Samsung's foldables: Which is the right fit for you?

Want a phone with a big screen? Check. Want a phone that easily slips into your pocket? Check. Meet the Z Flip5 that gives you both thanks to its foldable form factor. What’s more, you also get the performance of a flagship, and a secondary screen.

Cover screen: The Z Flip5 has a sleek and stylish design, with a 3.4-inch secondary screen on the cover. When folded, the cover screen helps access notifications. Responding to WhatsApp messages is a breeze with preset replies or a QWERTY keyboard. It also has useful widgets like calendar, voice recorder, health tracker and phone. But the cover screen supports only a limited number of apps, which need to be enabled in settings.

Main screen: Unfolded, the Z Flip5 becomes a regular Samsung flagship. The 6.7-inch main screen has excellent touch response, with superb legibility outdoors. The crease at the centre is noticeable only from certain angles, but doesn’t affect usability. It’s perfect for regular tasks, and with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor under the hood, it feels blazing fast. When I used it as my daily driver, the battery lasted for a day.

Flex mode: One of my favourite modes, the screen stays at a 90-degree angle, and apps open on the top of the screen with additional controls at the bottom—perfect when using YouTube, email and camera.

Camera: The high-resolution dual camera is great for snapping images, including selfies. The rear camera can be used even when the Z Flip5 is folded, where the cover screen acts as a viewfinder. The phone excels as a video recorder in Tent and Flex modes. While imaging is great on the Z Flip5, the S23 Ultra does a better job.

Verdict: The Z Flip5’s form factor makes it perfect for those who want flagship functions in a compact device. 

Available on: samsung.com/in

Review

Most people agree that the Fold is a productivity workhorse. But the one complaint most had was about its bulk. But with the Z Fold5, the chassis has been slimmed down, making it easy to carry, without compromising on productivity. It is perhaps the perfect fusion of a phone and a tablet.

Cover screen: The tall and vibrant 6.2-inch secondary screen on the cover functions like a regular smartphone, with all apps running normally, even when the phone is folded.

Main screen: Unfold the Z Fold5 to reveal a 7.6-inch screen, perfect for productivity apps like spreadsheets. Best of all, it is comfortable to hold in one hand, making content consumption on the large screen a breeze. With a split keyboard layout for convenient typing, I could skim through documents with elan. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, multitasking is also a breeze—I was able to open multiple apps at the same time and work on them side-by-side. It would have been perfect if only Samsung had bundled the S Pen with this device. And even with all this heavy lifting, the battery had about 20 per cent charge left after a day’s work.

Flex mode: For a hands-free experience, the Z Fold5 has the Flex mode, in which the top half of the screen serves for content viewing, while the bottom half becomes a handy space for controls and other tasks. This proves particularly convenient for tasks like working on emails, watching videos or even taking selfies. However, not all apps are customised for use in the Flex mode.

Camera: Samsung has gone with the same camera configuration as the last time, three cameras on the rear, one on the cover screen and another one on the main screen. While the rear cameras do an excellent job in bright and low light, the one on the cover screen does a decent job; but the one on the main screen needs improvement.

Verdict: If you’re looking for a flagship phone that can double up as a tablet to enhance productivity, the Z Fold5 is for you. 

Available on: samsung.com/in

@nidhisingal