- Samsung / Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Our top choice$1500 $1800 Save $300The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is better than ever, the tweak in design making this phone fold better and feel better. In some ways this is an iterative update of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it's clear that if you're after a book-type folding phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the one to choose.
Pros- Stellar performance
- S Pen support
- Upgraded folding design
Cons- Expensive
- Narrow external display
- Some bloatware
- Google / Pocket-lint
Google Pixel Fold
A great alternativeThe Pixel Fold takes Google's phones in a new direction, embracing the next-gen screen tech and presenting a premium PIxel option. It's a great quality phone, but it's clear there's still work to be done on app optimisation to enhance the experience.
Pros- Fantastic design
- Functional external display
- Stellar Pixel camera software
Cons- Expensive
- Middling battery life
- Needs more software optimisation
Two companies are currently engaged in a battle for foldable phone supremacy. There's the upstart Google, which has just released its first foldable smartphone called the Pixel Fold. Samsung, the crafty veteran, has just unleashed the fifth iteration of its folding phone called the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Both are expensive and have some advanced, high-end tech, but which one should you spend your hard-earned money on? That's precisely what we will figure out as we compare two of the most expensive smartphones on the market against each other. Here's how the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 compares to the Google Pixel Fold and what the differences are.
Price, specs, and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google Pixel Fold are flagship phones using the latest tech. As such, they're both expensive. Both the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 start at $1799 in the US. In the UK, both the Galaxy Z Fold 5 start at £1749. Right off the bat, that will turn off many people used to high-end phones selling for around $1000/£1000. Folding screens are still a relatively new technology being rapidly improved and tweaked, so the price of these phones reflects that.
The Pixel Fold is available in relatively modest colours, while Samsung offers the basics and some more adventurous looks for its folding phone. For the Pixel Fold, you can choose between Obsidian and Porcelain, which are Google's fancy descriptions for black and white. Meanwhile, you can get the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in Icy Blue, Phantom Black, and Cream from your favourite phone retailer. Samsung.com has Gray and Blue as exclusive colors.
Both of these are high-end flagships, and they come with specs to match. Choosing between the two will be based on whether you like what Google is doing with machine learning and the Tensor G2 or the more traditional Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip found in the Z Fold 5.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
$1500 $1800 Save $300- Brand
- Samsung
- SoC
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Display
- 6.2-inch AMOLED, 2316 x 904, 120Hz (cover) / 7.6-inch AMOLED, 2176 x 1812, 120Hz (main)
- Battery
- 4400mAh / 25W fast charging, 15W wireless charging
- Operating System
- Android 13, One UI
- Front camera
- 10MP f/2.2 (cover), 4MP f/1.8 UPC (under-display)
- Rear cameras
- 50MP f/1.8 main, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 10MP f/2.4 telephoto
- Dimensions
- 154.94 x 67.06 x 13.46mm (folded) / 154.94 x 129.79 x 6.10mm (unfolded), 253g
- IP Rating
- IPX8
- RAM and Storage
- 12GB, 256/512/1TB
- Google
Google Pixel Fold
- Brand
- SoC
- Google Tensor G2
- Display
- 5.8-inch OLED, 2092 x 1080, 120Hz (cover) / 6.7-inch OLED, UTG, 2208 x 1840, 120Hz (main)
- Battery
- 4821mA / 30W fast charging, 7.5W wireless charging
- Operating System
- Android
- Front camera
- 9.5MP, f/2.2 (cover) / 8MP, f/2.0 (main)
- Rear cameras
- 48MP f/1.7 main, 10.8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 10.8MP f/3.05 telephoto
- Dimensions
- 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1mm (folded), 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8mm (unfolded), 283g
- IP Rating
- IPX8
- RAM and Storage
- 12GB, 256/512GB
Design and build
The Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 aren't entirely different from a design perspective. They're both massive foldable phones designed to offer tablet-like screen real estate.
Perhaps the most noticeable difference between the two devices is the shape. Samsung uses a longer, thinner design for its Z Fold 5, while Google selected a wide, shorter shape for its Pixel Fold. Overall, there's no right or wrong design, but there will be a right one for you. Do you prefer a more traditional shape when the phone is closed? Then you'll like the design of the Pixel. If you prefer the long, slim profile, you'll like the Z Fold 5.
One of the most significant issues many had with previous Galaxy Z Fold devices was the gap left in the middle when the phone was folded closed. Samsung heard those complaints and has flattened the phone out for this iteration, which isn't a surprise since the Pixel Fold is relatively flat, and Samsung wouldn't want to be left behind in this design aspect.
Around the back, Google opted to stick with the bulky horizontal camera bar found on the other Pixel phones, while Samsung uses a more conventional-looking camera system. They both look good, but the Pixel is undoubtedly a more distinct design that stands out from the crowd a little more.
Both devices have an IPX8 rating, meaning they can be submerged in up to 1.5-meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes, but they aren't rated for dust and solid particles.
Display
The Google Pixel Fold has a 5.8-inch external display that delivers a Full HD+ resolution at 2092 x 1080 pixels for a 408ppi pixel density. The OLED display has a 17.4:9 aspect ratio. The Galaxy Z Fold 5's external display is 6.2 inches and features a 2316 x 904 resolution with a 402ppi pixel density. It has a long and thin 23.1:9 aspect ratio. As mentioned, the shape of the phones is where the devices differ heavily. In terms of resolution though, they are pretty much on par with the same level of detail.
The Pixel Fold's internal screen is 2208 x 1840 and 7.6 inches with a 380ppi pixel density and a 6:5 aspect ratio. You'll find a 7.6-inch screen with a 2176 x 1812 resolution on the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The pixel density of the inside display is 374ppi, and the aspect ratio is 21.6:18. Again, the number of pixels per inch is near enough the same between these two devices so you should get a similar level of detail.
The specs of the two displays are similar overall - if you ignore the ratios. You get a slightly bigger external display with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, but the difference is marginal. The main thing that will help you decide is the shape and aspect ratio. The Pixel Fold is wider, and the Z Fold 5 is longer.
Hardware
Google elected to use its in-house Tensor G2 platform for the Pixel Fold. It's a powerful chip, especially for machine learning and other features, but it doesn't look as impressive as the latest Qualcomm chips for benchmarks and traditional performance metrics. With that in mind, Samsung runs the speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip in its latest foldable phone. That chip certainly does impress in benchmarks. Raw numbers aside though, both chips perform well and are more than fast enough to handle the daily tasks the average user will throw at them.
In terms of security, Samsung has its Knox security platform, and Google offers the Titan M2 coprocessor. Both are among the industry leaders in the smartphone security space.
Regarding RAM and storage, the Google Pixel Fold has 12GB of RAM with 256GB and 512GB of storage options. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 has those choices, and it also offers a 1TB storage variant, giving Samsung a slight edge for those who need as much storage as possible in their smartphone. As is typical with high-end phones, neither offers a microSD slot, so choose the correct storage amount when buying your phone.
For batteries, Samsung offers a 4400mAh battery with 25W fast charging and 15W wireless charging support. Google provides a slightly larger battery at 4800mAh, which could give it a little more juice. The Pixel Fold also charges slightly faster with 30W fast charging but half the wireless charging speed of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 at 7.5W.
Cameras
The cameras will always be a significant decision factor, especially between two high-end devices. Both phones have triple rear camera systems and two front cameras. One is on the cover, and the other is above the internal display. Even though they have the same number of cameras, some notable differences remain.
The back of Google's Pixel Fold comes with a 48-megapixel main sensor with an f/1.7 aperture, a 10.8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.25 aperture, and a 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera with an f/3.05 aperture. Perhaps more importantly, it comes with all the software features offered on the Pixel 7 devices, such as Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Night Sight, and Face Unblur. For photography software, it's hard to find a better system than the Pixel phones, though Samsung offers some respectable goodies in its phones too.
Samsung delivers a 50-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with an f/2.4 aperture on the back of its Galaxy Z Fold 5.
Flipping over to the selfie cameras, the Pixel Fold offers a 9.5-megapixel sensor with an f/2.2 aperture for the cover display camera compared to Samsung's 10-megapixel sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. Inside, the Pixel Fold has an 8-megapixel lens and an f/2.0 aperture. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 features a 4MP under-display camera with an f/1.8 aperture. While the under-display camera is a cool feature for creating thinner bezels, we've found that these lenses often make hazier images due to the extra layer so the Pixel Fold is the winner in the selfie department.
Software
Both the Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 come with Android 13. However, while they may have the same OS at their core, they're quite different, as Samsung heavily modifies Android to create One UI. Google uses a completely stock version of Android. If you like the feel of Android on the Pixel 7 Pro or the Pixel 7, you'll probably want to lean toward the Pixel Fold. If you're coming from a Samsung Galaxy S23 or another Samsung phone, you'll feel right at home with the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Samsung offers its own web browser, camera app, and others, which some might consider unnecessary and others might regard as the main reason to go with a Samsung phone.
Samsung and Google offer optimisations for larger screens, but they don't have the same ones. For example, Google provides a dual-screen translation feature that makes conversations in a foreign language possible. Samsung includes a functional taskbar at the bottom for smoother multitasking. Both allow you to run apps on a split screen, which creates a more desktop-like multitasking experience.
A vital factor to consider is how long your new phone will be supported. Samsung and Google are the industry leaders in Android version and security updates, so they're both excellent choices. Samsung gets the slight edge, offering four years of OS updates and five years of security updates to Google's three OS versions and five years of security updates. These are both great update policies, so you can't go wrong with either.
Google Pixel Fold vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: Which should you buy?
There's no wrong choice between the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. They're both incredible phones that are pushing smartphone design forward. Samsung has made some intelligent improvements, including flattening out the folded device. Google came out of the gates with the lessons learned by Samsung over the last few years, making itself a very worthy choice.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Another factor to consider is stylus support. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 gets S Pen support, so if you're artistic, you might find that it suits your needs better because the S Pen remains one of the best mobile pointers on the market. In the end, your decision is going to come down to which shape you like better. If you want wider, get a Pixel Fold. If you like long and thin, get a Galaxy Z Fold 5. Whichever you choose, you'll be happy with your fantastic folding phone.
