Everything we know about Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 thus far:
There are high expectations for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4. It’s been a while since we granted the Galaxy Z Fold 3 the title of ‘best folding phone’, and the next edition will have to truly wow us in order for Samsung to retain it.
Z Fold 4 will have to wow us if it comes out after the Oppo Find N and Honor Magic V perfected the recipe with fewer visible screen folds and better specifications since the Fold 3 debuted.
If 2021’s trend is followed, this is projected to be Samsung’s next foldable phone, and the next member of the Fold line of smartphones that fold into mini-tablets.
In spite of its expected release date of August, we’ve already seen a few leaks about the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and we’ve also put up a wish-list of what the phone may look like.
The release date and pricing of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
This year’s Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is expected to be unveiled in August 2022, with a possible availability in September. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 was launched in August of its release year, and it was on sale at least a few weeks later than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.
However, we can’t be sure that Samsung will keep to that plan given that the initial Samsung Galaxy Fold was introduced in February of this year without any release date speculations. That was released in September, so we’d think an August announcement is more than reasonable.
The pricing of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 begins at $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,499, which we can only speculate about. In view of the fact that Samsung’s folding devices are often criticised for being too expensive, we expect the Z Fold 4 will be priced similarly or even less than the previous edition.
According to a reliable source, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 would be less expensive, although they did not specify by how much.
As of now, the greatest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 leak suggests to a 7.56-inch primary screen and a 6.19-inch cover display, which would put it in size ranges very comparable to the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
This device is expected to contain a slot for the S Pen pen and a design similar to Z Fold 3’s, but with an emphasis on making it more durable, according to the same sources.
According to another source, the phone will contain a space for the S Pen pen, as well as a stronger glass, and vastly better cameras.
As with the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s under-display camera, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is expected to have one as well, but this time it will be less noticeable under the screen, and it is also expected to take better photos.
Another source confirms this, suggesting the phone will feature two under-display cameras, one for the main display and the other for the smaller cover screen. This is the most likely configuration.
According to one source, the phone will have a larger battery, a redesigned hinge to make it lighter and more dust- and water-resistant, and comparable snappers to those on the Galaxy S22.
According to the latest rumours, it will include the same 10MP 3x optical zoom camera as the Samsung Galaxy S22, which is an advance over the 12MP 2x optical Zoom camera on the Z Fold 3. The 108MP primary camera from the Galaxy S22 Ultra is said to be on its way to the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
An under-display fingerprint scanner has also been detected by LetsGoDigital(opens in a new tab) in a patent application.
But this isn’t just any under-display fingerprint scanner; it’s a two-sided one that sits between the cover screen and the main screen, allowing you to unlock the phone from either side using the same hardware. We’d take this with a grain of salt, as always, when it comes to patents.
Further information about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is still pending; nevertheless, we’ll update this area as it becomes available.
What we want to see
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a lot of room for improvement or addition. The most important ones are listed here.
An affordable price.
Even though we repeat this every year, most consumers can’t afford the Galaxy Z Fold range. Although the price is understandable, we’d like to see Samsung try to lower it a tad.
Because the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 was less expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, there is reason to believe that Samsung will do the same with the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
In the long run, we’d like to see these phones be no more expensive than the highest-end traditional smartphones, but we doubt that will be the case for at least another few years.
More advanced camera systems
Although the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is an excellent phone in many respects, its cameras fall short of those of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and other recent Samsung models.
We’d like to see that on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 given how much we’re paying for these phones. Instead of the present model’s 2x optical zoom, we’d want 10x, as the S21 Ultra provides, combined with an additional lens for 3x zoom.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3’s 4MP under-display camera, which is a nice idea but seems half-baked, is our main gripe with the phone’s camera.
Battery life is extended.
The battery capacity of foldable phones seems to be a common issue, since they often have batteries that are at most comparable to that of regular smartphones, although having considerably larger displays.
With a 4,400mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is an average-sized non-foldable phone, but with two screens, one of which is 7.6″ in diameter, it doesn’t go very far here.
The battery life isn’t horrible, but in our testing, it lasted less than a day with moderate usage, so there’s space for improvement. As a result, we expect the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will have a larger battery and a longer battery life.
Front-screen S-Pen support
In addition to becoming the first folding phone to accommodate the S Pen pen, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 also has a large 6.4-inch display. However, the S Pen is not compatible with the smaller secondary screen and can only be used with the huge main display.
If you’re going to use a pen, you’re going to want to be able to use it on both the main screen and the secondary screen, and at 6.2 inches, the secondary screen isn’t exactly little.
Hence, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, we would want to see pen functionality for both displays, so that users don’t have to move between the stylus and their fingers as often.
Add a slot for an S-Pen
In addition to the stylus not working on the secondary screen, we’re upset that there isn’t a space for it in the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s use of a pen.
Using a case that doesn’t have a slot for the S Pen means you’ll be limited in your case selections, or you’ll risk losing the S Pen. If Samsung is serious about supporting styluses, then a slot should be included, even if it means taking up more space in the phone. This is particularly true if there are no more Galaxy Notes to come.