'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 could be the ultimate work machine if it had this one Samsung feature
Earlier this week, Samsung unveiled its latest batch of foldable phones, tablets, and watches during the company's Unpacked event, and there was no question that the upgrades this year are rather tame compared to previous times.
Also: Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a new screen layering design, and it's a big deal
The biggest change has to do with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, which powers the foldable and tablets. Improvements to the displays across the lineup are great, too. But a deeper dive into the Galaxy Z Flip 5, in particular, shows that something is missing in action. Correction: Still missing in action.
Samsung DeX was first introduced with the Galaxy S8 series as a docking feature that turned the phone into a full-on desktop experience when connected to a monitor. No other hardware was needed besides the phone, the docking pad, and the display.
Over the years, Samsung's upgraded the feature so that users can connect to monitors wirelessly and even access DeX mode right from Galaxy tablets. Phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Z Fold 5 support the feature, but, the Z Flip, not so much. Even with this year's more competent processor, I can confirm that the Z Flip 5 does not have the option to toggle on DeX mode.
Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. Motorola Razr Plus: Comparing the best flip phones
Samsung reasons this omission with the lack of thermal capability. Considering how compact the Z Flip is, and with the latest model featuring a larger external display, the fear of the phone overheating from constantly powering a monitor is sensible.
But if you were hoping that this year's flip phone would be the smallest phone-to-desktop device yet, you may have to wait a little longer before that becomes an actual thing.