Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 5G Review – a compact foldable smartphone with lingering issues

Like the Fold4, this year’s Flip model relies on the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 . The Flip4’s main foldable display comes with a screen size of 6. 7″ and a 1080p resolution, with an additional 1.

9″ external screen. The base model comes with 128 GB of internal memory and an MSRP of $999. 99, while the top-of-the-line model with 512 GB comes in at $1,179.

99. The Bespoke edition, which is only available at the Samsung Store, offers the opportunity to individualize the look of your Flip4 with different front and back panels, as well as different colored frames ($1,319. 99).

The Galaxy Z Flip4 looks almost identical to its predecessor . According to Samsung, however, the hinges have been slimmed down and the joint between the screens straightened out. The very high-quality case, which is protected from water damage thanks to the IPX8 rating, is made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ and from a particularly hard aluminum alloy called “Armor Aluminum”.

Fingerprints are hardly noticeable, thanks to the glass’ matte finish. The bezels around the foldable OLED display, which itself is protected by Samsung’s own Ultra Thin Glass, seem to be somewhat narrower than on the Flip3 . By the numbers, the screen accounts for nearly 86 percent of the front – that’s more in line with a middle-range phone than a flagship device, however.

The screen is also provided with a very resistant protective film. This screen protector feels quite good and cannot be removed. The 3,700 mAh battery is charged via a USB 2.

0 Type-C connector that can recognize external peripherals via USB-OTG. Wireless transmission to external monitors via Miracast is also supported. There’s no microSD card slot in the Flip4.

However, the dual-SIM smartphone has an NFC chip for use with Samsung and Google Pay, as well as Bluetooth 5. 2. As usual, Samsung pairs the Android with its own user interface, OneUI Version 4.

At the time of this review, the latter is OneUI 4. 1. 1 with the security patches from July 2022 still.

In the best-case scenario, the Flip4 will receive updates up until Android 16, since the Galaxy Z family should enjoy up to four generations of OS updates and five years of security patches. Data transfer rates within a home network are quite high with this Samsung foldable, but the WiFi module only communicates with our Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 reference router in the 2. 4 and 5 GHz range.

The Flip4 does not reach the high speeds that the Fold4 is (theoretically) capable of with its WiFi 6E. Access to the LTE network, including various supported 4G frequencies, is guaranteed, and it’s also possible to use the fast 5G spectrum. As with its predecessor, the fast mmWave standard available in Germany is unfortunately available with the Flip4.

We put the location tracking accuracy through a practical cycling test. Our short excursion was recorded in parallel with a Garmin Venu2 as a comparison device. The Flip4 occasionally shortens curves, although variations in the GPS results were still quite small.

Unlike the Fold4, however, the Flip model only uses single-frequency GPS. The call quality of the Flip4 is unobtrusive. Voices came through very clearly and were characterized as very clear at the other end of the line.

An eSIM, WiFi calls, and VoLTE are also supported. Video calls through the built-in front camera via Skype worked without a problem in our test, and thanks to the Flex mode, without a stand. Thanks to the foldable form factor of the Flip4, photos and videos can be taken using the main camera.

The built-in 10 MP camera works very solidly for selfies as well, which however come out a bit pale and often somewhat overexposed. The dual camera setup on the back comes with two sensors with a resolution of 12 MP each, although optical image stabilization is only available on the wide-angle lens. The new camera sensor of the Flip4 is derived from the Fold3’s and is supposed to be up to 65 percent brighter than the one on the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G .

Samsung’s small foldable is still not an expert at dealing with low light, although photos and video in low-light situations are slightly better than those taken with its predecessor. Photos taken in daylight with the wide-angle lens looked great to us. Our analysis with the ColorChecker Passport also confirmed that the phone’s camera has very reasonable color fidelity, with the exception of green tones.

The Flip4’s 12 MP ultra-wide camera could display subjects a bit sharper and also offer more detail, in our opinion. Unfortunately, this Samsung phone lacks an 8K video option. Samsung doesn’t provide a power adapter for its foldable smartphone, although it does provide a USB cable and information booklets.

The warranty lasts for 24 months from the purchase date. Samsung Care+ is once again included with purchase for one year, limited to one claim within the period. The Flip4 benefits from a crisp vibration motor, a high refresh rate of the 120 Hz main screen during operation, as well as from the 1.

9″ external display, which is similar to the Flip3’s and runs at 60 Hz. The small front screen can also be used to take pictures with the main camera, which is improved thanks to the new Quick Shot function. Notifications can be viewed on the small screen, but replies can’t be sent.

The fingerprint sensor built into the power button reacts quickly and recognizes registered fingerprints precisely. However, the positioning is way too high, leading to awkward grips when unlocking the Flip4. Biometric identification via face recognition when unlocking the phone is also made possible with the punch-hole camera.

The Flip4’s foldable 6. 7″ LTPO-AMOLED display has a 22:9 aspect ratio, an adaptive refresh rate of 10 to 120 Hz, and a resolution of 2640 x 1080 pixels, meaning that the phone has a high pixel density of over 400 PPI. However, a look at the developer settings reveals that the screen only goes down to a minimum of 24 Hz.

Since Fold4 is equally affected, we assume that this is caused by a built-in software restriction from Samsung. The maximum screen brightness is good, with an average of 800 cd/m², but the Galaxy Z Flip3 achieves a slightly higher value in our measurement. The more realistic APL18 level is also slightly below its predecessor at 1,093 cd/m².

Like all OLEDs, this Samsung phone’s screen also flickers. At the minimum brightness level, the display has a constant PWM of 120 Hz, above that the amplitude curve is at 240 Hz, but just as stable as with permanent DC dimming. In our tests with the CalMAN software and using a spectrophotometer, the phone’s OLED display appears to be very well calibrated – slight deviations can be seen in the magenta area, however.

The DeltaE values are well within the ideal range (< 3) and the color temperature is spot-on at around 6,500K. Daylight does not pose any problems for the Flip4 – at least when it comes to the main display. Disturbing reflections can be seen on the screen protector, but reflections only limit readability slightly and in direct sunlight.

The small outer panel, on the other hand, is less easy to read outdoors; we had to look for shade to read the outer panel during our test or to actively shade the panel with our other hand. Thanks to the built-in OLED technology, the viewing angles are very good for both the main and outer screens. The Flip4’s case only warms up slightly under load.

Nevertheless, the phone shows a strong reduction in performance during the 3DMark stress tests. We did not observe any overheating of the system in the test, although we did notice a throttling of over 50 percent. Not much has changed in the speakers when compared to its predecessor .

The two speakers are very good when compared to the thin design of the Flip4, although the highs drop a bit. The mids, however, are quite linear in the audio spectrum. For those who want wireless sound, the Bluetooth codecs SBC, AAC, aptX, and LDAC are available.

A wired headphone solution can be implemented via the USB-C port. With 3,700 mAh, the Flip4 has a slightly larger battery than its predecessor. The battery can be charged both wirelessly and wired, although not particularly quickly in either case.

All the same, the power has been increased to 25 watts, which is limited to 10 watts for inductive charging. Wireless PowerShare at 5 watts is also available. The idle power consumption is very low; under load, power consumption is on the level of a Zenfone 9 with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 .

Similar to the Fold4, the Flip4 shows a sharp drop in power consumption in GFXBench, (probably) due to throttling. During our practical WiFi test with an adjusted display brightness of 150 cd/m² battery life was very different. While the Flip4 has almost the same endurance (8 hours, 56 minutes) as a Flip3 with Samsung’s own browser, we measured a significantly better 11 hours with Chrome.

These runtimes may vary due to differences in the adaptive refresh rate, but we can’t see any differences in the Hz values in the browser script. Because of its small profile when folded, the Galaxy Z Flip4 is a very interesting alternative to smaller standard phones, like the Asus Zenfone 9 or Samsung’s own Galaxy S22 . The case leaves a great impression, and the performance is, thanks to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 , as attractive as both the high-quality finishing and the beautiful foldable OLED display.

What was a bit disappointing, however, was the lower brightness relative to the Flip3. We would have hoped for a similar upgrade to the Fold4 in this respect. Anyone who really enjoys the folding mechanism should take a closer look at this Samsung foldable, given the Flip4’s very competitive pricing.

We have to be critical, once again, of Samsung’s placement of the buttons, which are still too high – even someone with big hands will find it impossible to reach the fingerprint reader with a normal grip, which becomes a daily frustration. The slow USB connection and the limitations when compared to the Fold series (no pen use supported, no dual-frequency GPS, no WiFi 6E, and no UWB) are also noticeable. The biggest weakness of its predecessor, the limited battery life, appears to have been resolved by Samsung – at least in part.

Power users will still not be able to make it through the day on a single charge, which is particularly problematic given the slow fast-charge technology. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G is available at a starting MSRP of $999 from Amazon , Best Buy , or other similar retailers. .