We are eagerly awaiting Samsung’s next foldable smartphone to hit the market at an affordable price.
After the Galaxy Z Flip 3 debuted in the summer of 2013, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a lot to live up to. Samsung improved its clamshell-style foldable phone with that model, making improvements across the board and introducing a much more reasonable starting price of $999 for the first generation.
The foldable phone category, which is still a relatively new one, offers a lot of potential for future growth. Even though the Galaxy Z Flip 3 isn’t perfect, Samsung will have plenty of room to improve it when a new model is released later this year. Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has the potential to be a game-changer when it comes to battery life and durability.
What we know and what we’d like to see in the Galaxy Z Flip 4 to make it one of the best foldable phones have been gathered from what we’ve heard and what we’d like to see in the device.
Estimated price and release date for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
We can only speculate based on Samsung’s previous Unpacked events, but we believe the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will be unveiled in August. It is possible that Samsung is trying to give itself some time before Apple’s iPhone 14 launches in September by launching the Galaxy Z phones at the beginning of the year.
For the price of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, we can’t see it changing from what it currently charges. Moreover, the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s $999 starting price was one of its most distinguishing features. A reasonable price point is essential if Samsung wants more people to experiment with foldable devices. Ross Young, a trusted leaker, speculated on Twitter that the price may drop even further.
The design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
For the most part, the Z Flip 3 was a minor tweak to the design of the original Galaxy Z Flip, and from what we’ve seen and heard, the new Z Flip 4 could be a slightly different version of that design.
This is well illustrated in a new set of renders. Only a few minuscule changes to the outer display size and overall dimensions will differentiate the Z Flip 4 from its predecessors in terms of size and shape, according to reports. This is a good thing, because we’d be annoyed if Samsung didn’t do more to improve the phone’s aesthetics.
The only rumour we have to go on is that there will be four colour options. A gold, silver, light-blue and light-violet shade is expected.
Rumored specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
A rumour claims that Samsung will keep the 6.7-inch internal and 1.9-inch external displays of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 in the Galaxy Z Flip 4. That makes sense, given the Flip 3’s attractive design and the usefulness of the external display. But according to Ross Young, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 could feature a larger cover display, with a minimum of a two-inch screen size.
For the Galaxy Z Flip 4, we’ve also heard that Samsung is working on an under-display camera model. We can only hope that this isn’t the final one, given the shoddy one in the Galaxy Z Fold 3. By modifying the hinge design of the Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung is hoping to reduce the phone’s weight, according to the leaker. To us, the Oppo Find N’s gapless design is the only thing we’d like to see.
According to some reports, the battery capacity of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will be the same as the Flip 3’s (3,300 mAh). Two leaks, on the other hand, claim that Samsung intends to boost the total battery capacity by 400 mAh. Samsung needs to do more to improve the Z Flip’s battery life, but this is a good step in the right direction.
Instead of the current standard 8 Gen 1 chip found in phones like the Galaxy S22 series, Samsung could use the rumoured Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus chip to run the phone. The leaked benchmarks indicate that it has a significant performance boost over the previous year’s model and many other smartphones released this year.
Another possible resemblance to the previous model is a fingerprint sensor that is located on the power button. For the time being, Samsung has decided the Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 are better off without an under-display fingerprint sensor.
It is possible that the phone will be renamed later this year. The Galaxy Flip 3 is now being sold in some European countries as a response to Russian officials using the letter Z to support the invasion of Ukraine. It’s possible that Samsung will no longer use the Z suffix when referring to the Galaxy Flip 4 in the future.
Galaxy Z Flip 4: What we’d like to see from Samsung
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 was a significant upgrade over the original model. However, it was far from ideal. When Samsung unveils the Galaxy Z Flip 4, we expect it to address some of these pressing issues.
Better battery life
The battery life on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 was appalling. In Tom’s Guide’s battery life test, the adaptive refresh rate mode didn’t even last six hours. Those aren’t very encouraging signs. Because of its 120Hz internal displays and larger cover display, we believe that this was a contributing factor. If you purchased the Galaxy Z Flip 3, we advised that you keep a charger nearby.
We’d like to see the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s battery life improve. A simple task, but one that could be difficult to accomplish if Samsung doesn’t increase the battery capacity. However, it is unlikely that these improvements in power efficiency from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will have a significant impact.
Improved durability
There have been reports of Galaxy Z Flip 3 units breaking within a few months of purchase, despite Samsung making significant improvements to the durability of its previous round of foldables. Even though we can’t corroborate these claims with our own experience, hearing that phones don’t last a year is concerning. Foldables have a long way to go in this area.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4’s durability and longevity could use some work. A year or even a few months after spending $999 on a phone, no one wants it to break or become unusable.
Gapless hinge
Although Samsung may have been the first to introduce a foldable phone, Oppo has surpassed the Korean manufacturer in one crucial area: hinge design. Gaps are nonexistent on the Oppo Find N’s hinges. Because there is no gap between the displays at the hinge, this should help to protect the internal screens from dust and other debris that could otherwise get into the screens.
Gapless hinges are something we’d like to see on the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4. Take a cue from Oppo’s playbook, Samsung.
Faster charging
The Galaxy Z Flip 3’s 15W wired charging is pathetically slow compared to the rest of the industry, let alone $1,000 phones. Flip 3’s battery life was so bad that we wanted it to charge much faster than the OnePlus 9 Pro, which can charge at 65W.
At the very least, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 should have a battery capacity of at least 25W, which is what the Galaxy S22 has. (Galaxy S22 Ultra and S22 Plus charge at 45W wired.)
A telephoto lens
Samsung may have made the decision not to include a telephoto lens on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 in order to save money. There were two cameras on the phone: one for the primary camera and one for the ultrawide. We believe the absence of a 3x telephoto lens on the Flip 3 is glaring in comparison to the $999 Galaxy S22 Plus.
Even if it only has a 2x or 2.5x zoom, a telephoto lens is something we’d like to see on the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Samsung may have to make some compromises in order to make the switch to a foldable, but the loss of camera functionality seems like a more difficult one to justify.