Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs Galaxy Z Fold 4: Spider-Man meme!
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Intro
Samsung has been perfecting its foldable formula for a while now. The 2022 Galaxy Z Fold 4 was already a pretty solid product, but as things roll — the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 was introduced to upgrade it.
Its biggest improvement is probably the new hinge, which is lighter and closes the phone with no gap in the center. The screen crease is shallower, but can still be seen and felt — it's still a signature of the Z Fold.
We can give you the spoiler right now — if you already own a Galaxy Z Fold 4, you shouldn't feel rushed to go for the Z Fold 5. Now, if you are looking to buy one or the other... let's see how they differ and figure out which one's right for you:
Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs Z Fold 4
- Same narrow and tall external screen
- New hinge on the Fold 5 for better feel, parallel flaps, shallower crease
- Triple rear cameras on both phones
- Z Fold 5 to come with faster UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X
- Redesigned S Pen case for Z Fold 5 is much slimmer
- You should be able to find the older Z Fold 4 at good discounts
Table of Contents:
Read more:
- Google Pixel Fold vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: what are the differences?
- The best foldable phones to buy in 2023
- Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs Galaxy Z Fold 4: Here's what’s changing and what's staying the same
Design and Size
Hello me, meet the future me
Z Fold 5 - left next to Z Fold 4 - right
From the very beginning, the Galaxy Z Fold series has had the narrow external screen and square-shaped main display. Samsung continues with this design choice, with the external panel now having a 23:9 aspect ratio on the Z Fold 4 and Z Fold 5. Nothing has changed this year — the company believes that the folded experience should feel narrow and one-hand-friendly, to contrast its shape and size against the unfolded state.
So, unfolded, it's a 7.6-inch panel with a 6:5 ratio. Again that's the same on both Folds, the experience hasn't evolved this year. In fact, display specs are pretty much identical.
OK, how will the Galaxy Z Fold 5 be different, if at all? Well, there's a new hinge. The Z Fold 5 opens and closes with very solid, smooth-feeling friction with no creaks and cracks along the way. Also, when it's fully closed, the flaps sit completely parallel, unlike the Z Fold 4 where they close at a wedge and there's a gap towards one side.
Yes, the crease down the middle of the screen is also slightly shallower. However, it's a difference you can only feel by touch — it's hardly different when looking at the screens and definitely not something that can be captured on camera.
The flash of the camera has been moved around a bit, but otherwise... these phones look very, very close. The hardware buttons and the fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button — it's all the same.
Of course, we do get a new color — the Z Fold 5 comes in Icy Blue, Phantom Black, and Cream. The Z Fold 4 was available in black, beige, and green ("Graygreen").
As for accessories in the box — we are living the minimalistic lifestyle here in Premium Phone Land. That means you will get a phone and a data cable in the box. Oh, what's that? Yeah — a SIM ejector tool, too, entirely for free!
We do have to talk about the new S Pen case. While it is a separate purchase, anyone wanting to get the most out of their Z Fold experience should consider the proprietary stylus. The older S Pen case was thick and cumbersome, definitely not easy to carry around in a pocket or even comfortably hold. The new S Pen for the Z Fold 5 has been redesigned — the stylus itself is thinner, yes, but it fits in a much slimmer slot on the case and you can actually realistically have it on there at all times. Chef's kiss!
Performance and Software
The new Snapdragon has been tuned up
OK, so we have a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 up against a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. And that's not the end of it — the Gen 2 is where Samsung started getting these special "Made for Galaxy" units.
Basically, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is slightly overclocked — 3.36 GHz vs 3.2 GHz on regular model. The old Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 that's kicking inside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 still ticks at 3.19 GHz, so... we wouldn't say you will see a great difference in performance.
Of course, there are the side upgrades — the Z Fold 5 is expected to have UFS 4.0, which is twice as fast as the old UFS 3.1, and LPDDR5X, which is a bit faster than the non-X branded one.
Here are some benchmark results:
In raw benchmarks, of course the Z Fold 5 has the better score. In real life, however, we can't say the Z Fold 4 "feels" any slower — even when multi-tasking. The upgraded memory of the Z Fold 5 will definitely give you more headroom in terms of what's possible with speed in the years to come. But right now, in 2023, both of these phones are plenty fast.
As for software, we have two phones that come with Samsung's elaborate One UI interface plastered on top of Android. The Z Fold 5 does have small new features added — up to 4 "recent apps" in the persistent dock, more fine-tuning options for screen color comfort, selecting text from photos, cutting subjects from photos, more colors options for the UI, and other quality of life changes.
Now that the Z Fold 4 has also received its Android 13 update, it has the same features, so it's still in the game.
Both of these phones come with a 4-year Android update commitment, so the Z Fold 5 will be updated up to 2027, the Z Fold 4 still has life in it until 2026. Plus one year of security updates for both of these devices — you get a long-term investment.
Camera
Photograph me like one of your folding girls
Not much is expected to change on the photo front. The Z Fold 5 has a 50 MP main camera, 10 MP 3x zoom camera, and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, which are the same specs as on the Z Fold 4. Same on the selfie front — 10 MP camera on the flap, 4 MP camera under the main screen.
On paper, it seems we should expect the same performance — perhaps with some improvements from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 image processing. In reality? We find the Z Fold 5 photos to be slightly worse than the Z Fold 4's right now...
Main Camera - Day
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 actually comes up with warmer colors, better contrast, better dynamics, and better-handled sharpening. Check out sample 2, where the Z Fold 5 almost burns the highlights in the sky and its software sharpening makes the leaves look flat, fake, and cardboard-ish.
By itself, the Z Fold 5's camera seemed to be quite fine. But we did get a bit of a disappointment when comparing it directly to its predecessor.
We fully expect Samsung to be hotfixing the camera performance via an update — we do have the privilege of using a pre-sales unit here right now. However, for the time being, this is what we get.
In low light, performance is either similar or slightly in favor of the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which is able to pull more colors from darker scenes (sample 2). Still, its tendency to oversharpen is visible in all three samples.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 seems to be trying to keep dynamics at bay while zooming in, being a bit better at not burning out highlights as we rotate the magnifier wheel. When we reach the maximum of 30x, we can spot that the Z Fold 5 gave us some jagged edges, whereas the Z Fold 5 produces more smooth lines. To be clear, none of these 30x zoom photos are great, but again, the result here leads us to believe that the camera processing of the Z Fold 5 will be getting a touch-up in the near future.
Main Camera - Low-light
In low light, performance is either similar or slightly in favor of the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which is able to pull more colors from darker scenes (sample 2). Still, its tendency to oversharpen is visible in all three samples.
Zoom Quality
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 seems to be trying to keep dynamics at bay while zooming in, being a bit better at not burning out highlights as we rotate the magnifier wheel. When we reach the maximum of 30x, we can spot that the Z Fold 5 gave us some jagged edges, whereas the Z Fold 5 produces more smooth lines. To be clear, none of these 30x zoom photos are great, but again, the result here leads us to believe that the camera processing of the Z Fold 5 will be getting a touch-up in the near future.
Ultra-wide Camera
Unlike the main cameras, the differences between the ultra-wide cameras of these phones are miniscule. In daytime, they are pretty much the same. In night time, the ultra-wide camera of the Z Fold 4 has more saturated colors, while the Z Fold 5's is a bit tamer, and a bit duller.
Selfies
The good news is that the Z Fold 5's selfie camera (on the cover screen) is a better performance, with more realistic skin tone, sharper detail, and better capture of facial features.
Audio Quality and Haptics
The Galaxy Z Fold phones have great stereo speakers with a wide sound, detailed mids, sweet highs, and a good amount of base. We really liked the Z Fold 4 speakers when it came out. After prolonged testing versus the Z Fold 5 — we can say that the latter does sound slightly better. It just has slightly more meat in the mids, giving us a bit more instrumental information when enjoying music.
But, to be clear, both speaker systems are excellent. The Z Fold 5 is, however, sounds slightly upgraded, which we appreciate.
Battery Life and Charging
It will be down to the components
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a 4,400 mAh cell and so does the Z Fold 5. Again, since Samsung has the same dimensions to work with, there isn't much room for a change here.
So, in terms of battery life? We expected that the Z Fold 5's "Made for Galaxy" chip and more energy-efficient memory chips would give it a leg up. Interestingly enough — it didn't. For casual tasks like browsing the web or watching YouTube videos, the Z Fold 4 actually has a better battery endurance. When we switch to heavy tasks like non-stop gaming, that's when we get those gains from the faster chip and memory, and the Z Fold 5 lasts longer. Interesting!
In real life, we wouldn't say we felt pressured by low battery percentages, but to be fair — the Z Fold 5 isn't an "adventurer's phone" to begin with. Having an office lifestyle, we always had a wireless charger to place the Z Fold 5 on when not in use. Plus, for many casual daily tasks, we use the external display, instead of the large internal screen, which does save a lot of energy.
In terms of charging, we don't get a jump to the crazy-fast charging that some other companies are doing. So, 25 W on the wire, up to 15 W wireless with a compatible puck.
Specs Comparison
Here are the core specs of the two phones, but if you want an in-depth look at the sheets, do visit the Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs Galaxy Z Fold 4 specs comparison page.
| Galaxy Z Fold 5 | Galaxy Z Fold 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Size, weight | Folded: 6.1 x 2.64 x 0.53 in (154.9 x 67.1 x 13.4 mm) Unfolded: 6.1 x 5.11 x 0.24 in (154.9 x 129.9 x 6.1 mm) 253 g (9.3 oz) | Folded: 6.11 x 5.12 x 0.25 in (155.1 x 67.1 x 15.8 mm) Unfolded: 6.11 x 5.12 x 0.25 in (155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3 mm) 263g (9.3oz) |
| Screen | Main: 7.6" OLED 9:10.8 ratio 120Hz Cover: 6.2" OLED 23.1:9 ratio | Main: 7.6" OLED 9:10.8 ratio 120Hz Cover: 6.2" OLED 23.1:9 ratio |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Made for Galaxy, 4 nm | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 4 nm |
| RAM, Storage | 12 / 256 GB for $1,800 12 / 512 GB for $1,920 12 /1 TBGB for $2,160 LPDDR5X / UFS 4.0 | 12 / 256 GB for $1,800 12 / 512 GB for $1,920 12 / 1 TB for $2,160 LPDDR5 / UFS 3.1 |
| Cameras | 50 MP main 12 MP ultra 10 MP 3X zoom 10 MP front 4 MP front (inside) | 50 MP main 12 MP ultra 10 MP 3X zoom 10 MP front 4 MP front (inside) |
| Battery | 4,400 mAh | 4,400 mAh |
| Charging | USB-C 25 W wired 15 W wireless | USB-C 25 W wired 15 W wireless |
So, yeah, when we put it like that we can see that the Z Fold 5, while an awesome phone, will probably not completely replace the Z Fold 4 — an already awesome phone.
Summary
Z Fold 4 - left next to Z Fold 5 - right
Well, there you have it. Will it be better to grab a Z Fold 5 or just fish out a deal for the Z Fold 4? Well, the latter option seems pretty tempting at this point. Though, it is worth noting that Samsung celebrates device launches with huge discounts... so, maybe it's worth just pre-ordering the Z Fold 5 right now and enjoying it for years to come?
If you already have a Z Fold 4, you can skip this upgrade. That's not to say the Z Fold 5 is bad... it's just that the Z Fold 4 was already very good!
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