Last year, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 impressed us with an eminently useful tablet-like form factor. Samsung isn’t rocking the boat this year.
The fifth iteration of the Galaxy Z Fold line is just around the corner, launching on Aug. 11 for $1,800. That hefty price tag gets you a device that’s shaped like a regular smartphone, until you unfold it and it turns into a miniature tablet. The Z Fold 5 looks to improve on the Z Fold 4 with a handful of small enhancements, but this is definitely an evolutionary year rather than a revolutionary one for the Z Fold line.
Anyway, enough yammering. Here’s how the Z Fold 5 compares to the Z Fold 4.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs. Z Fold 4: Specs
Obviously, Samsung isn’t changing the form factor of the Z Fold 5. It still works like its predecessors, but there are still a couple of exterior and interior changes worth noting. Before we get to those, however, here are how the raw specs compare:
Z Fold 5
6.2-inch outer display with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate
7.6-inch inner display with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
12GB RAM
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage
4,400mAh battery
Z Fold 4
6.2-inch outer display with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate
7.6-inch inner display with 120Hz refresh rate
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor
12GB RAM
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage
4,400mAh battery
The display specs, along with numbers for storage and memory, are all exactly the same here. The battery size hasn’t changed, either. As you can see, these are two very similar phones when it comes to what’s on the spec sheet. That doesn’t mean there aren’t major differences, though.
For starters, a newer processor in the Z Fold 5 could theoretically bring all kinds of performance enhancements. Apps could load faster and battery usage could be more efficient. On the hardware end, there is one other change worth noting: the hinge. The Z Fold 4 would leave a small gap of empty space open when completely folded; the Z Fold 5, on the other hand, lays completely flat.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs. Z Fold 4: Cameras
Unfortunately, there aren’t many camera differences to chew on between the Z Fold 5 and Z Fold 4. Here are the specs for both phones:
Z Fold 5
10MP selfie camera
4MP under-display camera when unfolded
Rear triple camera: 12MP ultra-wide lens, 50MP wide angle lens, 10MP telephoto lens
Z Fold 4
10MP selfie camera
4MP under-display camera when unfolded
Rear triple camera: 12MP ultra-wide lens, 50MP wide angle lens, 10MP telephoto lens
Purely in terms of megapixel numbers, both phones sport identical camera arrays. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’ll produce identical-looking photos. There are all sorts of software tricks happening with modern smartphone photography, and the Z Fold 5’s camera system may actually be better than the Z Fold 4’s in practice. That said, we haven’t gotten to directly compare the two, so it’s hard to say right now if one is definitively better than the other.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs. Z Fold 4: Price
This one’s simple. Last year’s Z Fold 4 launched at $1,800. This year, the Z Fold 5 launches at…$1,800. Is that still a lot of money? Absolutely. But at least Samsung is consistent.
Until we get our hands on the Z Fold 5 and can play with the new processor and hinge, we can’t concretely say it’s worth an upgrade over last year’s model. But if you never used a Z Fold phone before and want to get in on the foldable craze now, maybe give Samsung’s flagship a look.
