Our first impression of the Galaxy Z Fold4 shed some light on the fourth-generation foldable smartphone from Samsung. Price and convenience are the main focus areas of the uber-luxury smartphone among other aspects.
The device comes at a starting price of ₹1,54,999 for the 12GB/256GB variant that we reviewed. Is it really worth the price and convenient to use? Here is what we found after a good time spent with the phone.
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In the box
The first thing you will notice as you unbox is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4. Besides this you get a SIM ejector, USB-C cable, and some documentation.
Design
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 looks very similar to its predecessor but it is lighter, shorter in height, and has a higher screen-to-body ratio due to fewer bezels on the screen than the previous model.
The new foldable has an aluminum frame and the body is of Gorilla Glass Victus+. It comes with an IPX8 rating meaning the phone can withhold for 30 minutes in 1.5 meters of freshwater. The device carries the same hideaway hinge mechanism which we have seen in Galaxy Z Fold3. Samsung claims that the hinge of Galaxy Z Fold 4 can withstand 200,000 opens and closes easily.
A line can be seen due to the hinge when you unfold the phone. The capacitive fingerprint scanner and volume rocker are placed on the right side while on the left side one can spot the SIM slots. The speaker along with the microphones is placed at the top while the Type-C port, and the main microphone with another speaker grille is at the bottom.
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 allows you to use the S Pen Fold Edition and the S Pen Pro which you need to buy separately. The overall build of the phone is very sturdy.
Display
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 comes with two displays, a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display with an aspect ratio of 23.1:9 and a 7.6-inch HDR10+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner display with an aspect ratio of 6:5. The inner display has 1300 nits brightness level, supports HDR10+ and has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The outer display has a refresh rate of 120Hz.
There is slight visibility of the crease on the screen, but it does not bother too much while watching any content on the screen. The phone when unfolded gives a wide space to play games, watch movies, carry out assignments on Word files, etc.
The colour accuracy is brilliant on both the displays. It is so addictive that you’ll start hating your own phone. Being HDR10+ compliant the contents on the screen are very impressive with proper details and you can stream any content in its original form from any platform.
The device comes with the Motion Smoothness setting allowing you to opt for Adaptive and Standard screens where the Adaptive mode will set the refresh rate to 120Hz while the Standard mode will set the refresh rate to 60Hz. The display easily adapts itself to the high frame rate (120Hz) when you play games of high requirements. This made the touch interface smooth to enhance the gaming experience.
Speakers
The new phone has the same speaker settings as its predecessor. It comes with two speakers that are located on the left half of the phone when it is in an unfolded state. One speaker is located at the top and fires upwards, and the other is located at the bottom and fires downwards.
When the gadget is folded, the top speaker serves as both an earpiece for voice calls and a speaker that directs sound at you when playing video or other content. The earpiece, on the other hand, will be blasting away from you if you are using the Fold as a tablet. The clear and immersive sound adds to the delight.
UI
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 comes with One UI 4.1.1 which is based on Android 12L and is specifically designed for foldable phones. The UI has been customised to offer a smooth experience and you can use three apps at the same time.
Samsung has also improved the taskbar in the new Galaxy Z Fold4. It serves as a central location for your most frequently used applications and allows for easy access to particular app combinations. For example, you may make a shortcut to open your browser, notes, and gallery at the same time.
The phone is very user-friendly when you are using social media apps or making video calls. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 comes with a Pop-up view that forces any app to go to the multi-view section in the app and we loved this feature.
There is also a three-way multi-window which at first takes some time to set up, but once done you can use it later in the taskbar. The phone also comes up with Samsung DeX support to give a PC experience allowing you to connect the phone to a monitor or TV wirelessly or through wire. The device comes with 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates.
Processor
The latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip is used in the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and we have seen how efficient it is in other phones such as iQOO 9T. There was no instance of any glitch while reviewing the phone. Gaming is very smooth and the widescreen space adds more fun to it.
Loading pages, scrolling, and switching through apps have also been a great experience. However, the phone does generate heat when used for long conference calls and video chat, although it is manageable. The phone that we reviewed comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB ROM.
Camera
The phone comes with a 50MP wide lens camera using a GN3 sensor with an aperture of f/1.8. The secondary sensor is a 10MP telephoto lens with an aperture of f/2.4 and 3x optical zoom. The third sensor is a 12MP ultra-wide lens with an aperture of f/2.2. On the front, it has a 4MP lens under the display and a 10MP wide lens with an aperture of f/2.2.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold4 comes with a 50MP wide lens camera, 10MP telephoto lens, and a 12MP ultra-wide lens | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
The images captured all details allowing users to easily differentiate between colours, shades, and contrast in an image. The details would remain intact even up to certain levels of zoom. While using the portrait mode we liked the subject separation, the bokeh looks natural, and the HDR was on point.
Night images maintained a very good level of detail with a proper saturation level. We liked the low lighting capability of the Fold4 and clicked some brilliant photos at night.
The rear camera can also be used as a selfie camera thanks to the smart UI and the foldable feature of the phone and the phone guides. The selfies captured using the main selfie sensor were quite good with detailing. The inner camera has improved compared with the previous Fold3 but it is not something which you want to use to capture selfies.
Battery
The new smartphone has a 4,400mAh battery and was found to last a whole day on a single charge. It supports 25W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging.
However, the charging speed is not impressive, especially in these times when phones get fully charged within half an hour. The new device took around one and a half hours to get fully charged through the 25W power supply. The reverse wireless charging enables you to charge gadgets off the Fold’s back.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 has a pure upgrade in every section. The form factor coupled with an addictive display impresses the most. The camera shows great results and the processor is fast. The battery works for it, but the charging speed irks. Samsung could have worked more on the crease to make it invisible like the Find N.
Overall, the Galaxy Z Fold4 is an expensive smartphone for those ready to splurge.
