Galaxy Z Fold 4 design: Improved hinge mechanism and more.
While the Galaxy Z Fold 4 may look similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the company has made enough changes to make the Z Fold 4 more durable. Samsung has finally replaced the gear-based hinge fold-and-fold mechanism with a sleek new hinge.
The device has a metal frame made using Armor Aluminum. In addition, the back panel and the cover display of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 are protected using Corning Gorilla Glass Victos +. I’m using the Galaxy Z Fold 4 without any screen protector or case, and I haven’t seen any scratches on the front or back of the phone, so, Gorilla Glass is doing its job.
I also like that the frame is flat but not as flat as on the iPhone 13 series. The frame offers plenty of grip and the accent matches the color of the back panel. And then, there are two speaker grills located on the top and bottom along with the USB Type-C port.
The power button, which doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and the volume rocker are on the right side (when flipped over). While I’m not a huge fan of the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, it makes a lot of sense on a foldable smartphone, allowing users to access the device in multiple ways.
The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is one of the fastest I’ve used, and I registered more than four fingerprints to quickly unlock the phone.
The phone has a dual nano SIM card slot on the top left corner (when flipped over) and the device also supports SIM. However, in my case, I couldn’t transfer Jio eSIM from iPhone 12 Pro and had to change eSIM to physical SIM to start using mobile network on Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Like other premium flagships, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is water resistant.
Despite being a foldable smartphone with many moving parts, Samsung is touting an IPX8 waterproof rating. Unlike most flagship smartphones, the phone has no resistance to dust, as the main display is actually soft and even tiny particles of dust can damage the display.
With an IPX8 rating, you can submerge the Galaxy Z Fold 4 in water and wipe it with a dry cloth. Although I haven’t tested the water resistance of this device extensively, I splashed some water on the phone and wiped it to remove some dirt and debris from the device.
Cover display does the job
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a 6.2-inch curved display with a resolution of 2316 x 904 (HD+) with variable refresh rate. While this may seem like a standard display, it’s actually quite long, which makes it a bit difficult to type.
I believe that Samsung has deliberately used it to encourage users to use the main display, especially when they want to type something or even for content consumption. The full-size cover display allows you to do everything you can do on the main display.
While you can watch YouTube and Netflix on the cover display, we recommend unlocking the phone to maximize the overall content consumption experience. While I definitely would have liked a slightly wider cover display like the one on the Oppo Find N ( review ), I like the fact that the cover display on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 encouraged me to use the main fold display.
The most advanced display on the phone
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 packs a 7.6-inch foldable flagship display with a resolution of 2176 x 1812 (QXGA+) and a variable refresh rate of 1Hz to 120Hz. The display is protected by a flexible glass with a plastic screen protector on it.
This display helps hide the 4MP selfie camera. It’s easy to spot the exact selfie camera position on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it’s definitely a better and more advanced solution compared to the big and ugly one on the Apple iPhone. The display also has very few bezels, so it’s usually just holding the display and nothing else.
The quality of the first-class display on the Z Fold 4 doesn’t end with flexibility, it’s one of the brightest and most colorful displays I’ve seen on a phone. It may not be as sharp as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it’s still very sharp, and viewing content feels realistic.
Another nitpicking related to the Z Fold 4 is the aspect ratio of the display. It’s a rectangular display, so you’ll have large black bars at the top and bottom, or you may need to crop to the image or video, which cuts the image significantly. Perhaps a slightly wider display would solve this problem once and for all.
Again, the crease is still visible, especially from certain angles and since my nails can damage the screen, I always try to be as careful as possible while using the folding screen. All in all, the large 7.6-inch foldable display turns the Galaxy Z Fold 4 into a tablet in less than a second.
Galaxy Z Flip 3 has flagship level cameras
Samsung has boasted a lot about the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s camera capabilities and I must say, it has a well-balanced triple camera setup. The phone has a 50MP wide angle lens, a 12MP ultra-wide angle lens (0.6x) and a 10MP telephoto lens (3x) with support for x30 spatial zoom.
The phone has a 10MP cover display and a 4MP in-display selfie camera. In total, there are five fully functional cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and here’s my experience with all of them.
Very good front camera
The 50MP optically stabilized front camera on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 just takes some great pictures in all lighting conditions. Whether it’s a portrait shot or a wide shot, images from this sensor are sharp, vibrant and offer plenty of detail.
I was also impressed by how closely the performance and color science of the 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens matched that of the main camera. Due to its high resolution and F2.2 aperture, the ultra-wide-angle camera takes great photos and helps you capture more objects in one frame.
I’ve always liked the telephoto lens on the iPhone 12 Pro, and it’s the same as the 3x telephoto lens on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. It takes great photos and allows users to take pictures from a distance.
Use the main display as a selfie camera
Thanks to the cover display, you can get high quality selfies from the 50MP camera, and I just love this feature. Most of the selfies I took on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 came from the main camera. However, one issue I have with this mode is that it tends to focus on only one person and slightly blurs everyone else out.
Very good video recorder
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is an excellent video recording device with Pro Video Mode. If you’re a blogger, you’ll also love the director mode, which lets you seamlessly switch between wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle, and telephoto lenses.
Versatile camera setup
The camera setup on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is on par with other flagship smartphones in 2022. However, I would definitely have liked to see a periscope zoom lens with 100x spatial zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the best flagship smartphone.
The new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC makes the Galaxy Z Fold 4 a better smartphone than even the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Not only that, but the new chip makes the Galaxy Z Fold 4 a more power-efficient smartphone and won’t heat up like some Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC-powered phones.
The processor is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage (256GB, 512GB and 1TB) to give users plenty of storage options. From multitasking to gaming, there’s nothing the Galaxy Z Fold 4 can’t handle.
There is no heat sink on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
We ran the CPU thermal throttling test on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (for 15 minutes) and the device managed to maintain 78 percent of its peak performance. Surprisingly, the drop in performance was very slow, making it a good device even for playing the most demanding games like COD: Mobile, BGMI and Genshin Impact.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 gaming performance
While I’ve tried math-heavy games like COD: Mobile, I’ve also spent hours playing simple puzzle video games like Candy Crush Saga. If you play games on smartphones for at least an hour, you will appreciate the large 7.6-inch screen on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Gel software with hardware
While the hinge and the fold-out display play a primary role in a foldable smartphone, a great software experience is also important. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 based on Android 12L OneUI 4.1.1 runs smoothly on this dual display smartphone.
At first, I felt that the icons on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 were a bit cartoony. However, they grew on me and these things help set Samsung devices apart from the competition. I like how an app folds and unfolds from both the cover display and the main display and uses the ability to resize almost every app to the main display.
Even if we talk about future software updates, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will get four major Android updates and five years of security updates. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 offers an excellent software experience that makes the smartphone even more functional.
flag connection
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a 5G capable smartphone and the device also supports Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi support. I tested the Galaxy Z Fold 4 on both the Airtel and Jio networks, and the cellular reception was excellent. Again, if you’re making a call, you’ll either have to use the cover display or have the speakers ring from the main display.
Good battery life
The Samsung Galaxy has a 4,400 mAh battery. Considering the phone has two displays and a 7.6-inch primary screen, I was concerned about the battery life. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the phone easily lasted more than five hours of screen-on-time throughout the day with moderate to heavy use.
The smartphone also supports fast wired and wireless charging. However, the charging speeds are not faster than the latest smartphones from OnePlus or Xiaomi. Like most flagship smartphones, you don’t get a charger with the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the company only includes a USB Type-C cable in the retail package.
Verdict: A phone and a full flagship tablet
As the title suggests, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the Optimus Prime of the smartphone world and I stand by that word. It’s a phone and a tablet and excels in both roles. Like the Optimus Prime, it’s a smart smartphone with flash-level performance and camera capabilities.
At Rs. 1,54,999, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is not a cheap smartphone. However, it is not that expensive compared to devices like the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a high-end smartphone and more than a foldable smartphone at the same time.