Samsung’s message throughout 2022 has been loud and clear: optimize, don’t rebuild. We’ve seen it with the flagship Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, the mid-range Galaxy A53 5G, and even the Galaxy Watch 5 series smartwatches — all products that stick to familiar forms with only subtle changes inside and out. Not even Samsung’s ultra-premium, ultra-expensive Galaxy Z Fold 4 could escape the trend, but are baby steps enough for cutting-edge smartphone technology? Find out in our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 review. About this Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 review: I tested the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 over 12 days. It was running Android 12L on the July 1, 2022 security patch. The unit was provided by Samsung for this review.

What you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (12GB/256GB): $1,799 / £1,649 / €1,799 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (12GB/512GB): $1,919 / £1,769 / €1,919 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (12GB/1TB): $2,159 / £2,019 / €2,159

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 4 alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 4 as part of its August 2022 Unpacked event. It succeeds the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in what can only be described as the apple that doesn’t fall far from the tree. The overall design of the book-folding type is almost identical to its predecessor, except for a few millimeters and grams shaved off here and there. Starting on the outside, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 still sports a 6.2-inch AMOLED display, with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate. It’s slightly sharper and a fraction wider than the external display on the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and the punch-hole 10MP main camera remains the only holdover. Samsung’s outer screen is covered by an Armor aluminum frame with a new, glossier finish for 2022. The rugged outer packaging also retains its IPX8 water resistance rating, while the outer screen is now covered by Gorilla Glass Victus Plus. The design and build of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is as refined as ever, but most of the upgrades are under the hood and inside the rear camera unit. As soon as you open this hard shell, you are greeted by another crystal clear AMOLED panel, this time with a diagonal of 7.6 inches and coverage with Samsung’s latest generation, exclusive Ultra Thin Glass technology. The resolution is once again a bit sharper than its predecessor and is combined with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, peak brightness of up to 1,200 nits and a slightly improved screen-to-body ratio of 90.9% (up from 88.8%) due to the marginally more boxer aspect ratio. The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s internal display is marred only by the second-generation selfie camera below the 4MP display, though it’s much less visible than the one found on the previous model. Thankfully, Samsung has finally resurrected the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s rear camera unit with some much-needed upgrades. It now has almost the same trio of shooters as the tested Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus — a 50MP main lens, a 10MP telephoto lens and a 12MP ultra-wide. They’re still in the corner of the rear panel (also Gorilla Glass Victus Plus), but each lens has a glossy ring that matches the phone’s frame. Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 packs Qualcomm’s latest flagship silicon – the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor – backed by 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of non-expandable storage. A familiar 4,400 mAh battery provides the juice to keep the productive power going, with 25W wired charging and 10-15W wireless charging for recharging. Ryan Haines / Android Authority While Samsung’s first few Fold devices packed a lot of packaging goodies, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is yet another sign of the times. It comes in a very thin box, accompanied only by papers, SIM eject tool and USB-C cable. While it’s sure to remain the leader in the premium folding game in North America, where it remains undisputed, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 faces more international competition than ever. Xiaomi, for example, announced the Mix Fold 2 right after the Galaxy Unpacked event. It’s thinner than Samsung’s device and has a larger external display, though its build is much less durable. The Oppo Find N is another strong contender, with a smaller, wider frame to combat Samsung’s tall and thin approach. While both of these foldables are limited to the public in China, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 arrives on European shores and carries the torch for outie-style foldables to a world of innies. However, due to the ongoing US-Huawei trade ban, it is losing any kind of Google software support.

Has the plan changed at all?

Ryan Haines / Android Authority Without holding the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in one hand and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 in the other, you’d be hard-pressed to tell that the design has changed. Even if you have both phones on hand (like us), it’s still hard to tell them apart. Like the Galaxy Z Flip 4 – its clamshell sibling – the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s exterior changes drop a few millimeters here and there. More specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is 3mm shorter and 2mm wider than its predecessor when unfolded. When closed, there is no difference in width. It’s also 8 grams lighter, though it’s still a big boy at 263 grams (9.28 oz). All buttons and ports are also in familiar places. The capacitive fingerprint reader and volume rocker are on the far right when open or closed, while the USB-C port is on the bottom edge of the right half when open. On the left half, you’ll find top- and bottom-firing speakers that create stereo sound. Ryan Haines / Android Authority While the tablet-sized screen inside remains the phone’s main draw, the external screen is where you’ll actually do most of your work if you’re using the Galaxy Z Fold 4 on the go. The 6.2-inch AMOLED outer panel remains tall and thin, as a starting point. Despite having the same diagonal measurement as its predecessor, the smaller overall height of the device means that the bezels have lost some weight. The thinner bezels provide a few extra pixels of width compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 3, resulting in a slightly slimmer 23.1:9 aspect ratio — closer than ever to the dimensions of a regular phone screen, and much nicer to use as a result. None of this affects the placement of the covered display’s selfie camera, which is front and center and surrounded by a small black ring. You can also feel the thinner bezels on the inner screen, as the 2mm trim is provided by Samsung’s redesigned hinge. The difference isn’t huge, but the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a story of small progress. If you’ve never used one of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices – and many haven’t – the form factor will take some getting used to. I had no problem using it with one hand while folded, but it becomes almost impossible once you open the device. Wrestling the 7.6-inch behemoth in one palm is like holding a plate of ice cream and trying to spoon it into your mouth with the same hand. You might get a scoop here and there, but you’ll enjoy it a lot more if you eat it right. The wider aspect ratios might be slightly easier to use, but the size and shape of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 still requires two-handed use. Once you’ve adopted the two-handed approach, you’ll find that the easiest way to approach the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s internal display is to use it as if you were using a traditional Android tablet. However, tablets don’t force you to fog up the rear screen with fingerprints. If you prefer to scroll and navigate with your right hand, like I do, you’ll end up with a lot of smudges on the cover screen when using the device unfolded. They’re easy enough to wipe, but they can drive you crazy as you switch between the two modes. Once you get used to the book-like form factor, it doesn’t take long to really appreciate the power of the internal display. The massive panel’s larger aspect ratio makes it squarer than ever and, in turn, more enjoyable to use when it’s instantly folded open in its vertical orientation. It can get very bright at up to 1,200 nits and color reproduction is excellent. Meanwhile, the 120Hz adaptive refresh rate is delightfully smooth and can drop as low as 1Hz when viewing static content to save battery. Unfortunately, the crease in the middle of the flip screen is anything but smooth — you won’t slide your finger over it as much as you would with the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s horizontal dip, but it’s still there, and it’s still noticeable if you catch the light on it. wrong position. While Samsung hasn’t solved the crease problem, it has managed to hide a flaw in the book’s screen. the under-screen selfie camera is instantly less noticeable than the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s pixel blob thanks to a new scatter-type subpixel arrangement. The results from the camera are still pretty awful (we’ll get to that), and you’ll still notice it on white or light backgrounds, but it blends much more nicely into darker shades. Samsung’s premium sandwich of materials means the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is about as tough as a foldable phone can get. The Gorilla Glass Victus Plus outer screen and back panel blend nicely with the Armor Aluminum color frame, while the Ultra Thin Glass inner screen is more durable than before, according to Samsung. Of…