We had a lot of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 questions we wanted answering after the Galaxy Unpacked last week, and one of the big ones was how long it would last on a single charge.
Battery life is one of the key facets of a phone's usability, and we were keen to find out how it compares to its main rival, the Google Pixel Fold, as well as the outgoing Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the non-folding but equally premium Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max. And the good news is our tests have just come in.
Samsung made no changes to the Galaxy Z Fold 5's battery compared to what the Galaxy Z Fold 4 already had, a 4,400 mAh cell. But it did swap out the chipset to the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, a change which can have an impact on a phone's efficiency. And as you'll see below, it seems like it did.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 battery life: The results
For reference, the Tom's Guide custom battery tests sets all phones to 150 nits of brightness, then uses a special app to continuously load web page after web page over 5G until the phone's battery is drained. We perform this test at a static 60Hz refresh rate and the maximum available adaptive refresh rate where possible. The results above are for the 60Hz tests for each of these phones.
As the numbers show, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 performs impressively… for a foldable. It lasts over an hour and a half longer than the old Galaxy Z Fold 4, and over half an hour longer than the Google Pixel Fold, the previous top foldable for battery life. However, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max last over two hours longer than the new Z Fold, almost three hours in the iPhone's case.
The current threshold for a spot on our best phone battery life guide is 11.5 hours. So while the Galaxy Z Fold 5 doesn't quite reach that, it's certainly pretty close, perhaps meaning next year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 will finally earn a place on the leaderboard.
Bear in mind that these results are for the 60Hz test, which is sometimes less power efficient than a phone's adaptive refresh rate mode. We'll come back when we've completed additional testing and let you know if that changes things.
One other thing to note is charging speeds for these phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 5, as well as the Galaxy Z Fold 4, can charge at up to 25W, which is pretty slow. The iPhone 14 Pro Max charges at an even slower 20W, but the Pixel Fold can charge at 30W, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra at a rather quick 45W.
As for wireless speeds, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, along with the Z Fold 4, Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max, can all charge at up to 15W. The Pixel Fold is the exception, offering a 7.5W limit.
So overall, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has offered a considerable leap in battery life since the last generation, and has managed to defeat its main Google-designed rival in the longevity stakes. You're still better off going for a standard smartphone if you really value battery life, but there's no better foldable for power efficiency right now than the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
For more tests and our overall verdict on Samsung's new big foldable, take a look at our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 review. And don't forget about our Galaxy Z Flip 5 review either if you're curious about what we made of Samsung's smaller new foldable.
