Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 (8GB+128GB)

We have on our hands the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 one of Samsung’s iconic form factor that has a compact clamshell design with a more refined look now with a slimmer hinge, straightened edges, contrasting hazed back glass and glossy metal frames.

The Galaxy Z Flip4 offers four available colorways in Bora Purple, Pink Gold, Blue and our review unit in Graphite Black.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 iw now available in all Samsung concept stores nationwide and its online channel on Lazada and Shopee. It is priced ar PHP58,990.00 for the 128GB variant, PHP62,990.00 for the 256GB variant and PHP69,990.00 for the 512GB variant.

So, let’s see what are the cool new features on the Galaxy Z Flip4.

Design and Build Quality

At the back, It now looks more elegant with the metallic borders around the glass are now thinner on the Z Flip4.

The aluminum frame of the Galaxy Z Flip4 has a glossy finish and the glass on the back now has a matte finish. On the top left you have a dual camera setup arranged vertically with an LED flash underneath it.

At the center of the hinge, there’s a nice debossed Samsung logo then some certification markings below the back panel.

Buttons are on the right-hand side, including the fingerprint scanner which is embedded in the power button. The SIM card tray is found on the left side.

Housed at the bottom are its grille speaker, USB-C port, microphone while on the top another microphone is placed.

Buttons and ports on the Galaxy Flip4

The Z Flip4 gets an IPX8 rating against water and dust giving you a peace of mind knowing it will survive if you accidentally drop it in the water or extreme weather conditions.

Although you get dust protection on the phone you’d still have to keep it away from dusty environment as the hinge is still susceptible to dust.

The Galaxy Flip4 can stay kind of locked at any angle from 30 degree up to about 120 degrees.

Unfolding the Z Flip4 with just one hand is not easy like the clamshell phones we know, so you would need to use both hands to unfold it.

Display

The Galaxy Z Flip4 has a small 1.9-inch cover screen AMOLED display with a resolution at 512×260 pixels and 302 ppi. You can do more on the compact cover screen even without opening the phone. You are able to check your notifications, auto respond to messages, play songs or control the SmartThings scene widgets.

You can even create your own cover screen background as well, with various formats in JPG, GIF or video.

Another cool thing with the cover screen display is the ability to take a picture from the rear cameras.

The main display offers a 6.7-inch full HD+ AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex display with support of a higher refresh rate up to 120Hz. It also has a resolution of 2640×1080 pixels, 425 ppi and a 1200 nit peak of brightness suitable for use even outdoors.

The device gets HDR10+ certification to support the latest video streaming apps like Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and more providing high picture quality.

The crease on the display is still there however, Samsung did quite manage to hide it where the screen folds over, but it does have a tendency to show itself if the display is dark or there’s a lot of one color going over the crease like a white background behind text. But for me the crease doesn’t bother me or get in the way of my viewing experience of the screen.

Overall, the colors on the AMOLED display are excellent as it emits a bright and vivid screen.

You’ll have a great balance of natural colors and more bang of colors if you set your display to “Vivid” in the display settings. But simply the Z Flip’s main display which comes out of the box is already pleasing to the eye.

Performance

Under the hood, the Z Flip4 is equipped with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 octa-core processor, 8GB RAM and our unit acquired the 128GB storage. The shortcoming of the phone is the absence of expandable storage but Samsung offers other storage variants in 256GB and 512GB.

The Z Flip4 boasts stereo speakers with good quality and very satisfying plus you also get Dolby Atmos for gaming to enhance your gaming experience as well.

The Galaxy Z Flip4 performs smoothly and efficiently with no lags handling any possible task we can throw on the device from browsing the internet, updating our social media, multimedia content, taking photos during events and playing our favorite mobile games as well. 

Here’s our benchmark scores on the Galaxy Z Flip4:

Camera

Now the camera sensor on the Z Flip4 are 65 percent brighter. On the rear you get a dual camera setup comprising of a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 12MP wide angle camera lens. The front facing camera offers a 10MP selfie camera.

Opening the camera app, you already have three sets of shooting modes ready for use the Portrait, Photo and Video. There are still a lot of shooting presets available on the camera app like PRO, PRO Video, Single Take, Night, Food, Panorama, Super Slow-Mo, Slow Motion, Hyprlapse, Portrait Video and Director’s View.

Another key highlight of the Z Flip4 is the FlexCam feature. It lets you shoot hands free video or capture group selfies by partially folding the device in an upright position.

With this feature it leverages the Z Flip4’s hinge design which makes it possible for users to prop up the camera on different surfaces and capture selfies and group photos without asking friends or even strangers who just walk past by to snap photos for you.

Shooting video with the FlexCam mode is like holding a digital camcorder but it’s actually less awkward and not too tiring than holding it in that landscape orientation.

By leveraging on the main camera, you can take selfie photos or video right from the cover screen of the Z Flip4 via the Quick shot mode feature then seamlessly switch to Flex mode for hands-free operation. The users are now able to take selfies in Portrait Mode and see preview in actual photo ratio when using Quick Shot.

In general, the Z Flip4 photos are clear, good contrast and nice vibrant colors especially during bright or good lighting conditions that you can instantly share on your social media or show it proudly to your friends even with no editing required. During low light conditions shots are still decently good but with a bit of noise present on it.

With the cover screen your selfies together with the main camera looks great having strong details and warm skin tones. Meanwhile, the front selfie camera also can take decent image quality.

Now, here are some sample photos and videos on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4.

1x, Photo Mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting

1x, Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather

0.5x, Photo Mode, Outdoor, 

1x, Photo mode, Outdoor

1x, Food Shooting Mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting

Wide Selfie, Low Lighting Condition

1x Night Mode, Outdoor, Low Light

Selfie with Flash On, Low Light

Photos taken during low light conditions like our sample photos above are decently good but you get less details, noise and slightly soft. Selfies on the other hand under the same setup will have the same soft quality however turning on the flash mode in the camera app could offer a bit of decent shots.

Selfie, Low Light

The Galaxy Z Flip4 can record videos with all its cameras. The main camera can capture videos up to 4K at 60fps, and there’s 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. The ultra-wide and selfie shooters can max out the video resolution in 4K at 30fps.

An optical image stabilization is available on the main camera, while the electronic image stabilization can be enabled or disabled for all three cameras.  On bright and well lighted conditions the phone can have plenty of good details and natural colors enough to further increase the color intensity during post production.

Software

The Galaxy Z Flip4 runs on Android 12 based on One UI 4.1.1 out of the box.

You get some few pre-installed apps like Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, Microsoft apps and Google’s very own tools. Samsung’s very own proprietary apps are also installed on the phone like Samsung 321, Samsung Free, Samsung Global Goals, Samsung Members and Galaxy Store. You can easily uninstall them from the settings if you don’t need it.

The One UI 4.1.1 also offers tons of customization options or personalize it the way you want it. On the display settings you can customize your phone into Dark mode to save more battery or enable Eye Comfort Shield to limit the blue light on the screen.

Google Chrome

Facebook

Battery, Connectivity and Biometrics

Battery life on the Galaxy Z Flip4 offers 3,700mAh with support for a Super Fast Charging and fast wireless charging feature. The battery is enough to get you through the day even if I use the compact display just to check notifications or the time instead of opening up the entire display.

Samsung claims with the Super Fast Charging feature you can juice up the phone up to 50 percent in around 30 minutes using a 25W adapter or higher.

Aside from the standard wireless charging, the Z Flip4 features a reverse wireless charging or Wireless PowerShare that allows your Galaxy phone to wirelessly charge Bluetooth accessories and other smartphones that support Qi technology.

The SIM card tray supports one nano SIM card slot and one eSIM, which means you can use two numbers on the phone and no microSD card slot available for storage expansion.

The device is also 5G ready and secure thanks to Samsung’s very own mobile security platform the Knox. It also had Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC technology for wireless communication.

For biometrics the Z Flip 4 offers a fingerprint sensor and face recognition with the usual screen lock type either in pattern, PIN or password.

What We Like

• AMOLED Display
• Useful Cover Screen
• Fun Form Factor
• Hardware Performance
• Standout Design and Build Quality
• Flex Mode
• Flex Cam
• Good Cameras
• Selection of Shooting Modes
• Great Software
• IPX8 Rating

What We Want

• Higher Battery Capacity
• Easily Unfold Using One Hand
• Expandable Storage

Conclusion

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 feels so premium that the device offers great performance, a vibrant display, good set of cameras and the foldable design that’s convenient with some additional features you can use like the Flex Mode or Flex Cam.

It still does what a regular smartphone can do but the nicest and cool thing about the Galaxy Z Flip4 is by the end of the day you can just simply fold it in half letting you stand out from the crowd.

If you’re tired of phones looking too similar then we recommend the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4.