Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 Review

           Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 Review

• It comes with an upgraded camera

• It is powered by an 8+ Gen 1 chip 

• A powerful battery backup

Samsung has focussed on upgrading its foldable phones this year and in our first impression of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, we shared some insight on what all new features it will be offering. Our review unit comes with 12GB/256GB RAM and ROM configuration and is priced at Rs. 1,54,999/-. Let’s have a detailed insight into the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 in this review of ours.

In the Box

The box of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 contains a USB-C cable, SIM ejector, and some documentation and no adapter.

Design

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 shares a lot of similarities with its predecessor in terms of appearance, but it has several improvements, like a lighter bodyweight, a higher screen-to-body ratio since the screen has fewer bezels, and a modest reduction in height. A frame made of metal surrounds the phone's body. The phone's whole body is made of Gorilla Glass Victus+. With an IPX8 classification, the phone can withstand being submerged in water for 30 minutes. The new Galaxy Z Fold4 has the identical concealed hinge system as the Galaxy Z Fold3 but comparatively, it is less in width. There are improvements, however, when you unfold the phone, a faded line from the hinge is visible on the screen. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is made of armor metal, which gives the phone an extremely strong overall build. In comparison to Fold3, the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 has exactly the same width as the older model but is 3mm shorter and 0.2mm thinner. It measures 155.1x67.1x14.2-15.8 mm in its folded position. Compared to its predecessor, the new Fold4 is 2mm wider. The company claims that the hinge of Galaxy Z Fold 4 can withstand 200,000 opens and closes easily. On the right side of the phone, one can spot the capacitive fingerprint scanner and volume rockers whereas on the left side lies the SIM slot. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 comes with 4 active noise cancellation mics with three located on the top along one of the speaker grilles whereas one mic is located at the bottom along with the Type-C port and the second speaker grille. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 has resolved the issue of using a specific S Pen for one particular device as the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 allows you to use the S Pen Fold Edition and the S Pen Pro. (Note- The box does not contain the S Pen). 

Display

With two displays, including a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display with a 23.1:9 aspect ratio,  and a 7.6-inch internal display with HDR10+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a 6:5 aspect ratio.  The internal display can support HDR10+ and has  1300nits brightness. The inner display has a refresh rate of 120Hz, which is the same as the refresh rate of the outer display. The screen has a little wrinkle visible on it, but it does not affect the viewing experience.   When the phone is opened up, it appears very spacious allowing you to play games, watch movies, do assignments using Word files, etc. On both panels, the color reproduction is incredibly good, which is what one would expect from a high-end phone. With perfect details and color accuracy thanks to HDR10+ compliance, the contents on the screen are really remarkable, and you may stream any video in its original form from any platform. The brand-new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 has a Motion Smoothness setting that lets you choose between Adaptive and Standard displays. In Adaptive mode, the refresh rate is set to 120Hz, while in Standard mode, it is set to 60Hz. When playing games with high requirements, the display effortlessly adjusts to the high frame rate (120Hz), enabling a fluid touch interface to improve the gaming experience.

UI

The OS used by the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is One UI 4.1.1, which is based on Android 12L and is created particularly for foldable phones. Three programs can be used simultaneously thanks to a customizable user interface (UI). The new Galaxy Z Fold4's taskbar has also been enhanced by Samsung. It provides fast access to certain program combinations and acts as a central repository for your most often used applications. You could create a shortcut to launch your browser, notes, and gallery all at once, for instance.

If you are using social networking applications or making video chats, the phone is incredibly user-friendly. We adored this feature of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 since it has a Pop-up view that compels any program, regardless of whether the developer included support or not, to open in the multi-view section. Another option is a three-way multi-window, which initially requires some setup work but may afterward be used on the taskbar. In order to provide a PC experience, the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 also has Samsung DeX compatibility, which enables you to connect the phone to a monitor or TV through a wired or wireless connection.

Additionally, according to the company, the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 will receive 4 years of OS upgrades and 5 years of security updates.

Processor

The newest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, which is also found in other smartphones like the iQOO 9T, and OnePlus 10T is included in the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4. When reviewing the phone, there was never a glitch no matter what function we performed. As was already noted, the gaming experience is incredibly fluid, and the widescreen format makes it more enjoyable. The phone is offered in 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM versions, which we evaluated, as well as 12GB RAM and 512GB ROM options. The manufacturer also makes a suggestion that the 1TB model will be offered in a few places.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 has a 50 MP wide-angle lens with a GN3 sensor and an f/1.8 aperture. A 10MP telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture and a 3x optical zoom makes up the secondary sensor. A 12MP ultrawide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture makes up the third sensor. It sports a 10MP wide lens with an aperture of f/2.2 selfie lens on the outer display and a 4MP lens with an aperture of f/2.2 on the inner display. The photographs were fantastic and full of detail, but occasionally you'll think that a premium phone leaves out certain elements that the iPhone 13 Pro does not. We enjoyed the subject separation, the way the bokeh appears natural, and how well the HDR worked in portrait mode. The photographs that were taken at night kept a very high degree of detail and the right saturation. We enjoyed the Fold4's low-light performance and took some amazing nighttime pictures. Thanks to the smart UI and foldable design of the phone, the back camera can also be utilized for selfies. Samsung did a great job with this by providing instructions on how to use the rear camera for selfies. The selfies that were taken with the primary selfie sensor were fairly decent and had all the necessary information. Compared to the previous Fold3, the internal camera is substantially improved, although you wouldn't use it to take selfies, and is only of use when you are attending any video call. The primary camera on the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 can capture videos at 24 frames per second in up to 8K quality. The primary camera lens, the telephoto lens, and the ultrawide lens can all capture 4K video at 30 and 60 frames per second. While the outside selfie sensor can capture 4K movies at 30 and 60 frames per second, the inner selfie sensor can record films in 1080p at 30 and 60 frames per second. All of the lenses used to record the videos produced highly steady footage. While 8K, in particular, is exclusively encoded using h.265, the phone also offers the option to utilize the h.265 codec in place of the standard h.264 codec.

The overall camera ability has surely been improved compared to its predecessor which is very evident in the images captured by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4. 

Speakers

The sound quality of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is quite immersive and one can enjoy any videos or movies as the sound produced enhances the viewing experience. Similar speaker settings are included on the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 as on its predecessor. Two speakers are included with the phone, and when it is opened up, they are on the left side of the device. The speakers are positioned at the top and bottom, respectively, with one firing upward and the other firing downward. While the device is folded, the top speaker works as both a speaker that projects sound directly at you when playing back video.  

Battery

A 4,400mAh battery is used in the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4. Throughout the course of our review, we were able to use the phone continuously on a single charge for a whole day. The phone is compatible with 4.5W reverse wireless charging, 15W wireless charging 2.0, and 25W fast charging. You won't be impressed by the charging speed, especially when modern smartphones can be completely charged in under 30 minutes. Nearly 1:30 hours were needed to fully charge the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 using the 25W power adapter. Additionally, the phone has reverse wireless charging, which enables you to charge devices at up to 4.5W from the Fold's back.

Conclusion

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is an absolute improvement over its predecessor in every way, but when it comes to the competition the phone falls short on a few grounds like the camera quality, as few high-end phones from Samsung itself like the S series phones.  The phone takes a while to charge, which is another area where we believe the company might have made improvements.