Speaker 1: This is the Samsung Galaxy Z fold five, and I John, uh, what time is it?
Speaker 2: Uh, nine 40.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I’ve had this phone in my hands for about 24 hours and I have a couple first impressions I want to share. And let’s start at the beginning with an unboxing. So the box itself is nearly identical to the ones that came for the Galaxy Z fold three and the Z fold four. [00:00:30] However, the biggest difference is gonna be right on the lid there. We now have a little kind of a graphic of what phone it is, including the color. This is the cream color, galaxy Z fold five. So let’s unbox it together.
Speaker 1: [00:01:00] All right, so as you can see, not a lot has changed when it comes to the box and meaning that it’s really just the phone and that U S B C cable. So you think for $1,800 that we would get like an spen or that Spen case that would be amazing or a power brick, but we get none of that. So one of the most expensive phones in the world, you just get the phone [00:01:30] and that cable. But let’s move on to the actual feel of this phone. And it does feel different. I know a lot has been made about how identical it is to the previous version, but that hinge, it just fits nicer in my hand. And these are all my, my first reactions with this. Also, when it’s open, it feels less bulky on the back here. So it feels a little bit like the Google Pixel fold that came out about a month ago. In terms of the screen though, I mean this is the biggest selling point I think of these Galaxy Z folds is that [00:02:00] bright screen and this screen is brighter. In fact, compared to the screen on the Galaxy Z fold, it’s actually brighter. And let’s see if we could take a look at that and see any differences.
Speaker 2: Fold four is the left one, the new one’s on the right and I’m gonna adjust the brightness. The brightness on the fold. Four on the left is full. I’m gonna take the one on the right all the way to full. Um, what’s interesting is the new one should be brighter. Can’t tell if it’s straight up in [00:02:30] camera. And there’s also extra brightness that each has, so, oh yeah, I can see that in person. I don’t know if it registers on camera here. Does this one look a little brighter than this one In real life? It does. All right, so that was fun.
Speaker 1: Alright, so this hinging has a lot of benefits. I’m just discovering, I mean the biggest is gonna be, this is the Galaxy Z fold four. When it’s closed, there’s a big space in it and that’s been the case for all the folds up to the point. And the Galaxy Z fold five doesn’t have that space. And why that’s [00:03:00] good is not only does it make holding it feel a little more normal, like a normal phone, it helps keep dust, uh, from sliding in there. Maybe you have this in a bag, you don’t have like something that might damage the screen that slides in between the two halves. However, the other thing is the actual hinge itself makes the phone, uh, skinnier. When it’s closed, it’s not as wide, it’s not as thick. And I think that’s why I’m kind of getting that galaxy, excuse me, not galaxy, but the Google Pixel fold vibes.
Speaker 1: It has a very similar feel to that. Something else I wanna talk [00:03:30] about though is the actual camera bump on the back. And we’ve seen this happen for the last couple years where that camera bump keeps getting smaller and smaller on the Z fold four, it was significantly smaller even though the individual lens kind of poked out on the Z fold five, I believe these are pretty much the same cameras as the previous phone. Again, it’s smaller, but the lens stick out even more. So it’s still giving it that depth for those those cameras on the Z full five. Alright, [00:04:00] so the cameras and the hinge aren’t the only changes. One of the other big ones is that main screen. Now this to me, is still one of the best foldable screens on any phone made currently. Samsung has just really honed in the experience.
Speaker 1: There’s no notches, there’s not a cutout for the camera. It’s still the same under screen camera that we’ve had on the previous Galaxy phone. I should be able to use it in daylight and direct sunlight even more than I could the previous fold four. So that’s a win on my book. And to be honest, the fold [00:04:30] four had an advantage over the Google Pixel fold with its mainstream. So this just gives Samsung even more room, uh, to grow past what Google’s offered. Uh, just a month ago, I thought the Galaxy Z fold four last year. Uh, that’s the first time I really became enamored with these fold devices. Up to that point I was a little skeptical. I thought they were kind of awkward, especially when closed. But this takes a pretty significant step toward that refinement. And if you think of it as a refinement, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: It’s pretty obvious [00:05:00] it’s not radically different than the Galaxy Z fold four. However, as I pointed out throughout this first impressions video, there are a number of small refinements and changes and some big ones like that new hinge that I do think are worth calling out. Next up for me is I need more time with the Galaxy Z fold five. I want to test it. I wanna traffic cameras more run battery test and just live with it for some time and give you a full review. That’ll be up very soon. But if you want to know more about the Galaxy fold [00:05:30] five or the flip five or anything else announced at Samsung Galaxy, unpack, make sure you check out CNET for more information.
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