Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its foldable smartphones last August with the debut of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. The Korean giant is no slouch, however, as rumors are already starting to surface about what to look forward to. expect from its successor, the Z Plier 5.
Here’s everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 so far.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 be released?
There’s no official date from Samsung yet, but the company has a pretty set release schedule for its flagship models. Here’s when previous generations arrived:
As the last two generations were released in August, we think it’s a safe bet that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be unveiled in August. August 2023.
How much will the Galaxy Z Fold 5 cost?
Foldable phones still remain in the upper tier of high-end devices, so when Samsung updates the Fold catalog, you can be sure it won’t come cheap. As a guide to the kind of pricing you’ll be looking at, here’s how the previous two generations lined up:
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4:
- 256GB: $1,799/£1,649/$1,799/₹154,999
- 512GB: $2,009/£1,769/$1,919/₹164,999
- 1TB: $2,249/£2,019/$2,159/₹184,999
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3:
- 256GB: $1,799/£1,599/$1,799/₹149,999
- 512GB: $1,899/£1,699/$1,899/₹157,999
As you can see, some prices have stayed the same between models, while others have gone up. With inflation continuing across the world, it seems unlikely you’ll see a big reduction in costs when the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 arrives, and if anything, prices could rise slightly.
A good guide might be how much the Galaxy S23 series increases in price over its predecessors, which we’ll find out when it launches on February 1.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
What about the new specs and features of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5?
There’s still a while to go until the new Fold arrives, but we’ve started to see a few rumors emerge about what Samsung plans to introduce in the update.
The main leaks so far have come from Korean tech site The Elec, which reported that similar to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, the new Fold 5 will come with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, launched at the end from last year.
The article also states that Samsung is sticking with the Fold 5’s triple camera array, which will consist of a 50Mp main sensor (the Samsung ISOCELL GN3), presumably flanked by a 12Mp ultra-wide telephoto lens and 10Mp. as in the Fold 4. The Elec says the selfie camera will feature a 12Mp sensor, which will be a slight increase from the 10Mp currently on the Fold 4.
We’ve heard mixed news from Vietnamese site The Pixel, which reports both that the Fold 5 will have a new Snapdragon chip — likely the as-yet-unannounced 8+ Gen 2 — but will also have a camera redesign. .
The site expects a jump to a 108Mp main camera with f/1.7 aperture OIS, joined by a 64Mp 2x zoom camera and a 12Mp ultrawide. That would mean a significant jump in resolution for both the main and telephoto cameras, although admittedly a drop from 3x zoom to 2x on the latter – although with Samsung’s digital zoom expertise, it could easily make the difference in post-processing.
Still, we have our suspicions about The Pixel’s report. For one thing, the site has no track record to match other leaks and does not specify its source here. But we also have some doubts about the report because some of its details seem clearly wrong – the site suggests that Samsung will revert to the Z Fold 3’s taller and slimmer unfolded dimensions, which would feel like a step back from the well-received proportions. . of the Fold 4. We find this change hard to believe, which makes us doubt everything else here too.
Yet The Pixel also joins other sites in signaling that this may be the year we’ll finally see Samsung integrate the S Pen stylus inside the phone with a dedicated slot. The company reportedly tried and failed to incorporate this into the design of the Z Fold 4, and The Elec reports that in a meeting with component vendors, Samsung said a dedicated S Pen slot is one of the necessary features. to take its foldables to the next level of popularity – alongside thinner, lighter designs and improved camera performance.
That might have failed, as Korea’s ETNews is now reporting that the S Pen won’t slot in the phone. Samsung R&D was working on it, but ultimately space constraints apparently won out, so you’ll still have to keep your S Pen yourself.
Meanwhile, another Korean site, Naver, reported that Samsung is switching to a teardrop-shaped hinge design for the Z Fold 5. This is the technology now widely used by rivals that bends the screen into a curved droplet shape when folded, which has two impacts: it allows the screens to close completely when folded, with no gap between them, and it reduces the size of the crease when the screen is flat. This has been the Z Fold’s main gap with its rivals over the past couple of years, so the move would help Samsung prove that it still has the foldable lead.
Leaker Eyes1122 claimed that Samsung brought a foldable prototype with a teardrop hinge to CES 2023, and shared this photo of the prototype (right) compared to an existing Z Fold 4. This shouldn’t be taken as a definitive clue to the design of the Z Fold 5, but does suggest that if Samsung adopts this updated hinge, it could help it produce a thinner and lighter foldable, in addition to the benefits for the screen.
Naver
Otherwise, the Fold 5 could share many of the same specs as the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which included a 6.2-inch cover AMOLED display, with the inner flip-up being a 7.6-inch AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 120Hz. There were also stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2, 5G, a 4400mAh battery supporting 25W charging, as well as an IPX8 waterproof rating.
Obviously, we’ll continue to update this article as more information becomes available, so be sure to check back regularly. In the meantime, you can see what the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be up against by looking at our best smartphones and best phones coming in 2023.
