The Galaxy Z Flip 4 was a small step forward for Samsung’s pocket-size flip phone. But now that the Z Flip has a new rival in the recently launched Motorola Razr Plus, the bar for Samsung’s foldable is higher than it was last year.
With the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Samsung fine-tuned the phone’s design, added a few new software tricks, and improved staples like nighttime photography and battery life. These are all welcome upgrades that address shortcomings from previous models and make the Galaxy Z Flip easier to recommend than in years past. However, I’d like to see more features that take advantage of its foldable design on the next version.
Google and Motorola, both of which launched new foldable phones in June, have shown that they’re thinking about how to make such devices stand out with features that show how the outer and inner screens can work together.
Now, it’s Samsung’s turn. The company is holding its next Unpacked event on July 26, which is when we’re likely to learn more about what’s next for Samsung’s foldable phones. We won’t know anything for certain until Samsung’s event. But since the company typically releases new foldable phones around this time of year, we’re expecting Unpacked to be all about the next Z Flip and Z Fold.
TM Roh, the president and head of Samsung’s mobile experience business, also recently published a blog post discussing the importance of design when it comes to foldable phones. That has led to further speculation that we’ll learn more about the Z Flip and Z Fold’s future on July 26.
A larger cover screen
After reviewing the Razr Plus, I’m convinced the Galaxy Z Flip 5 needs a bigger cover screen. Motorola’s new phone has a 3.6-inch outer display compared to the Z Flip 4’s 1.9-inch cover screen. You can do a lot with the Razr’s external display, from playing games to browsing Google Maps and typing an email. The Galaxy Z Flip 4’s smaller cover screen is much more limited and is ideal for brief interactions, like sending a canned response to a text message or peeking at your calendar.
You might be wondering why having a larger cover screen is so important if you’re planning to use the phone primarily when it’s open. Even though I haven’t used the new Razr extensively yet, the cover screen seemingly has the potential to add more on-the-go convenience. Since it’s small enough to fit in the palm of my hand when closed, I can imagine it being useful for responding to a text message or flipping through my inbox when I only have one hand free.
Battery life in a phone can never feel long enough, so I’m hoping to see more of an improvement in the Z Flip 5. If the Z Flip 5 runs on the same processor as the Galaxy S23 series, a version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that’s been optimized for Samsung’s devices, it’s possible we’ll see some gains in power efficiency.
Better cameras
The Galaxy Z Flip 4’s 12-megapixel wide and ultrawide cameras take decent photos, but I’d like to see Samsung bring the Z Flip 5’s cameras up to par with the Galaxy S23’s. Samsung’s nonfolding phone has a 50-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and 10-megapixel telephoto camera.
I’m not expecting Samsung to add a telephoto lens to the Galaxy Z Flip 5, since doing so would make it difficult to increase the size of the cover screen. But I’m hoping Samsung improves the camera in other ways, such as by increasing the resolution or pixel size. In his review, CNET’s Patrick Holland described the Z Flip 4’s cameras as B-grade, showing there’s certainly room for improvement. But if the Galaxy Z Flip 5 inherits the Galaxy S23’s processor, we’ll likely see back-end upgrades that enhance the way photos are processed, too.
Overall, I’m hoping to see Samsung add more functionality that makes the Z Flip stand out, while cutting down on the compromises that need to be made when choosing a foldable phone over a standard phone. Changes like these could go a long way towards making foldables broadly appealing in the way that Samsung envisions.