Galaxy Z Flip 5 ‘Retro’ pays tribute to a 20-year-old Samsung flip phone

Ben Schoon | Oct 30 2023 - 11:35 am PT

Samsung is launching a special edition of its Galaxy Z Flip 5, with the “Retro” edition paying tribute to one of the company’s most popular flip phones.

The flip phone was the definition of a smartphone for the better part of the early 2000s, and it’s also one of the places Samsung really made a name for itself in the phone space. Now, as foldable technology is getting better, flip phones are once again making a splash in the market, and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip series is leading the charge.

So, it’s only logical to combine the two.

Announced this week, the limited edition “Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro” will be launching in select regions with the same great hardware as the regular model, but with a special colorway and some software tricks.

The Retro will copy the indigo blue and silver color scheme of 2003’s Samsung SGH-E700, the company’s first flip phone with an integrated antenna, and also one of its biggest sellers with over 10 million units sold. The special look really pops on the new foldable, and will be combined with an animation on the cover display that mimics the SGH-E700’s outer display, right down to the cityscape background.

Buyers will also get three FlipSuit cards (for use with the included FlipSuit case) which add classic Samsung logos to the device. A collector card will also be included with a unique serial number on each unit.

Samsung is launching this special edition Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro in the UK, Korea, France, Germany, Spain and Australia, but not the United States. The device will be available exclusively via Samsung.com.