[AMA] Mishaal Rahman and FragmentedChicken have hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Fold5, Flip5, Watch6 and Watch6 Classic, and Tab S9 series. Ask us anything!

ijeff@lemdro.idmod to Android@lemdro.id – 116 points –

Mishaal Rahman and FragmentedChicken are in South Korea for Samsung Unpacked!

It's weird with time zones but they'll be on for the next hour or so. They're juggling on-the-ground stuff at the press conference so post any questions here and they'll respond once they can!

Edit: We've left the hands-on area, but feel free to continue posting your questions. We'll continue to answer them if we can, and might have another opportunity with some of the devices.

For articles about Samsung's latest announcements, see the Megathread sticky at !android@lemdro.id.

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Questions to both (or either)

  1. Does any device presented today feel like a meaningful upgrade? I can't remember the last time everything was so incremental. Even the bigger outer screen on the Flip 5 is just that, bigger screen. It's still a limited set of widgets, only this time bigger. How much difference does that make?

  2. Is the s-pen case for the Fold 5 actually something that's usable? Or does it make the whole device an unwieldy brick?

  3. Does the dock with up to 4 recent apps on the Fold 5 feel more useful and convenient, or rather overwhelming and cluttered?

  4. What color variants do you see there for all those devices? Which do you like the most?

  1. Through the Multistar Good Lock module you'll be able to run any app on the cover screen, so I would say the Flip 5 cover screen is indeed a big upgrade. (If you're the kind of person to use Lemmy then you're probably comfortable with installing/sideloading Good Lock.)

  2. Didn't get to get this but will ask tomorrow if we can get our hands on it

  3. My first impression is that the taskbar felt cluttered with 4 recents apps but fortunately in settings you can choose how many recents to show.

  4. Didn't really get a chance to appreciate the colors, sorry! Was more focused on stuff like the hinge, crease, software, etc

Appreciate the answers, and can definitely understand colors were the least of your interest haha. But since you did mention "hinge, crease, software", I'm going to ask about that (if you don't mind). In MKBHD's video I noticed the foldable a don't really open fully flat. More like 179.5°. Is that camera distortion, or maybe a faulty device that Marques had a hands-on with? Or is it just a drawback of the hinges with teardrop creasing display, just like is the case with the Pixel Fold?

It definitely looks like it opens completely flat to me, like 180 degrees.

  1. To a certain extent, all phones these days are arguably just incremental upgrades. It's up to you to determine whether those upgrades make a difference for you. It's also worth noting sometimes the upgrades aren't immediately reflected in the design, and you might need to dig deeper to see the changes and improvements. For example last year, I feel like both the Fold4 and Flip4 got meaningful upgrades. The Fold4 got the GN3 50 MP primary sensor, the Flip4 got a larger battery, and both got the 2nd gen Eco OLED display along with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Coming from the Snapdragon 888 on the Fold3 and Flip3, that's already a major upgrade for efficiency (battery life) and performance. All of this was coupled with the software addition allowing you to set the performance profile to light, which supposedly gives you the performance of the 8 Gen 1 and further increases efficiency (and thus battery life). For me, that meant I could make it through the day on the Fold4, while I couldn't on the Fold3. The larger outer display on the Flip5 could mean using the inner display less, depending on whether you will actually be able to run any app on it. Apparently you will be able to with a future update to Multistar, a Good Lock module. Why would you want to use the inner display less? Maybe you prefer using a more compact device. Maybe you want to use your phone less, and the act of unfolding the phone encourages you to use it more. In that case, a fully functional outer display might help discourage needless use. Maybe you want better battery life, assuming that display consumes less power compared to the inner display.

  2. I only took pictures of the case on my way out. It looks reasonable to me. I'll update you if I get my hands on it.

  3. In addition to Mishaal's reply, you could also just turn the whole thing off. I never used it with the Fold4, and will probably never use it if I get another foldable. Just my preference.

  4. I only saw all of the Fold5 variants, minus the exclusives. The blue is really doing it for me, followed by the cream with that subtle hint of gold.

Would love to see a detailed response especially to #1.