TechPhonesAndroid PhonesThese 6 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 features would make it the best folding phone yetThe Z Fold 4 was great – but these 6 features would make the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 incredibleWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechPhonesAndroid PhonesThese 6 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 features would make it the best folding phone yetThe Z Fold 4 was great – but these 6 features would make the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 incredibleWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
The Z Fold 4 was great – but these 6 features would make the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 incredible
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
TheSamsung GalaxyZ Fold 5 is poised to be thebest folding phoneon the market. After all, Samsung has four big-screened foldables under its belt. It also has plenty of competition to learn from, and the fact it makes the screens that power most of the folding phone market puts it at a massive advantage too.
But there are some specific items on my Galaxy Z Fold 5 wishlist that I’d love to see on Samsung’s rumoured upcoming folding phone.
Before I talk about what I want we should note that Samsung is building on a strong foundation with theGalaxy Z Fold 4. So let’s talk about some of the ways Samsung is already besting the flexible competition.
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Firstly, that S Pen: Samsung is the only phone-maker that’s braved stylus input on its folding screens, and it’s a fantastic tool for notetakers and visual thinkers who love to jot down ideas.
Next, water resistance:Huaweiis catching up with Samsung here, with itsMate X3’sIPX8 rating, but apart from these two brands, foldables are largely considered to be less able to deal with the elements.
Finally, interface optimisation: whether it’s a split keyboard on the big screen, a taskbar for quick access to apps, or plenty of customisation options when it comes to how the front and main display behave, Samsung does a great job levelling up itsAndroidexperience across two screens.
So where can the Galaxy Z Fold 5 afford to learn from the competition?
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1. Panel discussion
The Honor Magic Vs’s native UI supports Twitter panels, taking advantage of the large main display on big-screened foldables.(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
The Honor Magic Vs’s native UI supports Twitter panels, taking advantage of the large main display on big-screened foldables.
The Honor Magic Vs’s native UI supports Twitter panels, taking advantage of the large main display on big-screened foldables.
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
I’ve spent some time with theHonor Magic Vs, and while it has a number of highlights – that 512GB storage, a sub-£1,400 price, and decent battery life – the thing Samsung needs to steal is its Twitter optimisation.
We’re not sure why Honor is the only foldable maker to crack this nut for Twitter. Panels already work across many big-screened phones for apps like Outlook and WhatsApp, but this Magic Vs feature is a great optimisation I’d love Samsung to copy across the most used Android apps.
The Huawei Mate X3’s 5x periscope zooom is the top right camera picutred above.(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
The Huawei Mate X3’s 5x periscope zooom is the top right camera picutred above.
The Huawei Mate X3’s 5x periscope zooom is the top right camera picutred above.
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
If there’s one thing we’d love the Galaxy Z Fold 5 camera to do, though, it’s take a leaf out of the Huawei Mate X3’s photography playbook.
The Mate X3 has a triple camera system, just like the Z Fold 4, but most impressively, it has a 5x periscope zoom camera.
Despite the fact, it’s the lightest big-screened foldable around, along with the smallerOppo Find N2, Huawei’s managed to cram in a Samsung-beating 125mm telephoto camera with optical stabilisation (OIS), a 12-megapixel resolution, and a relatively wide f/3.4 aperture.
You can see some of the shots I took on the Mate X3’s 5x periscope zoom camera below – mighty results considering this isn’t even Huawei’s flagship camera phone.
Image1of2(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
Image1of2(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
Image1of2
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
3. Slimming down and levelling up
If rumours are to be believed,Samsung is slimming down its Z Fold 5, thanks to a breakthrough in hinge technology.
The reason its past foldables weren’t thinner is that Samsung struggled to hold onto its water resistance rating while utilising a slimline, waterdrop hinge design – featured on thinner, non-water-resistant folding alternatives like the Motorola Razr andXiaomiMix Fold 2.
We’d love it if the news that Samsung’s cracked this nut with a redesigned, water-resistant hinge mechanism is true, and that the Z Fold 5 can sit alongside the slimmest phones from Huawei and Xiaomi without looking super-chunky.
4. Mind the gap
The Huawei Mate X3 (left) alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (right)(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
The Huawei Mate X3 (left) alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (right)
The Huawei Mate X3 (left) alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (right)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
If there’s been one item on our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold wishlist for years, it’s for the line to fold completely flat. Almost every foldable on the scene nowadays, from Oppo to Huawei, Honor to Vivo, can shut totally flat. The first phone I tested that nailed it was the China-only Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 – a beauty even a year after its launch.
Samsung’sGalaxy Z Flipand Fold both have a small gap on the hinge side. When the phone’s been in a pocket for a while, you can expect to open it to a strip of dust that’s collected down the crease – an issue we didn’t experience with flat-folding foldables.
Samsung’s Z series phones also miss out on a dust-resistance rating, unlike the newMotorola Razr 40 Ultra. So if Samsung does manage to close up that hinge gap, a dust-resistance rating would also be a boon for added peace of mind.
5. Crease and desist
Samsung’s Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 have the most prominent creases of any major folding phone series.
Huawei and Oppo have all managed to shrink the screen crease right down in their latest-generation big-screen foldables, while the new Motorola Razr has also shrunk its crease when compared to past-gen devices.
The fact Samsung’s foldable packs stylus input means a less prominent crease on the Z Fold 5 wouldn’t just look better, it would also be a huge help when taking notes across its display when matched with an S Pen.
6. Type master
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (left) alongside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (right)(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (left) alongside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (right)
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (left) alongside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (right)
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
Finally, and arguably, the most important item on our wishlist is a wider front screen. The Galaxy Z Fold series has had a super-tall, super-slim front screen for generations.
While the Z Fold 4’s 23.1:9 cover screen is a little wider than the Z Fold 3’s, it is still narrower than any flagship smartphone, including the super-tallSony Xperia 1 V.
If Samsung could either take a leaf out of Oppo’s Find N2, orGoogle’s Pixel Foldline and add some width, that would make for a far less cramped typing experience.
Alternatively, the Honor Magic Vs, Huawei Mate X3 and Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 all have full-sized smartphone screens on the front, delivering compromise-free typing and watching, whichever screen you’re using.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 we want…
I went into writing this Galaxy Z Fold 5 wishlist as a fan of theGalaxy Z Fold 4. It’s aged incredibly well, with its Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip still launching in top-tier phones today, and that stylus pen support still unmatched in its category.
The Z Fold 4 also has the single-most robust-feeling hinge of any foldable out now, which helps justify its thickness.
All that praise just makes the point – if Samsung could bring a few key features from other foldables into its Z Fold line, it would hold onto its position of power, and make it thebest folding phonemoney can buy.
Read more:if foldables aren’t floating your boat just yet, have a look at some of thebest smartphonesaround, and if you’re on the market for something cheaper, here are some of thebest cheap phonesyou can buy right now.
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