What you need to know
- Samsung is back with the much anticipated foldable devices of this year.
- Alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 goes official.
- Starts at $999 and brings improvements and a bigger battery than the predecessor.
It is that time of the year when we expect foldable devices from Samsung, and they are here. Samsung has announced one of its latest and greatest foldables: the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which starts at just $999 — the same as the predecessor.
The design and display also fall in the same footsteps as the predecessor. The main screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 4 measures 6.7-inches featuring Full HD+ resolution and is an AMOLED panel. It comes with a tall 22:9 aspect ratio, which Samsung calls an Infinity Flex Display. The high 120Hz refresh rate is also here, which can also go as low as 1Hz when needed. The external Super AMOLED cover screen measures 1.9-inches.
According to Samsung, there are some significant differences in the new clamshell foldable phone. That includes an upgraded camera experience, a larger battery, and other customization options within the user interface. All these while maintaining the compact form factor in which the Galaxy Flip 4 comes in.
On the design front, Samsung says the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a slimmer hinge and straightened edges. It further includes a hazed back glass and metal frames.
The processor underneath is the primary difference between the predecessor and even Samsung's latest Galaxy S22 series. Samsung has opted for the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC with the new foldable, a step and a half above the chipset in the Galaxy Z Flip 3. It is also powered by a slightly bigger 3700mAh battery — 400mAh up from the Flip 3. It supports faster charging at 25W and promises to juice up to 50% in roughly 30-minutes.
For cameras, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 hosts dual rear cameras: a primary 12MP wide-angle camera with slightly larger 1.8μm pixels, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, so not much has changed on this front. The former has an 83-degree FOV, while the latter settles for a 123-degree FOV. There is a 10MP selfie camera with an f/2.4 aperture on the front.
The optics are pretty familiar from the previous model, and Samsung boasts similar user experiences thanks to the hinge design. For instance, the FlexCam feature introduced with the predecessor is still present on the Flip 4. It lets you shoot hands-free video or capture group selfies with angles ranging from 75 to 114 degrees.
To take full advantage of the features, Samsung has partnered with Meta, and the FlexCam feature is said to be optimized for social media platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. The main cameras can also be used as selfie cameras with the Quick Shot mode from the cover screen — that can also act as a viewfinder. Similarly, vloggers can shoot high-quality videos using the Quick Shot mode with the main cameras.
Accompanying the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC is 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of internal storage. The device ships with Android 12-based One UI 4.1.1. However, since the beta program is already open, you can probably expect it to get Android 13-based One UI 5 sooner rather than later.
The other highlights of the Flip 4 include an IPX8 rating for water resistance. The connectivity options include 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, and supports Bluetooth 5.2. The security options include Samsung Knox and Knox vault, and the device hosts a capacitive side-mounted fingerprint sensor for authentication.
Like the rest of the new Galaxy devices, availability starts August 26, wherein the preorders for the Galaxy Z Flip 4 start today. As suggested, the base variant starts at $999, and the device comes in Bora Purple and Graphite colors, along with Pink Gold, and Blue. Samsung is also making the popular Bespoke Edition of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 available on Samsung.com and select Samsung Experience stores. It can further open up 75 additional color combinations to choose from and make the Flip 4 more personal as per your liking.
