Reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Fold Z4 has been incredible fun — it’s one of the best smartphones of 2022.
It’s also one of the most expensive handsets you can currently buy in Ireland — at €2299.
That price will include a free black stand case and S Pen stylus and 25w travel adapter if you snap one up before the end of the year.
Z Fold 4 is not perfect, but it is a gadget lover’s dream and if I was to buy one 2022 smartphone - this would be it.
READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 review: the most fun phone of 2022 isn't without its drawbacks
It’s a 6.2in smartphone and 7.6in tablet in one, with two stunning displays, great multi-tasking features, incredibly fast performance and improvements to its predecessor’s camera system and hinge.
And it turns heads every time you use it, just as much as the more compact foldable, Galaxy Z Flip 4.
The imperfections include the bulkiness when it’s folded, the crease in the main 7.6in display, the fact that it has five cameras; none of which are the best in Samsung’s armoury.
Pros
Superfast performance
Excellent battery life
Solid and reliable camera system
Lots of unique features
Cons
Only 25w wired charging
Pointless under-display camera
Dust collects in gap when folded
Galaxy Z Fold 4 full review: design and build
Galaxy Z Fold 4 is wedge-shaped, book-style vertical folding device with a tall 6.2in external display and a large 7.6in internal folding display.
One of the big plus points of course is the hinge which holds the display open at any angle.
The hinge has been re-designed this year and the folded phone is a little less bulky than last year’s model. It’s also easy to fold and unfold.
But you can still see the crease. You don’t notice it after a few days of use, but others will always comment on it when you show them the phone for the first time.
Z Fold 4 is 263g which is about 20g heavier than Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 displays
The front AMOLED display has been widened slightly over Z Fold 3 which makes it easier for typing quick email or message replies. It’s still not as wide as I would like.
There’s no screen protector on the front display so be careful. The reviewer who used the phone before me left a nasty scratch on the device despite the Gorilla Glass Victus protection.
The front display is bright enough to use outdoors and has a 120Hz refresh rate as does the larger inner panel.
Once that stunning main display is opened, it is great for videos, games, reading websites, magazines and books — or multitasking with up to three apps open at the same time.
Using a pair of apps on a screen roughly the size of two phones side-by-side is makes things like meal planning, online shopping and work research so easy.
It’s now so easy to use split screen mode too, you just swipe in from the left to open up a pair and you can so easily swap between pairs of apps it makes working on this device an absolute pleasure.
Turning the Z Fold 4 to landscape gives you dual-pane views in some apps such as Gmail, so you can see your inbox on the left and a reading pane on the right.
The larger display has got a 21:6:18 aspect ratio and is also bright enough to use outdoors.
There is a screen protector on the main display which has held up very well for me.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 cameras
The best Samsung camera system is still on the S22 Ultra.
But having used the Z Fold 4 now for a couple of months, I’ve been more than pleased with the 50MP f/1.8 main camera especially. It consistently produces detailed and vibrant images with impressive dynamic range. It’s the same shooter that is on the S22+ and S22.
You also get the 10MP f/2.4 telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom from those phones and a capable 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with similar colours and dynamic range to the main camera.
The 3x telephoto also produces crisp and clear shots on a consistent level and doubles up as a decent macro lens.
You can display the viewfinder and recently snapped images side-by-side on the internal display.
There is also an under-display selfie camera on the main display which I never use due to its low resolution.
You may be impressed by how it’s hidden under the screen, but it does not have much practical use.
I also rarely use the selfie camera on the front screen because Cover Screen Preview allows you to snap selfies using the rear camera setup while unfolded using the outer display as a viewfinder.
You may not always want more detailed 50MP selfie shots, in fairness.
But I think having five cameras when it only needs three is one of the errors of the Fold system – the money spent on those lenses could have been used elsewhere.
You can shoot video at up to 8K at 24 frames per second (fps) or 4K at up to 60fps. The latter is sharp and detailed and well stabilised but not quite at the high S22 Ultra level of quality.
S Pen
Z Fold 4 supports using a stylus which can be very useful for taking notes on that main display. But it’s frustrating that the front display does not support the S Pen.
You will need a case to slot the stylus into, but if you buy the phone before the end of 2022 then you will get the case and S Pen free.
If you are an S Pen fan, then you can’t argue that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is still the best option because the stylus is built into the device.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 performance
And let’s not forget this is all powered by the very latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, which is only available on a handful of other phones currently such as Galaxy Z Flip 4 and OnePlus 10T.
This SoC (system on a chip) delivers consistently excellent performance without getting hot.
That makes Z Fold 4 even more powerful and superfast than Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, still the most complete Android phone of 2022 because of its superior camera system and built-in S Pen.
Z Fold 4’s power means that playing AAA games on it is a joy, especially when you factor in the screen size and the super surround sound speakers.
Frame rates are consistently great, and the phone never gets hot even during intensive gameplay sessions of 30 minutes or more.
Unique features
New to Z Fold 4 is the taskbar.
It’s like the Edge panel that has been on Samsung phones for years but runs along the bottom like an iPad or Mac taskbar.
The taskbar is always easily accessible on the main inner display and is split into two main sections separated by a dividing line.
To the right of the line are icons for the last two apps you’ve used.
A quick tap will swap between them and is a super quick way to multitask between three full-screen apps.
To the left of the line is a mirror of your pinned home screen apps. These can be folders holding multiple apps too. The left also includes easy access to the app drawer.
It essentially means you are only two taps from any app on the phone at any time, a power user’s dream that’s a huge boost to productivity.
The taskbar is an Android 12L feature rather than a Samsung idea. But for now, this is the only phone running Android 12L, an OS developed specifically for foldables.
Flex Mode is another unique feature to Samsung foldables, and on some apps this now includes the ability to use the bottom half of the screen as a trackpad.
The Edge panel is still present too, which seems odd and unnecessary.
Hugely popular apps such as Facebook, Messenger, Netflix, Disney+, Microsoft Office suite and WhatsApp make the most of the large internal display but sadly not all apps do.
Instagram is a rather awful experience on the main display. That’s the developer’s fault and not Samsung’s, in fairness.
Battery life
Galaxy Z Fold 4’s battery system is split between the two halves of the handset, with a modest 4,400mAh combined capacity.
I needed to recharge it every day and some days during testing the battery was depleted by 7pm or 8pm.
However, I generally had about 10 per cent in the tank at midnight after an 8am start.
You can charge the phone from zero to 50 per cent in 30 minutes but to put that into context you can fully recharge the OnePlus 10T in the same amount of time.
The phone only supports 25w wired charging compared to that OnePlus device’s 150w charging.
There is also no charger in the Z Fold 4 box but there is a charger with the 10T.
Other features
Samsung is offering four years of OS upgrades – taking you to Android 16 – and five years of security patches which is second only to Apple in terms of support and long-term value.
Because the phone does not fold flat, the gap between the folded displays becomes an easy place for dust and pocket lint to collect.
I often had to wipe the display clean from dust after taking it out of my pocket. This is a worry as the device is not rated for dust resistance. It is IPX8 rated for water resistance.
If you have concerns over the durability of the phone itself, this video from Michael Fisher is well worth watching.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 verdict
As I said above, Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra is still the most complete Android phone of 2022 because of its superior camera system and built-in S Pen.
But if you are less of a photography enthusiast and want a smartphone to work on, then the best productivity device is without question the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
It’s also great fun to use, turns heads when you use it in public, has solid and reliable cameras, lots of unique features and is water resistant.
Rival foldables from OPPO, Xiaomi and Huawei are at this point unavailable in Ireland which makes Galaxy Z Fold 4 not just one of the best phones you can buy but the best foldable you can buy.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 pricing
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 costs €2299. If you buy before December 31, you get a charger, S Pen and holding case included free.
Galaxy Z Fold 4 key specs (reviewed model)
Dimensions: 155.1 x 67.1 x 15.8mm (folded)/155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3mm (unfolded)
Weight: 263g
Main screen: 7.6in QXGA+ 120Hz AMOLED flexible display, 374ppi
Cover screen: 6.2in HD+ 120Hx AMOLED, 402 ppi
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 256GB
Operating system: One UI 4.1 based on Android 12L
Camera: 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto; 10MP and 4MP selfie cameras
Connectivity: 5G, dual sim, esim, USB-C, WiFi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2
Water resistance: IPX8 (1.5 metres for 30 minutes)
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