Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, Fold 5, Tab S9, Galaxy Watch 6 first impressions

Galaxy Tab S9 series is now IP68 rated (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

With the Galaxy S9 series tablets, Samsung is clearly seeing the opportunity to corner the professional Android tablet space which seems to be suddenly hotting up thanks to the increased interest from companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi. The S9 series — now available in three sizes ranging from 11 to 14.6 inches — comes with an IP68 rating for both the tablets and the S-Pen which means you can actually use the tablet underwater too.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 first impressions

With the new Galaxy Z Flip5, the focus seems to be on making the phone more pocketable along with being more effective in its closed state. The Fold series phones have always had a lot of usability even without them being unfolded, but the Flip has not really been very effective without being flipped open. Not any more.

Galaxy Z Flip5 gets a large cover display (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

The new Flip5 has a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED 60Hz Display in the Flex Window which means when closed the phone can still do everything you can when it’s opened. This new display is three times larger than the earlier one and comes with 13 widgets preloaded, available on swipe. While this means you can use the screen to check the calendar and weather or flash your boarding pass at an airport security check, it is even more stunning for taking those selfies. On a swipe down you get access to quick settings while a swipe up opens the Samsung Wallet. I loved how you can just pinch in on this screen to see all the widgets and tap the one you need at a specific time.

Z Flip5 also comes with an improved flex mode (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

This new Flex Window, which is next to the camera module of the Flip5, also takes your selfie game to a whole new level. Yes, your selfies look much better on this screen, but you will also be taking them with the improved 12MP wide-ultra-wide combo on the rear camera module. The front camera on the Flip5 is also upgraded to 10MP but I won’t be surprised if a lot of people use the rear camera for most of their selfies. The front camera will be more effective when you are on a video call maybe. Thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, the photos on the Flip5 appeared much better with the phone using multi-frame processing to push the best shot forward.

Yes, the folded phone is now much thinner at 15.1mm, almost 2mm less than the earlier versions. The gap between the folded screens is also less prominent now. But when unfolded you can still see a bit of a curve near the fold as the phone does not become fully flat. But you will hardly notice this.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 first impressions

Unlike the Flip5 which is more about offering a pocketable design, the Galaxy Z Fold5 celebrates the power of having more screen to play with. Even here, the device has become thinner this time because of the new Flex Hinge technology and it is quite visible for those like me who have used all versions of the Fold so far. The Fold5 is also lighter by about 10 grams, though at 253 grams it is still among the heaviest smartphones around.

Galaxy Z Fold5 now has a brighter 120Hz cover display (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

The 7.6-inch QXGA+ AMOLED display is now more productive and almost as powerful as a laptop screen. This is because the taskbar at the bottom gives you one-tap access to your favourite apps. I also liked how recently used apps stay in a corner of this bar in case you want to cycle back to something you were doing a bit earlier. This also means you can easily drag and drop stuff from one app to the other using both hands. Plus the new hidden pop-up feature brings messages and alerts on top of what you are doing so that you can act on it without leaving sight of the app you were on, and dismiss it when done with a simple swipe away.

The new S-Pen for the Fold is thinner and more compact than before, there it still does not get a place on the phone like with the Note series. The new cover does a good job of taking the S-Pen within its fold and there is a click mechanism to pop it out of its groove. I found the new S-Pen’s tip to be a little bit more springy than earlier versions though.

Z Fold5 also comes with a more compact S-Pen (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Even as it makes the fold more usable for professionals, it is also pushing the gaming quotient with the larger vapour chamber that keeps the phone cool even during high-pressure gaming sessions. This is interesting as the Fold5 now has an IPX8 rating which means it is sort of waterproof — traditionally this has had an impact on how phones handle heat. The screen is also brighter now in case you want to use the phone under bright sunlight.

But unlike the Flip5, the Fold5 does not have design changes that differentiate it significantly from last year’s model.

Galaxy S9 series tablets

This segment has another one where Samsung is pushing the envelope. The Galaxy S9 series tablets now come in three sizes — 11, 12.4 and 14.6 inches — depending on how you want to use them. Clearly, Samsung sees an opportunity here to sell the device to more professional users and is focusing on the productivity aspect with a lot of business app integrations.

Galaxy Tab S9 series also gets a large vapour chamber cooling system (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

But what really blew my mind with the new S9 tablets was how the IP68 rating means you can use the tablet underwater along with the S-Pen. In the demo zone, Samsung executives were scribbling on a 14.6-inch S9 tablet kept inside an aquarium. I could not help but think of where all these tablets can now be used. The tablet has a stunning screen as expected and is bright enough to be used in direct sunlight. Both these capabilities suddenly make the S9 tablets a good option for those who want to use it outdoors, even though this does not look like one of those rugged laptops. The S9 series too get a larger vapour chamber to dissipate heat better during high-end gaming sessions.

Then there is multi-control to move content across devices easily so that users get continuity in work, whatever device they are on.

Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic

Galaxy Watch 6 now come with a brighter display, upgraded memory and processor (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

With the new Watch 6, Samsung’s focus is more on software enhancements. The watches now offer a lot of personalised suggestions and coaching from ways to improve your sleep to increasing your fitness levels. Interestingly, learning from user data, the watches will be able to recommend a personalised heart rate zone for each user, a feature I have not seen in a smartwatch before. There are other health insights too from Arterial Fibrillation alerts to skin temperature and fall detection.

On the hardware side, the watches now come with a brighter display, upgraded memory and processor. The bezel ring on the top-end model of Watch 6 was particularly smooth and worked well to help cycle through the apps on the watch face.