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The Galaxy Z Fold 5 Comes With a Bunch of Improvements, but Not Much Else

What's in the box of Samsung's new $1,800 Z Fold? Not much.

Headshot of Patrick Holland
Headshot of Patrick Holland
Patrick Holland Managing Editor
As Managing Editor, I lead CNET's mobile team, covering news and reviews on smartphones, wireless carriers, AI, wearables and more. I oversee the team's product testing and translate our findings into accessible recommendations. With nearly a decade of experience at CNET, I've covered Apple and the iPhone, Google and the Pixel, Samsung and the Galaxy, Motorola and the Razr, iOS vs. Android and much more. I'm passionate about storytelling (hey, former theater director and playwright here).
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  • Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.
Patrick Holland
A hand holding a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 above the contents of its box

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes with some nice design enhancements, but that's about it.

Patrick Holland/CNET

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 5 at its Galaxy Unpacked event, it highlighted a handful of changes to the phone's design. The Z Fold 5 has a new hinge that lets the phone close completely shut; Samsung calls it the Flex Hinge and claims it helps make the foldable phone more durable. Another improvement is Z Fold 5's folding screen, which is brighter than the one on last year's Galaxy Z Fold 4. However, there is one obvious aspect to the new Z Fold that remains relatively unchanged, and that's what comes in the box.

Watch this: Galaxy Z Fold 5 Unboxing and First Impressions

The Z Fold 5's thin square box is nearly identical to the ones for the Z Fold 3 and Z Fold 4. The top of the Z Fold 5's box is adorned with a colored mini graphic of the phone. I'm testing a cream colored Z Fold 5 for CNET, and the box's graphic is similarly cream colored. Previous Z Fold boxes were plastered in two-tone black and and dark gray squares like a '90s ska album.

And if you're expecting the $1,800 Z Fold 5 to come with an S Pen or a case, you're going to be disappointed. The truth is that the brand-new foldable comes with exactly the same things that the Z Fold 3 and Z Fold 4 did, which isn't much.

This is what's included in the Galaxy Z Fold 5's box:

  • A Galaxy Z Fold 5
  • A USB-C cable
  • A printed setup guide and instructions
  • A SIM card tool
  • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Flexes Its Foldable Beauty

    See all photos