Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a bookstore in Seoul, South Korea in the background.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 5, debuted at the company’s Unpacked event last week, revealing design changes that include a wider cover screen and a redesigned hinge. The new Z Flip 5 faces competition from Motorola’s Razr Plus and the Oppo Find N2 Flip, both of which use a similar flip-phone design combined with larger cover screens of their own.
This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a new cover screen that extends across most of the phone’s front panel, except for a camera bump cutout. Samsung has ditched the comparatively minuscule screen seen on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which was just 1.9 inches vs. 3.4 inches on the Z Flip 5. This change lets you use certain apps and widgets without having to open the phone, and it’s large enough to accommodate a full keyboard, allowing you to send a quick text.
Unlike the Razr Plus, which allows for nearly any Android app on its cover screen, Samsung takes a more curated approach by only allowing apps and widgets that are tailored for use on its smaller screen. Some of the supported apps include YouTube and messaging apps like WhatsApp. Other apps can only be used when the Z Flip 5 is unfolded. Whichever approach you prefer will likely come down to personal preference, but more apps could make their way to the Z Flip 5’s cover screen later this year.
Unlike its flip phone rivals, Oppo’s Find N2 Flip phone has a vertically-oriented cover screen.
Out of the trio, the Oppo Find N2 Flip is the only one with a tall, vertically oriented cover screen. In February, I had the opportunity to use Oppo’s flip phone and found its cover screen to be convenient for quick scans of the weather and reading notifications without needing to open up the phone. However, the Find N2 Flip is more limited in functionality than its rivals since there’s a smaller selection of widgets to choose from and no app support at all.
Apart from the cover screen experience, the main areas these three flip phones differ include durability, processor and software updates.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has an IPX8 rating for water-resistance, meaning it can withstand water submersion up to 1.5 meters (roughly 5 feet) for 30 minutes. As impressive as that is, it lacks dust-resistance. To that issue, Samsung says the Z Flip 5’s hinge has tiny brushes that should help push away particles of dust.
The Motorola Razr Plus is the first flip phone to have an IP rating for dust.
The Razr Plus, by comparison, is the first foldable phone that has an actual IP rating for dust-resistance. It has a rating of IP52. The first digit, refers to dust protection, and the second digit refers to water-resistance. Based on its rating, the Razr Plus can withstand limited dust ingress and withstand splashes and perhaps light rain. It can’t handle immersion, however.
The Z Flip 5 uses the newest and fastest processor of the three, running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset. The Razr Plus instead uses last year’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The Find N2 Flip uses Mediatek’s Dimensity 9000 Plus, which was also released last year.
All three devices run on Android 13, with the Z Flip 5 and Find N2 Flip offering four years of software updates. Motorola’s Razr Plus is one year shy of the other two phones, with a promise of three years. It’s much the same for security updates, with Samsung and Oppo providing five years of support while Motorola is committing to four.
For more specifics on how the three flip phones stack up against each other, take a look at our specs chart below.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 | Motorola Razr Plus | Oppo Find N2 Flip | |
---|---|---|---|
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate, brightness | Cover: 3.4-inch AMOLED (728 x 720 pixels); internal: 6.7-inch AMOLED (2,640 x 1,080 pixels), 1-120Hz | Cover: 3.6-inch OLED (1,066 x 1,056 pixels); internal: 6.9-inch (2,640 pixels x 1,080) | Cover Screen: 3.26-inch AMOLED; Main Screen: 6.8-inch AMOLED (120Hz), 2520×1080 pixels |
Pixel density | Cover: 306 ppi, Internal: 425 ppi | Cover: 413 ppi, internal: 413ppi | Cover: 250ppi, Internal: 403ppi |
Dimensions (inches) | Open: 6.5 x 2.83 x 0.27 in; closed: 3.35 x 2.83 x 0.59 in | Open: 2.91 x 6.73 x 0.28 in; closed: 2.91 x 3.48 x 0.59 in | Open: 2.96 x 6.54 × 0.29 in; Closed: 2.96 x 3.37 × 0.63 in |
Dimensions (millimeters) | Open: 71.88 x 165.1 x 6.89 mm; closed: 71.88 x 85.09 x 14.99 mm | Open: 73.95 x 170.83 x 6.99 mm; closed: 73.95 x 88.42 x 15.1 mm | Open: 75.2 mm x 166.2mm × 7.45mm Closed: 75.2 mm x 85.5mm × 16.02mm |
Weight (grams, ounces) | 187 g (6.6 oz) | 189 g (6.64 oz) | 191g (6.73 oz) |
Mobile software | Android 13 | Android 13 | Android 13 |
Camera | 12-megapixel (main), 12-megapixel (ultrawide) | 12-megapixel (main), 13-megapixel (ultrawide) | 50-megapixel (main), 8-megapixel (ultrawide) |
Front-facing camera | 10-megapixel | 32-megapixel | 32-megapixel |
Video capture | 4K | 4K | 4K |
Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Mediatek Dimensity 9000+ |
RAM/storage | 8GB + 256GB/512GB | 8GB + 256GB | 8GB/12GB +128GB/256GB |
Expandable storage | None | None | None |
Battery | 3,700 mAh | 3,800 mAh | 4,300 mAh |
Fingerprint sensor | Side | Side | Side |
Connector | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
Headphone jack | None | None | None |
Special features | 5G-enabled, IPX8 water-resistance, 25W wired charging, wireless charging, wireless power share, dual SIM | IP52, 5G-enabled, 30W wired charging, wireless charging, largest flip phone cover screen | 5G-enabled, dual sim, bundled charger, 44W charger |
US price off-contract | $1,000 | $1,000 | Not in the US. Starts at £849 which converts roughly to $1,080 |
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