Editor’s rating: 4/5 Display Performance Battery Camera I have to say the experience was top-notch, nothing less than what we can expect from an ultra-premium segment smartphone. As soon as I unpacked the retail box and took out the device, it was all glitter and gold since that. I used the smartphone for around a week until now. Here I am sharing the first impressions based on the various perspectives I have tested the smartphone on the basis of. I will try my best to mention the upsides and downsides of the smartphone according to my honest experience.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 pricing and availability in India
As of now, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will be available in India at a starting price of Rs 1,54,999. The smartphone will be available in India starting from august 27 for purchase from multiple online and offline stores. As of now, you can directly pre-order the smartphone by visiting the official website of Samsung India. The high-end variant of the smartphone with 12GB RAM and 1TGB via microSD card will be priced at Rs 1,84,999.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 specs
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review: Design
In terms of design, you will not get to see a lot of changes as compared to its predecessor. However, there are a few tweaks made to the fourth phone from the series. The smartphone has a larger external display as compared to that of Fold 3. At the back of the smartphone, minor tweaks has been made but you will only manage to spot them when you hold both devices together. Both the rear and the cover display of the smartphone come with corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection. The hinge and the body of the device are made of Armor Aluminium. It weighs around 263 grams which is a bit less as compared to the predecessor. While using the device for around 10 days and under different situations, the body was almost scratch resistant which is a good thing as no one will love scratches on a one and a half lacs rupee phone. Even after all the changes, I cannot say that the smartphone is suitable for one-hand operation. Furthermore, the phone can give you a ride to hell while laying down on your bed. One thing which I loved about the latest Fold installment is that the hinges of the handset are quite slimmer as compared to its predecessors. The unfolded internal screen measures around 7.6-inch and has slimmer bezels than its predecessor offering a much more immersive experience. If you look closely, you will spot the new and improved Under Display Camera. Unlike its predecessor, you won’t notice it as easily as one could do with Galaxy Fold 3. Like all previous generation Galaxy Z Fold series phones, the Fold 4 also embraces the book-style fold – unfold design. The new folding phone is almost identical to the Z fold 3 in both form and function. Samsung has made teeny-weeny refinements here and there which you will only pick up if you have used the Fold 3 extensively in the past.Some of the design refinements include a 3-millimetres bigger front screen which you will certainly find helpful for typing if you are moving from a Fold 3. The typing experience on Fold 3 front screen was a bit cumbersome, especially for those with large fingers. With a couple of millimetres larger screen along with keyboard improvement, I now enjoy typing on the Fold 4 front screen. Samsung manages to trim out bezels around the inner screen further to achieve more than 90 per cent of the screen-to-body ratio.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review: Display
Coming to the display, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 flaunts a 7.6-inch QXGA+ LTPO AMOLED display coupled with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The cover display for the smartphone is 6.2-inch in size with an AMOLED panel and 120Hz refresh rate. The streaming and viewing experience on the smartphone has been amazing and I felt that since the very first day. The primary display of the device has around 1200 nits of peak brightness which even improves the experience. In simple terms, the cover display of the smartphone is wide and short and tries its best to make you feel like a regular device. On the other hand, unfolding the device seems like an arm wrestling competition, and no I am not joking. You need to have a decent amount of power in hand to open the device. The smartphone also supports S-Pen support, however, its smooth flow on the screen is restricted by the crease. I started watching She-Hulk on the smartphone and the display output was something which cannot be matched by foldable devices on the market. Both the displays of the smartphone deliver visible output even under a high amount of sunlight which makes it convenient for the user too. You can also watch Netflix on the cover display of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Nevertheless, I have to say that the cover display could have delivered a better experience if it was bigger in size. Now considering the fact that the smartphone has a square-shaped display, I got to see a black screen at the top and bottom while watching videos.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review: Performance
The phone is a beast in itself if you take the hardware into account. Samsung has parked a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor inside which is based on a 4nm fabrication node. The octa-core chipset is currently the best in the business and as expected it has lived up to that reputation thus far. Having said that, Samsung isn’t gunning for the fastest android phone tag here. Coming to configurations, the phone comes with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Starting with the practical usage, I installed Genshin Impact on the device, because I wanted to go heavy on it. Nothing surprising, the smartphone was able to run the game without any heating or lagging issues. Trust me when I say that multitasking on the device feels super smooth and you will have no complaints with the seamless operations of the device. The device is also being hailed as one of the first Samsung smartphones to operate on the Android 12 operating system based on the OneUI 4.1.1. For your information, the Android 12L is an operating system specially designed for large-screened smartphones and devices. The Android version makes sure that the dual display performance is highly optimized. The best part about the OS is that it lets the applications adjust according to the cover and inner display at the time when the device is folded or unfolded. The company has promised to deliver five years of security updates and four more Android versions for the device. Now, keep one thing in mind, you have to enable loudspeakers when you want to make calls using the larger display. Another major highlight that skyrockets the performance is the addition of the taskbar to the device. The taskbar of the smartphone can be used to add necessary apps that are supposed to be accessed every time. One can add apps there by just dragging and dropping which makes it easy to use for everyone. Apart from that, the smartphone allows you to open three different windows at the same time. I also opened multiple applications in the floating windows and the phone still managed to work smoothly.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review: Camera
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold rocks a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 50MP primary shooter, 12MP ultra wide-angle shooter, and a 10MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. The performance of the rear camera is breathtaking as it manages to deliver some of the best shots efficiently. Keep in mind that the 50MP primary sensor is based on tetra binning tech which produces output up to 12MP resolution. On the front, we get to see a 4MP under-display camera for video calls and a 10MP sensor outside for the sake of selfies. Starting off with the 50MP primary shooter, it helps in producing some of the best shots in multiple lighting conditions. Whether you are taking a wide-angle shot or a portrait, the sensor makes sure that you get high-quality output and accurate shots. The 12MP ultra wide-angle sensor of the smartphone captures photographs with a lot of details in a single frame. The telephoto snapper for the smartphone captures decent photographs even if the subject is at a considerable distance. Not only this but the primary shooter of the handset can also be used as a selfie snapper and it is a feature which I found more than attractive. As for the video recording functionality, the smartphone does a pretty satisfactory job. It offers a Director’s Mode which can be used by bloggers and other professionals to switch between the three different sensors while shooting a single video. The HDR mode of the smartphone makes sure that all the lost shadows in a particular shot get recovered. No doubt in saying that the Night portrait mode reduced the noise completely from the photographs. The ultra wide-angle sensor of the smartphone is a bit disappointing in low light as it misses out on almost all the details in a shot. Don’t expect much from the 4MP sensor offered in the device as it fails to click decent selfies even. The company already mentioned that it is only for the purpose of attending video calls via the device.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review: Battery
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 draws power from a 4400mAh battery that comes with support for 25W fast charging. Now, this comes as a major turnoff because the charging speed of the smartphone is quite slow when you compare it with the likes of the OnePlus 10 Pro or Xiaomi 12 Ultra. If you are someone who wants to use the larger display more, then make sure you have the charger handy as the battery drains much faster in that case. The battery of the smartphone also charges slowly as it took the device around 42 minutes to get from zero per cent to 50 per cent. The device got fully fueled up in around an hour and 35 minutes. Furthermore, if the Protect Battery mode of the handset is enabled then it takes a lot more time. Samsung could have done better in terms of charging capacity here. Another major disappointing factor is that Samsung is not offering a charger in the box which I am unable to digest. At the price so high, at least the company could have offered a charger in the box. At the time of testing, I completely charged the smartphone and then used it for multiple operations like making calls, watching shows and movies, playing games, surfing the internet via Chrome, and listening to music. The smartphone lasted for around 7 to 8 hours before reaching 10 per cent battery level. While watching videos, the smartphone’s battery drains at a speed of 14% per hour. At the time of running heavy games like Asphalt 9, and Apex Legends Mobile, the device’s battery drained at a speed of 17% per hour.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review: Should you buy it or not?
Samsung is no doubt banking on the foldable factor of the smartphone along with offering a high-performing configuration. The smartphone is going to be the first option for people who want a premium experience without switching from Android to iOS. Moreover, the concept of folding smartphones is still new to most users right now. So we can expect a large amount of audience to get inclined toward the latest instalment of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series. Moreover, the device is bliss for people who want to have a smartphone along with a pocket tablet at the same time. The 8K video recording capability of the device along with night photography skills gives it an edge over competition.
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