• Samsung has unveiled its latest clamshell foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 at its Unpacked event held in South Korea on Wednesday.
• The new device will feature a much larger front cover display, a narrowing folding hinge and new silicon, but also the same camera setup as its predecessor.
• Samsung is hoping to lure younger customers with the device, but it will enter a South African market filling up quickly with rival foldables.

At today’s Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event held in South Korea, the gadgets giant finally revealed its latest clamshell foldable – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5. And the good news is that is heading for South African shelves next month.

Headlined by a much larger front cover screen than its predecessor, about 180 percent larger, the Galaxy Z Flip5 continues Samsung’s idea for the clamshell. A foldable for the youth, for the selfie-obsessed and for those interested in form over function.

That is not to say that the Z Flip5 is a slouch. While not as formidable as its older sibling the Z Fold 5 in terms of raw hardware, the Flip5 still contains the latest generation Snapdragon chipset, RAM between 8GB and 12GB and storage options of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB.

These are some of the makings of a premium smartphone, for which you will be paying a premium price. Despite this, Samsung South Africa told the media that it will be targeting young people with its marketing for the latest Z Flip.

Samsung’s latest clamshell will also enter a South African market with more foldables than ever before. Asian rivals Huawei and Oppo are already touching ground with their offerings in the form factor, and the likes of Vivo and Honor looking to launch foldables in the local market in the near future.

Samsung remains the undisputed foldable king in terms of market share, but competition is ramping up and more options mean that the manufacturer will have to step up its game in some departments.

However, the Flip5 still has a 12MP camera, the same as the Flip4. A shooter we already said was not Samsung’s best in the department. Which is a bit disappointing given how important selfie-taking is for the device in terms of marketing and highlights.

The larger front cover screen is a definite bonus, and Samsung’s implementation of 13 new widgets to be used on the front cover like weather, phone book, Samsung Pay and message apps will mean that you will sometimes only have to unfold the device to answer calls.

In the future Samsung could see a partner widget with the likes of BMW, and further with Samsung South Africa saying that one day even driver’s licenses could be displayed on the front screen digitally through a widget. The front cover also now lets you edit images you take through it, like changing the colour tones of selfies.

The company hopes that these functions will lure Gen-Z customers through what it calls “nowstalgia.”

Finally, it is also notable that the Flip5 is much thinner, more compact and has a much narrower hinge than its predecessor with a 2mm reduction of the gap, all to make it easier to fit into your pocket.

Pre-orders open for the Galaxy Z Flip5 on 11th August 2023 in South Africa, with the phone hitting stores on 25th August 2023. Samsung South Africa says it will be available at all the usual retailers, including Samsung branded shops.

You can pick up the Galaxy Z Flip5 in the colours of Mint, Graphite, Cream and Lavender.