Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5: What to Expect

Samsung plans to hold a Galaxy Unpacked event in late July in its hometown of Seoul, South Korea. Though Samsung hasn’t shared the exact date of the event, its summer Unpacked showcases have for the last few years marked the debut of new foldables. This year, that means the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 are on deck. Here’s what we know about Samsung’s next-gen folding phones and other possible products

When Is Samsung Unpacked 2023?

Samsung has so far only committed to “late July” for its next event. Samsung typically holds its summer showcase in August, so this year’s appears to be set a week or two earlier than normal.

Korean site Chosun Ilbo(Opens in a new window) says Unpacked will take place on July 26, but that is not confirmed.

We may not know the date, but we do know the location. Samsung Unpacked July 2023 will take place in Samsung’s home of Seoul, marking the first time the company has invited the world to its headquarters location.

“Hosting Unpacked in Seoul holds great significance both as it is a city that has become an emerging epicenter of innovation and culture as well as the foldable [phone] category,” said Samsung chief TM Roh in a statement.

What Do the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 Look Like?

While there are no official images of the new phones, online leaks have given us a basic idea of what we’ll see from Samsung in late July. There’s been a deluge of images that could be of the Z Flip 5 and the Z Fold 5 released by the leaker known as SnoopyTech(Opens in a new window), including two(Opens in a new window) image(Opens in a new window) galleries as well as possible spec sheets.

Tweet(Opens in a new window)

The Z Flip 5 looks to increase its cover screen from 1.9 inches to 3.4 inches with a 720-by-748 pixel resolution, according to reliable Samsung leaker Ice Universe(Opens in a new window). This is more in line with the Motorola Razr+ with its 3.6-inch external display, which we found excellent for productivity. However, unlike the Razr+, the Flip 5‘s cover screen will terminate above two cameras and the flash. Still, the increased size could make the Flip 5 much more useful than the glanceable mini-screen on the outside of its predecessor.

The images by Ice Universe and SnoopyTech(Opens in a new window) do not show the Flip 5 folded in profile, but a tweet by Revegnus(Opens in a new window) contained an image of what looks like the device in the real world, albeit in a blocky case. It looks like Flip 5 will fold without a sizable gap between the halves, which could be due to a new hinge design(Opens in a new window) as tweeted by Ice Universe and reported by The Elec(Opens in a new window). A tweet(Opens in a new window) by the CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, Ross Young, says that the Z Flip 5’s new hinge will also help reduce the visibility of the seam.

The SnoopyTech gallery also showed off several colors for the Flip 5: off-white, light green, light purple, and black/dark gray. The inner screen bezel will be available in black, black, and black.

(Credit: SnoopyTech)

The Galaxy Fold 5 could be coming in Phantom Black again along with new colors listed as Icy Blue and Cream with the Graygreen and Beige options possibly being phased out. SnoopyTech’s image gallery of the Fold 5 shows those colors with a matching hinge.

What Are the Specs?

The spec sheet linked to by SnoopyTech says the Z Flip 5 will be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is the same system-on-a-chip as the Samsung Galaxy S23 line, come with 8GB of RAM and 256 or 512GB of storage (there’s no mention of a 128GB option like there is on the Flip 4). Wi-Fi would get an upgrade up to Wi-Fi 6E and the USB-C port on the bottom would bump to USB-C 3.2 (up from 2.0), which would boost wired transfer speeds.

Renders of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
(Credit: SnoopyTech)

The spec sheet also says that several things will carry over from the Flip 4 to the Flip 5. The inner screen, the cameras, the battery capacity, IP rating (IPX8), and weight would remain unchanged. That’s not the best news we’ve heard.

If the SnoopyTech spec sheet for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is to be believed, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be pretty similar to the Fold 4. In terms of displays, the inner and outer screen sizes, resolutions, and max refresh rates would stay the same. So if you did not like that skinny and tall front screen, you may want to check out the Google Pixel Fold with its wider external screen instead.

When it comes to performance, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is rumored to stick with 12GB of RAM and add in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. While only two storage options (256GB and 512GB) are mentioned, it remains to be seen if a 1TB model will also be available, as it was with the previous Fold. The battery capacity would stick to 4400mAh, with Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2 still on board. The new Fold would retain its IPX8 rating, as well.

(Credit: MySmartPrice)

So what’s different? There could be some camera upgrades, which the phone sorely needs. For example, the telephoto lens could get bumped up from 10MP to 12MP with a wider aperture of f/2.2, which should help in low-light situations compared to the f/2.4 aperture of the Fold 4. The rear cameras would remain in a pill-shaped enclosure, with the flash would move from the bottom of the stack to the right of the top lens. The under-display camera remains at 4MP, but its aperture would go from f/1.8 to f/1.7, which means better image quality for that hidden camera. The rest of the cameras would be the same as the current model.

The hinge may also be improved. In a post since taken down (but preserved at Archive.org(Opens in a new window)), MySmartPrice published an image it claimed was the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 with one device partially open and another behind it seemingly folded together flat without a gap. The site said the images were press renders. The SnoopyTech image gallery shows the Fold closed, but it is hard to tell whether there is a gap or not. Some have derided the look of the gap. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel Fold closes flat with no gap.

Any Other Galaxy Products?

Samsung updates its Galaxy Tab S line of tablets about once every 18 months or so, which means the July event is timed well for some new slates.

The Galaxy Tab S9 line, which will likely include S9+ and S9 Ultra models, should make an appearance. There have been no credible leaks about these tablets yet, but it would be reasonable to expect a spec bump from 2022’s capable Tab S8 line. As a reminder, the S8 Ultra boasted a massive, laptop-sized 14.6-inch display.

Samsung has been updating its line of wearables on a near-yearly basis. Last summer saw the arrival of the Galaxy Watch 5 and it’s possible we’ll see the Galaxy Watch 6 series at Unpacked July 2023. Rumored features for the Watch 6 series include a larger, curved-glass display, the return of the rotating bezel, and several different models with different features at different price points.

PCMag plans to cover Unpacked 2023 in full and we look forward to reviewing the new products once they become available.