Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Review

Three generations in, Samsung had found the shape. The Z Fold 4 kept the 7.6-inch inner screen but widened the 6.2-inch cover display just enough that typing on it stopped feeling like a punishment, trimmed the weight to 263 grams and shortened the hinge. It was the first Fold you could use closed all day and forget about the second screen, which is oddly what made the second screen feel worth $1,799.99.

It also arrived with Android 12L, the version Google built for big screens, and Samsung's taskbar along the bottom of the inner display made it something like a small tablet: three apps up at once, drag and drop between them, a dock for favourites. Nothing else on Android did this well. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 was fast and, unlike the plain 8 Gen 1, did not cook itself.

The 50 megapixel main camera and 3x telephoto came from the Galaxy S22, a real step up from the Fold 3's 12 megapixel set, while the 4 megapixel under-display camera inside stayed a smear you used only for video calls. The 4400 mAh battery lasted a day if you were sensible about the inner screen and rarely more, and 25 watt charging was slow for the money.

Reliability is better than the line's reputation and worse than a slab. The IPX8 rating and the Armor Aluminum frame are real; the X means there is still no dust rating, and the hinge gap collects lint. The factory protector on the inner display lifts at the crease after months of folding, sometimes with a line of dead pixels beneath it, and it takes a Samsung service centre to re-apply. Out-of-warranty inner screens cost hundreds to replace. Samsung promised four Android versions and five years of patches, through Android 16, a longer commitment than the hardware always keeps.

This is the Fold that turned the format from a demo into a product. It is still a product you baby.