Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review (2024)

What's a computer? A few years ago, Apple infamously pushed us to embrace serious work on iPads. Now, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 ($1,799.99) takes the portable productivity concept even further with new software that simplifies multitasking. But the company's latest large-screen foldable also boasts a slightly wider screen, a more durable design, better camera hardware, and stronger 5G support than its predecessor, the Z Fold 3. All those refinements make for a phone we enthusiastically recommend, despite its high price. And that’s a good thing, because Samsung remains alone in its pursuit of big-screen foldables, at least in the US. Any foldable devices from Apple or Google are still just rumors, and Motorola's new Razr competes more with the smaller Galaxy Z Flip 4 instead.

A Refined Design

At 6.11 by 2.64 by 0.62 inches (HWD) and 9.28 ounces, the Z Fold 4 is bulkier than other flagship phones, but that's just the price you pay for power right now and it still fits comfortably into my hand in the closed position. For reference, the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max (6.3 by 3.1 by 0.3 inches, 8.5 ounces) and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (6.4 by 3.1 by 0.4 inches, 8.1 ounces) are both lighter and slimmer.

The Z Flip 4 is just as thick as the Z Fold 4, but half as tall and much lighter. In choosing between the Flip and the Fold models, you should think about how you prefer to carry your phone. The Z Fold 4 fits best in a bag or jacket pocket, whereas devices like the Z Flip 4 and iPhone 13 mini are more appropriate for storage in a smaller pants pocket.

The device opens to a wide, 7.6-inch screen (Credit: Molly Flores)

The Z Fold 4's matte back resists fingerprints well, but keys in my bag scarred up my gray model's finish a bit after just a few days. The phone also has a particularly hard-edged camera bump, so Samsung's $49.99 Slim Standing Cover (which includes a kickstand) might be a smart addition.

The phone comes in black, white, or a greenish gray, as well as a burgandy color not seen here. (Credit: Molly Flores)

The power button on the side features a quick, accurate physical fingerprint sensor. That's the best way to unlock this phone, because Samsung's face recognition method is annoyingly inaccurate (and also insecure). There is also a volume rocker, a USB-C port, and a single SIM card slot; there is no microSD tray or headphone jack. The device has an IPX8 rating, which means it is water resistant, but not dustproof.

One design improvement over the Fold 3 is a flatter hinge, though this does nothing to reduce the notorious crease on the folded-open screen. On the bright side, the improved hinge makes the phone more pocketable and comfortable in the hand. Plus, it gave Samsung room to reduce the bezel on the front-facing screen.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

On that topic, the front-facing, 6.2-inch AMOLED screen is marvelous. It sports a resolution of 2,316 by 904 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. At 2.25 inches wide, it's almost the same width as the iPhone 13 mini's screen (2.26 inches), which makes it completely usable as a primary display. The brightness is spectacular; I used it outside on very bright days without any issues. To help with visibility in bright environments, the phone kicks into an ultrabright outdoor mode that washes out the colors a bit in favor of making the screen easier to read. The front screen doesn't feature any sort of protection, so you might want to purchase a protector from Samsung for $14.99.

Fold the phone open to reveal a 7.6-inch, 2,176-by-1,812-pixel slate with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Yes, a crease is visible, and yes, there is a screen protector applied at the factory (don't remove it!) that terminates just before the edge of the panel. Samsung didn't make the screen brighter or erase the crease from the previous model, but the company says the protector here is 45% tougher. I don't purposefully damage review phones, so I can't speak to that claim, but it's a reassuring statement.

Over several days of using the phone as my primary handset, I switched back and forth between using it closed and open. I stuck with the front screen for texting and transit directions, but I switched to the big screen for browsing the web and gaming.

I'm curious as to how typing on this phone will feel over time, as the typing experience is what finally kicked me off of the Galaxy Z Fold 3. The Z Fold 3 had a Goldilocks problem for me: The keys on the front screen were too small, but the split keyboard on the large screen required me to stretch my thumbs too far. The typing experience on the Fold 4 feels more fluid, though the exterior keyboard is still a bit small. Meanwhile, the split keyboard that appears when you unfold the phone also feels more comfortable.

The S Pen stylus works with the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it doesn't come with one (Credit: Molly Flores)

Notably, the phone supports Samsung's S Pen stylus, but doesn't come with one. A case with a built-in S Pen slot (and pen) costs an extra $89.99.

Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus+ protects both the Cover display and the phone's rear panel.

Stellar Performance

A computer nowadays generally has a powerful processor and a lot of memory. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is no exception. It pairs Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.

We have full stories on the Galaxy Fold 4's benchmarks and battery life; both are encouraging. In short, the handset delivers top-of-the-line performance, and the 12GB of RAM means you can smoothly multitask without apps restarting or lagging.

As for battery life, I got about 12 hours of power on a charge for regular use, including five hours of vigorous gaming on the big screen. With less intense use, it lasted about 18 hours on a charge. The phone theoretically charges its 4,400mAh battery at 25W wired and 15W wireless, and supports 4.5W reverse charging. But Samsung's extremely conservative charging algorithm tamps down the charge rate quickly; when we tried charging the phone from a 31% battery level, a McDodo USB cable showed a charging rate of just 17W.

It's a little frustrating that such an expensive phone won't charge as quickly as the OnePlus 10T. On the other hand, no phones from either Samsung or Apple charge particularly quickly.

Excellent Connectivity

The Z Fold 4's Qualcomm X65 modem is noticeably better at squeezing the last bit of signal out of a dead zone than previous modems; the handset performs similarly to the Galaxy S22+, which beats both the S21 and iPhone 13 on such tests. Check out our full story on the Z Fold 4's signal quality for the full details.

The phone supports all the varieties of 5G that the three major carriers in the US use, according to the FCC. That includes millimeter-wave and the new 3.45GHz mid-band that AT&T plans to push next year. The FCC clearance didn't mention Dish's upcoming band 70. Although Samsung can potentially amend the device to work with those bands, I wouldn't count on that support.

The US model has a single nanoSIM slot and an eSIM, just like the devices in the Galaxy S22 series. You can activate an eSIM plan by using a QR code or an app.

Call quality, as with most premium devices, is solid. With the phone closed, the speakerphone primarily ports from the bottom, though a little bit of sound emits from the earpiece. I measured a volume level of 87dB for the former and a maximum of 94.9dB for the latter. Open the device to take advantage of the dual speakers on either side of the phone. With the phone open in tablet mode, music and games definitely sound bigger and bolder than they do on other phones. No portable device is going to have any actual bass, but the audio is certainly better than on devices with a single bottom-firing speaker. Music and calls don't necessarily sound louder, but definitely exhibit more directionality.

Otherwise, you get support for the usual wireless standards: Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.2 (curiously, not 5.3). Ultra Wideband, the little-used technology that helps you find things directionally, is also here. For Bluetooth audio, it supports the special Samsung Seamless Codec that works with Samsung accessories, such as the new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, to drive hi-res audio.

Multitasking on the Z Fold 4 (and Android 12L)

The Z Fold 4 is the first phone we've tested with Android 12L, a special version of the OS for large-screen devices. Samsung promises four more Android versions and five years of security updates. New owners won't have to wait long for Android 13, which Google should start rolling out widely in the winter of 2022.

The biggest news here is how Android 12L improves multitasking. This is the key to the Fold's success. Previously, you had to rely on invisible, finicky gestures. But now, you can pop up a dock from the bottom of the screen (like on your PC) and quickly drag any app into one of three possible split-screen window positions. I've used this feature heavily while reviewing the phone. It's silly that a small software change can affect the experience so drastically, but here we are.

It's easy to do multi-window multitasking here (Credit: Sascha Segan)

Some apps, however, do not currently work well with the device's 4:3 aspect ratio or Android 12L. For instance, a bug in Microsoft Edge causes the top toolbar to show up twice. Firefox Focus sometimes chooses an inappropriately large text font for the inner screen. If you're using WhatsApp in landscape mode and start to type a message, the text entry box takes over the whole screen and you can't see the previous message in the conversation. Some games, like the JRPG classic Ara Fell, don't scale properly, either. All that said, I'm confident Samsung and the app developers can fix these bugs over time.

Games look amazingly immersive on the big screen (Credit: Sascha Segan)

The overwhelmingly good news is that, as with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, gaming immersiveness on this phone is unparalleled. This effect is particularly noticeable with open-world or big-map games like Genshin Impact, Don't Starve, and Stardew Valley. And, unlike the Galaxy Flip 4, the Fold 4 can handle a decent Genshin gaming session without severe throttling.

Samsung Fixed the Cameras

The Fold 4's cameras are much better than those in the Fold 3. The phone has a lot of different sensors though, which we compare against those of the Flip 4 and the Galaxy S22+ in the chart below. Make sure to check out my in-depth camera comparison between the three devices.

Generally, the shots from the Galaxy Z Fold 4 cameras look similar to those from the Galaxy S22+. The previous-generation Z Fold 3 lagged behind the then-flagship S21 Ultra for night photography, but I don't see a difference in low-light image quality between the Fold 4 and the S22+ this time around.

Shots taken with the Fold 4 main camera (center) are better than those from the Flip 4 (left) and indistinguishable from the Galaxy S22+ (right) (Credit: Sascha Segan)

Samsung also improved the optical zoom from 2x to 3x. Combined with the boosted 50MP main sensor, that means you get up to 10x digital zoom. Telephoto images aren't nearly as clean as those from the Galaxy S22 Ultra's 10x optical zoom, but you can still get usable results.

The one slight disappointment is the 4MP under-display camera, which has no night mode and handles HDR scenes more poorly than the 10MP selfie camera on front. You can see the stark quality difference in the below image.

The front-facing camera (left) handles HDR situations better than the under-display camera (right) (Credit: Sascha Segan)

That under-display camera is mostly just for video calls from the big screen, so it should be fine for most use cases. If you want to use the better, front-facing camera at any point, simply put the phone in a tent shape. That's one of the main benefits of the Galaxy Z Fold 4—it gives you options.

Know When to Fold 'Em

The Galaxy Fold 4 is the only device of its kind in the US and likely will be for the foreseeable future. Microsoft's $1,499.99 Surface Duo 2 is the closest alternative, but it's not nearly as competent as a primary phone, and it lacks a one-handed mode. And compared with the previous Galaxy Fold model, refinements here include an easier-to-use front screen, better cameras, and a more svelte build.

The phone works even when half-folded (Credit: Molly Flores)

Though the Fold 4 is pricey at $1,799, its large screen makes it ideal for gamers, cinephiles, multitaskers, and frequent video callers. Samsung likes to point out that the price hasn't risen since last year, even with inflation, but $1,799 is still a lot for a phone, no matter how impressive. Trade-in discounts, carrier specials, and other deals might help you get the cost down, but the extent of the savings depends on individual circ*mstances.

The $999.99 Galaxy Z Flip 4 is an entirely different animal. Yes, it also folds, but it targets fashion-forward buyers looking to use their phones less rather than worker bees who need to get stuff done. We'll have a full review of the Z Flip 4 shortly, but it's not a viable alternative to the Galaxy Fold. If you aren't a fan of the folding design, meanwhile, Samsung's $1,199 Galaxy S22 Ultra is a good option for power users seeking the S Pen stylus experience, and the S22+ remains our mainstream Editors' Choice winner among Android devices.

But simply put, the Galaxy Fold 4 is the phone I'm most excited about so far this year. It earns a PCMag Editors' Choice award because no other device pushes the boundaries of smartphone productivity quite the same way.