09/15/2022
CrazyAmericanReviewer Galaxy Z Fold 4 review
CrazyAmericanReviewer product rating: 1-5 = 4.7
With its starting price of $1800, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 doesn't offer anything too big or fresh over its predecessor, but regardless, it's still arguably the most incredible smartphone for tech enthusiasts and Android power users, to date.
With its many empowering multitasking features, stylus support, big and beautiful folding display, and respectable battery life, the Z Fold 4 can not only be a phone in your pocket and a tablet in your hands, but even your PC replacement.
Pros:
* Solid build
* Empowering multitasking features
* Beautiful displays
* Stylus support
* Smooth performance
* Good battery life
Cons:
* Expensive
* Still has a crease
* Thick and heavy, harder to carry around than a slab phone
What’s new about the Galaxy Z Fold 4 ?
Smaller hinge
Smaller bezels around the front display
Slightly different screen aspect ratio
New camera system from the Galaxy S22 line
Improved multitasking features
Although the Z Fold 4 keeps the same 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM as its predecessor, we now have the new, flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor on board.
The camera situation has changed a bit too, as the Z Fold 4 now basically rocks the Samsung Galaxy S22's camera set-up, which features higher specs for the wide and ultra wide cameras, plus a telephoto shooter with 3X optical zoom instead of 2X.
The battery stays at 4400 mAh, which might not seem like a lot for such a large phone, but we'll get to that later.
And last but not least, although it's not obvious by looking at the specs, the folding display's aspect ratio has been changed a tiny bit, making it shorter and a tad wider than before.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 Design & Colors
When folded, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a candy bar-shaped phone that, as my son commented when she first saw it, "looks like two phones glued together." It's not notably thinner than its predecessors, although it is technically the lightest Z Fold to date, at just 263 grams (9.28 oz).
It feels very premium and substantial in the hand, and since Samsung has managed to reduce its hinge bulge and the outer display's bezels, it looks better than ever.
As the Z Fold 4's name suggests, and surely you know – you can fold and unfold this phone, and, well, it takes a bit of effort to unfold it. You don't really have a spot to stick your finger in and start pulling the two halves apart, so you better have some nails, and you better not be sweaty, as the Z Fold's frames can get a bit slippery. At least in the insane heat that I'm currently living in. Also, there can be a slight creaking sound when unfolding it still, although that's rare. You get used to all that, but surely it's not the peak of what a foldable experience can be.
On a more positive note, closing the phone after using it unfolded is smooth and easy, and feels quite satisfying, as it ends with a reassuring magnetic snap.
We have dual stereo speaker grills, one on the Z Fold 4's top and bottom sides, plus a USB Type-C charging port on the latter. On the sides we have the volume keys, and a power key with an embedded fingerprint scanner. No in-display fingerprint scanner here.
For those who were hoping – unfortunately there's no slot for the S Pen stylus either, nor do you get one out the box. But Samsung does sell a Z Fold 4 case with an S Pen stylus slot, which might come in handy, should you plan on using the stylus daily.
The color options for the Z Fold 4 are called Graygreen, Phantom Black, Beige, and Burgundy, with the latter being exclusive to Samsung.com. The new colors look really nice in person, the green one in particular stands out as really classy, and Samsung mentioned that cases in the same colors will be available for purchase as well.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 Displays
Let's start with the smaller outer display (a.k.a. "cover display"), before we unfold this beast. We have a tall 6.2-inch dynamic AMOLED screen capable of up to 120Hz refresh rate. What does all that mean? It means Samsung didn't skimp on the outer display – it's super-smooth, and the fact that its AMOLED means solid blacks, vibrant colors, and a generally beautiful experience when using it.
And what can you use the cover display for? Basically anything – answering calls, replying to texts, browsing social media apps – anything you wouldn't bother unfolding the phone for. Sure, it's still a rather tall and not-very-wide display, but I wouldn't call it crammed. Using the on-screen keyboard is not a problem, and again – it's big enough for most tasks you may want to do without actually unfolding the Z Fold 4.
But now let's do exactly that and unfold it, revealing its gorgeous, big 7.6-inch flexible display. Again dynamic AMOLED, again 120Hz-capable, again very beautiful. Watching YouTube videos and movies, playing games, scrolling through social media apps or browsing the web on this display is an absolute joy. I can't oversell how cool it is to take a phone out of your pocket and go-go-gadget it into a square-ish tablet with a big display.
Which, by the way, is very comfortable to hold, especially compared to a tablet, thanks to its smaller size and weight, and square-ish aspect ratio.
But let's talk about display feel. The Z Fold 4's flexible display still feels a tad softer than an average glass screen, as we could've expected, but it's worth noting it nonetheless. It does support two S Pen styluses (the S Pen Fold edition and the S Pen Pro), so obviously it won't scratch easily, say, from your fingernails. You can press it and poke it pretty hard with zero issues.
There is a visible "screen protector" applied to the display, with corners that don't fully reach the display's edges (it's not even perfectly centered), and as we've learned from prior experiences – you shouldn't remove it. So that's just a part of the display.
Now, all those are minor details you should be aware of, but not something that affects the experience whatsoever, as you get used to them and won't even notice them after a while.
What I do still notice is that crease in the middle of the folding screen, though. It's visible when light hits the display, and it's definitely feelable.
Again – is this a big deal, or just a small price to pay (aside from the actual price) for using a cutting-edge folding phone? Honestly, I don't mind the crease, but I can't help but notice that some Samsung competitors, notably Oppo with its Find N foldable, have managed to completely remove the crease.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 Camera
The main camera module of the Z Fold 4 is virtually identical to its predecessor's module – it's a vertical, pill-shaped one, holding three cameras and a flash. But what has changed are those said cameras, which are now almost identical to what the Galaxy S22 packs.
There's a main 50-megapixel wide camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12-megapixel ultra wide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto with OIS and 3X optical zoom. Combined with digital zoom, the zoom game on the Z Fold 4 raises up to 30X (12X in video mode), and the results are actually really good.
The Z Fold 4 is as smooth of a performer as its flagship specs suggest. Again, we have the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor inside, along with 12GB of RAM, which seem to be enough for stutter-free multitasking.
If you're a gamer, which by the way this phone is perfect for, you'll be happy to know that even heavy 3D games run fine at their highest settings, and since we have a 120Hz AMOLED display and dual stereo speakers – those games will look big and beautiful, and sound big too.
This is where things get fun. To me the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a power user phone above all else, for heavy multitaskers and tech enthusiasts who wish to make the most out of just one device. Samsung thought of that, giving us all the features we might need.
The Z Fold 4 comes with Android 12L and OneUI 4.1.1 on top, and at first glance – you get a pretty normal Android / OneUI phone experience. We have a familiar homescreen with app icons and widgets, but open an app like Chrome and you'll notice that a fixed taskbar appears now.
Your Z Fold 4's interface would completely change from the standard Android one to something akin to MacOS, ChromeOS or Windows – with its own desktop, app icons, and a taskbar. Apps will start opening in fully resizable windows. That's not all, those windows can be snapped to the screen corners for quick and easy multitasking, just like on Windows 11.
Again, I'm very impressed with all of the amazing power user features Samsung delivers with the Z Fold 4, and would argue that it's the best power user phone to date, by far. No feature seems like an afterthought, everything is intuitive and polished.
And lest we forget, should you want to use a stylus with your Z Fold 4, you'll get specific features for that too, such as S Pen-specific shortcuts and, if you have the S Pen Pro – Air Gestures. Just remember to buy either that S Pen or the S Pen Fold edition, because I tried – other S Pens won't work here, as their tips are harder, and Samsung fears they may scratch the display.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 Battery:
As we mentioned earlier, for its size the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a seemingly rather small 4400 mAh battery, split between two cells, one on each side of the phone.
But don't let that fool you – this phone is no slouch when it comes to the battery life. For example, in our YouTube playback battery benchmark, where we basically stream YouTube videos until the battery dies, the Z Fold 4 lasted nearly 9 hours.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 Charging Speeds:
In terms of charging, the Z Fold 4 comes with 25W wired charging support, which can deliver 50% charge in roughly 30 minutes, with a compatible 25W Samsung adapter. Samsung doesn't give you a charger out the box, by the way, so you'll have to get one separately.
In our testing, it takes just over an hour to fully change the phone from zero to 100% – 73 minutes to be precise.
We also have 10W wireless charging, which is convenient, and nice to see on a foldable in general.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 Audio Quality and Haptics:
With that big, beautiful display, you'd definitely want good audio too. After all, watching movies or gaming would be way less impactful without some solid stereo speakers.
And I'm happy to say that Samsung has delivered a good audio experience, although it hasn't been noticeably improved over last year.
We have two stereo speakers, one on each side of the phone (when held in landscape). Sounds and music can get reasonably loud and remain clear even at max volume, and, of course, there's a wide, true stereo effect thanks to the speaker placement.
Unfortunately, we don't get punchy iPhone-like bass, but the speakers do produce satisfactory lows nonetheless. So your YouTube videos and movies will sound at least as good as on a flagship Android tablet, if not better.
As for the haptics, despite the Galaxy Z Fold 4 being a big phone, you do feel good, reassuring taps when typing on the virtual keyboard. The haptic feedback does not feel hollow like on some phones, it's not unbalanced (e.g. just coming from one half of the phone), and it's not weak either, so no complaints there.
And now for the final verdict:
While it's not a major upgrade over its the Z Fold 3, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is arguably the best smartphone for the tech enthusiast, who wants to do everything with just one device. It's a phone, it's a tablet, and can even act similarly to a PC!
With many amazing and polished power user features, such as split screen and windowed multitasking, a fixed taskbar, Samsung DeX, and stylus support, the Z Fold 4 fully empowers you to do everything you've ever wanted with Android.
And even if you just want to watch videos and movies, or game on something that's big, yet more comfortable in the hands than a tablet – the Z Fold 4 is still a great option to consider.
However, if you're not a die-hard tech enthusiast, or you already have a Z Fold 3, spending $1800 or more on this phone might not be worth it. Before you make this purchase, make sure that you'll really take advantage of everything this phone has to offer.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 specs
Display:
Size: 7.6 inches
Resolution: 2176 x 1812 pixels, 21.6:18 ratio, 373 PPI
Technology: Dynamic AMOLED
Refresh rate: 120Hz
Screen-to-body: 90.79 %
Features: Folding inside the device, HDR support, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Front cover display: 6.2 inches, 2316 x 904 pixels, Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR support, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hardware:
System chip: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SM8475 (4 nm)
Processor: Octa-core, 1x 3.19GHz Cortex-X2 + 3x 2.75GHz Cortex-A710 + 4x 1.80GHz Cortex-A510
GPU: Adreno 670
RAM: 12GB LPDDR5
Internal storage: 256GB (UFS 3.1), not expandable
Device type: Smartphone
OS: Android (12)
This device has different variants
Battery
Capacity: 4400 mAh
Type: Not user replaceable
Charging: Fast charging, Qi wireless charging
Camera
Rear: Triple camera
Main camera: 50 MP (OIS, PDAF)
Specifications: Aperture size: F1.8; Pixel size: 1.0 μm
Second camera: 10 MP (Telephoto)
Specifications: Optical zoom: 3.0x; Aperture size: F2.4; Pixel size: 1.0 μm
Third camera: 12 MP (Ultra-wide)
Specifications: Aperture size: F2.2; Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Video recording: 3840x2160 (4K UHD), 1920x1080 (Full HD), 1280x720 (HD)
Front: 4 MP (Under-screen)
Folded: 10 MP
Design
Dimensions: 6.11 x 5.12 x 0.25 inches (155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3 mm)
Folded: (155.1 x 67.1 x 15.8 mm)
Weight: 9.28 oz (263.0 g)
Materials: Back: Glass; Frame: Aluminum
Resistance: Yes; IPX8
Biometrics: Fingerprint (touch)
Keys: Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors: Graygreen, Phantom Black, Beidge
Cellular:
5G: 5G Ready
Data Speed: LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s
SIM type: Dual Nano SIM + eSIM
Multimedia:
Headphones: No 3.5mm jack
Speakers: Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Screen mirroring: Wireless screen share
Additional microphone(s): for Noise cancellation
Connectivity & Features
Bluetooth: 5.2
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax (Wi-Fi 6); Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
USB: Type-C (reversible), USB 3.2
Features: Charging
Location: GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer
Other: NFC
