We put the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 through our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance in both recording audio using the built-in microphones and playing audio through speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key audio specifications include:
- Two speakers (top center, bottom right)
- No Jack audio output
Playback
Pros
- Good spatial performance
- Good signal-to-noise ratio
- Good dynamic performance
Against
- Significant distortion and compression at maximum volume
- Lack of low-end extension
Registration
Pros
- Pleasant tonal balance
- Good recording volume
Against
- Poor recording performance when recording loud events, such as concerts
- Sensitive to wind noise
- Microphones subject to accidental occlusion
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 wasn’t among the best Premium devices in our SBMARK Audio tests, offering slightly lower audio recording quality than its Z Flip4 predecessor and the same playback quality through the built-in speakers. Overall, the recordings were pleasant and pleasant to listen to, but the device is not particularly good for recording at noisy events or in windy conditions. Recording performance was better with the main and front cameras and dropped slightly when using the Office and Memo apps.
Playback volume was good, but when the volume was set to maximum, our experts noticed some unwanted audio artifacts. Playback quality was highest when gaming and slightly lower when listening to music and watching movies. Overall, the differences between use cases were quite small.
Test summary
About SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our playback protocol, click here; for more details on our recording protocol, click here.)
The following section brings together key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, whose performance is evaluated in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
In our playback tests, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 offered a tonal balance that emphasized the midrange but was overall decent and not unpleasant. The highs were slightly thin but clear, while the lows were decent but lacked extension in the low end. Dynamic performance was good, with a satisfying attack, decent bass precision and a fairly powerful punch. The built-in speakers were able to create a stereo scene with good amplitude, and good localizability allowed for easy identification of individual sound sources within the scene. Distance and depth rendering were also accurate.
The maximum volume setting was high enough for all usage scenarios, and our testers found that the minimum level was tuned correctly, providing good intelligibility of softer sections in highly dynamic audio content, such as classical music. In terms of unwanted audio artifacts, distortion and significant compression were evident when listening at maximum volume.
Listen to the playback performance of the tested smartphone in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Recordings of smartphones playing some of our music tracks at 60 LAeq in an anechoic environment using 2 microphones in AB configuration, at 30 cm
Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:
Playing use case scores
The Timbre score represents the quality with which a phone reproduces sound across the entire audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance and volume dependence. It is the most important attribute for reproduction.
Frequency response of music playback
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency output by the smartphone when playing a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a bass note or the sound of the drum’s impact is reproduced.
Secondary attributes of spatial tests include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how smoothly the volume increases and decreases based on user input.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip Hop | Classic | |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 | 72.3 dBA | 68.1 dBA |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 | 73.6 dBA | 68.4 dBA |
| Apple iPhone 14 | 74.8 dBA | 71.9 dBA |
The following graph shows the gradual changes in volume going from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume increases match user expectations:
Music volume consistency
This line graph shows the relative volume of playback versus the user-selected volume increment, measured at different volume increments with correlated pink noise in an anechoic box recorded on-axis at 0.20 meters.
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which the sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
Total harmonic distortion during playback (maximum volume)
This graph shows total harmonic distortion and noise in the audible frequency range.
It represents the distortion and noise of the device playing our test signal (0 dB Fs, Sweep Sine in an anechoic box at 40 cm) at the device’s maximum volume.
How the score of the audio recording is composed
SBMARK engineers test recording by evaluating recorded files on reference audio equipment. These recordings are made in our laboratories and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
When recording audio, the Z Flip5 offered consistent tone rendering with both the front and main cameras, but our experts also noted a lack of brilliance across all use cases. The midrange was quite warm and rich with the selfie cam, but lacked clarity in the upper section with the main cam. Our testers also noted that the tonal balance suffers severely at high sound pressure levels, for example during concert recording, sounding muffled and rather boomy in the bass area. Recording dynamics performance was decent, thanks to fairly accurate envelope rendering with vocal content and a good signal-to-noise ratio. At high sound pressure levels, however, the bass envelope could have been more realistic.
Using the main camera in landscape orientation, the recorded soundstage was nice and wide, and individual sound sources were easy to locate. However, the distance rendering was slightly blurry. With the front camera, the amplitude was significantly reduced and localizability was also blurrier. Recordings were noisy and unwanted audio artifacts were fairly well under control, with only some slight distortion on screaming vocals and compression during concert recording. However, users should be careful when handling the device while recording. In our tests it was easy to accidentally cover the microphones in both horizontal and vertical orientations. Finger noises may also be quite noticeable. On the plus side, the tonal balance of the background was great and the background was virtually free of artifacts.
Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 performs in recording use cases compared to its competitors:
Recording use case scores
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, mids, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
Video frequency response of life
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency captured by the smartphone while recording a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a voice’s plosives (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Secondary attributes for spatial testing include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude on recorded audio files.
Directivity of registration
Graph of smartphone directivity while recording test signals using the camera app, with the main camera. It represents the acoustic energy (in dB) compared to the angle of incidence of the sound source. (Normalized to the 0° angle, in front of the device.)
The loudness score represents how well the audio on recorded files is normalized and how well the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); For reference, we expect volume levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Encounter | Videos about life | Selfie videos | Memorandum | |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 | -26.1 LUFS | -22 LUFS | -20.3 LUFS | -20.7 LUFS |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 | -25.2 LUFS | -21.5 LUFS | -19.7 LUFS | -21.6 LUFS |
| Apple iPhone 14 | -23.8 LUFS | -22.5 LUFS | -20.5 LUFS | -18.7 LUFS |
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as how the phone is held.
In this audio comparison you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:
matrix(3) {
[“Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5”]=> string(78) “resources/Samsung/GalaxyZFlip5V2.1/SamsungGalaxyZFlip5_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4”]=> string(78) “resources/Samsung/GalaxyZFlip5V2.1/SamsungGalaxyZFlip4_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Apple iPhone 14”]=> string(72) “resources/Samsung/GalaxyZFlip5V2.1/AppleiPhone14_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a” }
Recordings of a speech sample with light background noise, exposed to a turbulent wind of 5 m/s
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend together in the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context to the surrounding environment.
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