Update 27/07/2023: India Prices and availability have been updated below.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has been launched by Samsung alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Out of the two foldables, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the one that has been treated with a major redesign. The Flip 5 not only gets a bigger cover screen but also has a more powerful Chipset over the Flip 4 from 2022.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Price
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in two variants, namely 8GB + 256GB and 8GB + 512GB. It is available in Mint, Graphite, Cream, and Lavender hues, as well as a range of accessories including a Clear Gadget Case, Flap Eco-Leather Case, Flipsuit Case and Silicone Case with Ring. Four additional colours for the Z Flip 5 including Gray, Blue, Green, and Yellow will remain exclusive to Samsung’s own website if you want to purchase those shades.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 costs $999 (approx Rs 82,000) for the base model while the top-end model costs $1,120 (approx Rs 91,800).
India Price, Availability
As for the India prices, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in 8GB + 256GB comes at Rs 99,999 while the 8GB + 512GB model comes at Rs 1,09,999. It will be available in Mint, Cream, Graphite, Lavender colours while Samsung website exclusive colours include Gray, Green and Blue.
Customers pre-booking Galaxy Z Flip 5 will get benefits worth Rs 20,000 including a Rs 12,000 upgrade and a bank cashback of Rs 8,000. Pre-booking for Galaxy Z Flip 5 from today, July 27, across all leading online and offline retail stores.
Customers pre-booking Galaxy Z Flip 5 during “Samsung Live” event starting 12 pm on July 27 will get additional exclusive gift of a Silicone Case with Ring worth Rs 4,199 on purchase of Z Flip 5.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Specifications
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 sports a 3.4-inch panel with a 60Hz refresh rate, 306 ppi and a Resolution of 748 x 720 pixels. It features a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED foldable main display. This one has a 2640 x 1080 pixels resolution, 22:9 aspect ratio and an adaptive Refresh Rate ranging from 1Hz up till 120Hz.
This phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a dual-camera setup on the back. It includes a 12-megapixel f/1.8 sensor with OIS and a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle lens. On the inside, it gets a 10-megapixel f/2.2 front-facing sensor.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 First Impressions: Window gives way to screen
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 packs a 3,700mAh battery, same as its predecessor. It charges at 25W speeds with a wired charger, and supports fast wireless charging 2.0 and reverse wireless charging also.
Connectivity options include 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and a USB Type-C port for charging. The Z Flip 5 runs on OneUI 5.1.1 based on Android 13 and will get 4 years of major OS upgrades and 5 years of security patches. There is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication, while the device is IPX8 rated also.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: What has changed over Flip 4?
Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a major change over the Flip 4 or any other flip foldable Samsung has ever made, and it is the bigger cover screen. It is the most prominent change in Z Flip 5 over its predecessors which also makes it quickly identifiable in the crowd. Spotting the Flip 4 was a difficult task due to its similar design as the Flip 3.
The new cover screen opens up new possibilities for users to use apps that weren’t possible on the smaller panel on Flip 4. Taking a quick glance on your emails or replying to messages should be much easier now, rather than unfolding it every single time you want to use the phone.
Next, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Flip 5 now also has a water-drop style hinge which helps it fold flat without having any gap between the two halves. This puts the Flip 5 in line with its competitors, such as the Find N2 Flip.
While most of the specifications remain the same as last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, such as battery capacity, inner display, cameras, and even RAM & storage variants, the major differentiator is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC which is quite powerful over Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 which the Flip 4 came with.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Competition
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 surely is an upgrade over Flip 4 in terms of design and chipset also, but the Flip 5 still seems to be lacking in some areas where its competitors are doing better, especially in terms of battery. The Z Flip 5 has some tough competition in India including the recently launched Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and the Oppo Find N2 Flip, both of which sell at a similar price point as the Flip 5.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 definitely excels in terms of power, as it gets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, which is the most powerful Qualcomm offers currently. The Flip 5 is also the only flip-style foldable in India which comes with this chipset, making it the most powerful amongst its competitors.
However, it still gets a comparatively smaller battery cell that has a 3700mAh capacity. The Find N2 Flip has a 4300mAh cell while Razr 40 Ultra has a 3800mAh unit. While Motorola’s handset may or may not show better results in terms of battery backup, Oppo’s handset definitely would. The Find N2 Flip also charges at 44W compared to 25W on Flip 5 which is again a disappointment.
Samsung does rely on the chipset’s efficiency gains for increasing battery life but that won’t work for much longer considering the chipsets are getting more powerful too. As for the displays, Motorola has gone a step ahead and equipped its Razr 40 Ultra with a up to a 144Hz cover screen while Samsung’s is still at 60Hz.
While Samsung is slowly improving its products each year, other brands are stepping up their game quick. We won’t compare the software of the foldables as its subjective and each of them have their own unique set of features and user interface. Such as with the Flip 5, Samsung is making the most of the bigger cover display with widgets, better media controller, multi-widget view, better QS control panel, and Quick Reply feature that brings up a full QWERTY keyboard for replying to messages without unfolding the phone.
This shows while the competition is yet to make a smartphone that competes with the Z Fold 5, it has already caught up with Samsung if we consider flip style foldables.
On the other hand, Samsung is also making waves in the foldable segment with the Z Flip 5, thanks to the much needed improvements, especially when we talk of the bigger cover screen that makes it more functional and practical to use.
