As someone who has been testing and reviewing tech products for nearly a decade, it’s hard to get excited about new ones. phones. This became true even for foldable Now that I’ve been around phones with bendable screens for about four years.
But after spending a significant amount of time with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, I’ve learned a lot about both the promise and the compromises that come with today’s foldable devices. Although I tried the Galaxy Z Fold 4 briefly at the time of its launch, I recently decided to use it as a regular phone for about three weeks.
Seven months after the Z Fold 4 debuted, several takeaways from my colleague Patrick Holland review remain correct. But I also came away from the experience with some surprises—some fun, some not so—that keep me both excited and apprehensive about the future of foldables.
What I loved about using the Galaxy Z Fold 4
The best thing about the Galaxy Z Fold 4, of course, is its tablet-sized internal screen. The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s 7.6-inch screen meant I could let go of a device IPAD At home when on a recent flight where I can only rely on my phone to watch Netflix on a larger screen. Some of the other tasks that the Z Fold 4’s large screen comes in handy include browsing online menus at restaurants, video chatting, and reading news articles.
When the Fold 4 opens up like a tablet, its size and aspect ratio make it a pleasure to use.
Kevin Haynes/CNET
The idea of having a phone that also doubles as a tablet is nothing new for early adopters and tech enthusiasts. But it’s still a new concept to the rest of us. When I showed the Galaxy Z Fold 4 to my mom, who is an avid iPad user, she was infatuated with it. I’ve never seen her get so excited about any of the tech gadgets she’s brought home to review over the past 10 years.
I’ve had some similar reactions from friends, who have reacted with a mixture of curiosity, excitement, and skepticism. A friend exclaimed that she thought I brought a Kindle to dinner when she opened the Z Fold to display the restaurant menu on a larger screen.
This confirms my basic learning from using the Galaxy Z Fold 4 over the past few weeks. At the moment, the ability to display applications on a tablet-sized screen is its biggest feature. I care less about using apps in split screen mode and more about dedicating the entire screen to a single purpose. I never found myself using Flex Mode, a Samsung feature that splits the software between the top and bottom portions of the screen when folded halfway. I made a point to try it out, but I just didn’t find myself using it normally.
The hinge allows the Galaxy Z Fold 4 to be positioned in a variety of ways.
Richard Peterson/CNET
Aside from the large screen, I was impressed with the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s speakers. I often use my phone to play music while I clean up or get ready for the day, and the Z Fold 4 was able to fill my bedroom with sound much more easily than the smaller phones I usually use. It’s another attribute that makes the Galaxy Z Fold 4 an ideal entertainment device.
Battery life is good on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but nothing to get too excited about. With regular use, I can easily get through a day on a single charge. However, when I was traveling and relied on my phone for directions, streaming Netflix on the plane and calling lots of Ubers and Lyfts to get around, I found myself needing a fast charger.
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The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera, the same as the Galaxy S23. Both phones also have 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. I haven’t done a comprehensive comparison, but I’ve noticed that the Galaxy S23’s photos have a greater contrast in shadows, which makes photos look a little better than the Z Fold 4’s overall.
This is likely thanks to updated processing happening on the back end, driven by the S23’s new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that’s optimized for Samsung Galaxy devices. By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 runs on a previous-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. But both phones were great at taking photos in low-light scenarios, as my cat photos below show.
Those interested in a phone like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 likely won’t care much about the camera since the screen is the star of the show. But if you are going to buy an expensive phone, it should also have a great camera. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 checks this box, but keep in mind that Samsung usually reserves the best cameras for its Galaxy S devices.
What I didn’t like about using the Galaxy Z Fold 4
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has the right to prove that there is promise in a device that can act as both a phone and a tablet in one. But there are some setbacks that keep it from being as useful and enjoyable as it can be – mostly design and software related.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s wrinkle is still noticeable even now that it’s in its fourth generation. If the rumors of electricityAnd ETNews And profuse leakage ice world Proven to be true, Samsung can remedy that with a new type of hinge in the successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. But companies love it Huawei And Oppo Samsung is ahead in this regard, as my colleague Sarina Dayaram writes.
Galaxy Z Fold 4
James Martin/CNET
Galaxy Z Fold 4’s external screen looks more natural than previous versions thanks to its slightly wider design. But there are still times when the squared aspect ratio comes across. When taking pictures, for example, the cover screen provides a smaller viewfinder than you get when using a regular phone.
The phone itself is still fairly heavy, weighing in at 263 grams compared to the previous 233 grams. Galaxy S23 Ultra And 195 grams of Galaxy S23 Plus. My 5 year old nephew commented that it looked like two phones stacked on top of each other, which is an accurate characterization.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is still thick and heavy compared to a standard phone, despite Samsung’s improvements.
Kevin Haynes/CNET
While I loved using the Galaxy Z Fold’s large screen to read and watch TV, the overall software could still use some work. This is the criticism I’ve had about foldable phones for a while, and it still holds true. Today’s devices lack compelling enough software features to prove the promise behind foldable devices.
With the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4, Samsung has added a new feature that allows you to use the bottom half of the device as a trackpad when the phone is in Flex mode. While this makes it easier to navigate the phone while using Flex Mode, the biggest problem is that I never felt inclined to use Flex Mode in the first place, as I mentioned earlier.
Galaxy Z Fold 4’s Flex mode
Kevin Haynes/CNET
Overall, the Galaxy Z Fold has gone far enough to show that there is a future for foldable phones. But most of all, I found myself using it as a regular phone. This is perhaps the most telling takeaway of all. Right now, most people probably want a really good phone. But that doesn’t mean we’re not excited about the other gaps in our lives that phones like the Z Fold might fill in in the future.
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