Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4: 6 things you need to know

[ Samsung Galaxy Z Flip / Fold 4 Promo ] Use the code SYGZF4VIP when you pre-order the Galaxy Z Flip 4 or Fold 4 on Samsung Malaysia online store to get an additional Free Super-Fast Wireless Charging Duo worth RM369. If you pre-order the Galaxy Watch 5 or Buds 2 Pro, you can use the same SYGZF4VIP code to redeem a 15W USB-C PD Charger worth RM59.

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Following weeks of build up, Samsung has finally held its Galaxy Unpacked event earlier this week, which saw the debut of two new members of its foldable smartphone family: the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy Z Fold 4. The former is positioned as the foldable for the masses, while the latter is seen more as the foldable for the power user.

At first glance though, these two devices don’t actually look that much different from their predecessors, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3. But as always, there’s more than meets the eye, so here’s a quick look at what’s new with the Korean giant’s two new devices, though for a more detailed breakdown of each device, you can check out our announcement posts for the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4.

1. Android 12L makes its debut

When the Galaxy Z Fold 4 was revealed, the first thing that caught not just my eye but also that of Rory and Amin were the new software features, specifically the taskbar at the bottom of the main display.

That taskbar is actually part of Google’s big push to optimise the user experience on large screen devices running Android such as tablets and—you’ve guessed it—foldables. Dubbed as Android 12L, Google first announced it back in last year’s Android Dev Summit, and it’s basically a special feature drop for regular ol’ Android 12 that improves app compatibility on larger displays, makes multitasking more intuitive and powerful as well as introduce more features to make use of all the additional real estate available, such as the taskbar, splitscreen use, drag-and-drop and more.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the first device to ship with Android 12L—albeit with the One UI 4.1.1 skin over it—and hopefully it’ll actually give people a reason to switch over to the bigger display more. See, Android tablets—and by extension, large foldables such as the Galaxy Z Fold series—have always suffered issues in the software department. No matter how well specced a device is, the user experience is only as good as the software on it too. Apple’s iPads have always had the leg up in this regard with their iPadOS being extremely fine tuned for use on their tablets, whereas before this, Android tablets tend to end up just being a very large smartphone.

With the Galaxy Z Fold 4 now coming with Android 12L, users will likely find productivity and multitasking easier than ever when they hop over to the bigger display. Samsung has also teamed up with Google and Microsoft to improve the experience of using the two companies’ suite of apps, such as Google Meet, YouTube, Chrome, Outlook, Office, Teams and more on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

2. Galaxy Z Flip 4 gets a bigger battery

While the biggest feature on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 was arguably its software, as for the Galaxy Z Flip 4, there’s no doubt the biggest new feature here is quite literally its battery. One of the biggest complaints many users, including us, had with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 was its poor battery performance.

With the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Samsung has hopefully fixed the issue by increasing its battery capacity to 3,700mAh, compared to the 3,300mAh battery on last year’s model. Furthermore, Samsung has upped the wired fast charging speed on the Galaxy Z Flip 4 to 25W, from the 15W fast charging on the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The wireless charging has been upgraded too, and now charges at 15W compared to the 10W wireless charging on its predecessor.

3. New silicon under the hood

As is typically the case with new smartphone launches, they will get a whole host of hardware refreshes, with the most common one being new processors under the hood. As for the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy Z Fold 4, they are no different and get the latest and greatest from Qualcomm to power them.

Both devices will be getting a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, an improved version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in their previous Galaxy S22 series. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 will get 8GB of RAM as standard across its range, with up to 512GB of storage available, while the Galaxy Z Fold 4 gets 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Both also come with support for 5G, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC connectivity.

4. Samsung gives them both camera upgrades

While the camera systems have never been the biggest priority for these foldable smartphones, Samsung has nevertheless still given both devices an upgrade in the camera department.

With the Galaxy Z Fold 4 for example, it now has the same camera setup as the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ on the rear. This means a triple camera setup with a 50MP, f/1.8 main camera together with a 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide angle lens as well as a 10MP, f/2.4 telephoto shooter capable of a 3x optical zoom and a 10x digital zoom. You’ll also get the Galaxy S22’s ‘Nightography’ features for shooting in low light conditions. Elsewhere, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 also gets a 10MP, f/2.2 camera on the cover display while the main display has a 4MP, f/1.8 camera that Samsung says is now less noticeable compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

As for the Galaxy Z Flip 4, it too has some improvements in the camera department, albeit not as much as the Galaxy Z Fold 4. In fact, at least on paper it does look like the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has the same camera setup as its predecessor—a 12MP, f/1.8 main camera and a secondary 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera on the rear, and a 10MP, f/2.4 selfie camera on the front. However, Samsung does claim that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has much better low light performance and is able to capture up to 65% more light than before, along with improved stabilisation and subject tracking.

5. Both are slightly smaller than before

Ever since the original Galaxy Z Fold debuted years back, Samsung’s flagship foldable always looked a little off due to the extra long aspect ratio of the cover display. It was rectified a little with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and with the Galaxy Z Fold 4 Samsung has again taken just a bit more off the top to make the aspect ratio less like a bar and more like an actual phone.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 now measures 155.1mm high, 67.1mm wide and 15.8mm thick when folded, with the width and thickness going to 130.1mm and 6.3mm when unfolded. It’s also a little bit less hefty now at 263g, which is 8g less than what the Galaxy Z Fold 4 weighed.

As for the Galaxy Z Flip 4, it too is slightly smaller than its predecessor. Measuring 71.9mm wide, when unfolded it’s 165.2mm tall and 6.9mm thick, and when you fold it it becomes 84.9mm tall and 17.1mm thick. In comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 measured 166mm unfolded and 86.4mm when folded down. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a little bit heavier though, weighing in at 187g compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s 183g.

6. They’re more expensive than before

Both the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 have unfortunately gone up in price compared to last year’s models. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 now starts at RM4,099 while the Galaxy Z Fold 4 starts at RM6,799, up RM100 compared to the starting prices of Samsung’s foldables from last year. You can find out more about the pre-order promotions for both devices here.

On the bright side, if you are considering getting one of these new foldable smartphones, you can use a special promo code just for SoyaCincau readers on checkout to redeem a free gift. All you have to do is pre-order through their online store and use the code SYGZF4VIP when you’re checking out to receive an extra Super Fast Wireless Charger Duo with power adapter and cable worth RM369. This is a 15W wireless charging pad that let’s you wirelessly charge your smartphone and your smartwatch or wireless earbuds at the same time.

For more about the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, you can also check out our first impressions of the two below: