Foldable shows was one thing you’d see in sci-fi motion pictures in a far-off futuristic setting. However as we’ve seen over the previous couple of years from Samsung, shows that actually fold in half are right here, they usually’re getting a lot, significantly better.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 is an efficient instance of that. The $999 Android-powered smartphone has lots to supply for that worth, together with a 6.7-inch show that folds in half, shrinking down all the footprint of the cellphone.
The very best half? Once you open the Z Flip 4, you’re offered with a well-recognized smartphone design and expertise, not like the costlier $1,799 Z Fold 4 that provides you a smartphone on the entrance and a pill within the center, forcing you to make aware choices on which display to make use of.
The Z Flip 4’s dual-screen strategy isn’t good, however there’s lots to love concerning the trendy flip cellphone.
The very best foldable cellphone for most individuals
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is the perfect foldable cellphone for most individuals, providing good efficiency and cameras inside a design that is extra pocket-friendly — and cooler — than your typical cellphone.
There’s one thing addictive about taking the Z Flip 4 out of your pocket and flipping it open to disclose a show that spans all the size of the cellphone. It’s akin to a $999 fidget toy that additionally occurs to connect with the web.
Earlier than receiving the Z Flip 4 overview unit from Samsung, I’d but to spend quite a lot of minutes with a cellphone that folded in half vertically because the Flip 4 does. I’ve a Galaxy Z Fold 3 of my very own and have completely loved utilizing it over the past yr, due to the big tablet-like show when it’s opened.
I’ve all the time thought, nevertheless, that the Z Flip 4’s design made extra sense as a result of when the cellphone is opened up, it reveals a 6.7-inch show that appears and works like a standard smartphone. There’s a fingerprint sensor that doubles as the facility button on the best fringe of the cellphone, a quantity rocker simply above that and a USB-C port on the underside of the cellphone for charging and information transfers. When it’s open, outdoors of the crease that goes throughout the center of the show, the Flip 4 is sort of indistinguishable from the Galaxy S22+.
The 1080p decision of the Z Flip 4’s display is obvious and crisp, regardless that high-end Samsung telephones are identified for providing greater resolutions. Actually, till I seemed up the precise decision, I assumed the Z Flip 4’s show was much like the S22 Extremely’s 1440p decision.
At 6.7 inches there’s loads of room when utilizing the Z Flip 4 with a single app open. Once you begin utilizing two apps in split-screen mode, nevertheless, the show can start to really feel a bit cramped. It’s totally potential to have Chrome open on the highest half and Gmail on the underside with a purpose to look one thing up and share it, however you received’t need to do it on a regular basis.
One factor I did discover whereas testing the Z Flip 4 is that the display feels a bit comfortable in comparison with an ordinary smartphone display. That is seemingly a by-product of a foldable show, and it’s simply a part of the general expertise, however I assumed I’d point out it.
On the flip facet (sorry, couldn’t assist it), when the Flip 4 is closed, you’ll be able to rapidly view notifications and rapidly reply to messages with predefined messages, pause or skip tracks and make cell funds with Samsung Pockets utilizing the 1.9-inch Cowl display. You may even launch the digital camera app from the duvet show by double-pressing the fingerprint sensor and use the display on the entrance of the cellphone as a viewfinder to take selfies.
I appreciated the power to take selfies with the cellphone closed, however I didn’t find it irresistible. It’s a must to faucet and swipe throughout the small show to modify between digital camera modes, and I discovered it to be a bit clunky total. I’m certain with much more apply it’d be one thing I wouldn’t thoughts utilizing in a pinch, however it wouldn’t be my go-to technique for taking a selfie.
Though the Flip 4 doubles in thickness when it’s closed, the cellphone takes up a lot much less area in your pocket and is way more comfy than a extra conventional smartphone to hold round.
Foldable shows nonetheless have some kinks to iron out — primarily the truth that there’s a crease which you can see and really feel — however it’s superb expertise that appears and feels prefer it’s the way forward for smartphone design, solely you need to use it proper now.
Strong efficiency and battery life
Contained in the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, 8GB of reminiscence, 128GB of storage and a 3,700mAh battery. All of these parts mix to create a nice expertise, each relating to total efficiency and battery life.
Over the past week, I’ve but to expire of battery throughout a typical day of use and through two completely different days of touring from Colorado to New York. These days consisted of an abundance of testing the cameras (extra on that in a minute) together with streaming and downloading Spotify playlists whereas testing Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro wi-fi earbuds.
Backing up my private expertise with stable battery life is the check results of operating down the Z Flip 4’s battery by taking part in a 4K video on loop. The end result? Fourteen hours of steady playback. Whereas that rating isn’t so long as the OnePlus 10 Pro’s 18 hours and 46 minutes, it’s on par with the Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra, each of which have larger-capacity batteries.
So far as efficiency is anxious, I used to be impressed with how easy the Z Flip 4 was in use. From opening video games to rapidly switching between the likes of Slack and Twitter whereas taking part in a YouTube video in picture-in-picture mode, I by no means seen any slowdowns.
I used the benchmarking app Geekbench 5 to match the Z Flip 4’s efficiency scores to different smartphones — and, as anticipated, the Z Flip 4 performs barely higher than the Galaxy S22+ and S22 Extremely, each of which use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (word it’s not the 8 Plus Gen 1) processor. The Z Flip 4 scored a mean of 1,315 for single-core and three,838 for multi-core use, which is forward of what we received from the S22+ by a very good margin. Nevertheless, the iPhone 13 Pro Max and its A15 Bionic processor nonetheless delivered considerably sooner benchmark speeds than Samsung’s telephones, scoring 1,739 and 4,675 on single- and multi-core efficiency, respectively.
There are two predominant cameras which can be on the again of the Z Flip 4 — or the entrance of the cellphone when it’s closed. However for the needs of this overview, I’ll simply name them the rear-facing cameras.
There’s a 12-megapixel predominant digital camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide digital camera, with a complete of 10x digital zoom potential. For the document, the outlet punch digital camera that’s in the principle show is 10 megapixels.
The rear cameras are dependable in that when you get used to their barely oversaturated pictures (which is typical of a Samsung cellphone), you should have loads of confidence that the Z Flip 4 will seize the shot you need.
The 10x digital zoom stays a disappointment, with the ultimate 10x zoom stage leading to grainy, disagreeable pictures. Nevertheless, portrait mode is correct in detecting a topic and including the faux blur impact that creates depth.
I took a handful of pictures whereas strolling alongside the Excessive Line in Manhattan, all of which got here out fairly good. There are some pictures the place a brightly lit background by the timber is blown out, displaying solely white rather than what ought to be a constructing or daylight. However when all the picture was evenly lit, comparable to when capturing pictures of random buildings, the Z Flip 4’s cameras received it proper.
I additionally examined portrait mode by taking a photograph of a random stranger and I got here away fairly darn impressed. If that’s you within the picture, please attain out so I can ship you a full copy!
As for night time pictures, I wasn’t blown away by the outcomes. I took a few pictures throughout a late-night little league sport beneath the lights and the scene was decently lit; nevertheless, the overhead lights have been overexposed. That mentioned, the pictures I captured are one thing I’d don’t have any points sharing on-line.
The Z Flip 4 can document 4K video, and from a number of brief clips of my youngsters goofing round or my canines operating throughout my yard, I can say it seems to be on par with the standard 4K video you’d anticipate from a smartphone. Nothing overly fancy or spectacular, however it will get the job executed.
I’ll put it one other method: There are higher smartphone cameras, together with on Samsung’s very personal Galaxy gadgets such because the Galaxy S22 and Z Fold 4. But when I had to make use of solely a Z Flip 4 and its present digital camera association, I wouldn’t thoughts one bit.
I beforehand talked about how a lot you may get executed on the Cowl display with out opening the Z Flip 4 to disclose the principle show inside. And whereas there’s lots you are able to do, it feels as if the Cowl display is proscribed in its performance.
You wake the Cowl display with a fast double faucet on the show to verify the time, date and battery stage of the Z Flip 4. If there’s a yellow dot current, you have got pending notifications which you can verify by swiping in from the left fringe of the display. Open an alert and you’ll clear it, or for apps that assist fast replies, you’ll be able to reply straight from the Cowl display by deciding on a predefined message.
Swiping down on the Cowl display reveals fast settings shortcuts for issues like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or your cellphone’s flashlight. Swiping up on the display will set off Samsung Pockets (previously Samsung Pay) and mean you can make a cell cost on any NFC-compatible cost terminal. This ended up being my most well-liked technique for cell funds on the Z Flip 4 primarily as a result of the NFC chip contained in the cellphone is positioned within the backside half, which makes it awkward to pay with when the Flip 4 is opened all the best way. Usually the NFC chip in smartphones is close to the highest of the cellphone.
If you happen to swipe in from the best fringe of the display you’ll scroll by numerous widgets that present you the climate and mean you can management music playback, verify alarms and set occasions. There are solely a handful of widgets, all of which have been created by Samsung. Third-party builders can’t create a widget to show, say, present sports activities scores, or possibly view the final snapshot taken on a house safety digital camera or pet cam. Whereas the Cowl display is helpful, it seems like customers ought to be capable to do extra with it.
… it, too, ought to do extra. For these unfamiliar, Flex Mode on the Z Flip 4 is triggered by solely opening the display midway, with the highest part of the display at a 90-degree angle. In choose apps, Flex mode robotically triggers a unique interface, supplying you with controls or choices on the underside portion of the display which can be particular to that app.
For example, within the YouTube app, the highest half of the display is taken up by the video that’s at present taking part in, with the underside half displaying feedback and the video’s description. When the cellphone is totally open, the video takes up the highest 25% of the display.
Or in Google Meet (or is it Google Duo?) you need to use Flex Mode to hold out a video name with the front-facing digital camera angled excellent to seize you within the body, with the video feed on the highest half of the display and video controls so as to add results and the like on the underside half of the display.
In every of these apps, the usefulness of Flex Mode is on full show and makes lots of sense. Nevertheless, if you happen to activate Flex Mode for apps that don’t formally assist Flex Mode, it’s not the identical story.
With Spotify in Flex Mode, there are playback controls proven on the underside half of the display, with further buttons for taking a screenshot, controlling quantity and viewing notifications. It’s considerably useful. Nevertheless, if you happen to drive Flex Mode in Google Chrome, the identical button bar with the identical options is offered, and that’s it.
Positive, a few of the onus is on app builders to higher combine with Flex Mode, however outdoors of some apps, it’s a characteristic that’s underutilized.
As spectacular because the Z Flip 4’s foldable show is, there’s nonetheless some room for enchancment with the general expertise. For starters, there’s nonetheless a really obvious crease in the midst of the show. That crease isn’t solely seen, however you’ll be able to bodily really feel it as your finger strikes throughout the display. It’s an ungainly expertise that I assumed I’d study to disregard after a number of days of use, however up to now, it’s nonetheless very a lot one thing I discover.
On a number of events I tried to faucet or choose one thing positioned on the display, proper within the crease, and I had a tough time getting the display to register to the faucet or swipe. Different occasions, the show reacted precisely the way you’d anticipate it to — opening a hyperlink or scrolling by an extended e mail.
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Important show |
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
| Cowl display |
1.9-inch Tremendous AMOLED |
6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED w/120Hz adaptive refresh charge |
N/A |
| Processor |
6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED w/120Hz adaptive refresh charge |
7.6-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED w/120Hz adaptive refresh charge |
6.8-inch Infinity-O Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED |
| Storage |
128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Reminiscence |
8GB |
12GB |
8GB, 12GB |
| Battery |
3,700mAh |
4,400mAh |
5,000mAh |
| Rear cameras |
12-megapixel huge, 12-megapixel ultrawide |
50-megapixel huge, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel telephoto |
108-megapixel huge, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel telephoto 3x optical zoom, 10-megapixel telephoto 10x optical zoom |
| Entrance cameras |
10-megapixel |
4-megapixel beneath show digital camera, 10-megapixel |
40-megapixel |
| Connectivity |
5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Ports |
USB-C |
USB-C |
USB-C |
| Colours |
Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold, Blue |
Graygreen, Phantom Black, Beige |
Phantom Black, Burgundy, Phantom White, Inexperienced |
| Value |
$999 |
$1,799 |
$1,199 |
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 was Samsung’s hottest foldable smartphone, and the Z Flip 4 picks up proper the place it left off. The $999 price ticket is steep for a smartphone, however it’s a steal in comparison with the $1,799 Z Fold 4, a cellphone that’s higher suited to somebody who does lots of multitasking and wishes a tool that works extra like a pill or laptop computer. Till Samsung has extra competitors within the foldable cellphone market, that’s the kind of pricing we’re going to see.
If you happen to’re seeking to break free from the smartphone norm with a stable slab of glass, the Z Flip 4’s efficiency, battery life and dependable digital camera setup — all wrapped up in a compact foldable design — is price the fee.
