GADGET REVIEW

ARTICLE by KEVIN Namunwa

A High-End Classy Android Smartphone Galaxy ZFlip 4

When Samsung came out with the foldable, there was a generous amount of buzzing in the smartphone industry. Why, we asked, would we want a phone with a hinge when we could have one that well, didn’t? Let’s find out.

For many years, South Korean multinational electronics corporation Samsung, has been considered a leader in the smartphone industry with its highly rated android phones. The smartphone manufacturer continues to set new standards in the market as it has released a new range of its foldable phones. Foldable phones’ technology is a formula that has been in use for years now. And, it seems, technology cannot advance as fast as smartphone makers are bringing in newer versions of their phones. I got my hands on the Galaxy Flip4, a foldable phone that Samsung released on 25 August 2022. This phone is an upgrade of the Galaxy Z Flip3 released a year to the day on 27 August 2022. The Flip 4 has apparently addressed all the issues plaquing the Flip3. The newer Z Flip4 won’t make many (if any) Z Flip3 owners upgrade, but it improves enough bits to make even more people think of getting a new foldable flagship phone. Here are the main specifications of the Galaxy Z Flip4 at a glance. • Body: 165.2x71.9x6.9mm, 187g; Plastic front (opened), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus+), aluminum frame; IPX8 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins), Armour aluminum frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (advertised).

• Display: 6.70” Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1200 nits (peak), 1080x2640px resolution, 22:9 aspect ratio, 426ppi; Cover display:, Super AMOLED, 1.9 inches, 260 x 512 pixels (Gorilla Glass Victus+).

• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3x2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.

• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1. • OS/Software: Android 12, One UI 4.1.1.

• Rear camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1.12µm. • Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide), 1.22µm. • Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30fps. • Battery: 3700mAh; Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min (advertised), Fast wireless charging 15W, Reverse wireless charging 4.5W. • Misc: Fingerprint reader (sidemounted); NFC; stereo speakers; Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).

Design And Handling

The phone looks a lot like the Flip3 with Samsung focusing more on design refinements than innovation or transformation. Its aluminum frame has been enhanced with stronger material coated with glossy polish and a flatter profile. This applies to the hinge too. The most easily noticeable change, however, is the smaller bezels around the foldable screen, which in turn made the whole Flip a tad shorter. Looking at the back, the phone has thinner framing around the Gorilla Glass Victus+ panels. Instead of a matte frame and glossy glass panels, this one has a glossy frame finish and matte glass. While this finish swap changed how the Flip4 feels in the hand, including its grip, it is still a so-so experience. The Flip4 feels more secure in hand when closed than when opened. The phone is waterresistant with an IPX8-rating for water protection, meaning it can withstand up to 30 minutes in 1.5m-deep clean water. The X means it does not have a dust proof feature.

Software And Performance

The Galaxy Z Flip4 runs on Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI on top, a proprietary layer that most people seem to prefer. In software exploration, it is always important to look at the cover display. You can have an always-on display feature active on the cover screen the same way you can have it on the main display – there is, in fact, no separate setting for the two. The cover screen does get its own specific clock designs though, and you can match what’s displayed there with the watch face on your, say, Galaxy Watch. Clicking on the power button twice when the Flip4 is closed will activate the rear camera, and the external screen will act as a viewfinder. Swiping in different directions switches between shooting modes and cameras. And if you double tap on the screen, you will get full-size photo mode and viewfinder - something

gadget review

that was not possible on the Flip3. In terms of performance, the Z Flip4 runs on the most current Qualcomm chipset – the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 – a slight refresh over the non-plus version. Among the key improvements is the better efficiency and a minor bump in performance. The Galaxy Z Flip4 always comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space (this is my review unit), but there are options to purchase it with 256GB storage space or 512GB UFS 3.1 storage. So, the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset is undeniably the fastest Android platform right now on the market, and it is a chart-topper when it comes to benchmarking. Note that the Galaxy Z Flip4 has a lot less space than conventional smartphones for the motherboard and chipset and, hence, cooling solution, so if you buy it, you might expect throttling along the way.

Camera, Photo And Video Quality

The Galaxy Z Flip4 features a dual camera setup on its back and a single selfie camera within a small perforation on the foldable screen. The three cameras are a 12MP primary, 12MP ultrawide cams on the outside, and a 10MP shooter on the inside. The only upgrade from Z Flip3 is that the primary camera now features a larger sensor with a different lens.

The primary camera on the Galaxy Z Flip4 uses a Samsung S5K2LD 12MP sensor, behind a 24mm f/1.8 lens. The ultrawide relies on the same 13MP Sony IMX258 sensor as the Flip3, a Type 1/3.06” unit with 1.12µm pixels, but the phone still outputs 12MP photos. The inner selfie camera is based on the 10MP Samsung S5K3J1 sensor, which is also taken from the Galaxy S20 series. The camera app on the Flip4 is, for the most part, identical to what you’d get with any other recent Samsung phone, but with a few tweaks to make use of the Flip4’s unorthodox form factor. On photo quality, the inner selfie camera is based on the 10MP Samsung S5K3J1 sensor, which is also taken from the Galaxy S20 series. The 12MP photos from the ultrawide camera are quite likable. They are surprisingly detailed for such type of camera/lens combo, and the per-pixel sharpness is satisfying even if not a match to the primary shooter.

The portrait mode on the main camera delivers superb portrait shots with incredibly detailed subjects, wellexposed and colorful. If you need to blur the background even more, you can always enable the portrait mode. It does an impressive job. The Galaxy Z Flip4 also offers Auto Night Mode as part of the default Photo mode. You can decide to ignore it by tapping on the small Moon icon or leave it be.

This phone captures videos with all its cameras. The main camera record videos up to 4K at 60fps, and there’s 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. The ultrawide and selfie shooters max out at 4K at 30fps. Optical stabilisation is available on the primary camera, while electronic stabilisation can be enabled/disabled for all three cameras. If enabled, it does an outstanding job at stabilizing the footage at the expense of a bit lower FoV and a slight drop in the sharpness. The 4K footage gets 48Mbps video bitrate when using the h.264 codec. The audio bitrate is about 256kbps. The sound is stereo.

Pricing

This phone varies in pricing based on storage space. The Galaxy Z Flip4 with 128GB storage space goes for $649.00, the 256GB goes for $644.97, while the 516GB one goes for $750.00. (All prices are from Amazon). If you want to get the Z Flip4, I advise you to get the one with 256GB storage space as the pricing is not much different from the 128GB one, and you get a better device.