Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 is one of the most popular book-style foldables around, but it’s almost a year old and that can only mean one thing: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is on the way.
In fact, Samsung has recently revealed an event due to take place sometime in late July where the company is expected to reveal the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 alongside the clamshell-style Galaxy Z Flip 5, so we don’t have long to go until we see the next-gen foldable revealed.
You don’t need to wait that long though – in fact, rumours and leaks have provided plenty of insight into what Samsung is working on behind closed doors. But rather than scouring the web yourself, we at Trusted Reviews have done the hard work and collated all the latest rumours, leaks and renders right here.
Here’s everything there is to know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 right now.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 be released?
Samsung’s tradition of unveiling its Z Fold and Z Flip foldable devices in August, specifically on the second Wednesday of the month, may change this year due to increased competition in the foldable market.
Rumours suggest that the company might reveal its new devices earlier than usual. Back in April, SamMobile reported that Samsung was considering a late July 2023 launch for its Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5.
These rumours were later confirmed by Samsung in early June 2023, shortly after Motorola announced its competing foldable device, the Razr 40 Ultra.
Although not mentioned by name, Samsung hinted that its upcoming event in late July would be where it reveals its long-awaited next-generation foldable devices, the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5.
55% off the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus
Save £600 on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus with this deal, which sees 55% having been slashed off the price of this smartphone’s original RRP, from when it launched back in 2019.
- Amazon
- Was £1,099
- Now £499
The firm then confirmed that the launch will take place on Wednesday 26 July 2023, as rumoured before the announcement.
However, even with a late July announcement, there is typically a two-week gap between the announcement and the release. Therefore, if everything goes as planned, we can expect the Z Fold 5 to appear in stores in mid-August.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cost?
While the clamshell-style Z Flip phones have dropped in price over the past few years – along with those from competitors – the same can’t be said for the Z Fold and book-style foldables in general, which remain an extremely expensive option.
Take Google’s new book-style Pixel Fold as an example; the phone starts at an eye-watering £1,749/$1,799. While that’s more expensive than the current £1,649/$1,799 (in the UK, at least!), rumours suggest the Z Fold 5 is in store for a price hike.
The rumours suggest that the 256GB of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will start at €1,999 in Greece – a €100 increase on the price of the Z Fold 4. There’s no word yet on how this could translate to US and UK pricing, but it’s fair to assume they’ll also rise accordingly.
Latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 leaks and rumours
With the foldable rumoured to be revealed in little over a month’s time, there are plenty of leaks, rumours and renders to give us a good idea of what to expect.
Design, hinge and display
Let’s get the most important part out of the way first: if the various leaks and unofficial renders are on the money, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will look a lot like the Z Fold 4, although according to analyst Ross Young, it’ll be available in new hues including Beighe, Black, Light Blue, Dark Blue and Platinum.
The lack of changes to the design reportedly described the Z Fold 5 as “boring” as noted by leaker @IceUniverse, with a leaked image of what’s said to be a Z Fold 5 case also showing minimal changes. In fact, if true, the only notable change is the LED flash moving just outside the main camera housing on the rear.
However, The Elec sources claim that there could be one significant change on offer: the introduction of a designated slot for the S Pen in a similar vein to that of the top-end Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The S Pen has been compatible with the Z Fold for the past few years, but you’ve never been able to store the stylus within. If true, it’ll set Samsung apart from practically every other book-style foldable on the market right now.
What various leakers and rumours agree on is the introduction of an improved hinge mechanism that should finally fix one of the biggest issues with the foldable until now; the gap.
It’s said that the new hinge mechanism allows the Z Fold 5 to close completely shut, and that seems to be the case if images published by MySmartPrice are on the money. The official-looking marketing renders showcase the foldable without the teardrop-like gap present on every other version of the Z Fold 4.
Vietnamese website The Pixel also claims that the improved hinge will seriously reduce the visibility of the crease on the large 7.6-inch inner display, so much so that the site’s sources claim that “the crease will no longer exist on the Z Fold 5”.
We’ve seen huge improvements in hinge mechanisms and foldable display tech in recent years, but we’ve not yet seen any implementation that isn’t at least partially visible, so it’ll be interesting to see what Samsung has done on this front.
It’s not a given though; prolific tipster Ice Universe claims that the Z Fold 5’s crease will be indistinguishable from the Z Fold 4, citing sources with inside knowledge of the product. It’s the second time the tipster has made the claim in little under a month, which seems to increase the likelihood of its accuracy, but that’s yet to be seen.
Even leaked images of the Z Fold 5, which seem to confirm the improved hinge but generally unchanged form factor, don’t showcase the inner display’s crease.
When it comes to display specifics, expect the same 6.2-inch exterior and 7.6-inch interior displays as the Z Fold 4 according to Ice Universe, though TheGalox_ claims that the 120Hz AMOLED panels will be brighter than before and will sport Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the outside display.
Another way that Samsung is looking to separate itself from the competition is in the dust and water resistance department. Samsung already leads the pack with IPX8 water resistance on its Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4, but rumours point towards an upgraded IP58 resistance from the Z Fold 5 and Flip 5.
This is a big deal as dust is the mortal enemy of foldable phones and those extremely intricate hinge mechanisms and is yet to be achieved by any foldable manufacturer worldwide.
It’s not the highest rating – that’d be a 6 – but it does provide “partial protection against dust that may harm equipment,” according to the International Electrotechnical Commission, the body behind the IP rating system.
However, like with the display crease, tipster Ice Universe has his reservations. His sources claim that, contrary to popular belief, the Z Fold 5 hasn’t managed to meet the IP58 dust-proof standard. This likely means that the Z Fold 5 will sport the same IPX8 protection as the Z Fold 4, but this is yet to be confirmed.
Cameras
There’s a lot of disagreement among leakers about the camera setup of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 – some suggest a near-identical triple camera setup while others suggest a bigger upgrade could be in store.
Let’s start with the less exciting; according to Yogesh Brar, the Z Fold 5 will sport a 50MP main sensor (Samsung’s ISOCELL GN3 to be precise) along with a 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto.
As dedicated foldable fans will spot, that’s the exact same setup as the Z Fold 4, though it’s possible that Samsung has subtly tweaked the hardware and software to deliver a slight boost to performance.
The Elec paints a similarly uninspired picture for the internal camera offering, which it claims has jumped from 10MP to 12MP this year.
However, Vietnamese website The Pixel has spoken to sources that claim the Z Fold 5 won’t have a “terrible camera”. In fact, the website’s source claims that “camera parameters on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 have also been upgraded” with the main boost coming from a 108MP main sensor.
That’s not quite as pixel-packed as the flagship Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 200MP main camera, but it could point towards similar performance to the Galaxy S22 Ultra and its 108MP sensor if true.
Specs and features
Other notable features rumoured to make an appearance on the Z Fold 5 include the same customised Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset as the flagship S23 series along with 12GB of RAM – something outlined by both The Elec and TheGalox_.
That’s not surprising given the boosted performance on offer from the Samsung-exclusive chipset, but it does mean we won’t see the introduction of the rumoured Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 like with last year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
We’ve also seen what’s expected to be a Z Fold 5 appear on Geekbench using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, so that’s almost certain at this point.
SamMobile claims that the phone will sport the same 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage options as its predecessor.
While we’ve not yet heard anything concrete about the battery capacity of this year’s model, China’s 3C certification site seems to show that the Z Fold 5 will offer the same slow 25W charging as previous models, and that it won’t ship with a charger in the box either.
