While foldable phones are still an enjoyable luxury with their high prices, Samsung proved that they could be durable for life, which was a huge feat. Confidence in foldables, specifically Samsung foldables, has skyrocketed over the last year as a result. In fact, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 (opens in new tab) was the most successful foldable ever, thanks to its style, relative affordability for a foldable (it costs $999 / £949) and some clever BTS K-pop collaborations. Samsung is the foldable darling in the West, but one look at the Chinese smartphone market and things aren’t so cut and dry. Huawei is doing much better there than here. may release 5G foldables like the Mate X2 (opens in new tab), with its periscope camera. Look at Vivo and the Vivo Fold X also has a periscope camera, not to mention under-display fingerprint scanners on the inner and outer displays. Xiaomi is not abandoning Samsung either. the China-only Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (opens in new tab) is the thinnest, lightest foldable and features a full-size front-facing display and Leica-branded camera system. But don’t sleep on Samsung. The Korean brand may have more competition in China than in Europe or the US, but none of that competition takes advantage of their phones’ large, flip-out screens with pen support, nor are they waterproof. But is that enough when the phone’s starting price is $1799 / £1649?
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (256GB Grey) for £100 upfront with 125GB data for just £67 a month from EE Mobile (opens in new tab)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 design and display
(Image credit: Basil Kronfli / Digital Camera World) (opens in new tab) Familiar, but refined – that’s where Samsung is going with the new Galaxy Z Fold 4. So if you’ve ever seen a Z Fold 3, you’ll have very real deja vu. By redesigning the hinge mechanism on the new foldable, the cover screen is wider and surrounded by less bezel, and the entire phone is lighter than its predecessor. To go into detail, while the Z Fold 3 was 271g, the Z Fold 4 is 263g. When you think that an iPhone 13 Pro Max (opens in new tab) is 240 grams, it’s not much. As for the world’s lightest two-in-one foldable, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, it weighs just 1g less than the Z Fold 4. So it’s relatively light – great, but is the Z Fold 4 really thin? Absolutely, when it unfolds. At 6.3mm thick, like a sleek, slim tablet, it’s comfortable. Closed, though, it’s still thick. Wedge-shaped, it measures 14.2mm at its thinnest point and 15.8mm at its thickest. Some phones intrude into this area. the Xiaomi 12s Ultra, for example, with its 1-inch camera sensor is about 13.5mm when you include the camera bump. That said, most phones are much, much thinner – under 10mm. Image 1 of 4 (Image: Basil Kronfli / Digital Camera World) Image 1 of 4
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So Samsung hasn’t built a magical machine that can transform from a tiny smartphone to a sprawling tablet, but the Z Fold 4 is still a powerful combination of design cues. On the front, it has a 6.2-inch cover display, while inside, the main display is a flexible 7.6-inch, relatively square display. When it’s open, there’s a loudspeaker and USB-C port on the base, a combination fingerprint scanner and power button on the right, as well as a volume rocker, while the second speaker sits on the top. There is a triple camera on the back and on both screens there are two selfie cameras, an under-display camera on the main screen and a traditional front camera with a hole in the cover screen. Constructed from Samsung’s Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus Plus, both featured in the Galaxy S22 series (opens in new tab), the series’ bodies have held up well on paper, and in two full weeks with the phone, it remains free of dings and boops. That’s not to say the Z Fold 4’s flexible screen isn’t more fragile than a traditional one. If you knock it, it will probably discolor – but as a package, this is probably the most durable folding in life. Image 1 of 4 (Image: Basil Kronfli / Digital Camera World) Image 1 of 4
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As for the displays, their dimensions have been slightly updated, even though they’re the same size on paper as the Z Fold 3. Both are slightly wider and slightly shorter, making the whole phone a touch more squat . Whichever screen you’re using, you’ll be looking at a Dynamic AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a pixel density of over 380 pixels per inch – sharp enough for all but the most picky of pixels. The internal screen has a fold in the middle, and the sooner you get used to it, the more you’ll enjoy the whole Z Fold 4 experience – while it didn’t phase us, we can’t get away from the fact that it’s very noticeable. While we thought we’d get the most out of the fold-out, large 7.6-inch tablet screen, we actually found ourselves using it more at home. Works great with the Readly or DC Comics Infinite apps – perfect for relaxing on the couch with a magazine. The foldable’s square aspect ratio is also great for playing older 4:3 videos – from Full Metal Alchemist to Golden Girls. For newer 16:9 or 21:9 videos, it still fits when folded in half in Flex Mode – which pushes content to the top half of the screen, or when the front display is in use. Unlike most HDR smartphone displays, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is also compatible with Netflix HDR, so it supports a wide dynamic range on displays and in general, whether you’re watching, scanning or reading, both the cover and the tablet screen they look very good. The only caveat to the Fold 4’s dual-screen excellence is bright sunlight and smudges. The tablet screen looks very smudged compared to glass after you’ve used it for a few days, with the top coating on the foldable screen holding fingerprints longer than traditional screens. This can impair visibility especially in bright environments, so a cleaning cloth will be essential if you want the best from the Z Fold 4.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Camera Specs
The Z Fold 4 saw a boost in camera hardware compared to the Z Fold 3. The rear cameras are almost identical to those on the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, with wide, ultra-wide and triple telephoto. This upgrade also means a larger main camera sensor, from 1/1.76 inches to 1/1.56 inches – a welcome upgrade. Samsung opts for its own 50MP S5KGN3 sensor, which is paired with an f/1.8, 23mm wide-angle lens and phase detection autofocus (PDAF). While there’s no periscope zoom camera, unlike the Vivo X Fold, there’s a bit more reach this time around compared to the Z Fold 3. The telephoto lens features a 10MP Samsung S5K3K1 sensor, clocked at 1/3.94 inches, pixel size factor 1 micron. In terms of optics, there is an f/2.4 lens with a focal length of 66mm, PDAF and OIS. At ultra-wide, and this is where the Z Fold 4 falls behind the S22 series, with the Sony IMX258, a 13MP sensor that takes 12MP images on the Fold 4. The small sensor is matched with an f/2.2 aperture and has a 123˚ field of view , which is equivalent to a focal length of 12 mm. Image 1 of 4 (Image: Basil Kronfli / Digital Camera World) Image 1 of 4
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Shooting modes include Portrait, Photo, Video, Pro, Pro Video, Single Take, Night, Food Panorama, Super Slow-Mo, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse, Portrait Video, and Director’s View. The camera takes advantage of the phone’s Flex Mode feature, so when the Fold 4 is folded in half, the top half of the screen acts as the viewfinder, while the bottom half serves as the shooting controls. This is especially handy in the Director’s View, which previews all three focal lengths on the secondary screen so you can make an informed decision when zooming out. Pro mode also benefits from split-screen viewing, with the top half of the flip clear for your image and the bottom half displaying manual shooting options. The Z Fold 4 shoots video in up to 8K at 24 fps and 4K at up to 60 fps, and if you’re shooting in Pro mode, manual ISO can be set up to 3200 and shutter speed up to 30 seconds.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Camera Review
Although it’s not the best camera phone of 2022 (opens in new tab), the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is much better than the Z Fold 3, thanks to the upgraded main camera and the extra telephoto distance. Starting with the 50MP main snapper, the Fold is also a great point-and-shoot camera. Good at freezing time in the right light, while capturing plenty of detail and a balanced image, most people will love the warm, vivid shots it takes. Samsung is known for its sharp, vivid shots, and the Z Fold 4’s images ring true. They look clean and sharp out of camera, ready for Instagram or WhatsApp, but miss the wide dynamic range you get from phones like the Xiaomi 12 Pro (opens in new tab) and Xiaomi 12 (opens in new tab), which support a little more in computational photography, removing details from highlights and shadows. The main camera focuses and snaps a photo quickly and can capture them with a relatively shallow depth of field when close to a subject.
A photo taken on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (Image:…
