I recently documented some of the hardware differences between the Fold phones in a comment reply. I decided to do some additional research before cleaning up the original comment reply and making it a dedicated post. Let me know if I missed something, made a mistake, or have a question.
Keep in mind this doesn’t include software related changes to One UI, camera processing, etc. nor does it include specific hardware changes that need to be tested or measured, like the display OLED materials and power efficiency, or the speakers, mics, etc.
Fold1 to Fold2
Cover display
- Size increases to 6.23", with an increase in resolution to 2260x816, change in aspect ratio to 25:9, and decrease in PPI to 386
- High brightness mode increases to 800 nits
Main display
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Size increases to 7.6", with an increase in resolution to 2208x1768, change in aspect ratio to 22.5:18, and increase in PPI to 373
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Display refresh rate is now 120 Hz, adaptive from 10-120 Hz
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Peak brightness increases to 900 nits (700 nits in high brightness mode)
SoC
- Snapdragon 865 5G+ (increase in performance and power efficiency)
Memory
- Base model storage decreases to 256 GB
- RAM is now UFS 3.1
Cameras
- Primary sensor is now the 12 MP IMX555 (no longer dual aperture but the sensor size is larger)
- Cover display camera is now 10 MP
- Ultrawide camera is now 12 MP
Hinge, dimensions, and durability
- New Hideaway Hinge now supports flex mode from 75° to 115°
- Hinge sweeper length is now 25% shorter
- 8 g heavier
- 0.7 mm thinner from the hinge when unfolded, 0.3 mm thinner from the hinge when folded
- Main display is now made of ultra thin glass, resulting in better durability, optical clarity, and feel
- Gorilla Glass Victus on the cover display
Battery
- Capacity increases to 4500 mAh
- Battery life increases due to the higher capacity and new efficient SoC
Charging
- Wired charging now supports 25 W
Connectivity
- Ultra-wideband
Fold2 to Fold3
Cover display
- Change in aspect ratio to 24.5:9 (slightly short and wider), and increase in PPI to 387
- Refresh rate increases to 120 Hz, adaptive from 60-120 Hz
- Peak brightness increases to 1500 nits (1000 nits in high brightness mode)
Main display
- Increase in PPI to 374
- Display technology is now Eco^2 OLED, resulting in a higher peak brightness of 1200 nits (900 nits in high brightness mode), and higher power efficiency
- Display now supports the S Pen stylus
- Hole punch camera replaced with an under panel camera
SoC
- Snapdragon 888 (increase in performance and decrease in power efficiency)
Cameras
- Main display under panel camera is now 4 MP (binned from 16 MP)
- Super clear glass on the rear cameras to reduce reflections and increase scratch resistance
Hinge, dimensions, and durability
- 11 g lighter
- 0.5 mm thinner from the hinge when unfolded, 0.8 mm thinner from the hinge when folded
- IPX8 water resistance rating
- Protective film is now PET resulting in a smoother feel
- Display panel layers optimized to increase durability by 80%
- Armor aluminum advertised as 10% more durable and 32% stronger
Battery
- Capacity decreases to 4400 mAh
- Battery life decreases due to the smaller capacity, and inefficient SoC, slightly offset by the new efficient display
Connectivity
- WiFi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Removed MST support for most regions
Fold3 to Fold4
Cover display
- Change in aspect ratio to 23.1:9 (slightly shorter and wider)
- Refresh rate is now adaptive from 48-120 Hz
Main display
- Change in aspect ratio to 21.6:18 (slightly shorter and wider)
- Refresh rate is now adaptive from 1-120 Hz
- Display technology is now Eco^2 OLED Plus with new organic materials, resulting in a higher peak brightness of 1300 nits (1000 nits in high brightness mode), and higher power efficiency
- Under panel camera display area perceived resolution increases by 40%
SoC
- Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (increase in performance and power efficiency)
Cameras
- Primary sensor is now the 50 MP GN3
- Telephoto sensor is now 10 MP with 3x optical zoom
Hinge, dimensions, and durability
- New rotational hinge, allowing for a lighter and slimmer device
- 8 g lighter
- 0.1 mm thinner from the hinge when unfolded, 0.2 mm thinner from the hinge when folded
- Fold durability of 30,000 folds at -20°C, and 150,000 folds at 65°C
- Digitizer is now reinforced with Fiber-reinforced plastic
- Panel layer material upgraded to increase durability
- New ultra thin glass advertised as 45% stronger
- Stronger adhesive on the main display protective film to prevent bubbling
- Damping structure improved with sponges to increase shock absorption
- Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the cover display and back
- Screen protector is no longer included on the cover display
Battery
- Battery life increases due to the new efficient SoC and display
Charging
- Wireless charging now supports 15 W
Connectivity
- Fully removed MST support
Fold4 to Fold5
Cover display
- Peak brightness increases to 1750 nits (1000 nits in high brightness mode)
Main display
- Peak brightness increases to 1750 nits (1200 nits in high brightness mode)
SoC
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (increase in performance and power efficiency) with a 38% larger vapour chamber
Memory
- RAM is now UFS 4.0
Hinge, dimensions, and durability
- New waterdrop hinge, resulting in better durability for the main display, and allows the phone to fold completely flat
- 10 g lighter
- 0.2 mm thinner from the hinge when unfolded, 2.4 mm thinner from the hinge when folded
- Fold durability of 200,000 folds at 25°C (previous models were advertised with this but the temperature was never specified)
- Main display now has a shock dispersion layer to increase durability
- New adhesion process for the main display protective film to increase durability
- Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover display and back
Battery
- Battery life increases due to the new efficient SoC
Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.3
just got the fold 5, upgrading from the fold 2. i’m not really impressed with it and wished i kept my fold 2 for another generation, but time will tell if the durability is better on this one (main reason I upgraded from my fold 2). the fold 2 was solid for me though, so I’m sure down the line I will be happy with improvements to the fold phones when its time to upgrade again.
I think next time, I’ll be seriously consider any of the flip phones. only thing holding me back would be a 120 hz cover screen for the flip, but im sure it will be around when it’s time for me to upgrade from the fold 5 in about 3-4 years.
Would you mind sharing what aspect of the fold 5 that failed to meet your expectations (compared to the fold 2)?
One big thing that holding me back from getting a Fold before was the hinge didn’t fold completely flat. Now that issue is no more, I’m temping to get one.
if you’ve never had a fold device, i’d say the 5 is a great place to jump in. idk what i was expecting, but I wasnt completely blown away like when I got my fold 2.
everything about the 5 has been a ton of minor improvements over my fold 2 though, so I’ll be keeping it
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Great post, and it’s interesting to see how the fold has evolved. Especially seeing as I moved from a 3 to a 5 recently.
However, just a heads up, the RAM is not UFS the storage is. I was looking into ram specs recently, and it seems to be difficult to find.
I use the cover display mostly on a Fold3, its pretty alright. I’d be interested to see how the 4 or 5 holds up. But reading the other commenter here it seems the camera never got better.
Testing out the Fold 4 rn, might return
It’s a great phone but the Camera feels kinda lacking for the price, and the cover display is still too thin
