Samsung yesterday (Aug 10) announced its series of Samsung Unpacked August 2022 new consumer products, two of which are the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4.

The Galaxy Z series is doubling down on its foldable experience even further, with good reason: the Korean electronics brand managed to sell 10 million foldable devices in 2021 alone.

The phones bring back Samsung’s familiar foldable handset formats, but much more was done to improve its user experience, and seamlessness, on top of general hardware upgrades you’d typically see in between phone generations.

We’ve combined our hands-on experience with the devices with the key updates to Samsung’s new line of foldable phones. Without further ado:

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4

How do you upgrade style itself? The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 hopes to answer that with software upgrades, a new processor, and even more tools for self-expression that integrate with existing social media platforms.

The fourth generation of Samsung’s clamshell foldable display phone returns with a 1.9-inch Cover Screen and 6.7-inch Main Screen. However, Samsung understood that the Cover Screen (which was bigger since Flip3) can actually do a lot more with the extra real estate. 

Now, the Cover Screen gets even more functionality. You can now set your display to match your Galaxy Watch’s, use emojis to customise the display, and now use 15-second long videos under 100MB to get an animated wallpaper (previously, it was either static JPEGs or moving GIFs).

The Cover Screen also get new widgets, like SmartThings control, a more granular Samsung Wallet that accesses other cards instead of just one, and more.

Integration with social media platforms also improved, with the FlexCam (camera on the Main Screen) now optimised for Meta platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram). Users can also now take and preview portrait shots with Quick Shot (phone folded, Cover Screen as a viewfinder, main camera shooting). Finally, you can also begin video recording in Quick Shot format, and switch to Flex Mode (half-opened) with zero recording stoppage. TikTok creators, your moment is now.

That’s not to say that the Galaxy Z Flip4’s features are entirely superficial. The phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, has a bigger 3,700mAh battery (up from Flip3’s 3,400mAh), a slimmer hinge, straighter edges, with all those softer optimisation perks that make it possible to do more, hands-free.

The phone is also rated for IPX8 water resistance, with folding durability certified at 200,000 times, and running Samsung’s latest interface (One UI 4.1.1 based on Android 12).

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 starts at $1,398 for the 128GB variant. Check out our breakdown article here to fully understand local pricing and availability details. In addition, below are the specifications for users who want more than style. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4

Like before, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series phones pack a book-style foldable form factor for users who want more display to multitask or enjoy their content better. 

Samsung retained its primary function with its latest Galaxy Z Fold4, where the 6.2-inch Cover Screen (outside-facing display) acts as the user interface for quick-fire messages and e-mails.

In contrast, its bigger, squarer 7.6-inch Main Screen (the display folded within) delivers on the tablet-like space you need to cross-reference stuff or to multitask. In this iteration, Samsung made some tiny tweaks to give it a more compact design and wider display, which resulted in a lighter phone (263g) than its preceding Fold3 (271g).

One major update and difference that shapes the Z Fold4 is the operating system choice. Samsung said that the device ships with Android 12L out of the box, instead of the conventional Android 12 or 13.

In a nutshell, Android 12L is a version of the Android interface made for large screens. It appears that the Galaxy Z Fold4 is the first device to ship to consumers with Android 12L properly (the software is available but as a firmware sideload, and an optional piece of software for Pixel phones).

The change in the operating system also meant major feature updates that makes sense for Z Fold4’s interface. One such new tool is the Taskbar, which is now closer in design and functionality to the Taskbar you’d typically get on PC. Z Fold4’s taskbar lets you easily access favourite and recent apps, switch between full-screen apps, and split-screen your apps.

Other software-related enhancements include deeper integration with Google’s default apps. For example, Gmail, Chrome, and other Google apps now support drag-and-drop, copy-and-paste, and moving of photos, while Google Meet users can watch-party via YouTube during a video call.

There are also other hardware upgrades, like its rear cameras. Instead of the old triple 12MP configuration, the Z Fold4 gets a 50MP main camera on the rear with a 23 per cent brighter sensor.

The ultra-wide lens remains at 12MP, while telephoto camera goes down to 10MP. Good news is that the Z Fold4 has 30x Space Zoom, so you’re not stuck with Galaxy S phones if you want the phone’s hybrid optical and digital zoom to give you clearer, long-range shots.

As with before, Galaxy Z Fold4 is also compatible with S Pen, with the option to get a standard S Pen Fold Edition or the Bluetooth Low Energy-capable S Pen Pro (both sold separately).

Other less noticeable features (by design) are a less visible Under Display Camera inside the big Main Screen, the use of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, and the use of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor which makes this one of the latest and most powerful smartphones on the market. Returning features that did well are its Armor Aluminium hinge for the frame, IPX8 water resistance, and an even better layer structure for the Main Screen.

We noticed that Samsung didn’t mention that the display crease is visibly less noticeable than before, which we believe should be checked out in person by potential users who didn’t hop on to Samsung foldables because of display creases.

The displays on both foldables were also certified to fold up to 200,000 times without incident, for those still concerned with durability and practicality.

In Singapore, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 starts at $2,398 (256GB) from Aug 10, 2022 onwards. More details are in our pricing and availability breakdown article here.

Below are the phone’s nitty-gritty specifications for users who want to know what they can expect from the improved book-style foldable phone.

This article was first published in HardwareZone.