Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs Xiaomi 17 | TechTalkTown
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs Xiaomi 17
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Samsung
8.1
Iterative refresh with the long-awaited gapless hinge
Xiaomi 17
Xiaomi
8.1
A standout compact flagship, with caveats
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
What Reviewers Agree On
New waterdrop hinge finally folds flat with no gap — the most-praised design change after four years of evolution
Same bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the S23 family — flagship-grade performance, more efficient than the Fold 4's 8+ Gen 1
1750-nit peak on both cover and main displays — a huge step up from the Fold 4's 1000 nits, finally usable in bright sunlight
Base storage doubled to 256GB at the same $1,799 starting price as the Fold 4
4 OS upgrades + 5 years of security — same industry-leading policy as the S23 family, through Android 17
Pros & Cons
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Pros
New waterdrop hinge finally folds flat with no gap — the most-praised design change after four years of evolution
Same bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the S23 family — flagship-grade performance, more efficient than the Fold 4's 8+ Gen 1
1750-nit peak on both cover and main displays — a huge step up from the Fold 4's 1000 nits, finally usable in bright sunlight
Base storage doubled to 256GB at the same $1,799 starting price as the Fold 4
4 OS upgrades + 5 years of security — same industry-leading policy as the S23 family, through Android 17
Detailed Comparison
Cameras
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
50MP main + 12MP ultrawide + 10MP 3x telephoto — same combo as the Fold 4 with the SD 8 Gen 2 processing bump enabling sharper enhanced-pixel mode. Capable but not Ultra-grade; the camera bump still protrudes noticeably.
Cameras: 50MP main (f/1.8, OIS), 10MP 3x telephoto (f/2.4, OIS, 66mm), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2) — same hardware as the Fold 4.
8 Gen 2 image processing automatically uses 'enhanced pixel mode' on the 50MP sensor (like the S22 Ultra) — sharper shots than the Fold 4.
Camera bump still protrudes meaningfully — better image quality doesn't justify the added bulk for everyone.
Cover-screen Dual Preview feature is a foldable-camera highlight — subjects can see exactly what you're shooting on the front display.
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Excellent foldable software: split-screen, taskbar, app continuity — best multitasking experience in any foldable
Deal Breakers
4,400mAh battery unchanged for five consecutive Fold generations — real-world SOT lands at 4-5 hours, behind cheaper slab flagships
Slow 25W wired charging (1h-1.5h to full) — Plus and Ultra S23 siblings get 45W, OnePlus 11 gets 80W
IPX8 only — no dust rating, a real concern for a hinge-and-fabric phone
S Pen still needs a separate purchase + bulky case, no built-in silo despite four years of owner requests
Cameras lag the S23 Ultra significantly — 10x periscope is Ultra-exclusive, no 200MP main; the camera bump also sticks out further on the Fold 5
Crease in the main display is still visible and tactile — Samsung hasn't fundamentally improved it
Xiaomi 17
What Reviewers Agree On
Genuinely compact flagship form factor — one of the only small phones that doesn't compromise on the chipset or battery
Exceptional battery life for the size: a 6,330mAh cell (7,000mAh China) routinely delivering 6–7 hours of screen-on time, more on lighter days
Very fast 100W wired charging — roughly 0–100% in 45–61 minutes — plus 50W wireless and 22.5W reverse wired
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a significant performance jump over the Xiaomi 15, with strong Geekbench and AnTuTu numbers
Bright 120Hz LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak that stays legible in direct sunlight
Class-leading stereo speakers — repeatedly called among the best on any smartphone
Long software commitment: 5 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches (EOL February 2032)
Deal Breakers
The ultrawide camera is a clear downgrade — only ~17mm equivalent, poor quality, narrower field of view and still no autofocus
Inconsistent sustained performance: prolonged CPU stress and demanding games (Genshin, Honkai Star Rail) trigger heavy throttling and heat on some units
HyperOS 3 ships with bugs and missing basics (no native screen-on-time counter) and bundles ads in some proprietary apps
The global model's 6,330mAh battery is smaller than the 7,000mAh China version, and the China ROM lacks Google services out of the box
Excellent foldable software: split-screen, taskbar, app continuity — best multitasking experience in any foldable
Cons
4,400mAh battery unchanged for five consecutive Fold generations — real-world SOT lands at 4-5 hours, behind cheaper slab flagships
Slow 25W wired charging (1h-1.5h to full) — Plus and Ultra S23 siblings get 45W, OnePlus 11 gets 80W
IPX8 only — no dust rating, a real concern for a hinge-and-fabric phone
S Pen still needs a separate purchase + bulky case, no built-in silo despite four years of owner requests
Cameras lag the S23 Ultra significantly — 10x periscope is Ultra-exclusive, no 200MP main; the camera bump also sticks out further on the Fold 5
Crease in the main display is still visible and tactile — Samsung hasn't fundamentally improved it
Xiaomi 17
Pros
Genuinely compact flagship form factor — one of the only small phones that doesn't compromise on the chipset or battery
Exceptional battery life for the size: a 6,330mAh cell (7,000mAh China) routinely delivering 6–7 hours of screen-on time, more on lighter days
Very fast 100W wired charging — roughly 0–100% in 45–61 minutes — plus 50W wireless and 22.5W reverse wired
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a significant performance jump over the Xiaomi 15, with strong Geekbench and AnTuTu numbers
Bright 120Hz LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak that stays legible in direct sunlight
Class-leading stereo speakers — repeatedly called among the best on any smartphone
Long software commitment: 5 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches (EOL February 2032)
Cons
The ultrawide camera is a clear downgrade — only ~17mm equivalent, poor quality, narrower field of view and still no autofocus
Inconsistent sustained performance: prolonged CPU stress and demanding games (Genshin, Honkai Star Rail) trigger heavy throttling and heat on some units
HyperOS 3 ships with bugs and missing basics (no native screen-on-time counter) and bundles ads in some proprietary apps
The global model's 6,330mAh battery is smaller than the 7,000mAh China version, and the China ROM lacks Google services out of the box
Top-down food/document shots without leaning are a unique foldable use case — practical, social-friendly camera utility.
Xiaomi 17
A capable Leica-tuned main and telephoto pairing lets the compact 17 shoot above its class, but the ultrawide is a clear step backwards and default autofocus on people can be unreliable.
The main and zoom cameras are nothing short of excellent, though against the Vivo and Pixel 10 Pro it isn't such a clear-cut win.
The ultrawide is downgraded — poor quality, narrower field of view and still no autofocus.
The ultrawide lens is just 17mm wide, so the images aren't very wide at all.
Reviewers loved the Leica tuning on the base Xiaomi 17, even where exposure occasionally clips highlights.
The 60mm-class telephoto is good, but after a month you find yourself wishing it had more reach.
Like the Ultra, the Xiaomi 17 can struggle to focus on living subjects unless you dig into settings and enable the motion track-and-focus option, which is off by default.
Cameras haven't seen big upgrades over the previous generation.
Performance
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (3.36GHz) with 12GB RAM — the same chip as the S23 family. Flagship-grade performance with much better efficiency than the Fold 4's 8+ Gen 1.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy at 3.36GHz + 12GB RAM + 256GB base UFS 4.0 — same chip as the S23 Ultra in a foldable.
8 Gen 2 power savings, better AI/CPU/GPU efficiency, faster RAM and UFS — meaningful step up from the Fold 4's 8+ Gen 1.
Two years on (2025), the chip is 'still very powerful' — handles One UI 7's AI features and demanding apps without issue.
Forbes verdict: 'still a flagship chip — the best in Android — just not as special as Samsung marketing would have you think'.
Xiaomi 17
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 makes the 17 one of the fastest compact phones around, but sustained-load behaviour is the single most contested topic in the coverage.
Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on a 3nm process, claiming ~20% better CPU performance and ~35% better battery efficiency than the previous generation, with a Geekbench 6 single-core score of 3,367 and multi-core of 9,830.
If you look at benchmark scores, it is a significant upgrade over the 8 Elite that powered the Xiaomi 15.
After a month it still feels just as snappy as day one, with high-end titles running at top settings and sustained performance over long sessions holding up well.
In a prolonged CPU stress test the Xiaomi 17 did worse than expected, dipping to less than 40% of maximum and spiking continuously rather than holding stable.
In Honkai Star Rail the Xiaomi 17 began throttling after about 3 minutes of gameplay, with the device becoming extremely hot to the touch.
Got good average FPS with 120fps gaming support and didn't notice much heating in Genshin Impact even after 30–40 minutes.
The ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner is fast with no delays and works even with a tempered-glass screen protector.
Battery & Charging
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
4,400mAh — unchanged for five consecutive Fold generations. 8 Gen 2 efficiency stretches it to 4-5h of inner-screen SOT, but 25W charging is slow (~1.5h to full) and 4,400mAh is now well behind 2026 foldable rivals.
4,400mAh battery unchanged from the Fold 4 — and Samsung kept the same cell through the Fold 7 (a five-generation stretch).
Real-world SOT on inner display: ~4 hours typical (one long-term owner). Power-save mode stretches to 2 full days for lighter users.
Cross-generation drain shootout: Fold 5 finished 3rd at 4h32m17s — beaten by both the Fold 6 and Fold 7 thanks to chip-efficiency gains.
25W wired charging: ~1h-1.5h to full — slow next to the OnePlus 11's 80W or even the S23+'s 45W.
15W Qi wireless and reverse wireless supported — handy for topping up Galaxy Buds while traveling with the foldable.
Xiaomi 17
The headline reason to buy a compact 17: an oversized silicon-anode battery and very fast charging that together solve the usual small-phone endurance problem.
The massive 6,330mAh battery is truly exceptional for a compact flagship (the China version is 7,000mAh).
You can get a full day of use, up to ~7 hours of screen-on time and sometimes more depending on usage.
In a one-month real-world test, 6–7 hours of screen-on time on regular days was normal, dropping to 5–6 hours on heavy days, with up to ~16 hours in benchmark testing.
Reached close to 9–10 hours of screen-on time on regular use — a genuine full-day battery phone — with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging faster than the iPhone 17 or Galaxy S26.
100W charging takes the 6,330mAh battery from 0–100% in as little as 45–46 minutes.
Value vs Competition
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
$1,799 launch with 256GB base (doubled from Fold 4's 128GB) — strong value in the foldable space, especially at $700-900 used in 2026. The Fold 7 at $2,000+ makes the Fold 5 newly compelling as the smart upgrade pick.
Launched at $1,799 with 256GB base storage — same starting price as the Fold 4 but with double the storage.
BGR's verdict: 'No Longer the Best' foldable in 2023 — the iteration was outpaced by competitors like Google's Pixel Fold and Honor V series.
Forbes counters: 'final form of a four-year evolution' — better screen, hinge and premium feel than the Pixel Fold competitor.
2025/2026 long-term owners regularly recommend it as the smart pick if you want a foldable without paying $2,000+ for the Fold 7.
Versus the Pixel Fold ($1,799): Forbes says the Fold 5 has the better screen, hinge and premium feel; the Pixel Fold has a more book-like cover aspect.
Xiaomi 17
At roughly $630 the 17 is aggressively priced for a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 flagship, but reviewers disagree on whether it's a category-beater or merely a strong-value option in a crowded field.
At around $630 it's a phone that's scaring the big brands on price-to-performance.
For being cheaper than the iPhone, the Xiaomi 17 is a really compelling — and noticeably cheaper — option.
Outside of being a rare compact flagship, the Xiaomi 17 doesn't offer anything significantly better than its competition.
With a top-tier processor, Leica cameras, great display and a huge fast-charging battery, the Xiaomi 17 is one of the best price-to-performance phones of 2026.
For a compact phone it didn't feel like a downgrade when switching from an iPhone 17 Pro daily driver.
