I have been team apple for over 5 years switching from a oneplus phone back in early 2018. I thought no phone would ever win me back but the samsung fold offerings have always been intriguing to me. I did find it hard to overlook that ugly middle line especially with the older phones not folding in flat. Now that the fold 5 has offered this upgrade to actually fold flat I decided that now more than any time I would test the waters of a Android Device.

The Fold 5 was easy enough to get used to it felt quite natural using the front screen for some simple stuff and opening it up for the full screen experience. It did at times feel weird watching content on such a large phone screen but it was mostly a mix of delight and amazement at how top notch the folding screen is.

The camera was quite good to my amazement as I had been spoiled with the apple camera for a while. I had not seen the advancements android phones had made and I was delighted to use the zoom on the phones camera. Overall though i don’t like the colors quite as much and I feel the photos have a little less character than an iphone but still a great camera with many more cool gimmicks than the iphone a big win in my book.

I was a little concerned about weight when i got the phone but in hand it didnt feel as heavy as i thought. The bigness of the phone was a little daunting at first as it was both thicker and longer. This is definitely a big disadvantage to me as the bulge is quite apparent in most of my pants even though it is a narrower phone when folded up.

I do want to quickly also say this phone does look beautiful and the bevels are so small now on these phones the screen looks amazing. Even though at times i see the curve of the large screen it doesnt bother as much as i though tit would only when things go dark do i really see it noticeably. The screen is also very bright.

Positives: Great Screen
Fast Snappy Performance
Fast Charging

Negatives: Front Screen is a little narrow (not good for typing)
I did not get great battery life even when new about 1 day but many times didnt make it to the day mark. that comfortably.

This is the most amazing phone ever and opens into the nicest little tablet, but also could replace my desktop computer. From the first photo that I posted, are the CPU Benchmarks that shows this benches over 20,000 (Geekbench 4 score) and honestly this is just mind blowing! I have a desktop computer that I use for graphic design where I need all of the big name design programs that require a lot of processing power and my desktop is fast, but it only scores 14,000. When I saw the benchmarks of this phone and ran the tests several times, it really has me thinking that this could replace my desktop computer since the scores are 40% faster! This phone supports Samsung DeX which is a desktop mode that allows the same experience as a desktop computer to utilize all of your apps on the phone with a seamless interface. So that would mean you could keep your computer with you at all times. In my photos that I posted, you can see that I attached a USB-C cord to the phone and a portable monitor, this was an immediate connection without any fussing. Well, kinda, my monitor is too low a resolution for it to work properly, so when doing so, a higher resolution monitor is needed.

Aside from using it as a computer, the phone quality is pretty amazing. Having the ability to unfold a phone into a tablet is a great experience. I was a bit concerned with the screen crease, but when using it, you really cannot see the crease at all. When the phone is off, yes, you can see it and feel a slight bump when swiping across the screen. The color and clarity is beautiful and it performs beyond expectations. I also did some graphics testing to see the raytracing capabilities and the overall score was 5,623 and the Wild Life Extreme test which is 90% better than any other device available today! (according to 3DMARK Solar Bay test). When doing these tests, I did notice that the phone got noticeably warm so I measured it at over 103 degrees, see photo.

While I like to do testing of CPU and Graphics abilities, that is where my tech ends. The other features and specs I am sure you can find via the manufacturer. But from a user point of view, I find the camera to be better than any other phone that I have had. I snapped some photos of flowers and yard ornaments to display the photo quality, and of course my cat wanted to be involved too.

When using the phone. I do find that it is quite narrow and for fat finger typing it is a bit tight. When unfolding the phone I see that it is not perfectly square, it is about 1/2 inch different. So if they would have put the fold the other direction, then the phone would be wider and shorter and in my opinion far superior to the orientation that it is now. It would have made it much easier to type on and better fitting in my pocket. The phone is very glossy and slippery, much to slippery to the point that I am very concerned about it slipping out of my hand when using it. So I will be looking for that perfect case right away! The three camera lenses on the back are raised from the phone so when setting it down, it is at quite a tilt and directly on the lens, so that seems like a risk of damage as well.

Opening and folding the phone is very stiff and I find that it requires two hands to carefully pry open and when closing I have to put pressure on the inside screen fold and carefully clack it shut. The hinge is metal and seems engineered very well. I thought that the inner screen would have a noticeable gap underneath when folding, but this is not the case. I see no risk of getting debris under the screen so this is a welcome update.

Even though you can unfold this phone, it really is not very thick and when unfolded it is quite thin. It fits nicely in my hand as well as my pocket when folded. It is lightweight and not cumbersome whatsoever. The front screen is very touch responsive and vivid color and fast. There is a sim card slot on the side, which is different than others. There is space for two, but the first sim slot is blocked out, as that is reserved for the esim, but there is an actual slot for a sim card. There is not a micro SD slot, so that was kind of a disappointment. The stereo speakers are quite amazing as there is noticeable bass and this gives it a deep rich sound and even at the highest volume there was no distortion.

Overall this is hands down the most amazing phone that I have ever used. Samsung really did get this right. You can tell they put a lot of thought into the engineering and polishing of the design as well as the software to allow for the larger screen. Also to be able to replace your desktop, this phone is a real contender, especially the fact that it is much faster than my current desktop computer. With all that said, honestly, I cannot find one single flaw aside from it being slippery, but a good case should cure that.