Long before I was a technology journalist - which is now a decade so we’re talking about quite a while ago - I was particular about the brands and products I liked. My dad was an Apple enthusiast so I grew up withMacs, and needless to say when Apple announced theiPhonein 2007, I bought it. I know, I know, no one is shocked.
I upgraded to the 3G model when that was released, but after that I switched to BlackBerry, because well, BBM. After anumber of BlackBerry models(including the two Bolds), it was theHTC Onethat caught my eye, because frankly, who could deny how beautiful that phone was? After that delight of a device though, it was Apple’s turn to win my heart over again with itsiPhone 6and its lovely slim and curved edges.
Since then - which was 2014 - I have used iPhone as my main phone. In the last decade I have never really been tempted to switch: I definitely had a soft spot forSamsung’s Galaxy S8and its curved screen, and theoriginal Galaxy Z Flipcaught my eye too - but neither of them tempted me enough to actually take that leap. Like a lot of people, I am baked into Apple’s ecosystem: I use anApple Watchevery day, I have aniPad, I have a Mac and everything just works so beautifully together that it would take something pretty special to take me away from that level of convenience. Copying something on my Mac and then just pasting on my iPhone really never gets old.
But theSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 5really did tempt me to make that big leap. The Z Flip 5 is a stunning phone and the one that changed everything for me. They say you can resist everything except temptation - and the temptation with this phone was real.
Despitefolding phonesbeing around for a couple of years now, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 still has an undeniable novelty factor. There’s something so satisfying about snapping it shut, and its pocketable format is wonderful in use. It’s a phone that gives me great joy every time I use it - the kind of joy I remember having with thatfirst iPhone. So much so that I’m genuinely considering taking out a separate contract as a work phone so I can use it alongside my iPhone that I just can’t seem to break up with.
The build quality of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is great, the larger external display is excellent in use and the overall experience is a joyous one. When you work with technology all the time and you see how fast it moves, there’s a tendency to get a little complacent - but that wasn’t the case for me with the Z Flip 5.
From its zero-gap design to its clever software features - using the external display as a camera viewfinder is just delightful - this is a phone that genuinely impressed me. Samsung’s marketing tagline for it was “Join the Flip Side” and I have to say, while I liked theprevious Galaxy Z Flip iterations, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the first one that would really make me consider joining the Flip crew.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
