Could the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5 be the most flexible phone yet?

(Image credit: Samsung Display)

published 20 January 2023

If you thought the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, currently Samsung's best foldable phone, was pretty bendy you're going to love what's coming next. Samsung Display's new "Flex in and out" concept display has a new hinge that enables it to fold in 360 degrees – so in addition to folding it closed you can bend it backwards. It also has a significantly more subtle crease.

The prototype was shown off to The Verge, who points out that Samsung Display demoed a similar display in 2021. But this version is different: the 2021 was an S-shaped display with multiple segments, but this one is more like the Fold 4 or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Why everything hinges on your folding phone's hinge

With folding phones, the hinge is one of the most important parts: its design dictates how the phone looks, how it feels and how well it transforms between open and shut modes. The one in the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 is a bit bulkier than some rivals, and it's one of the few things about those phones that has attracted criticism.

It's unclear whether this new hinge design will make it into the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, but you can be sure that Samsung is at least considering it: the competition is getting really good, with rival devices such as the Oppo Find N2 and the latest Motorola Razr giving Samsung a run for its folding money. Being able to make its Fold and possibly its Flip even more svelte would make them even more attractive. And the new hinge fits with previous rumours of a new "droplet" hinge coming to Samsung's foldables.

For now, all the focus is on the Galaxy S23 range, which launches in less than a fortnight. The Z Fold 5 is expected to be released later this year.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).