folded beast and bittersweet

The Koreans’ biggest ultra-premium phone has passed through our hands. Does it live up to our expectations?

When they offered me the opportunity to analyze the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 I haven’t thought too much. Flip phones caught my attention for a while; The opportunity to try it was interesting for me.

Koreans say the future belongs to foldable phones. It is clear that the company has its marketing lines, that they came up with a revolutionary iniciativa to shake up the market and attract users’ interest, but It is still too early for such a statement..

It’s true that the Koreans have created a móvil that cánido handle anything (yes, anything) thrown at it, much like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (whose analysis you perro also read here). However, there are aspects that have left me with a bittersweet feeling despite the excellent quality of this terminal. And the qualities pay off, in the case of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 They are paid very dearly.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, review and review

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 price and where to buy

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will be available to buy in Spain from August 26, 2022, and yes available in three memory versions: 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. Each has 12GB of RAM.

He perro buy from all major retailers, including Amazon. perro also be bought through the Samsung storewhere we perro also choose a gift product and additional accessories when buying this móvil.

Where is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4?

A fácil visual inspection is enough to understand that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 It’s a phone that’s part of the ultra-premium range by the Korean company along with the Galaxy S 22 Ultra. We perro also find there phones like the Xiaomi Ultra series or the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

This phone has a contrincante that stands up to it with dignity. The OPPO Find N is another terminal that some people consider worthy It outperformed the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Considering that it’s a terminal from last year (and considering that there aren’t any major differences between generations these days), this new map by Koreans puts it on a human-to-human scale.

The truth is, although the OPPO Find N would stand up to the comparison perfectly, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is currently unbeatable. The Koreans have staged a comeback that has eliminated any competition that has ever come their way.

Technical data sheet

design

There is a design for it clearly a continuous effort compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. Since the previous generation, it’s still a heavy, bulky device whose presence in the pocket is unmissable. When we fold it to store It looks like two cell phones, one on top of the other.. This explains the high weight and uncomfortable thickness, which also makes it not suitable for all trousers.

It’s undeniable The build quality is excellent. Holding it in hand, we immediately get a feeling of strength. The hinge that opens the big screen takes some force to unfold, eh He appreciates the feeling of vulnerability that the folding screen brings with it. Not because it’s poorly finished, but because during my testing I couldn’t shake the fear of the big screen crashing or breaking.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 surprises with its seamless design Image: Sergio Agudo

When the terminal is closed, you will see a a certain gap between its partsbut it’s so well made that I had no problem with anything getting into the gap between the parts of the phone and the hinge.

The fingerprint reader is on the right side, integrated into the power button. It works well in terms of reading speed and responsiveness, and I personally prefer this solution over built-in screen readers. These always give me problems with fingerprint recognition and it didn’t happen with this solution. I wish more manufacturers would go this route in the high end, I’d be delighted.

The screen we have when the terminal bytes are returned 6.2 inches occupying almost the entire front, with a slightly wider margin on the left side due to the fold. Due to the long and narrow format of the screen it seems much smaller despite its notable size. Typing on a virtual keyboard cánido be awkward, but it’s the truth I spent a lot more time on this screen than the big one. It’s mostly because of that sense of vulnerability I talked about earlier.

Undoubtedly the star panel the ones we have while deploying the terminal, 7.6 inches. I came across a screen that makes the terminal a kind of full version of those 8 inch tabletas that came into fashion ten years ago and although the device runs Android 12 L, I still understand Android “stretches” to fit the panel. The optimization isn’t done well, and I don’t know how much Samsung or Google plus is to blame for that. As if that wasn’t enough, like I said, every time when I opened the phone I felt the screen would break. I wasn’t comfortable with that feeling at all. vía the displayed terminal. Aside from the fact that I didn’t need the big screen for my habitual tasks, that’s true to read or play yes i could use it. However, when I compare it to the hours I’ve been using the phone with the screen folded, I cánido only conclude The panel is not big for me.

Another problem I see (and here I unfortunately agree with Cristian’s opinion in his analysis of the Galaxy Z Fold 3) is that Front camera under the big screen. Not that it isn’t enough, the autofotos I took were correct (it’s true that they were better with the phone folded, although we’ll talk about that later) but until the design of these cameras it wasn’t. change the room in which the sensor is located is taken into account when hitting direct bright light.

Otherwise both screens They have more than enough brightness, with great sharpness and excellent touch responsiveness (as expected from a phone with these traits, by the way). You will never have any problem viewing or managing the terminal screen at any time and in any situation. Both panels are excellent.

screens

Samsung is the world’s largest maker of OLED panels, so it’s no surprise that its high-end models are the best screens on the market.

And we find that, as with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra two of the best espectáculos i have ever enjoyed so far on a mobile device; very afín to something we’ve already seen on its other flagship phones.

The unfolded screen of the Samsung Galazy Z Fold 4 offers us a panel of almost 8 inches

With the phone unfolded, we find a large 7.6-inch AMOLED panel with a Resolution close to QHD (1812 × 2176 pixels). This results in a sharp screen with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a maximum brightness of 1200 nits. Thanks to this character, the screen exists appear in almost all situations.

By folding the phone and moving it to the 6.2 inch screen, we get back with a resolution close to QHD (904 x 2316 pixels), which has the same light characteristics as the large screen; we will always be able to see something there.

Samsung is also known for keeping screen mode on Strong, with its random color saturation. This is me There is no problem, I prefer bright and rich colors. It’s an easy problem to solve for those who don’t prefer it, but if you have a big screen where you’re going to spend a lot of time gaming (as happened to me), I think. The mode Strong it plays first.

hardware and performance

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 spares the most intense 3D games Image: Sergio Agudo

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, this Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. It is currently the star processor of the high-end Android and one of the best chips that we cánido find on the market.

This manufactured in a 4 nanometer format, which is reflected in higher energy efficiency. I have to say that the increase in efficiency is noticeable, although I’ll get to that later.

The connected Adreno 730 GPU hit too much solvency with all the 3D games I could play on the phone. For example, Apex Legends Mobile ran smoothly, without sacrificing framerates, and offered the best experience in first-person and third-person modes.

All this must be added to that 12gigas de memoria accompanying these characteristics. The performance of all these components it’s nothing but excellent, for everyday tasks and for some more specific tasks like recording and editing audio with DAWs like Track Studio. Image editing programs such as Lightroom or Snapseed were also used extensively.

As with the Samsung Galaxy S22 ultra, the liquidity of the end device It’s not as clear as in other terminals (especially iPhones). This is because Samsung emplees more subtle animations in its programa, and not an de hoy problem. At the risk of repeating myself: the performance is amazing and the fluidity is amazing. however This is to be expected in the high-end rangeand more in a terminal of this price.

programa and experience

UI 4.1.1 is a usuario-friendly and useful interfaz | Image: Sergio Agudo

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 arrived with Android 12L and OneUI 4.1.1 before One UI 5 was introduced. At first glance some changes compared to OneUI 4.1. The usuario interfaz offers hardly any visual changes between the versions, and there aren’t any major differences.

As always when we talk about Samsung we see a number of adjustments stable and packed with useful features. During my testing, I didn’t notice any errores when using the phone, and I didn’t find any aplicaciones that crashed or “broken” functionality.

The distinguishing feature of this phone is undoubtedly that it perro be opened and has a screen of almost 8 inches (which is also coincidente with the S Pen and its functions). But as I mentioned above, The Android 12L optimization is not well done. In this respect, the programa perro still be improved; Android still looks stretched and not fully adapted to large formats.

It’s not a problem with the system aplicaciones themselves. For example, the Samsung keyboard It cánido be split in half and placed at either end of the screen, which is extremely useful when entering text while the screen is displayed. The manufacturer has done a good job in some respects, but in others it espectáculos that Android does not like displays with unusual form factors.

Now if we go to the small screen Android is that dependable off-road system again. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 then begins to behave like a habitual terminal, with the system not feeling “extended”. And I think that’s a problem. If you think the same could happen to you and you have thought about buying this device for its large screen size, this might be a better iniciativa. Consider alternatives that are not enclosed and save a few good bucks in your pocket.

cameras

The back of the Samsung Galazy Z Fold 4 | Image: Sergio Agudo

Here we see one A significant change from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. Out of 3 sensors of 12 MP each, here we find a 50 MP main sensor, a 10 MP telephoto sensor and a 12 MP ultra wide sensor.

The general experience with the three rear sensors very positive. During my tests I could see that from my point of view it succeeds in taking photos, they are on par with those of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. The camera programa that works with them works great and the results obtained are amazing.

It’s especially noticeable when we do it Photos with optical zoom. While there’s still room for improvement compared to the Google plus Pixel and the latest iPhone, Samsung’s photo department continues to improve.

The front sensors, on the other hand They are lime and the other sand. The one under the big screen and its 4 MP are correct, nothing more. The one on the small screen and its 10 MP surprised me in turn especially in portrait format: The colors and lines are very well defined and the bokeh effect that it achieves by artificially playing with the depth of field is very good.

As for the night visión blushing of dark areas is very noticeable. Slightly clearer and warmer tones are achieved and even the electronic noise image is “cleaned up”. This is particularly noticeable with autofotos.

Regarding the vídeo, when the lighting is accompanied by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 achieve very good results Captures 4K quality images at 60 fps, with good dynamic range and very sharp.

In the gallery below you cánido see See how the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 camera behaves. All photos were taken with all aspect ratios and modes offered by this terminal.

battery and charging

I was surprised how well the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold lasted 4 days of use. His energy management is going very well and still 4,400miliamperio-hora battery (slightly less than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra), the terminal stands without any problems.

However, with habitual use you should have enough battery at the end of the day. It carries out fairly intense screen sessions and its consumption doesn’t increase much when we run demanding games, which is admirable.

The charging itself is Samsung limited to 25W fast charging So when it’s driving, don’t expect anything slowing down the speed of Xiaomi, for example. Of course, the quick charge keeps what it promises and that’s enough.

This must be considered Samsung does not put the charger in the boxSo you have to buy one of them or use one you already have at home.

Best alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

There’s no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a women’s machine, designed for those who want maximum performance in a foldable phone. Well, as we have already said, Accessing their prohibitive price is not easy.

Not that there are any significantly cheaper folding alternatives, but one that perro be had for a little less money, which seems to have convinced critics and the public alike that It is only the OPPO foldablethe OPPO Find N. It has an important disadvantage: It is only available as an import from China..

Buy Oppo Find N | AliExpress

A slightly cheaper alternative, also from the same brand although it’s aimed at the mid-range it would be the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. Granted, it’s a phone that folds into a clamshell, but then again, it is one of the best selling models from the Korean company.

Samsung Galaxy ZFlip 4

Another foldable clamshell we recommend is the Motorola RAZR 2022, the It surprised those who tried it.

Buy Motorola RAZR 2022 | Motorola Spain

Finally, if you’re interested in a folding device that keeps the form aspecto of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, I wouldn’t rule out the Huawei Mate Xs. even though you don’t have google plus services. This phone cánido be bought in Spain and Huawei is known for making solid devices that work well. Of course, it’s not cheap either.

Buy Huawei Mate Xs | Huawei Spain

Conclusions

There is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 a excellent billing phonewith materials that scream premium to the four winds and will satisfy anyone who wants and perro afford a folding phone.

you perro say many good things about him: Its cameras are excellent, its power management is 10, the programa works very well and the performance is great. On the other hand, if you’re paying what this terminal costs, don’t expect anything else. It does more than what it promises.

The 12 GB of RAM stored in it and especially the successful capture of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (which no doubt helps a lot in the autonomy department) They’re a big step forward for Samsung. Not that Exynos processors are bad, but I noticed significant differences in autonomy between this Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which serves as my personal phone. It might be time to think about promoting them with dignity.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the king of foldable goods, there’s no doubt about it Image: Sergio Agudo

Well, that’s a lot from my point of view, on the one hand that an uncomfortable feeling of vulnerability that I couldn’t shake I already talked about this during testing. That and that he was a dead weight that he carried from place to place. It’s not a comfortable phone and if you’re worried about the screen breaking easily, Think about it before you buy it.

On the other hand, I find the fact that The feeling of playing with a foldable only lasts for a very short time. I realized these terminals are aimed at a niche audience who clearly want a phone of this class. Of course I think it turned out to be not the case for me.

This device has been thoroughly tested Independently thanks to a move of the brand. The article contains purchase backlinks for which Andro4all may receive a commission. take part to the market channel Andro4all to find out about the best deals before anyone else.