 front camera
  aspect	165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9 mm (unfolded), 85.1 x 71.9 x 15.1 mm (folded), 187 g	165.2 x 71.9 x 6.9mm (unfolded), 84.9 x 71.9 x 15.9-17.1mm (folded), 187g
  Protection level	IPX8	IPX8
  memory and storage	8GB RAM/256GB, 512GB storage	8GB RAM/128GB, 256GB, 512GB storage

design and build

Flip 5 no gaps

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a lovely design, and as we mentioned, it’s available in a variety of colors (75 to be exact), all with a lovely matte finish. Featuring horizontal folds, flat stainless steel edges and premium build quality. It doesn’t fold completely – so there’s a gap next to the hinge – and the outer display isn’t the biggest clamshell phone on the market, but overall, we like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

There are two cameras behind the outer display, while on the inside you’ll find an inner display with a central punch-hole camera on top. The water resistance rating is IPX8, so there’s no dust resistance rating, and there’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor rather than an under-display option like some other flagship non-folding phones offer.

Overall, the biggest change is the external display, which is significantly larger and more useful than the Z Flip 4.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5, meanwhile, offers a similar design to its predecessor but with a number of key improvements, including a claim that it’s 25% stronger. Elsewhere, the new model’s hinges have been redesigned to fold flat with no gaps next to the hinges, which is lovely. The Oppo Find N2 Flip doesn’t have any gaps, so it’s nice to see the Z Flip 5 follow this route.

Although there’s no gap, the IP rating is still IPX8, so like the Galaxy Z Flip 4, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is still not dustproof – something to keep in mind when you’re at the beach. Overall, the biggest change is the external display, which is significantly larger and more useful than the Z Flip 4 – more on that later. Inside, the central punch-hole camera sits on top of the internal display, just like the Z Flip 4, and the physical fingerprint sensor is also present again, as is the rear dual camera, so it’s familiar but very different from its predecessor at the same time.

Display, brightness and response

External monitors get a huge upgrade

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display when unfolded, with a central punch-hole camera on top. It offers 2640 x 1080 pixel resolution with a pixel density of 425ppi and a flexible plastic surface covered with UTG (ultra-thin glass). It also has an adaptive refresh rate that moves between 1Hz and 120Hz to maintain a smooth viewing experience depending on what you’re doing. It offers plenty of brightness and a great overall experience, including a feature called Flex Mode, which allows you to sit down with the phone and use the camera or any other optimized app.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is equipped with a 1.9-inch AMOLED screen on the back with a resolution of 512 x 260 pixels and a pixel density of 302ppi. It’s more of an information screen than a super useful one, although it does offer some functionality, including a camera viewfinder and some widgets like weather and alerts.

As we mentioned, the focus of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is its new, larger external display. While the internal display is the same as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with a 2640 x 1080 resolution and 22:9 aspect ratio, the external display is almost double the size. There’s now a 3.4-inch external display – larger than the Oppo Find N2’s 3.26-inch external screen – which has a resolution of 748 x 720 pixels and a pixel density of 305ppi.

That means it has roughly the same level of detail as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, but the larger size makes it more useful overall, which we’re glad to see. It’s also quite different from the original Galaxy Z Flip, which allowed you to do almost nothing on the external display. With the Galaxy Z Flip 5, you can customize it with images, clocks, and frames, and use the full keyboard to swipe to see notifications and replies. Core widgets such as SmartThings, Galaxy Buds Controller, and third-party widgets (including Netflix) are also supported.

hardware

Flip 5 adds faster processor

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which provides a super smooth and fast experience. It’s no longer Qualcomm’s latest platform since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was released in late 2022, but it’s still more than capable. There is support for 8GB of RAM, and storage options are 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, but none of them offer microSD support.

In terms of battery, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a capacity of 3700mAh and supports 25W charging and 15W wireless charging. The battery life is pretty good and we used it for a day without any issues, although we always bring more batteries.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5, like the Galaxy S23 series, runs the upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip. There are only two versions this time, both with 8GB RAM. The 128GB storage option in the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has been dropped in the Galaxy Z Flip 5, but it still doesn’t come with a microSD storage option, so if you have a lot of photos, or you like to take a lot of photos, you’ll want to make sure you get more storage .

Speaking of battery, while we’d like to see the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s capacity and charging speeds improve, especially now that it has a larger external display to power it, that’s not the case. It comes with the same 3700mAh capacity and 25W fast charging, but Samsung says that upgrading to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform will mean better battery life compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

camera remains the same

No noticeable changes to the camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 features a dual rear camera system, which includes a 12-megapixel main camera (1.8μm pixels, f/1.8 aperture), and a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor (1.12μm pixels, f/2.2 aperture) ). Its main sensor is 65% brighter than the Galaxy Z Flip 3, producing results that are lively and pop. While it can brighten dark scenes to give you more detail, it doesn’t offer the best low-light performance.

There is a 10-megapixel snapper on the front with 1.22-micron pixels and an aperture of f/2.4. Again, it’s not the best low-light performance, but you can use the external display as a viewfinder, which means you can use the rear camera to take selfies.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 follows in the footsteps of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and offers the same composition in terms of front and rear camera offerings. When it comes to taking photos, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 can produce similar results.

Case closed: Flip 5 is worth the upgrade

Then again, the Flip 4 is pretty cheap right now

Overall, the Galaxy Flip 5 brings some significant improvements to the design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, including the fact that the latest flip phone folds and offers a larger and significantly more useful external display, both of which are key. Some things haven’t changed – the cameras remain the same, as do the RAM and battery offerings – but the mobile platform the show runs on has been upgraded, which in turn should lead to performance upgrades. Overall, if you’re choosing between the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, the newer device is the clear winner.

If you own the Galaxy Z Flip 4 this time, some people may think not to upgrade because some elements are definitely similar, and if you want to save some money, some people may think to choose the Galaxy Z Flip 4. If you own a Galaxy Z Flip 3, or you’re in the market for a flip phone for the first time, you’re going to want the Galaxy Z Flip 5.