Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G Improved foldable smartphone shatters dreams of foldables

Samsung’s foldable lacks courage and competitors. With more robustness, the Galaxy Z Fold4 in its fourth generation aims to be more suitable for everyday operation. While the Fold 4 is a solid upgrade with its brighter dynamic AMOLED panel, the camera of the Galaxy S22+, and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen1, it remains behind expectations.

On paper, the fourth generation of the Galaxy Z Fold is a gentle update of the Galaxy Z Fold3, and there were no changes in the basic concept of the foldable series. In addition to the new 50-MP main camera from the Galaxy S22 Plus, perhaps the largest change is inside the foldable smartphone. Now this contains the relatively efficient Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is supposed to also improve the battery life of the Z Fold4, since the battery capacity remains unchanged at 4,400 mAh.

In terms of the display, there are also only small adjustments in the large foldable smartphone. The main screen continues to measure 7.6 inch, but it now has a 21.6:18 format, making the case slightly wider in unfolded state. The reason for this is the 6.2-inch front display, which now offers a slightly more user-friendly format at 23.1:9, appearing less tall than the Fold3 before it.

This review will clarify how the Galaxy Z Fold4 fares in everyday operation and whether an upgrade from the predecessor is worthwhile.

At first glance, the Z Fold4 looks hardly any different than its predecessor. However, the newly designed hinge of the foldable smartphone reduces the weight minimally to 263 grams (~9.28 oz), and it also allows Samsung to keep the IPX8-certified case slightly slimmer. But at almost 16 mm (~0.63 in), the Fold4 is still significantly thicker than a Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 at 11 mm (~0.43 in). There is also still no integrated S Pen slot as in the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The workmanship and haptics of the Fold4 are at a very high level. Compared to the Fold3, the slightly edgy transition between the hinge and glass elements was improved, but it is still noticeable in the current generation of the foldable. Unfolding the Fold4 is very easy and feels very high-quality. In the Flex mode, you can adjust it to any variable angle between 75 and 115 degrees.

While users still shouldn’t mistreat the inner display of the foldable with pointy objects such as keys, with the fourth generation of the Fold series, Samsung promises more robustness. While it still has the Armor aluminum frame known from the predecessor and the Gorilla Glas Victus+ in the front and back, the flexible dynamic AMOLED panel is now also covered by a newly developed ultra-thin glass layer, which according to the manufacturer is supposed to be up to 45% more robust. With its new mosaic pattern, the under-display camera (UDC) of the Fold4 looks less annoying than that of the predecessor, but it is still visible. Looking at the center of the screen, it is well integrated into the image display, but when you look at it closely, the area with the thinner subpixels is easily noticeable, particularly with a white background. While this solution is more discrete compared to a punch hole, an even thicker pixel grid above the camera would have been better for the OLED panel.

Compared to the Fold3, the bezels around the display have become slightly slimmer. The display-to-surface ratio of the large 7.6-inch panel is a very efficient 90.9%. The Z Fold3 "only" reached 88.9% here, which was still very good.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G Improved foldable smartphone shatters dreams of foldables

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