Samsung just sent me the new Galaxy Tab S9 FE – Fan Edition – tablet, and here is my unboxing video, as well as my first impressions!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : What’s In The Box?
Samsung just sent me the new Galaxy Tab S9 FE – Fan Edition – tablet, and here is my unboxing video. Inside the box, you will find these items:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE smartphone
Set of documents – quick start guide in two languages, and a warranty card
EP-DN980 (3A PD) USB Type C to Type C cable
SIM card extractor pin
Even though the Galaxy Tab S9 FE supports 45 W super-fast charging, it does not come with any charger. Neither does it come with a case, like the more premium Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
In case you are thinking of buying a 45 watt super fast charger, please note that the bundled EP-DN980 cable can only support 3A PD charging, which is good enough for 25 watt, but not for 45 watt.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE (Fan Edition) is a more affordable version of the Galaxy Tab S9 tablet, released earlier this year. And it really gives a lot of bang for your buck!
The Fan Edition looks quite alike the Galaxy Tab S9, with a classy matte metal chassis. Most of the differences are internal or not readily visible. The two key differences are probably how Samsung managed to cut down its cost – its display, and its processor.
The Tab S9 FE comes with a 10.9-inch IPS display, instead of an 11-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. It also supports a maximum refresh rate of 90 Hz, instead of 120 Hz.
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE is also built around the Samsung Exynos 1380, instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The Exynos 1380 is a mid-range processor that powers mid-range smartphones like the Galaxy A54, but it still feels speedy.
The Fan Edition has a slightly smaller 8,000 mAh battery, but I have had no problems using it for over 6 hours at a go. I’m currently running performance and battery benchmarks, which I will share shortly.
Samsung does not skimp where it really matters. For example, this tablet comes with a generous 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage, which will be plenty enough for most users. Those who need less storage can opt for the even cheaper 6 GB + 128 GB model.
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE also comes with an S Pen stylus to round out the tablet experience. I’m so glad Samsung did not penny-pinch its fans by making this an “optional purchase”!
On top of that, Samsung also included support for 45 watt super fast charging. Sure, there’s no in-box charger, but you can pretty much use any PD power bank or charger to quickly recharge the Tab S9 FE.
Overall – this Fan Edition tablet has impressed me right out of the box. It’s certainly not the best tablet money can buy, but my first impressions is that it really offers a lot of value for our money!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Specifications
Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE tablet :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Here is my comprehensive review of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE smartphone!
Find out why this Fan Edition smartphone hits the sweet spot for many people!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Colour Options + Price
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with two exclusive colours on their website – Tangerine and Indigo. They are all offered with two RAM and storage options:
6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy S23 FE :
In our unboxing video, you can see that the Galaxy S23 FE package is sparse, and only consists of:
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE smartphone
Set of documents – quick start guide in two languages, and a warranty card
USB Type C to Type C cable
SIM card extractor pin
As the unboxing video shows, the Galaxy S23 FE does not come with any charger, or earphones. Not even a TPU case to hold you over until you get a better case.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with a 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels.
Interestingly, this display is slightly larger than the 6.1-inch display on the Galaxy S23, but you won’t be able to tell the difference. In fact, its display looks pretty much like the Galaxy S23 – large, and beautiful, with excellent resolution, colour gamut, and brightness.
The display ostensibly changes its refresh rate according to your needs automatically, but I found that the Galaxy S23 FE’s display only switches between the 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates. While that may not be quite so optimal for extended battery life, but you will glad to know that its battery life is actually really good with the adaptive refresh rate mode enabled!
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S23 runs on Samsung’s best in-house mobile chip – the Exynos 2200, which is fabricated on the 4 nm process technology.
Launched in January 2022, this is a flagship-class mobile SoC (System-on-a-Chip) designed to compete with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It has eight processor cores with a tri-cluster architecture:
a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 2.8 GHz,
three Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.5 GHz, and
four Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 1.8 GHz.
This mobile SoC also comes with the Samsung Xclipse 920 GPU, a dual-core NPU, and DSPs to support 8K video decoding at up to 60 fps, and camera resolutions up to 200 MP.
The Samsung Exynos 2200 also has a built-in 5G modem that supports Sub-6Ghz and mmWave connectivity, as well as LTE Cat.24 download and LTE Cat.22 upload speeds.
RAM + Storage
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and supports extended memory (RAM Plus) which uses 2 GB / 4 GB / 6 GB / 8 GB of your storage as virtual memory.
But frankly speaking – there is no need to even enable RAM Plus. 8GB of memory is more than enough to run multiple apps, and even the most memory-intensive games!
Samsung offers storage options of either 128 GB or 256 GB. It is important that you select the storage option that best fits your requirements, as the Galaxy S23 FE does not support storage expansion through a microSD card.
Dual SIM Support
The Galaxy S23 FE has a SIM card tray that supports two nano SIM cards. It also supports an eSIM, so technically, you can use up to three SIMs, but only two can be used at the same time.
Buttons
The only buttons you will find are on the upper right side of the Galaxy S23 FE – the Volume control buttons and the Power button, which doubles as the fingerprint sensor.
Pressing the Power button twice activates the Quick Shot mode, which lets you take selfies using the rear cameras with the Flex Window for preview and control.
Only One Port
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with a USB Type C port, which supports USB 3.2 connectivity. It does not come with a 3.5 mm audio jack, or a USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter in the box.
Protection
The Galaxy S23 FE is IP68 dust and water-resistant. That means it will withstand immersion in up to 1.5 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes.
In addition, it has a thick aluminium frame all around, and is protected on both the front and rear aspects by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, instead of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in the Galaxy S23.
Battery + Charging
Powering all that is a 4,500 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, which is actually 600 mAh (15%) larger than the Galaxy S23‘s 3,900 mAh battery.
The Galaxy S23 recharges at up to 45 watts, while the Fan Edition only supports 25 watt fast charging, but that is fast enough for most users.
It also supports 15 watt wireless charging, and can even wireless recharge other devices, albeit at just 4.5 watts. However, it does not come with an in-box charger. So you will have to use your old charger, or buy a new one.
In the front, the Galaxy S23 FE has a 10 MP punch hole camera, with an f/2.4 aperture. It’s decent, but nothing to shout about.
The pricier Galaxy S23 comes with a 12 MP camera in the front, with a slightly wider f/2.2 aperture, so you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions.
But I’m glad to report that this camera can also record video at up to 4K resolution at 60 fps, just like the Galaxy S23‘s front camera.
Triple Camera System At The Back
At the back, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has a triple camera system, which consists of:
a 50 MP Dual Pixel camera, with f/1.8 aperture,
a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, with f/2.2 aperture, and
an 8 MP telephoto camera, with 3X optical zoom, and f/2.4 aperture
The main camera is built around the Samsung ISOCELL GN3 (S5KGN3) sensor, which has a small 1.0 µm pixel size. Hence, it defaults to 12.5 MP photos, which allows it to combine four pixels into a large 1.0 µm “virtual pixel”. Combined with a wide f/1.8 aperture, this allows for excellent low-light photographic capabilities.
I cannot find out what sensor the ultra-wide angle camera uses, but it has a 12 MP sensor, and a wide aperture of f/2.2.
Its telephoto camera though is built around the SK hynix Hi-847 image sensor. This is rather old sensor from February 2019, with a small 1.0 µm pixel size.
The main camera is excellent, and the ultra-wide angle camera is good. But I can’t help feeling a bit shortchanged with the telephoto camera. It could be better.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Photo Samples
The Samsung Galaxy S23’s telephoto camera may be dated, but you will likely use its much newer 50 MP Dual Pixel main camera, and 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera.
Just make sure you enable (High Efficiency Image Format) so that the photos don’t take up so much space – the resulting HEIC photos are much smaller at between 2-3 MB in size.
Here are ten unedited photo samples for you to check out.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with a decent 4,500 mAh battery, which is actually 15% larger than the Galaxy S23‘s 3,900 battery.
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :
Not bad! The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE lasted almost 10.5 hours with the Adaptive refresh mode enabled, and almost lasted 11 hours with the Standard refresh mode!
In other words – it does not make (battery) sense to switch to the Standard refresh mode. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in battery life.
Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip5, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just under 11 hours.
As this comparison shows, the Galaxy S23 FE isn’t quite as efficient as Samsung’s flagship devices like the Z Flip5, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra. But it’s close enough.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 5
S23 FE
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
4,500 mAh
Battery Life
15 hrs 18 mins
14 hrs 15 mins
11 hrs 4 mins
10 hrs 57 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh
4.68 mAh
4.46 mAh
5.48 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
But its Adaptive refresh rate is surprisingly so efficient, it actually uses (slightly) less power than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip5 smartphones. With a slightly larger battery, it actually lasted more than an hour longer than the Galaxy Z Flip5!
In fact, it’s so efficient that it almost matches the battery life of the S22 Ultra, which has a 28% larger battery!
Needless to say – we are highly recommending you stick with the Adaptive refresh mode for the Galaxy S23 FE!
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
S23 FE
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
4,500 mAh
3,700 mAh
Battery Life
13 hrs
0 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
10 hrs 20 mins
9 hrs
9 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh
6.27 mAh
5.81 mAh
5.39 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Battery Recharging Speed!
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
S23 FE
S23 Ultra
S23 FE
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
3,300 mAh
4,500 mAh
5,000 mAh
4,500 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
25 watts
15 watts
15 watts
25 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64.5 min
73 min
88.8 min
96 min
105 min
129.5 min
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh
49.3 mAh
45.0 mAh
37.5 mAh
28.2 mAh
22.9 mAh
Not bad! The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE chargers really fast with a 15 watt charger, and even faster with a 25 watt charger. It basically needs just over 1.5 hours to fully recharge with a 15 watt charger, and just under one hour and 15 minutes with a 25 watt charger.
This gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 6.5:1, which is pretty good. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 9.25 minutes you recharge.
If you prefer to get faster charging, you should purchase the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by 23 minutes, and give you an hour of battery life for every 8.5 minutes you recharge:
We first tested the Galaxy S23 FE using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 4
S23 FE
S22 Ultra
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
Exynos
2200
SD 8
Gen 1
Performance Score
16408
14655
14429
13971
12860
Web Browsing
15680
11404
12097
11664
10442
Video Editing
7879
7943
7387
7369
7444
Writing
22257
19525
17593
18138
15471
Photo Editing
35533
324420
31762
27060
30177
Data Manipulation
12171
11788
12523
12616
9691
Not bad! The Exynos 2200 is certainly no match for the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but it actually beat the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 by 9%, and came within 3.3% of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1!
I should point out that these are peak performance results. The truth is – you won’t be able to actually tell the difference between the three mobile processors in normal usage.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Storage Performance
PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.
Storage 2.0
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
S23 FE
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
2200
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score
48435
41647
31839
27808
27271
Sequential Read (MB/s)
2676.53
2592.42
1584.66
1457.68
1350.51
Random Read (MB/s)
49.95
38.25
31.25
37.73
33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s)
2631.38
603.29
510.16
856.21
256.81
Random Write (MB/s)
76.66
81.44
81.13
47.20
50.29
Samsung appeared to have used slower flash storage to reduce the cost of the Galaxy S23 FE. Its storage performance is much closer to last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, than the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Interestingly, its random write performance was exceptional, matching the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and almost double that of the Galaxy S22 Ultra,
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S23 FE using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 4
S22 Ultra
S23 FE
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2200
Solar Bay Unlimited
5481
NA
NA
NA
4570
Wild Life Extreme
Unlimited
3705
3814
2636
2220
2233
Wild Life Unlimited
14823
14554
11144
9106
8671
Sling Shot Unlimited
16661
16344
10690
11094
11348
The Samsung Exynos 2200 powering the Galaxy S23 FE is almost identical in performance to the Galaxy S22 Ultra‘s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – the difference between their performance is less than 0.7%!
Like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 FE will have no problem handling most games. Only when it comes to more strenuous games (as tested by the Wild Life benchmark) does it lag significantly behind the Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
But the good news is that the new Solar Bay ray-tracing benchmark shows that the Exynos 2200 is able to hold its own – it is just 17% slower than the Galaxy Z Flip5, which is powered by the Snapdragon Gen 2 for Galaxy processor.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy S23 FE using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
S23 FE
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
2200
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
AnTuTu Score
1212174
1187296
1166868
889167
856357
CPU
261886
393404
329078
203090
205939
GPU
538823
282780
425455
402617
362669
Memory
236163
291048
193981
146002
135707
UX
175302
220064
218354
137458
152042
The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. According to its tests, the Galaxy S23 FE is about 31% faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and 36% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Not bad!
The Galaxy S23 actually came within 2% of the Galaxy Z Flip 5‘s performance, at least in the AnTuTu Benchmark. In fact, it was only 3.7% slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra!
But note that its temperature jumped by almost 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy S23 FE can get quite toasty!
Let’s do a quick wrap of what I really like, and don’t like, about the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE.
Hits Most Of The Sweet Spots
Think of the Fan Edition of any Samsung smartphone as its “Value For Money” variant. That is what the Galaxy S23 FE really is – a Galaxy S23 variant that offers much better value for your money.
It isn’t powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but its Exynos 2200 is no slouch either. It’s fast in work applications, and handles itself well in games. And of course – it also has a fast 5G modem built-in.
Like the Galaxy S23, the Fan Edition also comes with 8 GB of LPDDR5 memory and up to 256 GB of flash storage. But it actually ups the ante with a larger 4,500 mAh battery.
Even in the camera department, it comes with a 50 MP Dual Pixel main camera, and likely the same 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera. Only its telephoto camera uses an older and lower-resolution sensor.
It may not be protected by Armor Aluminium and Gorilla Glass Victus 2, but its thick aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass 5 protection is, frankly, “good enough” for most users.
Samsung gave it only 25 watt fast charging, instead of 45 watt fast charging, but unless you are forking out extra money for the super fast charger (sold separately), this is a moot point.
If there is something I don’t quite like, it’s that the Galaxy S23 FE is quite chunky. It has a slightly larger display, but its thicker bezel makes it quite a bit much larger.
On top of that, it is noticeably thicker and heavier. You may like the “solid” feel, or you may dislike the weight. Older smartphone gimbals, for example, may not support its weight.
Lower Power Efficiency
This is, frankly, only of interest to techies like me, and probably pointless to most users – compared to the more premium Galaxy S23 models, the Galaxy S23 FE has lower power efficiency.
That’s probably why Samsung gave it a larger (and heavier) 4,500 mAh battery, which allows the Galaxy S23 FE to almost get 11 hours of battery life. So it’s ultimately a trade-off – you pay less for cheaper electronics and a larger battery.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : My Verdict + Award
At first glance, the Galaxy S23 FE may not look as polished as the Galaxy S23. The Fan Edition model has a shiny glass back which attracts fingerprint smears, instead of the stylish matte finish of the regular Galaxy S23. It also looks and feels chunkier and heavier when you compare them both.
However, if you can get past those superficialities and really look at what they both offer, you will realise what I realised – the Galaxy S23 FE offers much better value for money.
As my review has already shown, the Galaxy S23 FE hits most of the sweet spots for most users. In fact, it’s practically a no-brainer for most people considering the Galaxy S23 – the Galaxy S23 FE is a better deal.
This is why we believe it deserves nothing less than our Editor’s Choice Award! Great job, Samsung!
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Where To Buy
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with two exclusive colours on their website – Tangerine and Indigo. They are all offered with two RAM and storage options:
6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy S23 FE :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
In this review, we are going to take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Fan Edition) smartphone, which is powered by the Samsung Exynos 2200 mobile SoC!
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Flagship Class Performance!
The Galaxy S23 FE runs on Samsung’s best in-house mobile chip – the Exynos 2200, which is fabricated on the 4 nm process technology.
Launched in January 2022, this is a flagship-class mobile SoC (System-on-a-Chip) designed to compete with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It has eight processor cores with a tri-cluster architecture:
a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 2.8 GHz,
three Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.5 GHz, and
four Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 1.8 GHz.
This mobile SoC also comes with the Samsung Xclipse 920 GPU, a dual-core NPU, and DSPs to support 8K video decoding at up to 60 fps, and camera resolutions up to 200 MP.
The Samsung Exynos 2200 also has a built-in 5G modem that supports Sub-6Ghz and mmWave connectivity, as well as LTE Cat.24 download and LTE Cat.22 upload speeds.
We first tested the Galaxy S23 FE using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 4
S23 FE
S22 Ultra
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
Exynos
2200
SD 8
Gen 1
Performance Score
16408
14655
14429
13971
12860
Web Browsing
15680
11404
12097
11664
10442
Video Editing
7879
7943
7387
7369
7444
Writing
22257
19525
17593
18138
15471
Photo Editing
35533
324420
31762
27060
30177
Data Manipulation
12171
11788
12523
12616
9691
Not bad! The Exynos 2200 is certainly no match for the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but it actually beat the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 by 9%, and came within 3.3% of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1!
I should point out that these are peak performance results. The truth is – you won’t be able to actually tell the difference between the three mobile processors in normal usage.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Storage Performance
PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.
Storage 2.0
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
S23 FE
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
2200
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score
48435
41647
31839
27808
27271
Sequential Read (MB/s)
2676.53
2592.42
1584.66
1457.68
1350.51
Random Read (MB/s)
49.95
38.25
31.25
37.73
33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s)
2631.38
603.29
510.16
856.21
256.81
Random Write (MB/s)
76.66
81.44
81.13
47.20
50.29
Samsung appeared to have used slower flash storage to reduce the cost of the Galaxy S23 FE. Its storage performance is much closer to last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, than the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Interestingly, its random write performance was exceptional, matching the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and almost double that of the Galaxy S22 Ultra,
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S23 FE using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 4
S22 Ultra
S23 FE
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2200
Solar Bay Unlimited
5481
NA
NA
NA
4570
Wild Life Extreme
Unlimited
3705
3814
2636
2220
2233
Wild Life Unlimited
14823
14554
11144
9106
8671
Sling Shot Unlimited
16661
16344
10690
11094
11348
The Samsung Exynos 2200 powering the Galaxy S23 FE is almost identical in performance to the Galaxy S22 Ultra‘s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – the difference between their performance is less than 0.7%!
Like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 FE will have no problem handling most games. Only when it comes to more strenuous games (as tested by the Wild Life benchmark) does it lag significantly behind the Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
But the good news is that the new Solar Bay ray-tracing benchmark shows that the Exynos 2200 is able to hold its own – it is just 17% slower than the Galaxy Z Flip5, which is powered by the Snapdragon Gen 2 for Galaxy processor.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy S23 FE using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
S23 FE
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
2200
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
AnTuTu Score
1212174
1187296
1166868
889167
856357
CPU
261886
393404
329078
203090
205939
GPU
538823
282780
425455
402617
362669
Memory
236163
291048
193981
146002
135707
UX
175302
220064
218354
137458
152042
The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. According to its tests, the Galaxy S23 FE is about 31% faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and 36% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Not bad!
The Galaxy S23 actually came within 2% of the Galaxy Z Flip 5‘s performance, at least in the AnTuTu Benchmark. In fact, it was only 3.7% slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra!
But note that its temperature jumped by almost 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy S23 FE can get quite toasty!
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Performance Summary
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a rather chunky smartphone, so one would expect better cooling performance, compared to something thinner and foldable like the Galaxy Z Flip 5.
It shows in the benchmarks – the Galaxy S23 FE comes admirably close to the performance of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, even though it’s using a mobile processor that is one generation older.
The Samsung Exynos 2200 might not do quite so well at high-resolution games, compared to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but that’s a different price point altogether.
Ultimately, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE punches above its weight in everything except gaming performance. Unless you are an avid gamer, this is flagship-class performance at a more affordable price point.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Fan Edition Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with two exclusive colours on their website – Tangerine and Indigo. They are all offered with two RAM and storage options:
6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy S23 FE :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE is focused on delivering an affordable set of active noise cancellation earbuds. Think of it as a budget version of the Galaxy Buds2 or Galaxy Buds2 Pro earphones.
New Wingtip Design
The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE comes with a new wingtip design to make sure they don’t fall off. People with smaller ears may want to try the optional stability bands.
These are closed earbuds with silicone tips. By default, they come fitted with medium ear tips, but the package includes small and large ear tips. Use the proper tips, and you will find that they are light and comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
Active Noise Cancellation
The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE supports three levels of noise cancellation – ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), Ambient (Transparency), or Off.
It is surprisingly good at noise cancellation when you turn on ANC. Budget ANC earbuds generally use only one microphone to receive ambient noise for cancellation. But the Buds FE appears to use two microphones for noise cancellation, delivering better than expected noise cancellation.
On top of that – when you take out one earbud, the other earbud cleverly switches to Ambient mode so you don’t get disorientated, and switches back to ANC when you put the earbud back on.
The Ambient / Transparency mode is decent – allowing you to hear conversations, or public announcements while still cutting down on ambient noise. It’s not as good as the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, of course, but you won’t realise it if you never compare them before.
Unlike the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, the Galaxy Buds FE is only IPX2 splash-resistant, which means it’s rated to withstand some dripping water (up to 3 mm per minute), limited to a maximum tilt of 15°.
That basically means that these earbuds will withstand sweat and a little bit of rain. You can certainly wipe these down with a damp cloth. However, under no circumstances should you wash the Galaxy Buds FE under running water!
I should also point out that the charging case itself is NOT water-resistant, so please make sure you keep it dry. In addition, you must dry the Galaxy Buds FE before you put them back into the charging case.
Connectivity
The Galaxy Buds FE connects wirelessly to your devices using Bluetooth 5.2, but does not support Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, so they can only be connected to one device at any one time.
However, they support automatic switching between Samsung Galaxy devices using the same Samsung account. But if you want to switch from your Samsung Galaxy smartphone to your laptops you need to manually switch using the Bluetooth menu.
Bonus : You can use the SmartThings Find feature to remotely trigger a beeping sound to locate any misplaced earbuds!
Battery Life
The biggest problem I had with the Buds2 Pro was its short battery life of about 5 hours with ANC enabled. I could get about 8 hours with ANC disabled, but that’s still on the low side for premium earbuds.
The good news is – the Galaxy Buds FE actually lasts longer with a similar-sized battery (60 mAh vs 61 mAh in the Buds2 Pro) – about 6 hours with ANC enabled, and 8.5 hours with ANC disabled. Not quite as long as I would like, but still pretty decent at its price point.
Its charging case has an internal 479 mAh battery that provides another 15 hours of extra battery life (ANC enabled), or 24 hours (ANC disabled) – roughly 2.5 full charges.
The good news is – the Galaxy Buds FE supports quick charging – a 5 minute charge will get you about an hour of ANC-enabled battery life.
Pro Tip : Get into the habit of popping these earbuds into their case whenever you are not using, and you will never run out of battery life.
The Galaxy Buds FE is Samsung’s attempt to break into the $100 wireless earbuds market, and is targeted at the large number of Samsung fans who have not yet jumped onto the wireless earbuds bandwagon.
It offers Samsung fans the most important features of the Galaxy Buds2, at a more affordable price point. Now, you won’t get access to premium features like 360 Audio, AKG tuning, or a 2-way dynamic speaker system. But these features are not really deal-breakers for most users.
Dollar-for-dollar – the Galaxy Buds FE definitely offers much better value for your money. In fact, I expect it to cannibalise the sales of the Galaxy Buds2. Samsung fans will either opt to pay more for the premium Galaxy Buds2 Pro, or settle for the cheaper Galaxy Buds FE.
Now, there are slightly cheaper alternatives to be sure, but they won’t come across as well-polished. On top of that, you can count on regular software updates from Samsung.
For those reasons, I think it deserves our Editor’s Choice Award!
Samsung Galaxy Buds FE : Where To Buy?
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 is priced at RM399 / US$99.99 / £99 / A$199.
Here are some online purchase options (prices accurate as of 31 October 2023) :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!
The new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for the main, foldable display:
Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate
By default, the Galaxy S23 FE uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.
On investigation, I found that the Galaxy S23 FE’s display only switches between the 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rate, when set to the Adaptive mode.
In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S23 FE’s battery life.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with a larger 4,500 mAh battery, which is 15% larger than the 3,900 mAh battery in the Galaxy S23!
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :
Not bad! The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE lasted almost 10.5 hours with the Adaptive refresh mode enabled, and almost lasted 11 hours with the Standard refresh mode!
In other words – it does not make (battery) sense to switch to the Standard refresh mode. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in battery life.
Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip5, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just under 11 hours.
As this comparison shows, the Galaxy S23 FE isn’t quite as efficient as Samsung’s flagship devices like the Z Flip5, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra. But it’s close enough.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 5
S23 FE
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
4,500 mAh
Battery Life
15 hrs 18 mins
14 hrs 15 mins
11 hrs 4 mins
10 hrs 57 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh
4.68 mAh
4.46 mAh
5.48 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
But its Adaptive refresh rate is surprisingly so efficient, it actually uses (slightly) less power than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip5 smartphones. With a slightly larger battery, it actually lasted more than an hour longer than the Galaxy Z Flip5!
In fact, it’s so efficient that it almost matches the battery life of the S22 Ultra, which has a 28% larger battery!
Needless to say – we are highly recommending you stick with the Adaptive refresh mode for the Galaxy S23 FE!
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
S23 FE
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
4,500 mAh
3,700 mAh
Battery Life
13 hrs
0 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
10 hrs 20 mins
9 hrs
9 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh
6.27 mAh
5.81 mAh
5.39 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Battery Recharging Speed!
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
S23 FE
S23 Ultra
S23 FE
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
3,300 mAh
4,500 mAh
5,000 mAh
4,500 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
25 watts
15 watts
15 watts
25 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64.5 min
73 min
88.8 min
96 min
105 min
129.5 min
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh
49.3 mAh
45.0 mAh
37.5 mAh
28.2 mAh
22.9 mAh
Not bad! The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE chargers really fast with a 15 watt charger, and even faster with a 25 watt charger. It basically needs just over 1.5 hours to fully recharge with a 15 watt charger, and just under one hour and 15 minutes with a 25 watt charger.
This gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 6.5:1, which is pretty good. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 9.25 minutes you recharge.
If you prefer to get faster charging, you should purchase the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by 23 minutes, and give you an hour of battery life for every 8.5 minutes you recharge:
Samsung Galaxy S23 Fan Edition Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with two exclusive colours on their website – Tangerine and Indigo. They are all offered with two RAM and storage options:
6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy S23 FE :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
How To Setup Galaxy S23 FE : Step-By-Step Instructions
It is very easy to setup the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE as a new device. However, please note that the Galaxy S23 FE setup process will take about 10 minutes or so.
Press the Power button for 4-5 seconds to start up your Samsung Galaxy S23 FE smartphone.
It will take about 23 seconds to boot up for the first time.
In the Welcome screen, it will default to English (or the default language for your region).
If you need to change the language, tap on the current language, and select the language you prefer.
There is also an Accessibility option below the Start button for those who need it.
Once you’re ready, click Start to begin the setup process.
The first thing you need to do is agree to the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) and the Privacy Policy.
You can skip sending Samsung your Diagnostic Data.
In the next screen, you will have the option to migrate your settings and accounts from your existing device.
If you prefer to set up the Galaxy S23 FE as a new device, tap on the option to Set up manually.
Next, you will be asked to log into your Wi-Fi network for Internet connectivity.
Select your Wi-Fi network and key in the password to connect.
Once your Galaxy S23 FE connects to the Wi-Fi network, it will try to connect to the mobile network.
This is when you will be asked to insert a SIM card, or set up your mobile network using an e-SIM.
To do all that later, simply tap on the option to Set up later.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE will now take about 46 seconds to get some stuff ready.
After that is done, you are given the option to copy your apps and data from your old smartphone.
This is a long process, which you can do now, or do it later after setting up the Galaxy S23 FE.
To do it later, or set it up as a new device, simply tap on the Don’t copy option.
Now you will be asked to log into your Google Account, or create a new one.
To skip for now and do it after setting up the phone, click on Skip.
Next, you will be given the option of disabling certain Google services.
Generally, I would recommend leaving them enabled, except sending Google your usage and diagnostic data.
Now, you will be asked to protect your Galaxy S23 FE by selecting a preferred login method – Face recognition, Fingerprints, PIN, Password, or Pattern.
If you select the Face Recognition or Fingerprints option, you will need to select a secure screen lock method using Pattern, PIN or Password.
Next, you will need to go through the Face Recognition / Fingerprints training process.
The fingerprint sensor is built into the display, and the sensor area will flash green to guide you during the process.
Simply press your finger onto the sensor area, and lift it when you feel a vibration. Keep repeating the process, while shifting the position of your finger each time.
After setting up your fingerprints, you will be asked if you would like to download the Smart Tutor app.
Despite its name, this is actually a remote access tool that allows Samsung support staff to remotely diagnose your device.
Tap Next to continue and install the app.
Now, you will be asked to log into your Samsung account, or create a new one.
You can choose not to use a Samsung account, or do it later.
Until you use a Samsung account though, you won’t be able to access certain Samsung services.
You will now have the opportunity to turn off certain Samsung apps and services.
These are all key features that will greatly impact your use of the Galaxy S23 FE, so I recommend that you leave them all enabled.
Next, you will have the option of selecting either a Light or a Dark theme.
Select whichever you prefer and tap Next.
That’s it. The setup process is done. Tap Finish to start using the Galaxy S23 FE!
As you can see – it’s really quite easy to setup the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE as a new device!
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with two exclusive colours on their website – Tangerine and Indigo. They are all offered with two RAM and storage options:
6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy S23 FE :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, and Galaxy Buds FE, and here are their special offers for Malaysia!
Galaxy S23 FE | Tab S9 FE | Buds FE Launched In Malaysia!
Samsung just announced the launch of Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE and S9 FE+, and Galaxy Buds FE in Malaysia, offering premium design, advanced performance, cutting-edge camera and audio capabilities.
These new 2023 Galaxy FE devices will enable more Malaysians to experience a hyper-connected lifestyle and live out their passions to the fullest.
“In conjunction with the launch of the most Epic FE devices yet, we are celebrating the fans with exclusive experiences and merchandise curated for #GalaxyTroop, as well as rewards and promos that they cannot get elsewhere,” says KM Liew, Vice President & Head of Mobile eXperience (MX), Samsung Malaysia Electronics. “Be a part of the #GalaxyTroop to enjoy Epic benefits only on Galaxy and belong to a community that embraces unrivalled, premium tech.”
Galaxy S23 FE | Tab S9 FE | Buds FE Exclusive Offers In Malaysia!
In conjunction with its launch, these exclusive offers for the 2023 Galaxy FE series will be made available in Malaysia, from Tuesday, 10 October 2023, until 30 November 2023.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Offers For Malaysia
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with storage capacities of 128 GB and 256 GB, with colour options of Mint, Cream, Graphite and Purple.
Here are the exclusive offers for the Galaxy S23 FE in Malaysia:
Register to be a #GalaxyTroop, and get a Fan Exclusive promo of RM500
Get double storage, with RM300 off the 256 GB model.
Save up to RM350 with trade-in rebate.
Up to 30% off purchase-with-purchase on Samsung Care+, selected Galaxy Tablets and Buds Series, and Samsung Accessories
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Offers For Malaysia
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with these RAM and storage options:
8 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB
Here are the exclusive offers for the Galaxy S23 FE in Malaysia:
Register to be a #GalaxyTroop, and get a Fan Exclusive promo of RM300
Up to 30% off purchase-with-purchase on Samsung Care+, selected Galaxy Tablets and Buds Series, and Samsung Accessories
Samsung Galaxy Buds FE Offer For Malaysia
Galaxy Buds FE is available at RM399 in two colors, Graphite and White. Those who purchase from 10 – 31 October 2023 can get a Minion Bob Eco-Friends Cover worth RM169 for free!
How To Register As #GalaxyTroop For Galaxy FE Offers!
To enjoy the Fan Exclusive promo for the Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE and S9 FE+, and Galaxy Buds FE in Malaysia, just sign up as a #GalaxyTroop, from now until 6 November 2023.
You will also get to enjoy Samsung’s Finally Monday Epic Rewards, offering everything from entertainment to desserts! There’s something for everyone!
Step 1: Galaxy users and Samsung Members will receive an email to register their details.
Step 2: Those who register will receive the emails that contain the weekly giveaways.
Step 3: Check your email every Monday for the link to the Samsung Members app to download the limited vouchers.
It’s that simple!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung is making all four main colours options, as well as the four exclusive online colours, available for purchase at launch, at these price points :
As a Samsung ultra-premium smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in a premium black box, with these items inside :
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone
Set of documents – quick start guide in two languages, and a warranty card
USB Type C to Type C cable
SIM card extractor pin
As the unboxing video shows, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 does not come with any charger, or earphones. Not even a TPU case to hold you over until you get a better case.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 boasts the same large 6.7-inch Infinity Flex display as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4. This foldable display has a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel that has a 120 Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1080 x 2640 pixels.
The difference this year lies in its No-Gap Flex Hinge and improved Ultra Thin Glass with a droplet fold, allowing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fold completely flat.
In case you are wondering – the crease is still visible if you view it from an angle, and you can feel it if you run your finger over it. But after using it some time – you will forget it’s even there.
The display is large and really beautiful – with excellent resolution, colour gamut and brightness. And it folds into a really compact device about the size of a pager – if you are old enough to remember what that is!
Like previous Flip models, its foldable display comes with a protective film made from stretchable PET, so you should never stick any screen protector on it!
If you are new to foldable phones, you will be really tentative about folding it. But over time, it will become really natural – you won’t even think twice about folding it before shoving it down your pocket.
The Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) is rated for at least 200,000 folds, so even if you fold it 100 times a day, it should last at least 5.5 years!
But while the display can withstand a lot of folding, you must still take care not to SCRATCH it. Avoid putting it together in your pocket or handbag with hard objects like coins, another phone, etc.
3.4-inch Cover Display
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5’s biggest upgrade is, arguably, the much larger 3.4-inch front display, which is now called the Flex Window, instead of the cover screen.
Thanks to its 3.4-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 720 x 748 pixels, the new Flex Window is much more useful. Not only can you check notifications, and send quick replies to text messages, it comes with 14 essential widgets out of the box!
You can customise the Flex Window with widgets, video wallpapers, clock faces and styles. And the larger display makes it so much easier to take selfies with its awesome rear cameras!
Performance + Storage
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs on the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is a specially-binned and slightly-overclocked version that Qualcomm created for Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphones.
Fabricated on the latest 4nm TSMC process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy boasts a powerful Adreno 740 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture :
a Cortex-X3 prime core running at up to 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz),
two Cortex-A715 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz,
two Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz, and
three Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz.
Our review sample came with 8 GB of memory, and 256 GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage. It is also available with 512 GB of storage. There is no option to increase storage, but generally 256 GB of storage is more than enough for most people.
Dual SIM Support
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a SIM card tray that supports a single nano SIM card. It also supports an eSIM, so technically, you can use up to two SIMs at the same time.
Buttons
The only buttons you will find are on the upper right side of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – the Volume control buttons and the Power button, which doubles as the fingerprint sensor.
Pressing the Power button twice activates the Quick Shot mode, which lets you take selfies using the rear cameras with the Flex Window for preview and control.
Only One Port
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a USB Type C port, which supports USB 3.2 connectivity. It does not come with a 3.5 mm audio jack, or a USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter in the box.
Protection
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is water-resistant in up to 1.5 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes, but is not dust-resistant due to its foldable display and folding mechanism. Hence, it is IPX8-rated.
In addition, its chassis is made with Armor Aluminium, and the Flex Window is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Its Dual Pixel main camera is also protected by Gorilla Glass with DX.
Powering all that is a 3,700 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, which supports 25 watt fast charging, and 10 watt wireless charging. It can even wireless recharge other devices, albeit at just 4.5 watts.
However, it does not come with an in-box charger. So you will have to use your old charger, or buy a new one.
Samsung flagship smartphones are notable for featuring cutting-edge cameras, but the Galaxy Z Flip 5 stayed with older cameras, albeit slightly enhanced.
In the front, it uses a 10 MP punch hole camera, built around the Samsung ISOCELL 3J1 (S5K3J1) sensor, which has a 1.22 µm pixel size. This isn’t a new sensor though, being first used in the Galaxy S20 series.
This camera now has a slightly wider f/2.2 aperture, so you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions. This camera can also record video at up to 4K resolution at 60 fps.
In most cases though, you will end up using this selfie camera only for video calls, and use the better cameras at the back for your “selfies”!
Dual Cameras At The Back
In the back, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a dual-camera system, which consists of :
a 12 MP main camera, with f/1.8 aperture
a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, with 123° field of view, and f/2.2 aperture
The main camera is built around the Samsung ISOCELL 2LD (S5K2LD) sensor, which dates back to the Galaxy S20 series as well. This sensor, however, boasts a large pixel size of 1.8 µm, and it has a 24 mm lens with a wide f/1.8 aperture.
The ultra-wide angle camera is built around the Sony IMX258 sensor, which dates back to 2017. It also has rather small 1.12 µm pixels.
Most Galaxy Z Flip 5 users will eventually realise that it’s better to use these two 12 MP cameras for better selfies. Just double-press the Power button with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 folded to activate these cameras.
These cameras are still good, but I really wish Samsung would have at least upgraded their sensors.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Photo Samples
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5’s rear cameras may be dated, but they are still excellent cameras with good low-light performance, thanks to the wide f/1.8 and f/2.2 apertures. But the wide aperture also creates creates a narrow depth-of-field, so there is the risk of ending up with an out-of-focus photo.
When used in the selfie mode, the rear cameras deliver Instagram-friendly square 9 MP photos with a resolution of 2992 x 2992 pixels, and a file size of about 1.3 MB (HEIC format).
When used unfolded, the rear cameras deliver can be used to take 12 MP photos with a resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels, and a file size of about 3 MB (HEIC format).
Here are eight unedited photo samples for you to check out.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a relatively small 3,700 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4.
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :
With the same battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 had the same battery life of just over 9 hours using its default Adaptive refresh mode, like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
But when we switched to the Standard refresh mode, it surprisingly delivered over 11 hours of battery life – 49 minutes longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 4!
Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip 4, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just over 11 hours.
But what’s really important to note here is that it is about 5% more power-efficient than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and about 7.5% more power-efficient than the Z Flip 4.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Battery Life
15 hrs 18 mins
14 hrs 15 mins
11 hrs 4 mins
10 hrs 14 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh
4.68 mAh
4.46 mAh
4.82 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
Even with the same battery size, and fundamentally the same foldable display, we expected the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to deliver a slight improvement in battery life due to its more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it pretty much delivered the same battery life of just over 9 hours.
What this means is that if you don’t need smoother graphics, it is worth turning off the Adaptive refresh rate to reduce power consumption by a very significant 21% / 2 hours!
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Battery Life
13 hrs
0 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
9 hrs
12 mins
9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh
6.27 mAh
5.36 mAh
5.39 mAh
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Recharging Speed!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
3,300 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64.5 minutes
88.8 minutes
98.75 minutes
129.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh
45.0 mAh
30.0 mAh
22.9 mAh
As we reported earlier, Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat. That’s why they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!
But this is a bit of a shocker – the Galaxy Z Flip 5 recharged even slower – it took more than 2 hours to fully recharge it from 20%! That’s a whopping 31% slower than the Z Flip 4, with the same battery!
That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 4.24:1, which is rather dismal. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 14 minutes you recharge.
Perhaps Samsung is now trying to encourage users to purchase its optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger…
We first tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 3
S22 Ultra
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
SD 8
Gen 1
Performance Score
16408
14655
14429
13317
12860
Web Browsing
15680
11404
12097
11637
10442
Video Editing
7879
7943
7387
7762
7444
Writing
22257
19525
17593
15316
15471
Photo Editing
35533
324420
31762
25357
30177
Data Manipulation
12171
11788
12523
11938
9691
Interesting, isn’t it? The Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it is 12% slower.
I should point out that these are peak performance results. You are unlikely to be able to actually feel the difference between the two in normal usage. In fact, these benchmark results really surprised me!
What likely happened is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has better cooling, and is thus, better able to maintain the processor’s peak performance for longer. But if you are upgrading from a Galaxy Z Flip 4, and hoping for a performance boost, you are out of luck.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Storage Performance
PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.
Storage 2.0
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score
48435
41647
27808
27271
Sequential Read (MB/s)
2676.53
2592.42
1457.68
1350.51
Random Read (MB/s)
49.95
38.25
37.73
33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s)
2631.38
603.29
856.21
256.81
Random Write (MB/s)
76.66
81.44
47.20
50.29
Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 received a very big boost in sequential write performance for its internal flash storage!
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was about 6% slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra in random write performance, but was an astounding 4.4X faster in sequential write!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 4
S22
Ultra
Z Flip 3
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888
Sling Shot Unlimited
16661
16344
10690
11094
9248
Wild Life Unlimited
14823
14554
11144
9106
3952
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3705
3814
2636
2220
1174
When it comes to less strenuous games (Sling Shot), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was surprisingly faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, even though they both use the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and the S23 Ultra has better cooling.
Even in the more strenuous game (Wild Life), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 continues to surpass the Galaxy S23 Ultra at lower resolutions.
It was only with the Wild Life Extreme 4K benchmark where the Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s better cooling performance allowed it to beat the Z Flip 5 by 3%.
Simply put – you don’t really need expensive “gaming smartphones”. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will easily handle any game you want to play.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 3
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
AnTuTu Score
1212174
1187296
889167
856357
696767
CPU
261886
393404
203090
205939
206228
GPU
538823
282780
402617
362669
242573
Memory
236163
291048
146002
135707
133586
UX
175302
220064
137458
152042
114380
The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. According to its tests, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is about 38% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4. A very nice boost in performance.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is slightly slower – just 2%, than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But note that its temperature jumped by over 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can get quite toasty!
Let’s do a quick wrap of what I really like, and don’t like, about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5.
It Now Folds Completely
The 6.7-inch foldable display finally closes completely. This may seem like a minor point, but a complete closure helps prevent things slipping in between the display to damage it while it’s in your pocket or handbag.
Large Flex Window
The 3.4-inch Flex Window is so much better for taking selfies, and much more functional! You can realistically do a lot more with this display, including shooting off quick replies to messages.
Great Performance
Even though it looks real sleek, it is powered by the incredibly powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile SoC.
It will easily handle EVERYTHING you throw at it – even graphics-intensive games. It gets toasty when you game, but hey, at least it doesn’t feel like a brick!
Decent Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 cameras are good but unremarkable frankly. Samsung obviously wants mobile photographers to focus on the Galaxy S23 Ultra instead.
That is most unfortunate, especially for selfie-lovers. I like how the large Flex Window lets you easily use the rear cameras for really good selfies.
Slower Charging
Unfortunately, Samsung did not manage to improve the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s battery life at 120 Hz. It has longer battery life at 60 Hz, but I don’t think anyone who paid a premium for 120 Hz would want to stick to 60 Hz…
It doesn’t help that it recharges slower than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 with a standard 15 watt charger… and don’t get me started on the lack of an in-box charger!
Zilch In-Box Freebies
For a premium product, it comes with zilch freebies in-the-box. As mentioned before, there is no fast charger.
There is also no USB-C to 3.5 mm audio jack, not even a pair of USB-C earphones. Neither did Samsung provide even a cheap TPU case.
Incredible New Price Point
On the other hand, Samsung kept the price at highly-attractive price points:
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is an incredibly great deal for a foldable smartphone. I fully expect to see it flying off the shelves.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : My Verdict + Award
It must be said that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is more than just a smartphone. It is a fashion statement – a sleek, light smartphone that catches eyes, and folds away to fit even small pockets!
Granted, it still has a short battery life with the 120 Hz refresh rate, and a slow recharging speed. And Samsung did not equip it with new cameras.
However, it is much more usable now, thanks to the large 3.4-inch Flex Window; and it now folds completely flat. Think of it as an improved Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Overall, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 it is an incredibly good deal for a flagship smartphone, with a large foldable 120 Hz display and a top-of-the-line processor!
This is why we believe it deserves nothing less than our Reviewer’s Choice Award! Great job, Samsung!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Where To Buy
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and find out why it is a foldable computing + gaming powerhouse!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Flagship Class Performance!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs on the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is a specially-binned and slightly-overclocked version that Qualcomm created for Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphones.
Fabricated on the latest 4nm TSMC process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy boasts a powerful Adreno 740 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture :
a Cortex-X3 prime core running at up to 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz),
two Cortex-A715 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz,
two Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz, and
three Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz.
On paper, this is about as powerful as it gets in 2023, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!
We first tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 3
S22 Ultra
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
SD 8
Gen 1
Performance Score
16408
14655
14429
13317
12860
Web Browsing
15680
11404
12097
11637
10442
Video Editing
7879
7943
7387
7762
7444
Writing
22257
19525
17593
15316
15471
Photo Editing
35533
324420
31762
25357
30177
Data Manipulation
12171
11788
12523
11938
9691
Interesting, isn’t it? The Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it is 12% slower.
I should point out that these are peak performance results. You are unlikely to be able to actually feel the difference between the two in normal usage. In fact, these benchmark results really surprised me!
What likely happened is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has better cooling, and is thus, better able to maintain the processor’s peak performance for longer. But if you are upgrading from a Galaxy Z Flip 4, and hoping for a performance boost, you are out of luck.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Storage Performance
PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.
Storage 2.0
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score
48435
41647
27808
27271
Sequential Read (MB/s)
2676.53
2592.42
1457.68
1350.51
Random Read (MB/s)
49.95
38.25
37.73
33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s)
2631.38
603.29
856.21
256.81
Random Write (MB/s)
76.66
81.44
47.20
50.29
Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 received a very big boost in sequential write performance for its internal flash storage!
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was about 6% slower than the Galaxy S23 Ultra in random write performance, but was an astounding 4.4X faster in sequential write!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Z Flip 5
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 4
S22
Ultra
Z Flip 3
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888
Sling Shot Unlimited
16661
16344
10690
11094
9248
Wild Life Unlimited
14823
14554
11144
9106
3952
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3705
3814
2636
2220
1174
When it comes to less strenuous games (Sling Shot), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was surprisingly faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, even though they both use the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and the S23 Ultra has better cooling.
Even in the more strenuous game (Wild Life), the Galaxy Z Flip 5 continues to surpass the Galaxy S23 Ultra at lower resolutions.
It was only with the Wild Life Extreme 4K benchmark where the Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s better cooling performance allowed it to beat the Z Flip 5 by 3%.
Simply put – you don’t really need expensive “gaming smartphones”. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will easily handle any game you want to play.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 5
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 3
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8+
Gen 1
SD
888
AnTuTu Score
1212174
1187296
889167
856357
696767
CPU
261886
393404
203090
205939
206228
GPU
538823
282780
402617
362669
242573
Memory
236163
291048
146002
135707
133586
UX
175302
220064
137458
152042
114380
The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. According to its tests, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is about 38% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4. A very nice boost in performance.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is slightly slower – just 2%, than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But note that its temperature jumped by over 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can get quite toasty!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Performance Summary
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is a svelte smartphone when unfolded, and yet super compact when folded. You would not expect performance to be a key selling point.
In fact, I expected Samsung to tune down the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for better battery life. It also lacks the better cooling found in the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
In the end, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 turns out to perform better than the Galaxy Z Flip 4, with better battery life to boot. Not a spectacular improvement, grant you, but it lets you have your cake and eat it too.
What you need to know is this – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is not just a fashion statement in your hands. It is also a computing and gaming powerhouse in a compact form factor.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Galaxy Z Flip 5 turns out to be Samsung’s best-selling foldable smartphone for 2023!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options:
Graphite – legacy colour
Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
Mint – new colour
Cream – new colour
In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:
Gray
Blue
Green
Yellow
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for the main, foldable display:
Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate
By default, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.
Interestingly, we found out that the display’s refresh rate actually changes in both modes. The only difference is the Adaptive mode switches between 24 Hz and 120 Hz, while the Standard mode switches between 24 Hz and 60 Hz.
In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s battery life.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a larger 3,700 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4.
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :
With the same battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 had the same battery life of just over 9 hours using its default Adaptive refresh mode, like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
But when we switched to the Standard refresh mode, it surprisingly delivered over 11 hours of battery life – 49 minutes longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 4!
Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip 4, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just over 11 hours.
But what’s really important to note here is that it is about 5% more power-efficient than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and about 7.5% more power-efficient than the Z Flip 4.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 5
Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Battery Life
15 hrs 18 mins
14 hrs 15 mins
11 hrs 4 mins
10 hrs 14 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh
4.68 mAh
4.46 mAh
4.82 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
Even with the same battery size, and fundamentally the same foldable display, we expected the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to deliver a slight improvement in battery life due to its more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it pretty much delivered the same battery life of just over 9 hours.
What this means is that if you don’t need smoother graphics, it is worth turning off the Adaptive refresh rate to reduce power consumption by a very significant 21% / 2 hours!
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
S22 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Battery Life
13 hrs
0 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
9 hrs
12 mins
9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh
6.27 mAh
5.36 mAh
5.39 mAh
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Recharging Speed!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
S23 Ultra
Z Flip 4
Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity
3,300 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,700 mAh
3,700 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64.5 minutes
88.8 minutes
98.75 minutes
129.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh
45.0 mAh
30.0 mAh
22.9 mAh
As we reported earlier, Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat. That’s why they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!
But this is a bit of a shocker – the Galaxy Z Flip 5 recharged even slower – it took more than 2 hours to fully recharge it from 20%! That’s a whopping 31% slower than the Z Flip 4, with the same battery!
That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 4.24:1, which is rather dismal. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 14 minutes you recharge.
Perhaps Samsung is now trying to encourage users to purchase its optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger…
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is your brand-new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 arriving soon? Take a look at what to expect inside the box, and just how easy it is to setup!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Unboxing : What’s In The Box?
When you get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, you will notice just how slim the box is. Inside, you will find only these items:
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 smartphone
Set of documents – quick start guide in two languages, and a warranty card
USB Type C to Type C cable
SIM card extractor pin
Despite supporting faster 25 watt charging, the Galaxy Z Flip5 does not come with any charger in the box. You won’t find any USB Type C earphones tuned by AKG either. Not even a TPU case to hold you over until you get a better case.
How To Setup Galaxy Z Flip5 : Step-By-Step Instructions
It is very easy to setup the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 as a new device. However, please note that the Galaxy Z Flip5 setup process will take about 8 minutes or so.
Press the Power button to start up your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 smartphone.
It only will take 9 seconds to boot up for the first time.
In the Welcome screen, it will default to English (or the default language for your region).
If you need to change the language, tap on the current language, and select the language you prefer.
There is also an Accessibility option below the Start button for those who need it.
Once you’re ready, click Start to begin the setup process.
The first thing you need to do is agree to the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) and the Privacy Policy.
You can skip sending Samsung your Diagnostic Data.
In the next screen, you will have the option to migrate your settings and accounts from your existing device.
If you prefer to set up the Galaxy Z Flip5 as a new device, tap on the option to Set up manually.
Next, you will be asked to log into your Wi-Fi network for Internet connectivity.
Select your Wi-Fi network and key in the password to connect.
Once your Galaxy Z Flip5 connects to the Wi-Fi network, it will try to connect to the mobile network.
This is when you will be asked to insert a SIM card, or set up your mobile network using an e-SIM.
To do all that later, simply tap on the option to Set up later.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 will now take about 23 seconds to get some stuff ready.
After that is done, you are given the option to copy your apps and data from your old smartphone.
This is a long process, which you can do now, or do it later after setting up the Galaxy Z Flip5.
To do it later, or set it up as a new device, simply tap on the Don’t copy option.
Now you will be asked to log into your Google Account, or create a new one.
To skip for now and do it after setting up the phone, click on Skip.
Next, you will be given the option of disabling certain Google services.
Generally, I would recommend leaving them enabled, except sending Google your usage and diagnostic data.
Now, you will be asked to protect your Galaxy Z Flip5 by selecting a preferred login method – Face recognition, Fingerprints, PIN, Password, or Pattern.
If you select the Face Recognition or Fingerprints option, you will need to select a secure screen lock method using Pattern, PIN or Password.
Next, you will need to go through the Face Recognition / Fingerprints training process.
Please note that the fingerprint sensor is built into the Power button on the right side.
After setting up your fingerprints, you will be asked if you would like to download the Smart Tutor app.
Despite its name, this is actually a remote access tool that allows Samsung support staff to remotely diagnose your device.
Tap Next to continue and install the app.
Now, you will be asked to log into your Samsung account, or create a new one.
You can choose not to use a Samsung account, or do it later.
Until you use a Samsung account though, you won’t be able to access certain Samsung services.
You will now have the opportunity to turn off certain Samsung apps and services.
These are all key features that will greatly impact your use of the Galaxy Z Flip5, so I recommend that you leave them all enabled.
Next, you will have the option of selecting either a Light or a Dark theme.
Select whichever you prefer and tap Next.
After that, you will be given a list of advice on how to take care of your Galaxy Z Flip5.
Arguably, the most important advice would be to avoid scratching the foldable display, or applying any film to the display.
You should also keep the Galaxy Z Flip5 away from credit cards and implanted medical devices.
Tap Next once you are done reading.
That’s it! You have successfully setup the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 as a new device!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 comes in four main colour options:
Graphite – legacy colour
Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
Mint – new colour
Cream – new colour
In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:
Gray
Blue
Green
Yellow
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
In this guide, we will show you how to setup your new Samsung Galaxy Z.Flip 5 smartphone for the first time!
How To Setup Galaxy Z Flip 5 : A Video Guide!
We have the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone with us, and soon you will get yours too.
In this 4K video, we will show you how to setup the Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone for the first time, as a new device!
The setup process is very easy, and will only take about 8 minutes if you are setting it up as a fresh device.
How To Setup Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Step-By-Step Instructions
It is very easy to setup the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 as a new device. However, please note that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 setup process will take about 8 minutes or so.
Press the Power button for 2-3 seconds to start up your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone.
It will only take 9 seconds to boot up for the first time.
In the Welcome screen, it will default to English (or the default language for your region).
If you need to change the language, tap on the current language, and select the language you prefer.
There is also an Accessibility option below the Start button for those who need it.
Once you’re ready, click Start to begin the setup process.
The first thing you need to do is agree to the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) and the Privacy Policy.
You can skip sending Samsung your Diagnostic Data.
In the next screen, you will have the option to migrate your settings and accounts from your existing device.
If you prefer to set up the Galaxy Z Flip 5 as a new device, tap on the option to Set up manually.
Next, you will be asked to log into your Wi-Fi network for Internet connectivity.
Select your Wi-Fi network and key in the password to connect.
Once your Galaxy Z Flip 5 connects to the Wi-Fi network, it will try to connect to the mobile network.
This is when you will be asked to insert a SIM card, or set up your mobile network using an e-SIM.
To do all that later, simply tap on the option to Set up later.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will now take about 23 seconds to get some stuff ready.
After that is done, you are given the option to copy your apps and data from your old smartphone.
This is a long process, which you can do now, or do it later after setting up the Galaxy Z Flip 5.
To do it later, or set it up as a new device, simply tap on the Don’t copy option.
Now you will be asked to log into your Google Account, or create a new one.
To skip for now and do it after setting up the phone, click on Skip.
Next, you will be given the option of disabling certain Google services.
Generally, I would recommend leaving them enabled, except sending Google your usage and diagnostic data.
Now, you will be asked to protect your Galaxy Z Flip 5 by selecting a preferred login method – Face recognition, Fingerprints, PIN, Password, or Pattern.
If you select the Face Recognition or Fingerprints option, you will need to select a secure screen lock method using Pattern, PIN or Password.
Next, you will need to go through the Face Recognition / Fingerprints training process.
Please note that the fingerprint sensor is built into the Power button on the right side.
After setting up your fingerprints, you will be asked if you would like to download the Smart Tutor app.
Despite its name, this is actually a remote access tool that allows Samsung support staff to remotely diagnose your device.
Tap Next to continue and install the app.
Now, you will be asked to log into your Samsung account, or create a new one.
You can choose not to use a Samsung account, or do it later.
Until you use a Samsung account though, you won’t be able to access certain Samsung services.
You will now have the opportunity to turn off certain Samsung apps and services.
These are all key features that will greatly impact your use of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, so I recommend that you leave them all enabled.
Next, you will have the option of selecting either a Light or a Dark theme.
Select whichever you prefer and tap Next.
After that, you will be given a list of advice on how to take care of your Galaxy Z Flip 5.
Arguably, the most important advice would be to avoid scratching the foldable display, or applying any film to the display.
You should also keep the Galaxy Z Flip 5 away from credit cards and implanted medical devices.
Tap Next once you are done reading.
That’s it! You have successfully setup the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 as a new device!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options:
Graphite – legacy colour
Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
Mint – new colour
Cream – new colour
In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:
Gray
Blue
Green
Yellow
These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 :
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just sent me their new Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable smartphone, and here is my unboxing video, as well as my first impressions!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Unboxing : What’s In The Box?
I managed to get my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable smartphone BEFORE it actually ships! Take a look at my unboxing video, and share it out!
In our unboxing video, you can see that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 package is sparse, and only consists of:
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone
Set of documents – quick start guide in two languages, and a warranty card
USB Type C to Type C cable
SIM card extractor pin
As the unboxing video shows, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 does not come with any charger, or earphones. Not even a TPU case to hold you over until you get a better case.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : My First Impressions!
Just before the launch, I was one of the few who had the rare opportunity to get my hands on not one, but four Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones, which allowed us to do a proper colour comparison.
And now, I present to you – my own hands-on experience with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 in all four key colours!
I apologise for the poor focus in the video – we are not allowed to use smartphones, and the Sony RX100 Mark IV camera I had to rely on has trouble focusing on close-up subjects.
Samsung maintained the same design from last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, so you may not be able to distinguish between the two models… until you turn it on.
Then you will realise that it has a much larger 3.4-inch front display, which is now called the Flex Window, instead of the Cover Screen. It is now much more useful. Not only can you check notifications, and send quick replies to text messages, it comes with 14 essential widgets out of the box!
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has the same large 6.7-inch foldable display as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which supports a Full HD+ resolution, and a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The difference this year lies in its No-Gap Flex Hinge and improved Ultra Thin Glass with a droplet fold, allowing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fold completely flat.
Like the previous models, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is still not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism. It is protected on all sides by a tough Armour Aluminium frame, and on the back by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
On the left side, you will find the SIM card tray, which only supports a single nano SIM card. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also supports an eSIM, so you can use up to a total of two SIMs.
At the bottom, you will find the USB port, as well as the speaker and microphone ports. On the right side are the Power button with a built-in fingerprint sensor, and the Volume control buttons.
In the front, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a punch hole camera hidden at the top of its foldable display. This is the same 10 MP camera from Galaxy Z Flip 4, albeit with a slightly larger f/2.2 aperture. So you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions.
At the back are the same two 12 MP cameras from the Galaxy Z Flip 4 – a main camera with f/1.8 aperture, and an ultra-wide angle camera with a 123° field of view, and f/2.2 aperture.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also comes with the same 3,700 mAh dual battery as the Galaxy Z Flip 4. But it now supports 25 watt fast wired charging, with a suitable charger.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Specifications
Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone :
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and here are the official price list + pre-order promotion for this new foldable smartphone in Malaysia!
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : What’s New, What’s Not?
When folded, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 looks like a rather tall and chunky smartphone. Its 6.2-inch Cover Screen is large but has a tall aspect ratio. You can use it like any regular smartphone, without opening the foldable display.
The hinge mechanism, which occupies its entire left side, has been improved, allowing the Galaxy Z Fold 5 to fold completely flat, reducing its folded thickness by 15% to just 13.4 mm! It is also 10g lighter at 253 grams.
When unfolded, you will get a massive 7.6-inch display with a squarish 5 by 4 ratio, which offers about twice the screen space as a regular smartphone.
This super large display is what makes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 such a productivity powerhouse. It also features a hidden 4 megapixel camera under this large main display.
What may put some people off is how tall and thick it is when folded. It is quite hard to fit the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in most pockets. That’s probably why the Z Flip design is more popular, despite having a much smaller display.
But what people who have tried it out will realise – its large display is incredibly hard to give up, because you can do so much more on it.
The Cover Display itself features a 10 MP punch hole camera with an f/2.2 aperture, while at the back, it features the same triple camera setup, which consists of:
a 50 megapixels Dual Pixel camera
a 10 megapixel telephoto camera, and
a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is protected all around by a tough Armour Aluminium frame. Incredibly, it is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Model + Colour Options In Malaysia!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes in three main colour options:
Phantom Black
Cream
Icy Blue
Samsung is also offering two other colour options exclusively on its own online store:
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the same as the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. There was no price increase year-on-year.
From now until 17 August 2023, you can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 to enjoy this special pre-order promotion:
Double the storage from 256 GB to 512 GB, or from 512 GB to 1 TB for FREE!
RM600 e-Voucher
Save up to RM600 when you trade-in your current phone
Get 40% off Samsung Care+
Earn 1% Samsung Rewards
Enjoy up to 20% off purchases of selected Galaxy devices and accessories
All pre-ordered devices will ship out from 14 August 2023 onwards.
Here are the available online pre-order options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 in Malaysia:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and here are the official price list + pre-order promotion for this new foldable smartphone in Malaysia!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : What’s New, What’s Not?
Samsung maintained the same design from last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, so you may not be able to distinguish between the two models… until you turn it on.
Then you will realise that it has a much larger 3.4-inch front display, which is now called the Flex Window, instead of the Cover Screen. It is now much more useful. Not only can you check notifications, and send quick replies to text messages, it comes with 14 essential widgets out of the box!
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has the same large 6.7-inch foldable display as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which supports a Full HD+ resolution, and a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The difference this year lies in its No-Gap Flex Hinge and improved Ultra Thin Glass with a droplet fold, allowing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fold completely flat.
Like the previous models, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is still not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism. It is protected on all sides by a tough Armour Aluminium frame, and on the back by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports a single nano SIM card, and an eSIM, so you can use up to a total of two SIMs. It comes with a capacitive fingerprint sensor built into the Power button on the right side.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has the same 10 MP punch hole camera hidden at the top of its foldable display, albeit with a slightly larger f/2.2 aperture. So you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions.
At the back are the same two 12 MP cameras from the Galaxy Z Flip 4 – a main camera with f/1.8 aperture, and an ultra-wide angle camera with a 123° field of view, and f/2.2 aperture.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also comes with the same 3,700 mAh dual battery as the Galaxy Z Flip 4. But it now supports 25 watt fast wired charging, with a suitable charger.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Model + Colour Options In Malaysia
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be offered in four main colour options in Malaysia:
Graphite – legacy colour
Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
Mint – new colour
Cream – new colour
In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
From now until 17 August 2023, you can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 to enjoy this special pre-order promotion:
Double the storage from 256 GB to 512 GB for FREE
RM400 e-Voucher
Save up to RM600 when you trade-in your current phone
Get 40% off Samsung Care+
Earn 1% Samsung Rewards
Enjoy up to 20% off purchases of selected Galaxy devices and accessories
All pre-ordered devices will ship out from 14 August 2023 onwards.
Here are the available online pre-order options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 in Malaysia:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and here is my hands-on experience of its latest foldable behemoth in all three main colour options!
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : My Hands-On Experience!
I was one of the few who had the rare opportunity to get my hands on not one, but three Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphones, which allowed us to do a proper colour comparison.
And now, I present to you – my own hands-on experience with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone… in all three main colours!
I apologise for the shaky video – Samsung still insists that I do not take photos or record videos with a smartphone, even though it’s their own Galaxy S22 Ultra!
When folded, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 looks like a rather tall and chunky smartphone. Its 6.2-inch Cover Screen is large but has a tall aspect ratio. You can use it like any regular smartphone, without opening the foldable display.
The hinge mechanism, which occupies its entire left side, has been improved, allowing the Galaxy Z Fold 5 to fold completely flat, reducing its folded thickness by 15% to just 13.4 mm! It is also 10g lighter at 253 grams.
At the bottom, you will find the USB port, together with a row of speaker ports and a microphone port; while at the top are another row of speaker ports with what looks like three more microphone ports.
On the right side, you will find the Power button, with a built-in fingerprint sensor; and the volume buttons. You will also find the SIM tray near the top. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 supports two physical nanoSIM cards, and an eSIM.
The Cover Display itself features a 10 MP punch hole camera with an f/2.2 aperture, while at the back, it features the same triple camera setup, which consists of:
a 50 megapixels Dual Pixel camera
a 10 megapixel telephoto camera, and
a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera
When unfolded, you will get a massive 7.6-inch display with a squarish 5 by 4 ratio, which offers about twice the screen space as a regular smartphone.
This super large display is what makes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 such a productivity powerhouse. It also features a hidden 4 megapixel camera under this large main display.
When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is about as thick as a regular smartphone, like the Galaxy S23. And from the back, it actually looks like two smartphones welded together!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is protected all around by a tough Armour Aluminium frame. Incredibly, it is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism.
What may put some people off is how tall and thick it is when folded. It is quite hard to fit the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in most pockets. That’s probably why the Z Flip design is more popular, despite having a much smaller display.
But what people who have tried it out will realise – its large display is incredibly hard to give up, because you can do so much more on it.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Specifications
Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone :
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the same as the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. There was no price increase year-on-year.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone in three main colour options, and two online exclusive colours!
Take a look at all three main colour options, and tell us which YOU prefer!
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : A Quick Primer!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Fold 4 from last year, offering a more powerful processor, and a much brighter display.
It also features an improved hinge that lets the Galaxy Z Fold 5 fold flat, shaving off its maximum folded thickness by 15%, down to just 13.4 mm! It is also 10g lighter at 253 grams.
Its key selling feature remains the same – a very large 7.6-inch Infinity Flex Display which folds into half when not used, as well as its 6.2-inch Cover Screen which itself is as big as most smartphone displays!
Samsung is offering the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in three main colour options:
Phantom Black
Cream
Icy Blue
Samsung is also offering two other colour options exclusively on its own online store:
Gray
Blue
I was amongst the few to get an early hands-on look at the three Galaxy Z Fold 5 colour options, and here is my comparison video of all three main colour options! Do let us know which YOU prefer!
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the same as the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. There was no price increase year-on-year.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone in four main colour options, and four online exclusive colours!
Take a look at all four main colour options, and tell us which YOU prefer!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : A Quick Primer!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Flip 4 from last year, offering a more powerful processor and a much larger front display.
It also features an improved No-Gap Flex Hinge with Ultra Thin Glass that finally folds completely flat, making the Galaxy Z Flip 5 even more compact.
But everything else is pretty much the same – from its large 6.7-inch Infinity Flex display, to its dual 12 MP main cameras.
Samsung is offering the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in four main colour options. Two are legacy colours from the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and two are new colours for the Z Flip 5:
Graphite – legacy colour
Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
Mint – new colour
Cream – new colour
I was amongst the few to get an early hands-on look at all four Galaxy Z Flip 5 colour options, and here is my colour comparison video. Do let me know which colour YOU prefer!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : No Bespoke, 4 Online Colours
Samsung will not offer the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the Bespoke Edition, which will be replaced by the new NFC-enabled Flipsuit Case.
In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:
Gray
Blue
Green
Yellow
Unfortunately, Samsung did not make those exclusive online colours available to us…
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Options + Price List
Samsung is making all four main colours options, as well as the four exclusive online colours, available for purchase at launch, at these price points :
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and here is my hands-on experience of its latest compact foldable smartphone in all four colours!
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : My Hands-On Experience!
I was one of the few who had the rare opportunity to get my hands on not one, but four Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones, which allowed us to do a proper colour comparison.
And now, I present to you – my own hands-on experience with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone… in all four main colours!
I apologise for the shaky video – Samsung still insists that I do not take photos or record videos with a smartphone, even though it’s their own Galaxy S22 Ultra!
Samsung maintained the same design from last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, so you may not be able to distinguish between the two models… until you turn it on.
Then you will realise that it has a much larger 3.4-inch front display, which is now called the Flex Window, instead of the Cover Screen. It is now much more useful. Not only can you check notifications, and send quick replies to text messages, it comes with 14 essential widgets out of the box!
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has the same large 6.7-inch foldable display as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which supports a Full HD+ resolution, and a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The difference this year lies in its No-Gap Flex Hinge and improved Ultra Thin Glass with a droplet fold, allowing the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fold completely flat.
Like the previous models, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is IPX8 water-resistant, even though it is still not dust-resistant due to its hinge mechanism. It is protected on all sides by a tough Armour Aluminium frame, and on the back by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
On the left side, you will find the SIM card tray, which only supports a single nano SIM card. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also supports an eSIM, so you can use up to a total of two SIMs.
At the bottom, you will find the USB port, as well as the speaker and microphone ports. On the right side are the Power button with a built-in fingerprint sensor, and the Volume control buttons.
In the front, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a punch hole camera hidden at the top of its foldable display. This is the same 10 MP camera from Galaxy Z Flip 4, albeit with a slightly larger f/2.2 aperture. So you can expect it to perform slightly better in low-light conditions.
At the back are the same two 12 MP cameras from the Galaxy Z Flip 4 – a main camera with f/1.8 aperture, and an ultra-wide angle camera with a 123° field of view, and f/2.2 aperture.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also comes with the same 3,700 mAh dual battery as the Galaxy Z Flip 4. But it now supports 25 watt fast wired charging, with a suitable charger.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Specifications
Here are the key specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone :
Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Read our comprehensive review of the Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone, and find out why it won our Editor’s Choice Award!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Colour Options
The new Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :
Awesome Graphite
Awesome Violet
Awesome Lime
Samsung also offers an Awesome White colour option in certain countries.
In the following video, I will show you the three main colour options, and give you a closer look at the Galaxy A54 in the Awesome Graphite, Awesome Violet and Awesome Lime colours. Do let us know which you prefer!
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:
Now, let us go through its key features, and show you why the Samsung Galaxy A54 is worthy of our Editor’s Choice Award!
Samsung Exynos 1380 5G Mobile Platform
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is built around the Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile SoC, which is fabricated with Samsung’s own 5 nm EUV process technology.
It comes with an Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU, and an NPU, as well as eight CPU cores arranged in two performance clusters:
4 x Arm Cortex-A78 cores (2.4 GHz)
4 x Arm Cortex-A55 cores (2.0 GHz)
The Samsung Exynos 1380 has an integrated 5G modem that supports Sub-6GHz and mmWave standards, as well as LTE Cat.18 uploads and downloads for current 4G networks.
It also supports Wi-Fi 802.11ax (2×2 MIMO) with triple-band capability, as well as Bluetooth 5.3. It supports the four main GPS networks – GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galile.
6.4-inch Super AMOLED Display
The Samsung Galaxy A54 boasts a large 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels.
This display defaults to a 60 Hz refresh rate, but supports a 120 Hz refresh rate that offers smoother graphics at the expense of higher power consumption.
Unlike higher-end smartphones like the new Galaxy S23 Ultra, the display does not dynamically changes its refresh rate. It either runs at 60 Hz or 120 Hz.
32 MP Front Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a high-resolution 32 MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture. Instead of hiding it in a discreet punch hole, it has a stainless steel ring.
This camera defaults to 8 MP by default, combining four pixels into one much larger pixel for better image quality and low-light performance.
This 32 MP camera is capable of recording 1080p video at 30 fps or 60 fps, as well as 4K video at 30 fps.
50 MP Main Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a triple camera system at the back that consists of:
a 50 MP main camera, with f/1.8 aperture,
a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, with f/2.2 aperture, and
a 5 MP macro camera, with f/2.4 aperture
The 50 MP camera is a “downgrade” in megapixels from the Galaxy A53’s 64 MP camera, but its image quality is better because it is built around the Sony IMX766 image sensor used in phones like the realme 9 Pro+ and Xiaomi 12.
The Sony IMX766 is a larger 1/1.56″ sensor, which offers a 25% larger pixel size of 1.0 µm (compared to 0.8 µm). The larger pixel size is important as it means each pixel can receive 25% more light, delivering better images, especially in low-light conditions.
In fact, that is why the Galaxy A54 defaults to the 12.5 MP resolution, combining four pixels into a much larger 2 µm “bucket” to collect more light. The 64 MP camera in last year’s Galaxy A53 also does the same thing, combining four pixels in one to deliver 16 MP photos.
This 50 MP camera supports PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus), and its lens has a wide f/1.8 aperture for better light intake. If you like to record videos, you will be glad to know that it features VDIS (Video Digital Image Stabilisation) and improved OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) offering a wider OIS angle.
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is protected in the front and in the back by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. While this was introduced back in July 2016, it still offers considerable protection.
In lab tests, it can survive drops on hard, rough surface from a height of up to 1.2 metres. It also offers 2X better scratch protection compared to its competitors.
IP67 Dust + Water Resistance
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is IP67 rated against the ingress of dust and water. This means it can withstand being immersed in up to 1 metre of water for at least 30 minutes.
Hybrid SIM + micro SD Tray
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a hybrid tray that supports up to two physical SIM cards, or a physical SIM card as well as a single micro SD card of up to 1 TB in capacity
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with the bidirectional Type C port, which is now the EU standard.
5,000 mAh Fast-Charging Battery
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a large 5,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, which supports 25 watt fast wired charging. It does not support wireless charging, or reverse charging.
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.
Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.
It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :
Not bad at all! The Samsung Galaxy A54 has a battery life of 12.5 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and almost 14 hours with the Standard refresh rate. That’s equal to the Galaxy S22 Ultra at the Standard refresh rate, and 16.7%better at the Adaptive refresh rate.
But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy A54 lasted almost 14 hours with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. But it isn’t quite as efficient as the new S23 Ultra, or even last year’s S22 Ultra.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
(60 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Galaxy A54
(60 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(60 Hz)
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Battery Life
15 hrs 18 mins
14 hrs 15 mins
13 hrs 57 mins
8 hrs 11 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh
4.68 mAh
4.78 mAh
5.38 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy A54 was about 13.6% more efficient than the S22 Ultra with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled, coming within 8% of the power efficiency of the S23 Ultra.
Based on what we see here, I definitely recommend turning on the Adaptive Refresh Rate on the Galaxy A54, unless you absolutely need the extra 1.5 hours of battery life.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Galaxy A54
(120 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(120 Hz)
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Battery Life
13 hrs
0 mins
12 hrs 25 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
6 hrs
44 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh
5.52 mAh
6.27 mAh
6.53 mAh
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Battery Recharging Speed!
The Samsung Galaxy A54 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
S23 Ultra
Galaxy A54
Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity
3,300 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64.5 minutes
88.8 minutes
120.7 minutes
88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh
45.0 mAh
33.1 mAh
29.8 mAh
The Samsung Galaxy A54 fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over 2 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (36%) slower than the S23 Ultra.
I have no idea whether this was an intentional design decision to reduce the Galaxy A54’s thermal output while charging, or to further differentiate it from the much pricier Galaxy S23 Ultra.
In any case, the Galaxy A54 has a good battery life : recharging ratio of 7:1. As a rule of thumb, for every hour of battery life, you only need to recharge it for 8.5 minutes.
Built around the Samsung Exynos 1380, the Galaxy A54 smartphone has a very fast CPU, but a relatively weak GPU.
What that means is that it offers snappy performance for most part – web browsing, work applications, casual gaming, etc.
It only has trouble delivering high frame rates for graphics-intensive 3D games, and AI or 3D apps may take longer to process in comparison to flagship devices.
But that’s what you need to keep in mind – the Exynos 1380 is a mid-range mobile platform, not a flagship-class. And it is a fast one.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Work Performance
We first tested the Galaxy A54 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
S23
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
1380
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
SD
750G
Performance Score
16408
13523
12860
12535
7874
Web Browsing
15680
10659
10442
10185
7021
Video Editing
7879
7363
7444
6336
5693
Writing
22257
17485
15471
15247
7454
Photo Editing
35533
28805
30177
37847
15812
Data Manipulation
12171
11443
9691
8310
6424
Will you look at that?! The Samsung Exynos 1380 that powers the Galaxy A54 actually beat Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 which powered the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
It was also just 17.5% slower than the latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile SoC that powers the new Galaxy S23 Ultra flagship smartphone!
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy A54 using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
Z Flip
3
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD
888
Exynos
990
Exynos
1380
Sling Shot Unlimited
16344
11094
9248
8026
6195
Wild Life Unlimited
14554
9106
3952
4504
2860
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3814
2220
1174
1387
799
This is where the Samsung Galaxy A54’s Exynos 1380 falls short – it is just not very good at gaming!
It was 23% to 42% slower than the Exynos 990, and 28% to 32% slower than the Snapdragon 888!
That does not mean it’s bad for gaming. It can certainly handle most games. It just won’t be able to deliver high frame rates in graphically-demanding 3D games like Genshin Impact, Black Desert Mobile, etc.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy A54 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
Galaxy
A52
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
1380
SD
750G
AnTuTu Score
1212174
889167
624411
522411
341908
CPU
261886
203090
166290
153230
105098
GPU
538823
402617
258995
149596
88068
Memory
236163
146002
120805
86578
60642
UX
175302
137458
78321
133007
88100
According to the AnTuTu benchmark, the Samsung Galaxy A54 is about 53% faster than the Galaxy A52, and only 16% slower than the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
What’s important to note is that the Exynos 1380’s CPU is fast, coming within 8% of the Exynos 2100. However, it has a relatively weak GPU, and slower memory than the flagship-class mobile platforms in this comparison.
The Samsung Galaxy A54’s 50 MP camera takes 12.5 MP photos by default, with a resolution of 4080 x 3060 pixels. Each JPEG photo using the High Efficiency Image File (HEIF) format, each photo is about 2.5 MB to 5 MB in size.
Without HEIF, the file sizes are much larger, so please remember to turn on the HEIF file format to save space.
Open the Camera app
Go to Settings > Advanced picture options
Turn on High efficiency pictures.
As this photo sample shows, the 50 MP main camera of the Samsung Galaxy A54 offers a nice bokeh, thanks to its wide f/1.8 aperture.
However, that wide aperture presents a problem too – a narrow depth of field, as this sample photo of star anise shows.
If multiple objects are present at different distances from the camera, only some of them will remain in focus, while the others will be out-of-focus.
That makes for nice portraits, but if you do not tap on the area or subject you want to be in focus, the camera may auto-focus on the wrong area or subject, and you will end up with an out-of-focus shot.
As this shot of pineapples show, only a small area of the right edge of the pineapple on the left is in focus. That’s because I intentionally tapped on that part.
Otherwise, the camera would naturally focus on the nearest part of the pineapple (its centre, which is located to the far left of the photo) and this photo would look really out-of-focus.
In most cases, the colour reproduction is pretty accurate, even if it’s indoors.
But in some cases, you can end up with pretty dull-looking photos under artificial light.
You need to be careful with close-up shots though. This isn’t a macro camera, and so it has trouble focusing if the subject is too close.
The problem is – the Samsung camera app does not warn you if the 50 MP camera cannot focus properly on the subject. It may look like it is focused properly in the camera app, but when you open it up later, you will see that it’s completely out-of-focus.
I definitely recommend you tapping on the subject to “force” the camera app to visibly try to focus. If it fails, you know that you are much too close. It’s also a good habit to tap to focus anyway, as this 50 MP camera has a narrow depth-of-field.
There is no need to worry about the “loss” in resolution from 64 MP to 50 MP. In most cases, you probably won’t even realise that the camera defaults to just 12.5 MP!
Even at 12.5 MP, there is more than enough detail in the photos that the Galaxy A54’s 50MP camera delivers, even if you want to zoom in.
But that does not mean that its 50 MP sensor is pure marketing. You can use it to take 50 MP shots, but you will have to live with significantly larger file sizes.
The full 50 MP resolution isn’t needed for 90% of the photos that most people take, but it is useful for long-distance shots. The Samsung Galaxy A54 does not have a telephoto camera, so taking photos in 50 MP effectively gives you a 4X zoom capability.
For example, if you need to take a faraway shot of a bell tower, you can switch to 50 MP before taking the photo. Then you can zoom into the 50 MP photo you took and crop out a much closer looking shot of that bell tower without using software or digital zoom.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Camera Performance Summary
I’m glad Samsung switched from the 64 MP camera to a 50 MP camera in the Galaxy A54. The “loss” in megapixels is more than made up by the larger and better Sony IMX766 image sensor, with 25% larger pixels.
This improved 50 MP main camera performed well in our tests, generally delivering good photos with accurate colours in most cases. It has a good level of detail, even at 12.5 MP.
The biggest problem I have with it is its minimum focus distance. The camera seems to work best with subjects that are at least 50 cm away, or so. If I get too close to the subject, the shot ends up out-of-focus, especially if I tried to let the camera auto-focus by itself.
This is not readily apparent in the camera app, so you need to tap to focus. That triggers the camera to seek a better focus. That’s when you can see whether it can really focus properly. Even then, I sometimes end up with out-of-focus shots, because I was simply too close to the subject.
For most people, this won’t a problem if you are taking the usual photos – people standing at a distance, landscapes and buildings at a distance, etc. Just keep this in mind if you are taking close shots of products or food, etc.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is proof that you don’t need to pay top dollar to get a great smartphone. For less than half the cost of a flagship smartphone, it offers most of the features that you need, in a well-protected device.
It comes with a large, excellent Super AMOLED display which supports 120 Hz refresh rate, and is protected on both front and rear by Gorilla Glass 5. It is also IP67-rated against the ingress of dust and water.
Built around the 5 nm Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile platform, the Galaxy A54 offers excellent performance in work apps, offering the equivalent performance as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
However, it falters when it comes to gaming. Its weaker Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU just cannot keep up with the better GPUs used in flagship-class smartphones. That doesn’t mean you can’t game on it. You can – it can certainly handle most games. It just won’t do as well as flagship-class smartphones in graphics-intensive games.
When it comes to photography, it comes with high-resolution 32 MP front camera, as well as a new 50 MP Sony IMX766 camera at the back, and an ultra-wide-angle camera, and a macro camera.
The 50 MP main camera is generally excellent, except under certain indoor lighting where the photos appear washed out. It also has trouble focusing at closer distances, which is probably why Samsung added the macro camera, which would normally be a waste of time for most users.
While I miss the telephoto camera which is a fixture in flagship smartphones, the 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera is arguably a better trade-off – most people would prefer to use it for landscape and group shots, rather than take long-distance shots with the telephoto camera.
The Galaxy A54 takes pretty good videos too, but there are some limitations :
it can support 30/60 fps @ 1080p, but only 30 fps for 4K video recording,
it is limited to 30 fps, regardless of resolution, when using its ultra-wide angle camera.
it can only support video image stabilisation at 30 fps, but not 60 fps
If you really love taking videos at 4K especially at 60 fps or higher, then these limitations will be a deal breaker. Video recording is where flagship devices like the Galaxy S23 Ultra shines.
But for many people, the Samsung Galaxy A54 offers an excellent combination of features and capabilities at a far lower cost. On top of that, you get two years of warranty, three years of Android updates, and four years of security updates.
For these reasons, we gladly award the Samsung Galaxy A54 our Editor’s Choice Award! Great work, Samsung!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :
Awesome Graphite
Awesome Violet
Awesome Lime
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the 50MP camera of the new Samsung Galaxy A54, and find out just how well it performs!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : 50 MP Main Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is the marquee mid-range smartphone for 2023, and it comes with a triple camera system at the back that consists of:
a 50 MP main camera, with f/1.8 aperture,
a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, with f/2.2 aperture, and
a 5 MP macro camera, with f/2.4 aperture
The 50 MP camera is a “downgrade” in megapixels from the Galaxy A53’s 64 MP camera, but image quality is better because it is built around the Sony IMX766 image sensor used in phones like the realme 9 Pro+ and Xiaomi 12.
The Sony IMX766 is a larger 1/1.56″ sensor, which offers a 25% larger pixel size of 1.0 µm (compared to 0.8 µm). The larger pixel size is important as it means each pixel can receive 25% more light, delivering better images, especially in low-light conditions.
In fact, that is why the Galaxy A54 defaults to the 12.5 MP resolution, combining four pixels into a much larger 2 µm “bucket” to collect more light. The 64 MP camera in last year’s Galaxy A53 also does the same thing, combining four pixels in one to deliver 16 MP photos.
This 50 MP camera supports PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus), and its lens has a wide f/1.8 aperture for better light intake. If you like to record videos, you will be glad to know that it features VDIS (Video Digital Image Stabilisation) and improved OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) offering a wider OIS angle.
In this review, we are going to take a look at the photography capability of Galaxy A54, and show you just how well its 50MP main camera performs!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : 50 MP Camera Review!
The Samsung Galaxy A54’s 50 MP camera takes 12.5 MP photos by default, with a resolution of 4080 x 3060 pixels. Each JPEG photo using the High Efficiency Image File (HEIF) format, each photo is about 2.5 MB to 5 MB in size.
Without HEIF, the file sizes are much larger, so please remember to turn on the HEIF file format to save space.
Open the Camera app
Go to Settings > Advanced picture options
Turn on High efficiency pictures.
As this photo sample shows, the 50 MP main camera of the Samsung Galaxy A54 offers a nice bokeh, thanks to its wide f/1.8 aperture.
However, that wide aperture presents a problem too – a narrow depth of field, as this sample photo of star anise shows.
If multiple objects are present at different distances from the camera, only some of them will remain in focus, while the others will be out-of-focus.
That makes for nice portraits, but if you do not tap on the area or subject you want to be in focus, the camera may auto-focus on the wrong area or subject, and you will end up with an out-of-focus shot.
As this shot of pineapples show, only a small area of the right edge of the pineapple on the left is in focus. That’s because I intentionally tapped on that part.
Otherwise, the camera would naturally focus on the nearest part of the pineapple (its centre, which is located to the far left of the photo) and this photo would look really out-of-focus.
In most cases, the colour reproduction is pretty accurate, even if it’s indoors.
But in some cases, you can end up with pretty dull-looking photos under artificial light.
You need to be careful with close-up shots though. This isn’t a macro camera, and so it has trouble focusing if the subject is too close.
The problem is – the Samsung camera app does not warn you if the 50 MP camera cannot focus properly on the subject. It may look like it is focused properly in the camera app, but when you open it up later, you will see that it’s completely out-of-focus.
I definitely recommend you tapping on the subject to “force” the camera app to visibly try to focus. If it fails, you know that you are much too close. It’s also a good habit to tap to focus anyway, as this 50 MP camera has a narrow depth-of-field.
There is no need to worry about the “loss” in resolution from 64 MP to 50 MP. In most cases, you probably won’t even realise that the camera defaults to just 12.5 MP!
Even at 12.5 MP, there is more than enough detail in the photos that the Galaxy A54’s 50MP camera delivers, even if you want to zoom in.
But that does not mean that its 50 MP sensor is pure marketing. You can use it to take 50 MP shots, but you will have to live with significantly larger file sizes.
The full 50 MP resolution isn’t needed for 90% of the photos that most people take, but it is useful for long-distance shots. The Samsung Galaxy A54 does not have a telephoto camera, so taking photos in 50 MP effectively gives you a 4X zoom capability.
For example, if you need to take a faraway shot of a bell tower, you can switch to 50 MP before taking the photo. Then you can zoom into the 50 MP photo you took and crop out a much closer looking shot of that bell tower without using software or digital zoom.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : 50 MP Camera Summary
I’m glad Samsung switched from the 64 MP camera to a 50 MP camera in the Galaxy A54. The “loss” in megapixels is more than made up by the larger and better Sony IMX766 image sensor, with 25% larger pixels.
This improved 50 MP main camera performed well in our tests, generally delivering good photos with accurate colours in most cases. It has a good level of detail, even at 12.5 MP.
The biggest problem I have with it is its minimum focus distance. The camera seems to work best with subjects that are at least 50 cm away, or so. If I get too close to the subject, the shot ends up out-of-focus, especially if I tried to let the camera auto-focus by itself.
This is not readily apparent in the camera app, so you need to tap to focus. That triggers the camera to seek a better focus. That’s when you can see whether it can really focus properly. Even then, I sometimes end up with out-of-focus shots, because I was simply too close to the subject.
For most people, this won’t a problem if you are taking the usual photos – people standing at a distance, landscapes and buildings at a distance, etc. Just keep this in mind if you are taking close shots of products or food, etc.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :
Awesome Graphite
Awesome Violet
Awesome Lime
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy A54, and find out how well the Exynos 1380 performs against the competition!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Powered By Exynos 1380
The Samsung Galaxy A54 runs on the Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile platform that was officially launched on 23 February 2023.
Fabricated on the latest 4nm process technology, the Exynos 1380 comes with an Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a dual-cluster architecture :
four Arm Cortex-A78 high-performance cores, and
four Arm Cortex-A55 low-power cores, and
On paper, this is a powerful mid-range mobile platform, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!
We first tested the Galaxy A54 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
S23
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
1380
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
SD
750G
Performance Score
16408
13523
12860
12535
7874
Web Browsing
15680
10659
10442
10185
7021
Video Editing
7879
7363
7444
6336
5693
Writing
22257
17485
15471
15247
7454
Photo Editing
35533
28805
30177
37847
15812
Data Manipulation
12171
11443
9691
8310
6424
Will you look at that?! The Samsung Exynos 1380 that powers the Galaxy A54 actually beat Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 which powered the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
It was also just 17.5% slower than the latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile SoC that powers the new Galaxy S23 Ultra flagship smartphone!
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy A54 using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
Z Flip
3
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD
888
Exynos
990
Exynos
1380
Sling Shot Unlimited
16344
11094
9248
8026
6195
Wild Life Unlimited
14554
9106
3952
4504
2860
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3814
2220
1174
1387
799
This is where the Samsung Galaxy A54’s Exynos 1380 falls short – it is just not very good at gaming!
It was 23% to 42% slower than the Exynos 990, and 28% to 32% slower than the Snapdragon 888!
That does not mean it’s bad for gaming. It can certainly handle most games. It just won’t be able to deliver high frame rates in graphically-demanding 3D games like Genshin Impact, Black Desert Mobile, etc.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy A54 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
Galaxy
A52
Device
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
1380
SD
750G
AnTuTu Score
1212174
889167
624411
522411
341908
CPU
261886
203090
166290
153230
105098
GPU
538823
402617
258995
149596
88068
Memory
236163
146002
120805
86578
60642
UX
175302
137458
78321
133007
88100
According to the AnTuTu benchmark, the Samsung Galaxy A54 is about 53% faster than the Galaxy A52, and only 16% slower than the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
What’s important to note is that the Exynos 1380’s CPU is fast, coming within 8% of the Exynos 2100. However, it has a relatively weak GPU, and slower memory than the flagship-class mobile platforms in this comparison.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Performance Summary
Built around the Samsung Exynos 1380, the Galaxy A54 smartphone has a very fast CPU, but a relatively weak GPU.
What that means is that it offers snappy performance for most part – web browsing, work applications, casual gaming, etc.
It only has trouble delivering high frame rates for graphics-intensive 3D games, and AI or 3D apps may take longer to process in comparison to flagship devices.
But that’s what you need to keep in mind – the Exynos 1380 is a mid-range mobile platform, not a flagship-class. And it is a fast one.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :
Awesome Graphite
Awesome Violet
Awesome Lime
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the new Samsung Galaxy A54, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Two Fixed Refresh Rate Options
The new Samsung Galaxy A54 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :
Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz.
Standard : Get longer battery life by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 60 Hz.
Although the description seems to suggest that the display switches dynamically between 1 Hz to 120 Hz like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, that’s not true.
By turning on the frame rate counter, we can see that the Galaxy A54 switches between two fixed refresh rates – 60 Hz or 120 Hz in the Dynamic mode, and uses just 60 Hz in the Standard mode.
The true Adaptive refresh rate offered in the Galaxy S23 Ultra is variable, changing from 1 Hz to 120 Hz according to the situation. This not only reduces power consumption, it also prevents “screen tearing” – a visual artifact that occurs when the game frame rate does not match the display’s refresh rate.
In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy A54’s battery life.
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.
Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.
It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :
Not bad at all! The Samsung Galaxy A54 has a battery life of 12.5 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and almost 14 hours with the Standard refresh rate. That’s equal to the Galaxy S22 Ultra at the Standard refresh rate, and 16.7%better at the Adaptive refresh rate.
But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy A54 lasted almost 14 hours with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. But it isn’t quite as efficient as the new S23 Ultra, or even last year’s S22 Ultra.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
(60 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Galaxy A54
(60 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(60 Hz)
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Battery Life
15 hrs 18 mins
14 hrs 15 mins
13 hrs 57 mins
8 hrs 11 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh
4.68 mAh
4.78 mAh
5.38 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy A54 was about 13.6% more efficient than the S22 Ultra with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled, coming within 8% of the power efficiency of the S23 Ultra.
Based on what we see here, I definitely recommend turning on the Adaptive Refresh Rate on the Galaxy A54, unless you absolutely need the extra 1.5 hours of battery life.
Work 3.0
S23 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Galaxy A54
(120 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(120 Hz)
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Battery Life
13 hrs
0 mins
12 hrs 25 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
6 hrs
44 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh
5.52 mAh
6.27 mAh
6.53 mAh
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Battery Recharging Speed!
The Samsung Galaxy A54 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
S23 Ultra
Galaxy A54
Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity
3,300 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64.5 minutes
88.8 minutes
120.7 minutes
88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh
45.0 mAh
33.1 mAh
29.8 mAh
The Samsung Galaxy A54 fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over 2 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (36%) slower than the S23 Ultra.
I have no idea whether this was an intentional design decision to reduce the Galaxy A54’s thermal output while charging, or to further differentiate it from the much pricier Galaxy S23 Ultra.
In any case, the Galaxy A54 has a good battery life : recharging ratio of 7:1. As a rule of thumb, for every hour of battery life, you only need to recharge it for 8.5 minutes.
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just launched the Galaxy A54 smartphone, and here is our comparison of the three key colours!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Quick Overview
The Galaxy A54 is Samsung’s latest mid-range smartphone, built around the Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile platform, which features:
four Arm Cortex-A78 high-performance cores,
four Arm Cortex-A55 low-power cores, and
an Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU
It has a large 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. This display is capable of supporting a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz for smoother graphics.
Hidden in its display is a punch hole camera, with a 32 MP sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. At the back, it sports a triple camera system, that consists of:
a 50 MP main camera, with f/1.8 aperture,
a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, with f/2.2 aperture, and
a 5 MP macro camera, with f/2.4 aperture
All that is powered by a large 5,000 mAh battery, which supports up to 25 watt fast charging.
On top of that, Samsung guarantees up to 4 generations of OS upgrades, and 5 years of security updates, as well as 2 years of warranty for the Galaxy A54!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Three Key Colours Compared!
The new Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :
Awesome Graphite
Awesome Violet
Awesome Lime
Samsung also offers an Awesome White colour option in certain countries.
In the following video, I will show you the three main colour options, and give you a closer look at the Galaxy A54 in the Awesome Graphite, Awesome Violet and Awesome Lime colours. Do let us know which you prefer!
Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :
Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate between 1 Hz and 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate
By default, the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery life.
In addition, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has three display resolution options (Settings > Display > Screen resolution) :
WQHD+ : 3088 x 1440 pixels
FHD+ : 2316 x 1080 pixels
HD+ : 1544 x 720 pixels
By default, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the FHD+ resolution, but you can switch to the full WQHD+ resolution for sharper graphics, or drop down to HD+ for a longer battery life.
Those five display settings affect battery life. Even though the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, it won’t last forever. So which display resolution and refresh rate should you choose?
Many people and even some experts will recommend that you switch to the best possible settings – you paid for those features after all! But how much will they suck your new smartphone’s battery life?
To find out, I ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and these were the best results I obtained:
Display
Resolution
Standard
Refresh
Dynamic
Refresh
WQHD+
15 hours 9 minutes
12 hours 7 minutes
FHD+
15 hours 18 minutes
13 hours
HD+
16 hours 46 minutes
14 hours 34 minutes
Best Display Resolution : WQHD+
Switching to the WQHD+ resolution will definitely give you the sharpest and best possible display on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Normally, this would suck up a significant amount of power, which is why Samsung set the Galaxy S23 Ultra to use the FHD+ option by default.
But as my tests show, using the maximum display resolution of WQHD+ barely dents its battery life!
At the Standard 60 Hz refresh rate, you lose just 9 minutes – which is a drop of just under 0.11% – practically imperceptible.
If you switch to the Dynamic Refresh Rate mode, you lose 53 minutes or 6.8% of battery life. That sounds like a lot, but you still have just over 12 hours of battery life.
So unless you must have the longest-possible battery life, I recommend you switch to the WQHD+ resolution.
The low resolution of HD+ definitely increases your battery life, but not as much as you might think. You gain about 1.5 hours longer battery life. Not worth putting up with soft-looking images and text IMHO.
Best Display Refresh Rate : Up To Your Preference
The change in refresh rate affects the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery life far more than changing its display resolution.
At the WQHD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 3 hours, or about 20%.
At the FHD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 2 hours 18 minutes, or about 15%.
At the HD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 2 hours 12 minutes, or about 13%.
If you are fine with a 12 hour battery life, and most would be, you should definitely turn on Dynamic Refresh Rate.
But if you want a longer battery life (like if you’re on a trip), you can always turn on the Standard refresh rate for a 15%-20% boost in battery life to about 15 hours.
I highly recommend that you try both refresh rate options, and see if you can feel a noticeable difference. People who play mobile games will probably find it noticeable, while non-gamers might not appreciate the difference in refresh rate.
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Read our comprehensive review of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and find out why it won our Editor’s Choice Award!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Model + Colour Options
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.
Ahead of the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s official launch, we were given special access to all four main colours it will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.
So I was able to record this video comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone in all four colours. Take a look at all four colours, and let us know which you prefer!
We got our hands on a golden sample of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone at the official launch in Singapore. Let’s take a quick look at the box before we check out what’s inside!
