Galaxy Z Flip 4 review: The foldable phone I’ve been waiting for

The small improvements Samsung made to the Galaxy Z Flip 4 make it arguably the best foldable phone around for curious mainstream users. Its versatility makes it more fun to use, and you’ll have to live with a shorter battery life than on traditional modern phones. But those looking for their first foldable will find the Flip 4 capable and satisfying.

Video Transcript

CHERLYNN LOW: I hate to admit it, but I might have a new favorite phone. Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 4 is the latest version of the company's smaller foldable. And with this generation, the company has addressed most of our problems with the previous model. It's delivered longer battery life, increased durability, and a slightly more useful external display.

With the same $1,000 starting price as before, the Z Flip 4 costs about the same as an iPhone 13 Pro and the Galaxy S22-Plus, but can fold into a square that you can hide in your palm. It's a supremely fun phone to use thanks to the different modes you can set it up in too. Now, the Z Flip 4 isn't perfect, but by improving its battery life, Samsung's finally made a foldable phone that's ready for the mainstream.

One of the best things about the Flips is that you can fold them in half and easily stuff them in pockets, small bags, or other tight spaces. As someone whose desk is chronically cluttered, I struggle to find a spot to place my gigantic Pixel 6 Pro, which, if not placed carefully on an even surface, would suicidally slide off a table and plunge to its death.

Thanks to its new matte finish, the Flip 4 is not as slippery as its predecessor or the Pixel. I've only dropped it once since I've had it. And so far, the case has survived without a scratch. And because the Flip is so small, I also had a much easier time finding somewhere to place it.

I've also been far less careful with my review unit of the Flip 4 than with prior foldables, tossing it into bags packed with keys and other hefty phones. I panicked for a second when I realized what I had done, because I still needed the phone to be in pristine condition for a photo shoot. But whew, the Gorilla Glass Victus plus covering on the Flip's inside and outside has kept it scratch free.

Many of the other changes the company made this year are less impactful. The smaller hinge, shinier edges, and slightly sleeker lines make the new model look a little cleaner. And the external cameras protrude slightly more than before. But beyond those minuscule differences, it's hard to tell the Flip 3 and 4 apart.

The easiest way for me to identify the Flip 4 is by its color. My sample is in Samsung's Bora purple hue, which is a nice lavender shade. But I prefer the blue version. When open, the two Flips are even harder to tell apart. The latest model is just a hair shorter.

Both their hinges feel similarly sturdy, and I could still, with a lot of careful maneuvering, open and close the Flip with one hand. I even created a spot on my home screen for my thumb to push into the panel for leverage when shutting the device. The Flip 4 still has a crease running across its display, but this time it seems shallower. That might just be because it's new and, over time, it may get more prominent. But for those hoping for a more minimal crease, you might be disappointed. It's definitely still there and noticeable.

It's hard to compare the Flip 4 to other phones, because it's the only really competent one of its kind retailing in America. But it's still worth noting that at 187 grams, or 6.59 ounces, it's lighter than other $1,000 phones, like the S22 Plus and the iPhone 13 Pro. It is just 13 grams heavier than the iPhone 13.

The Flip 4 is also hard to categorize because of its unique screen. Though it measures 6.7 inches diagonally, its aspect ratio of 22 by 9 makes it slightly longer and narrower than most phones. I didn't mind this. In fact, I found it easier to reach across the Flip's display to hit buttons on the other side than on my iPhone or Pixel.

As usual, with any Samsung mobile device, the Flip 4's 1080p panel delivered rich colors and crisp details. And I love the 120 hertz refresh rate for scrolling through my favorite subreddits. There is a slight issue with viewing angles when you fold the phone slightly, though. If you're looking at it straight on, everything seems fine.

But sometimes from an angle, I have seen some discoloration along the crease. This isn't a huge deal since I'm rarely looking at the screen that way. And it doesn't really impact visibility. I also spent less time reading things on the 1.9-inch cover display.

But when I did use it to reply to messages or set alarms, it was easy to read. I love the colorful clock faces Samsung provides, which make the Flip 4 look more eye-catching. Using the cover display to play music from Spotify is convenient. And, by default, hitting play on this widget will start the last song you listened to.

In general, the Flip 4's speakers were loud enough to provide background sound while I worked-- though, I wish there was stronger bass. The music also sounded slightly different when the Flip was open versus when closed, with audio seeming a little canned in the latter mode. The Flip 4 is perfectly capable as a regular non-bendy phone. But when it's closed or half-folded, it's truly unique.

There are two ways to shoot with the flip-flop when it's flexed-- With the external cameras and the cover display as a viewfinder or with the internal camera while framing your shot with the top half of the main screen. When I try to use the cameras on the outside to shoot selfies, it's hard to find a flattering angle because the outside screen is so small I can never see my entire face in it, unless I'm too far away to make adjustments.

Despite the limitations, I've been enamored with taking pictures on the Flip 4. It is worth shouting out that the open palm gesture that Samsung has supported for years makes hands-free triggering of the camera much easier. The Flip 4 is also useful for my video calls with my parents in Singapore, eliminating the need for a phone stand.

None of this is new to this year's Flip, by the way. I just wanted to remind you how much fun and function you can get out of a regular sized phone that folds. Samsung also offers an interface called flex mode that kicks in on compatible apps when the system detects the phone is open at about 170 degrees or less. YouTube, for example, will display the video on the top half, flanked by two horizontal black bars, while the title, views, details, and comments sit in the bottom portion.

It's mostly intuitive and useful, but, man, I have such a love-hate relationship with flex mode. I vividly remember thinking that using the Flip with one hand while leaning back on my couch would be easier if Samsung added its flex mode panel to more apps, so I could easily scroll through long posts or articles. I was wrong.

On the Flip 4, Samsung introduced a touchpad feature to its flex mode panel. You would use this like it were a laptop trackpad on the bottom of your screen. Move your finger around to control the cursor, tap to click links and other elements, and drag two fingers up or down to scroll.

In theory, a lot of this makes sense. When you're using one hand and holding the flip slightly folded, reaching for elements on the top of the screen with your thumb can be tricky. The trackpad makes it easier to click things at the edge of the panel. But two-finger scrolling in one-handed use simply does not work unless you can somehow balance the flip with just three fingers and have the dexterity to use your remaining digits to swipe on the screen.

Those of us without Olympian-level finger gymnastics skills will probably need to leave flex mode to scroll. The trouble is there is no easy way to summon this panel at will. Worse, it reappears if you straighten and refold the screen or if you jump to another app and return. I've lost track of the number of times I've hit the x to dismiss flex mode only to absentmindedly open Telegram to reply to a friend and be presented with the Black box again.

To make things worse, the x icon to dismiss the flex mode box is right up against the crease, making it incredibly hard to hit. I usually have to tap it about five times to get it to register. Honestly, the only thing the new trackpad is good for is dragging the cursor to the x to close itself.

To be clear, this panel only appears if you've gone into the experimental labs area in advanced settings to enable it for specific apps. Most people are unlikely to encounter it by default. And the flex mode layouts for customized apps like gallery and camera are fine.

Samsung is caught in a difficult position when it comes to the external screen. This window is the same size as last year, and the company's added a new widget so you can do more without opening the phone. The existing options are a media player, calendar, schedule, weather, alarms, timer, quick dial, and health, which is really a glorified step counter.

To make the cover display a bit more useful, Samsung also added the ability to quickly reply to messages using emoji dictation or a selection of preset responses like, no, thanks, or, on my way. Without increasing the size of the cover display, Samsung can't really do much more. And I'm not sure I want it to go bigger either.

A larger second screen would tax the battery, which is already a precious resource. I'd much rather the company gave the next Flip better cameras. That's not to say that the Flip 4's cameras are bad. They're actually surprisingly capable, especially the pair of 12-megapixel sensors on the outside.

With larger 1.8-micron pixels than the Flip 3, the primary and ultra-wide cameras both delivered impressively colorful and sharp pictures that rival the Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro in bright light. Like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the flip force pictures were warmer and more saturated than the pixels, but less red than the iPhone's. All three handsets produced similarly sharp pictures of buildings at sunset, although Samsung's images were occasionally a little soft.

As usual, Google has the upper hand at night, with Windows on the Empire State Building looking tech sharp, but slightly blurrier on the Flip 4. Selfies I took in low light with the flip four were similarly splotchy, but the Pixel and iPhone didn't do much better in those situations, anyway. Like any mainstream flagship phone, the Flip 4 is equipped with the latest top tier Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip and has 8 gigs of RAM.

After some initial hiccups while setting up the phone, during which the Flip 4 got noticeably warm, I never encountered any lag as I shot videos, livestreamed to Instagram, screen recorded my friend's Instagram stories, and posted photos. It did get hot again when I called my parents on Telegram, but otherwise, the Flip mostly remained cool.

It's worth reminding you all that some apps struggle with the Flip's uncommon aspect ratio. The biggest culprit of course, is Instagram. Often, the Create Post button will be out of reach or overlap other posts. The Stories editor has a blank black strip at the bottom between the Viewfinder and the Submit buttons. And if you're using Samsung's keyboard, it sometimes obscure things like the color picker or tag suggestions.

Something many people ask me about Samsung devices is the software. And it is a valid concern. But the days of heavy-handed overlays like Touchwiz are mostly in the past. And Samsung's phones recently ship with fairly clean versions of Android with its One UI interface.

My biggest complaint about the Flip 3 was its dismal battery life, and it was the one thing keeping me from recommending it to a more mainstream user. With the Flip 4, Samsung not only used a larger 3,700 milliamp hour battery, but also a more power efficient processor. The results aren't astounding, but, thankfully, the Flip 4 now generally lasts all day.

I usually take it out in the afternoon and come home past midnight with about 20% to spare. One Sunday, I took the Flip 4 out to an early morning workout and then ran around New York and New Jersey all day. By 10 PM, it had dropped to about 15% and was prompting me to enable battery saving mode.

With this improved battery life and durability, the Flip 4 is a more practical phone than its predecessor. And it's the first of Samsung's foldables that's truly ready for the mainstream. Sure, there are a few minor inconveniences to put up with, like Instagram's incompatibility with its aspect ratio, or the fact that it has considerably less battery life than other phones at this price.

But if you've been itching to see if a foldable phone might fit in your life and your pocket, or if you're a selfie aficionado, the Flip 4 will be a satisfying purchase. For in-depth reviews about foldable phones, regular phones, and more, make sure you subscribe to Engadget. And as always, thank you for watching.

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