The harsh Arizona sun beat down, and I fumbled with the Galaxy Z Fold5. Heat shimmered off the asphalt, reflecting the internal struggle. I was supposed to be documenting the durability of the hinge for a new case study, not melting. This wasn’t a lab; it was a parking lot.

Initially, I approached this fifth iteration of Samsung’s foldable with a healthy dose of skepticism. The marketing hype is always thick. Foldable phones? Still a niche market. Still, the promise of a tablet experience tucked neatly in your pocket is seductive. And, frankly, the engineering itself is fascinating.

Let’s be honest, the core of this device revolves around that display. The 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X internal screen offers vibrant colors and incredible detail. It practically begs you to multitask. Need to reference a schematic while editing a video? No problem. The 512GB of storage on this model? Plenty of room for everything. But, and it’s a significant but, the crease down the middle, while improved from the Fold4, is still noticeable at certain angles. This is just the reality of the technology.

The exterior screen, a smaller 6.2-inch display, handles everyday tasks with surprising grace. NFC connectivity allows for seamless pairing with accessories, which is essential for me when setting up my Bluetooth speaker for the next test. A minor quibble: Android 13, while polished, isn’t always perfectly optimized for the foldable experience. Some apps still awkwardly resize. That’s fixable, though. Samsung’s One UI helps, and users quickly learn which apps benefit from full-screen mode.

Compared to the previous Fold, the hinge is sturdier. And yes, I deliberately tested it to its breaking point. (Don’t worry, it didn’t.) Also, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor is a beast. This thing chews through demanding applications and games. But here’s the kicker: for a serious photographer, the camera, while good, doesn’t quite match the top-tier standalone cameras. You’ll need to decide if the convenience is worth the tradeoff.

So, who is this phone really for? If you are a power user, who constantly juggles multiple apps, craves the latest tech, and isn’t afraid to pay a premium for it, then the Galaxy Z Fold5 is your device. Understand the limitations, accept the learning curve. If you’re looking for simplicity, stick with a regular smartphone. The foldable revolution is still underway, and the Fold5 is a genuinely compelling step forward. It isn’t cheap. But it is an impressive piece of kit.