Samsung has been one of the leading lights in the recent arrival of smartphones with foldable displays.
At the moment it has two offerings in this category: the Galaxy Z Flip which – as the name suggests – is like a classic flip phone. The Galaxy Z Fold has a vertical hinge, where you open it up like a book.
New rumours have begun appearing regarding improvements we may see to the latter. Here’s everything we know so far about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 be released?
Samsung hasn’t admitted the Galaxy Z Fold 4 even exists, even though rumours seem to suggest that it’s very much a reality.
Because of this, we don’t have any official details regarding the device, and that includes its release date.
But, we have seen reports that the new Fold will follow the pattern of earlier models. This makes it likely that we should see the Galaxy Z Fold 4 around the end of August or the start of September 2022 – almost certainly alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
To illustrate this, here’s how the previous models lined up:
How much will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 cost?
Pricing has been something of a moveable feast when it comes to foldables. Most started out at eye-watering amounts, obviously due to the incredibly innovative technology needed to make a folding screen possible.
As the techniques have been improved and processes refined, this has seen a drop in the end-cost for consumers. Of course, these are still premium devices, and come with prices commensurate to this status.
To see what the Galaxy Z Fold 4 might cost, here’s a breakdown of the models that came before:
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold – £1,900/€1,949/$1,980
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 – £1,799/€1,899/$1,999
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 – £1,599/€1,799/$1,799
As you can see, there’s a downward trend, but the putative Z Fold 4 is still going to be expensive.
We haven’t seen any indication that there will be a massive drop with the Galaxy Z Fold 4, so for the time being, expect to pay a similar amount to that of the Fold 3 – possibly slightly less.
What specs will we see in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4?
You’ve probably already surmised that no-one outside of Samsung yet knows for sure the tech specs of the Fold 4.
But there have been some rumours appearing that throw light on what the new foldable may contain when it arrives, hopefully, in the second half of next year.
Many sites have run with a leak that came from Korean tech tipster yeux1122 who posted on Korean social media site Naver a breakdown of expected changes for the upcoming model.
The leak says that Samsung is working on improving the hinge mechanism on the new Fold 4, which as you can imagine is a crucial feature of the design. Depending on how the refinements go, this is also rumoured to result in a lighter chassis.
This is good news as in our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review we pointed out that while the design had improved from the earlier versions, it was still a heavy and cumbersome device, so losing a few grams could go a long way to addressing that concern.
Another criticism we had of the Fold 3 was the poor under-display camera. Yes, it does mean you don’t have to have a punch-hole aperture or a notch, but that’s not much use if the results aren’t up to snuff.
It’s encouraging then that the leak includes improvements to the camera, although we’d have said that was a necessity rather than nicety.
A more curious rumour is that the under-display camera (UDC) will not only be on the inside, as it was with the Fold 3, but also make an appearance on the external display as well. We hope that Samsung has mastered this technique, because the results on the Fold 3 were pretty terrible.
The battery doesn’t seem to be getting any kind of boost in the Fold 4, which is a shame, but the rumours do state that Samsung will add improved dust-proofing, something that again seems very important when you consider the grinding that grit and sand can bring to that hinge mechanism.
A separate report from Korean site TheElec says that Samsung is working on incorporating an S Pen slot into the chassis of the Z Fold 4, just as it has in the Galaxy S22 Ultra this year. Presumably that would also mean the stylus will come bundled with the phone by default.
The same report adds small notes on the phone’s displays, which are apparently going to stay about the same size at least: 7.56in for the main display and 6.19in for the outer screen – each within 0.01in of the corresponding Z Fold 3 screens.
There may be a subtler improvement here though. Both TheGalox and yeux1122 report that the Z Fold 4 will feature improved Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) on the folding screen. This will be “a big improvement” according to Galox, and have “improved hardness and quality” according to yeux1122, though the two disagree on the potential branding – either ‘Armor UTG’ or ‘Super UTG’.
GSM Arena does allude to an improved camera experience on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but there are no specifics on how it would compare to the existing array of 12Mp f/1.8 main camera w/ OIS, 12Mp f/2.2 ultrawide camera, ad 12Mp f/2.4 telephoto camera w/ OIS + 2x optical zoom.
Aside from these few specs, we haven’t seen anything else that lifts the veil on what Samsung has planned for the upgraded model. There’s a good chance that the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor could make it to the Fold 4, but anything else will have to be revealed when Samsung announces its intentions.
As a reminder, here are the key specifications for the existing Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3:
7.6in 22.5:18 QXGA+ (2208 x 1768) 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display
6.2in HD+ (2260 x 832) 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC
12GB DDR5 RAM
256GB or 512GB UFS 3.1 storage
12Mp f/1.8 main camera w/ OIS, Dual Pixel AF, 1.8µm pixels, 83° FoV
12Mp f/2.2 ultrawide camera w/ 1.22µm pixels, 123° FoV
12Mp f/2.4 telephoto camera w/ OIS + 2x optical zoom, 1µm pixels, 45° FoV
4Mp f/1.8 under-display camera w/ 2µm pixels, 80° FoV (main display)
10Mp f/2.2 hole punch selfie camera w/ 1.22µm pixels, 80° FoV (cover display)
Android 11 w/ One UI 3.1.1
Gorilla Glass Victus
Side-mounted power key-cum-fingerprint sensor
IPX8 water resistant
Stereo speakers
S-Pen stylus support (sold separately)
Dual-SIM
5G
WiFi 6E
Bluetooth 5.2
UWB
NFC
USB-C
4400mAh battery
25W wired charging
10W wireless charging
158.2 x 128.1 x 6.4 mm (unfolded), 158.2 x 67.1 x 16-14.4 mm (folded)
271 grams
Colours: Black, silver, green
To see what the Fold 4 will be up against, read our guides to the best smartphones and best phones coming in 2022.
