The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is here, and it could well be the most popular foldable phone of the next year, if it’s nearly as popular as its predecessor.
Launched at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked August 2022, alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, this new clamshell foldable has a petite – dare we say cute? – design, but it’s housing some powerful internals.
This is the successor to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and that proved to be an immensely popular phone, outselling the Z Fold 3 by quite a margin according to Samsung’s stats.
You can read our hands-on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 review right now, and while we put together our full review you can find out everything you need to know about the new device below.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 price starts at £999 / $999.99 / AU$1,499, which is exactly how much the Z Flip 3 cost. That’s welcome news given the price rises we’re seeing almost everywhere else.
That’s for 128GB storage, and you can also pick up a 256GB model for $1,059.99 / £1,059 / AU$1,649, or a 512GB version for $1,179.99 / £1,199 / AU$1,849, if you want more space for your snaps and apps.
Pre-orders opened on August 10 (August 11 in Australia), and the phone goes on sale on August 26. If you order from Samsung.com, you can double your storage capacity for free and also get a free case, which is not the best deal for launch.
Buyers in the U.S. can get the phone for “free” where free means credit towards your monthly bill over the period of a contract. If you trade any Galaxy phone, regardless of its condition, AT&T will give you $1000 in bill credits over two years. T-Mobile will give you the same bill credits for opening a new line on the Magenta MAX plan. You’ll still have to pay up front, but the plan pays for itself over time. Verizon is offering up to $800 on a trade, plus a $200 bonus if you’re switching from another carrier. So, all of the major U.S. carriers will try to find some way to give you $1000 toward the price of this phone.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 design and display
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a ‘clamshell’ foldable phone, so it has the form factor of a regular handset until you fold it in half to become an easily-pocketable block.
When opened the phone has a 6.7-inch 2640 x 1080 display, broken up by a punch-hole cutout for the front camera. That display has a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz.
The frame is an aluminum Samsung calls “Armor Aluminum.” The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ , which Samsung says makes the display up to 45% stronger than the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Samsung also says the attached screen protector is stuck with better adhesive than before.
This is important because the handset has only IPX8 resistance, which means it can be immersed in over a meter of water for up to half an hour and is resistant to rain and splashes. There is no certified protection against solid particles like sand or dust. The better screen protector is all you’ve got.
With an aluminum frame, so it should be able to withstand a drop or two, and Samsung says the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is tougher than its predecessor. It’s available in Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold, and Blue shades, and there’s also the Bespoke Edition, which lets you mix and match different colors for the front and back glass panels as well as the frame.
The Bespoke Edition brings the total number of color options to above 70. If you’d like your phone ASAP but still want something Bespoke, Samsung recommends a few options on its sales page that should ship fastest.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 cameras and battery
Samsung’s flip phones have never matched the photography chops of the S-series devices, and there’s no difference here.
There are two rear cameras, a 12MP main and 12MP ultra-wide snapper, and those match exactly the ones on the Z Flip 3. There’s no difference if you like taking selfies, with the 10MP snapper lifted straight out of last year’s phone.
Sure, Samsung has a year of extra tweaks and camera modes over the Z Flip 3, so pictures might look a tad better optimized, but you’re not going to be buying this phone for its photography.
The battery is a different story, as the 3,700mAh power pack is 400mAh bigger than the one on the Z Flip 3. That’s a sizeable upgrade on its own, but bear in mind that the cover screen stops you needing to turn on your phone to see every little notification – the Z Flip 4 will very likely waltz through an average day of use with no issue.
Charging is admittedly slow, at 25W, but since the battery is smaller than the one on your average mobile, actually filling the thing will take less time than you’d expect.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 performance and software
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 could be the most powerful phone that you can fold into a tiny bundle. It has the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip, which we’ve tested in a few phones now, and it provides loads of processing power for games and video editing.
Sure, it can get a little hot in a pinch, but it’s second to none for intensive tasks.
That chip is joined by 8GB RAM, which isn’t as much as on some top-end phones, but you’re not exactly going to be using the Z Flip 4 for much multi-tasking (we presume) when the Z Fold 4 is on the market.
In terms of software, the phone gets Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI laid over the top.
This means it gets all the features of Google’s Android 12, like its theme customization, but also the added benefits of Samsung’s devices, like the company’s various apps and the overall design changes of One UI.
Something to point out in the software department is Flex Mode, which lets you leave the device at a right angle to active certain functions. The most popular is FlexCam, so you can turn the phone into its own stand when you want to take photos or videos hands-free.
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