Samsung hasn't changed the Galaxy Z Fold's design since the second generation model that came out in 2020. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that we’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 to look quite similar to the company’s current foldable flagship.
But a new leak from the reliable tipster Ice Universe shows exactly how little change to expect. The leaker shared what appears to be frames of both the upcoming Z Fold 5 next to the current generation. Barring the relocation of the flashlight to the right of the camera cutout, there appears to be no change whatsoever.
Fold4 vs Fold5 pic.twitter.com/edRifG4rGAMay 14, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, the leaker placed the two frames atop of one another. With some red lines, Ice Universe showed that the width of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5’s external screen is going to remain unchanged too.
An unchanged external screen pic.twitter.com/rwT8xc3Mm6May 14, 2023
In other words, we can’t expect a change of aspect ratio for the handset in its folded phone form this time around. It’s going to remain tall and thin, in contrast to the freshly announced Google Pixel Fold which has a more traditional aspect ratio when folded.
That’s a pity, as the existing thin design does make typing a little bit more challenging, and unfolding just to send a quick text feels like an awkward, unnecessary additional step.
But, complaints about the closed aspect ratio aside, the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a superbly designed handset, and there’s a solid argument for Samsung to continue making small iterative changes. We’ve already heard that the phone will be thinner and lighter this time around, thanks to the adoption of a new teardrop hinge, for example.
Plus a phone’s frame says nothing about what’s on the inside. We’re fully expecting the Galaxy Z Fold 5 to adopt the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for a welcome speed boost — perhaps more than expected. Purported benchmarks show a big uptick in performance from even the Galaxy S23 Ultra, suggesting that Samsung has made some progress in optimizing its ‘For Galaxy’ chips.
Still, if you’re starting to find the design of Samsung’s foldables a bit stale, good news may be coming next year. One leaker believes that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is going to see a “major form factor change”. What form that change takes remains to be seen, but if that sounds even slightly tempting, it may be worth sitting this generation out and seeing what Samsung has up its sleeve for 2024 instead.
