The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: All You Need to Know
With the release of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung continues to impress the foldable phone market with new improvements and innovations. Yet this market of foldable phones needs to be democratized so that it can be made available to the masses at a more attainable price tag. The following is our review of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 in a nutshell
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is available since August 2022. The foldable smartphone from Samsung comes in three memory configurations:
12/256 GB: $1,799.99
12/512 GB: $1,919.99
12GB/1TB: $2,159.99
There is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a Samsung's Ultra-Premium Flagship with prices similar to those of an iPhone 14 Pro Max which makes it a problem of affordability which is yet to be mass spread improving its price point
Design:
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 basically doesn’t offer that big of a change in the terms of its design with minor improvements being made to the hinge and the all-over form factor when folded. The few improvements that can be seen are the optimization of the hinge which has been made more sturdy that holds everything in place and a new neat matte coat on the back and the Gorilla Glass victus added to the front and the back.
The drawbacks are still the disappointment of No Audio Jack, No MicroSD Slot, and no S Pen Slot / Hand Hold Pen.
The Z Fold 4 is a massive phone with dimensions measuring 155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3 mm when unfolded and 155.1 x 67.1 x 14.2-15.8 mm when folded the weight has also been reduced from 271 grams of its predecessor the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to now being 263 grams.
The hinge has also been improved to be more solid more sturdy and thinner which is a good improvement to the most integral part of the device. The phone size does force you to use both hands to unfold the device yet it also gives you the option to fold it from any angle. Samsung itself also guarantees 200,000 openings without the slightest problem or issue.
When it is folded the Z Fold 4 offers a 6.2-inch screen offers a less narrow 23.1:9 ratio than the previous Z Fold 3 which is still narrower than any regular mobile device and when unfolded it offers a 7.6-inch display.
Though the crease in the middle is quite visible and can also be felt and the selfie camera that remains hidden under the screen is also quite visible even more so on a white background apart from that the display also reflects quite a huge sun of light, especially when viewed during the day or under a light and on the back the matte finish is done beautifully which feels quite satisfying to touch. The aluminum frame also adds a separate class to the device with the fingerprint reader located on the right edge making it quite accessible and responsive there are also a pair of grills on the top and bottom to accommodate the stereo speakers at the top and bottom.
Display
There's no doubt that the main strength of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Samsung Z Flip is its hybrid interface of smartphone and mini-tablet which gives the user access to two Amoled screens for different tasks. The resolution of the main screen and its 120Hz adaptive refresh rate is a sight for sore eyes and the access of split screen and windowed display takes full use of the display and the brightness of both the screen doesn’t disappoint yet the cover screens resolution isn't as impressive yet it can be ignored and the cover screen still remains too narrow to be used practically and the ratio factor does play a big part in this problem.
The foldable format has everybody convinced in its domination in content consumption as well as gaming and the touch sampling has also been improved to new heights as the touch feels a lot more responsive than those of the previous models. While the resolution of the cover screen is still disappointing being an HD+ resolution even though this won't be the screen that you will primarily use to consume your content or play games even then this type of display isn't expected of such a flagship phone.
The main screen with the flex mode and split screen mode teaming up with the floating window features makes the possibilities of usage endless you can even be using all the applications in the split screen format by using an adjustable floating window. Yet the screen isn't suitable for all types of content consumption as in some instances we want to zoom in and not see some information being displayed on the screen but when it comes to gaming no issue can be noticed which is a massive improvement compared to the last year's Galaxy Z Fold 3
Even in the endless possibilities of the consumption combination certain applications do not support the floating window format to as far as that sometimes you have to force the split screen or window mode as not all applications are optimized.
Operating System
The galaxy Z Fold 4 operates on the One UI 4.1.1 which is a Samsung skin based on Android 12 and we find similarities to the foldable smartphones with the flex mode. The flex mode provides a whole new way to consume YouTube content in the Tab/ Laptop mode and the taskbar has also been optimized to be very useful for multitasking the switch between the split screen and the folded window becomes quite intuitive.
All these innovations do come with their own brand of drawbacks as there aren't enough relevant apps present worldwide that would support the flex mode or make it worthwhile, yet YouTube still stands out with the UI adding to this TikTok has made some efforts to be usable in the Flex Mode even though the interface renders itself useless when opened in the cover screen forcing the user to restart the app. In most cases when the Flex Mode is enabled outside of Samsung's native apps your simply end up with a default screen due to a lack of optimization.
Below is a video on the Performance & Software test:
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs iPhone 13 Pro Max Speed Test!
Performance: Hardware and software
The new Samsung Galaxy ZFold 4 packs a snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC which was made using the 4nm process with its Adreno 730 GPU which is presented with a combination of 256GB.512GB.1TB of UFS 3.1 storage and 12GB of RAM. The ZFold 4 / Flip 4 Samsung is claimed to run any game at 60 FPD without having to sacrifice any graphics or optics. The updated chip is also more equipped to handle all the multitasking quirks which make the transition between apps viewed in a split window and windowed screen smooth.
QUALCOMM's latest SoC is also less susceptible to overheating problems as regards to its predecessors. The thermal throttling is progressive and controls things quickly even if the 55% stability rate is not the best when it comes to the Flagship market. The only major problem encountered by the users is disabling the navigation gesture when in full-screen mode.
Camera performance
The Galaxy ZFold 4 returns with the triple camera module at the back which consists of a 50Mp wide angle lens as well as a 10Mp x3 telephoto lens and a 12Mp ultra-wide-angle lens. The camera displays a vivid range of colors and dynamic range along with amazing nighttime photography and the 3x optical zoom is effective even in low lights. Talking about the video the phone shoots 4K at 60FPS with all lenses apart from the ultra-wide angle which is locked at 30FPS
As with all good things, there are negatives the drawbacks can also be seen in the camera department the front facing camera which is embedded into the screen shows a rather disappointing result the photo quality is comparable to those of a Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus which is not bad in itself yet now expected of with such an Ultra High Scale device. Yet in the photography done in the daylight, we can see the vivid colors and dynamics as seen by Samsung before it shows bright shots that need no retouching.
The image rendering of the ultra-wide-angle offers photos in a darker tone and with the color saturation more focused. Yet still, the level of detail is unsatisfactory in the low lighting conditions. The 10Mp telephoto lens gives a good quality image equipped with a 3x optical zoom which is quite an improvement on the previous model and the 3x zoom is magnificent even at low light/ night shoots. The phone also provides a viewfinder in one half of the phone to make the picture-taking process including the focusing process even easier. In terms of selfies, the quality is par with the front lens but the under-display is not anything less of a shock as it lacks the image that would be considered to be taken from the newest Samsung Fold.
Battery life
The Galaxy ZFold 4 comes with a 4,400mAh battery which also supports 25W fast wired charging as well as 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The phone comes with very impressive battery life and wireless and reverses wireless charging.
Yet the charging speed of the phone is quite criticized to be quite slow and the classical problem that everybody is seeming to have with this new generation of mobiles is the exclusion of chargers in the box. The 4400 Mah battery is quite small for such a big device with a foldable display which entitles the user to double when opened Samsung combats this with their hybrid manner. As reported by our users by using it completely in the folded manner sometimes occasionally using it in the flex mode or the completely unfolded method the battery is reported to last a full day before even falling below the 20% mark.
Recharging the device on the other hand has been a very big issue as 25W in 2022 is not possible and the fact that the charger is not present in the box of a $1,799 phone is rather absurd
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is undoubtedly the most interesting smartphone present today on the market among all the most innovative smartphones it is one of the most successful and functional concepts for the time that we live in where people need the most out of their devices.
Even after its four models it still retains its cool factor as it will remain the inventor of such a form factor in such an elite flagship model.
A must-buy in my opinion.
If you want to read about iPhone 14 Pro & iPhone 14 Pro Max there is a detailed blog on this.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max All That You Need to Know