Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G (smartphone review)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G is its uber-fold flagship that offers maximum screen-estate. In every respect, it walks the walk and talks the talk if you can afford it.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G is the fourth generation Galaxy Z Fold and refines the Fold3, which was pretty good to start with. The refinements include a wider cover screen, the Qualcomm SD8+ Gen 1 processor, a better 50MP primary camera sensor and a Telephoto 3X Optical/30X Hybrid zoom. New also is a ‘Windows-like’ bottom taskbar.

But up front, you have to understand that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is not for everyone. It is expensive ($2499-2999), heavy (263g), large (155.1 x 67.1 x 15.8-14.2 folded) and has some quirks due to the odd 21.6:8 fold screen (letterbox 16:9 video and a split keyboard). It is also eminently droppable and demands two-handed use and care when open flat.

If you want a big screen, there is nothing like this – nothing.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, 12/256, Model SM-936B/DS Single or Dual SIM and eSIM

Website	Product Page
Price	12/256GB $12499 12/512 $2699 12/1TB $2999 Optional 25W charger $29 Case and S Pen Fold $139 (strongly recommended)
Colours	GreyGreen Phantom Black Beige Burgundy (Samsung online only) Glossy frame and matte glass
From*	Samsung online and approved retailers Harvey Norman, Domayne, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Bing Lee, Videopro, Officeworks, Telstra, and Optus.
Warranty	12-months ACL
More	CyberShack Samsung News and Reviews

* Grey market – no Australian warranty, and 5G may not work here

We strongly advise you to buy a genuine model with Australian firmware. It is easy to identify the Australian version – under Settings, About Phone, and Regulatory Labels, there is an Australian RCM C-tick mark. There is also an RCM C-Tick on the box. They also use unique Australian 5G sub-6Ghz and 5G low-band frequencies, requiring local activation first.

Do not buy models SM-F936U, SM-F936U1, SM-F936N, SM-F936W/CA.

Deep-Dive review format

It is now in two parts – a summary and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec, including over 70 tests to back up the findings. It also helps us compare different phones and features.

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.

You can click on most images for an enlargement.

Rating conundrum – what to compare it to?

When we rate a smartphone, we usually rate it in a category loosely related to price – what we expect from entry-level, mid-range, premium etc. That way, we avoid the trap (as most reviewers fall into) of comparing everything to an uber-expensive iPhone or Galaxy S22 Ultra.

If we review it on price, there are a lot of better glass slabs with superb cameras, more power, larger storage, longer battery life, etc. Ditto, if we review it on features, there are phones from under $1000 with similar flagship processors that solidly beat it.

The conundrum here is that this is a new category. What do you expect a Fold to do?

The answer is simple. You expect a Fold to have a large screen, a reasonably premium set of features, a reasonable camera, decent battery life, and you don’t really care what is under the hood. It is all about the screen, not necessarily substance.

We must rate this as a Fold and all the benefits/compromises that entails. If you are OK with that, the Fold is the ultimate.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 – first Impression – big, heavy – Pass

OK, let’s get the weight issue out of the way because the need for a larger screen size supplants that. It is big and heavy in your pocket at 263g and 155.1 x 67.1 x 15.8-14.2mm folded (before considering a cover). It is not like a 6.2″ glass slab that you can shirt or trouser pocket.

Fortunately, most of the work is on the external screen, so you may only have to open it occasionally. But opening it is a two-handed job; using it when open also needs two hands. You do not want to drop this, and it would have been nice to have a lanyard attachment.

Similarly, when you want to take a photo, it will not easily fit a selfie holder (or a tripod), and it is a stretch to hold it one-handed and press the shutter button with the other.

On the positive side, the interior screen is useful. Whether multitasking, in DeX mode, or even showing spreadsheets – it is nearly as good as an 8″ tablet. The crease is noticeable, but all stylus and finger swipes work over it. On the Stylus, you must use the S Pen Fold edition as it has a special tip to work with the screen.

Screen – well, two AMOLED 2X – Pass

The 7.6″ inner screen uses a layer of Ultra-thin glass and a plastic screen protector. It has a Mohs hardness of 2, and a fingernail is 2.5. Take care!

The 6.2″ outer screen has Gorilla Glass Victus+ and a Mohs hardness rating of about 7. The exterior is all GGV+ – excellent.

Both screens are Adaptive 120Hz AMOLED 2X with brightness to spare – typical 500 nits, High Brightness mode 900 and peak over 1000 nits. Being OLED, contrast is infinite, and daylight viewing is great.

Colour accuracy is excellent, but it is still essentially a 1080p, 8-bit, 16.7m colour screen. For the money, you could easily get a glass slab 4K, 10-bit, 1.07 billion colour screen. However, it’s a lovely screen and fit for purpose. It will play Netflix, Prime and Youtube 1080p HDR content.

I have two gripes. The inner screen is a fingerprint magnet, and a 16:9 video has 20mm letterbox lines top and bottom (landscape mode). It is even worst in portrait mode, but you can tap to fill the screen, but it severely crops the image. In any case, landscape is best as the speakers are oriented that way.

While the SoC can handle gaming easily, you need to be careful with the screen, so we cannot recommend it for that purpose.

The screen is perfect for multitasking or just big easy-to-see letters!

Processor System on a Chip (SoC) – Pass+

The latest 4nm Qualcomm SD8+ Gen 1 flagship chip provides power and reasonable battery efficiency. It nearly earned an Exceed rating, except it throttles (heat issues), losing 22% of its power at 100% load at 10 minutes. Thankfully it then stabilises at a lower rate to avoid overheating.

As this is not a gamer, videographer/Vlogger’s phone, throttling is not a significant issue as you will seldom hit 100% load. But there is a second caveat: it does not support mountable external storage – just cut and paste OTG, nor does it have microSD, so the storage you buy is what you are stuck with.

Comms – everything you expect – Pass+

Wi-Fi 6E AX, BT 5.2, Dual GPS, NFC, Ultra-wide-band – all good.

Wi-Fi 5Ghz signal strength is excellent, reaching the maximum 2400Mbps at the router and holding pretty well to 10, even 15 metres.

DeX – USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 alt DP video and audio – Exceed

The USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 is 5Gbps (625MBps) and supports alt DP audio and video streams. So that means DeX (Samsung Android Desktop) and USB-C to HDMI cable mirror to a TV. You can also use it wirelessly.

Phone – SIM and eSIM and very good reception – Exceed

It has all Australian 4G LTE and 5G and low bands. Add to that 12 antennas, and it finds the four closest towers at above-average strengths.

Perfect phone for city, suburb, regional and rural use.

Battery – 3700mAh for single-day use – Pass

Samsung loses major brownie points for not including a 25W charger inbox. It specifically requires 9V/2.77A/25W to fast charge – something not common to third-party chargers. So yes, you can use them, but it won’t necessarily charge at 25W. We tested a range of PD chargers and invariably charged at 9V/2A/18W or 5V/3A/15W.

Similarly, it should charge at 15W using a Qi charge pad, but we found it tended to charge at 9V/1.33A/10.8W on a Belkin 15W charge pad and 9V/.75A/6.75W on a genuine Samsung 15W charge pad with a genuine Samsung 25W charger. So yes, you can use any Qi charge pad, but likely, you may not get 15W charging.

Charge times vary. With a genuine Samsung 25W charger, it will fill 0-100 in 1 hour and 36 minutes. The Belkin Qi pad took 3.56 hours and a 5V/2A USB charger about 3.5hours.

Use times vary. All tests are on Adaptive Screen mode

• 1080p video loop (50% volume and screen brightness, Wi-Fi/BT/GPS off): 19 hours and 3 minutes.
• PC Mark Battery Test: 10 hours and 52 minutes (indicative of typical use)
• Accubattery: 10 hours 12 minutes
• GFX Manhattan: would not run
• GFX T-Rex: 4.85 hours and 6715 frames (indicative of game use)
• Drain: 100% load: 5 hours and 13 minutes

You will need to charge daily. Samsung persists with slow 25W charging when other brands are now more than 80W.

Sound – depends on which way you look at it – Pass+

The dual, matched, up-firing speakers are on the top and bottom (portrait mode closed) or left and right side-firing in landscape mode when opened.

These are the best speakers I have heard on a smartphone and earn extra points.

This has just enough mid-and-high bass to satisfy and give a clean thump instead of a whump. The flat, almost neutral sound signature (excellent as the EQ can adjust this) is also great for clear voice and music. The sound stage becomes quite wide with Dolby Atmos content.

The maximum volume is 83dB – quite loud. There is excellent L/R stereo separation.

Build – Pass

It is well made, but the screen needs extra care to avoid scratching, and the fold action leads to more potential for drops.

It is IPX8 rated. The X means it can get dust into the hinge area, so don’t throw it into the sand and don’t put it in pockets where you may also have tissues. The 8 means 1.5 meters of fresh, still water for up to 30 minutes.

It loses points for no charger inbox.

Android 12 with more to come – Exceed

You can read What are the official Android OS and Security update policies? (guide) but suffice it to say it gets four OS updates and five years of security updates – excellent.

Samsung wants to establish a relationship with you, so it strongly encourages you to set up a Samsung account where you can access extra Galaxy Apps and it can advertise to you. The phone works fine if you don’t accept its invitation.

Samsung OneUI 4.1.1 is pretty easy to use and contains a variety of Samsung alternatives to Google Apps. We advise using Google Apps, especially if you ever change brands. It also has Samsung Smart Switch that can bring standard format data from iPhone or Android.

Missing – not much and no deal breakers

• 3.5mm jack – use a 3.5mm to USB-C DAC cable
• MicroSD storage expansion – could be an issue, so make sure you buy enough storage.
• No externally mountable SSD/HDD storage – only an issue for videographers etc
• No charger inbox – it will cost you $29 to get the genuine Samsung 25W (recommended)

Samsung Incentives – could save you a dollar or three

Samsung offers up to $750 trade-in, but the reality is that it is for 2021 premium flagship iPhone or Galaxy phones.

It also has a Care+ program. It is a two-year device swap $249 subscription program, and you just pay the swap fee ($299) for each swap request. There is a 50% discount incentive at present.

You can also get interest-free pay-by-the-month over 36 months. Or you can get a subscription over 18 months, where you then resubscribe to a new phone.

Other programs include Galaxy Ecosystem bundles (10-20% off), Samsung rewards and a $199 screen replacement.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 camera – Exceed

The primary 50MP bins to 12.5MP and, with the AI capabilities, produces excellent photos in day, office and low light. It is the ideal point-and-shoot camera, except that it’s a two-handed shoot that takes away a little spontaneity. We gave up using the fold screen for previews and just used the external screen – that bought back the essence of point and shoot.

Selfies are interesting

There are three modes

• 10MP external screen is typical of any selfie camera
• 16MP binned to 4MP under glass is fuzzy, lacks dynamic range and really only good for video conference
• Use the primary camera as a selfie and the external screen as a viewfinder – very good.

Camera summary

• 1X Day Primary sensor – the colours are excellent if over-saturated with a good dynamic range. Good details in the background, shadows, and highlights.
• 2X Day Primary sensor – colours are excellent with good dynamic range. The background is getting noisy.
• 4X Day Telephoto sensor – excellent detail
• 10X Day: Telephoto sensor: Forget it
• 30X Day Telephoto: Forget it
• Ultra-wide: Second sensor: good colour and details, although you can tell it is a different sensor from the primary.
• Macro: The 50MP primary sensor takes reasonable close-up shots, but it is not a macro lens
• Indoor office light: Colours are excellent, and the dog’s face/ears are deep black
• Bokeh Depth: Very good bokeh.
• Dark <40 lumens: It has great details and colour – better than night mode on most cameras.
• Night mode brings up the detail, saturates the colour – excellent
• Selfie: The 10MP selfie has natural skin tones and details and a range of filters to enhance any image. Best in a day and office light. The internal under-glass 16MP binned to 4MP has a very soft focus and limited dynamic range. Best for close-up video conference work.
• Video (we are not video experts): You can shoot at 8K@60fps with OIS/EIS, but we think the sweet spot is still 1080p@30fps for excellent, stable video and audio.

The camera is flagship class making it easy to take good photos day or night.

CyberShack’s view – Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is getting close to perfect

You may have detected a slight undertone that I was not really comfortable with using this device as my daily drive. I love the screen real estate, but it makes the phone bulky, heavy, and prone to accidental drops. And it costs more than I am comfortable with.

On the plus side, there is no denying it is unique in the Fold category and nearly as well-featured as the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Samsung has nailed the format, and I am sure it will continue to build on the foldable category. But there are likely to be many more brands in this space now that Samsung has established the category.

Pro

Con

https://youtu.be/HhKf0IQ8GKs

Jerryrig torture test

iFixit article and video

CyberShack Smartphone comparison v 1.1 (E&OE)

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G

Brand	Samsung
Model	Galaxy Z Fold 4
Model Number	SM-936B/DS (dual sim)
Base	12/256
Price base	$2,499
Price 2	12/512 $2699 12/1TB $2999 25W charger $29 S Pen Fold edition $74 Standing Cover inc S Pen $139
Warranty	24-months
Tier	Fold Premium
Website	Product page
From	Samsung Online and approved retailers
Country of Origin	Korea
Company	Samsung
Test date	1-7/9/22
Ambient temp	10-20°
Release	Aug-22
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy)	SM-F936U, SM-F936U1, SM-F936N, SM-F936W/CA

Screen

Size	7.6″ Open / 6.2″ Cover screen
Type	AMOLED 2X
Flat/ Curve/ 2D/3D	Flat
Resolution	2176 x 1812 / 2316 x 904
PPI	373/401
Ratio	21.6:8 / 23.1:9
Screen to Body %
Colours bits	8-bit, 16.07m colours
Refresh Hz/ adaptive	Both 120Hz Adaptive
Nits typical/ test	500 (501) / 500 (480)
Nits max/ test	HBM 900 (820) / 900 (800) Peak 1200 (1000) / 1000 (1003)
Contrast	Infinity
sRGB	Natural is super saturated 100%+
DCI-P3	Vivid approx. 60% (100% 16M colours)
Rec.2020 or other	RGB and temperature adjustment
Delta E (<4 is excellent)	Vivid 3 Natural 1.5
HDR Level	Plays up to HDR10+ locking refresh rate to 120Hz
SDR Upscale	No
Blue light control	Yes
PWM if known	Yes 350Hz
Daylight readable	Yes
Always on Display	Yes, on the external screen
Edge display	Yes
Accessibility	Extensive Samsung accessibility tools
DRM	Widevine L1 Prime, Youtube and Netflix stream 1080p HDR content
Gaming	The SoC can handle it, but I would be concerned about the screen durability for game use.
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass Victus external screen Ultra-Thin-Glass (UTG) on Fold screen
Comment	Disappointing that it is not 10-bit 1.07B colours. This has a true adaptive screen that ranges from 10-120Hz to help conserve battery. When open, the screen defaults to landscape mode. Fold S Pen (Wacom) support. Video playback to 8K@60fps

Processor (Soc)

Brand/ Model	Qualcomm SD8+ Gen 1
nm	4
Cores	1 x 3.19GHz + 3 x 2.75GHz + 4 x 1.80GHz
Modem	X65
AI TOPS	27
Geekbench 5 Single-core	1336
Geekbench 5 multi-core	4202
Like	About 15-20% faster than the same SD8 Gen 1
GPU	Adreno 730
GPU Test
Open CL	6313
Like	About 5% slower than an Exynos 2100
Vulcan	6409
RAM/ type	12GB LPDDR5
Storage/ free/ type	256GB UFS 3.1 (208GB free)
micro-SD	No
Storage Test
CPDT internal seq. Read MBps	1310 – excellent
CPDT internal seq. write MBps	251
CPDT microSD read/ write MBps	N/A
CPDT external (mountable?) MBps	Won’t test – seen as external storage but can’t mount as internal storage
Comment	Videographers and vloggers will soon run out of space without mountable storage, seen as internal storage.
Throttle test
Max GIPS (power/battery)	354225
Average GIPS	310301
Minimum GIPS	267794
% Throttle	22%
CPU Temp	52°
Comment	While the average user may not worry about 22% throttle, this will affect power users, gamers and video playback.

Comms

Wi-Fi Type/ model	Wi-Fi 6E AX
Test 2m -dBm/ Mbps	-31/2400 – good
Test 5m	-49/2401 – average
Test 10m	-53/1729 – average 15m -65/1129 – usable
BT Type	5.2
GPS single/ dual	Dual accuracy <4m
USB type	USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps with alt DP
ALT DP/ DeX/ Ready For	Yes
NFC	Yes
Ultra-wide-band	Yes
Sensors
Accelerometer	Yes – combo with Gyro
Gyro	Yes – combo with Gyro
e-Compass	Yes
Barometer	Yes
Gravity
Pedometer
Ambient light	Yes
Hall sensor	Yes
Proximity	Yes
Other
Comment	Excellent Wi-Fi signal strength

LTE and 5G

SIM	Single SIM and eSIM
Active	Only one
Ring tone single/ dual	Single
VoLTE	Carrier dependent
Wi-Fi calling	Carrier dependent
4G Bands	1, 2, 3 ,4 5, 7, 8 ,12, 13, 17, 18 19 ,20, 25, 26 28, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66
Comment	All Australian and most world bands
5G sub-6Ghz	1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20 ,25, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78
Comment	All sub-6Ghz and 5G low bands
mmWave	No
Test Boost Mobile/ Telstra
UL/ DL/ Ms	28.2/23.5/29Ms – good
Tower 1 -dBm/ fW or pW	-83/3-5pW – good
Tower 2	-89/103pW – good
Tower 3	-90/500fW-1pW – good
Tower 4	-92/300-500fW- good
Comment	Excellent signal strength for city, suburbs, regional and rural use.

Battery

mAh	4400 (two – 9.07 and 7.99 Wh)
Charger/ type/ supplied	No – suggest SS 25W. Note third-party chargers must support 9V/2.77A/25W, or it will drop back to 5V/3A/15W or lower
PD/ QC level	3/ 2.0
Qi/ wattage	15W
Reverse Qi or cable	N/A
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen)
Charge % 30mins	25%
Charge 0-100%	25W charger 1 hour 36 minutes
Charge Qi/ W	3.45 hours
Charge 5V/ 2A	3 hours
Video loop 50%/ aeroplane	19 hours 3 minutes
PC Mark 3 battery	10 hours 52 minutes
GFX Bench Manhattan battery	Would not run
GFX Bench T-Rex	290.7 minutes (4.85 hours) 6715 frames
Drain 100-0% full load screen on	5 hours and 13 minutes
Watt full load	2000-2200mA
Watt idle Screen on	250-300mA
Estimate loss at max refresh	Adaptive mode should deliver a better battery life
Estimate typical use	It is a phone you will need to charge daily.
Comment	Carry a charger (shame Samsung does not provide one). The Out of memory error should not occur on a Qualcomm SoC.

Sound

Speakers	Dual L/R up-firing/down-firing speakers (one acts as earpiece)
Tuning	AKG
AMP	2 x Cirrus Logic CS35L41 each 5.3W/ 1% THD/ 8 ohm CS40L26 haptic engine driver
Dolby Atmos decode	Yes, downmix to two speakers
Hi-Res	32-bit/ 128kHz
3.5mm	No
BT Codecs	SBC/ AAC/ aptX / LDAC/Samsung Scalable for Samsung devices
Multipoint	Can connect to two devices
Dolby Atmos (DA)	Yes – auto/ movie/ music/ voice and games mode
EQ	Normal/ Pop/ Classic/ Jazz/ Rock and Custom – makes more of a difference in headphones as inbuilt speakers limit what it can do.
Mics	Three at the top (portrait) and one at the bottom.
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off
Volume max	83
Media (music)	79
Ring	79
Alarm	79
Notifications	72
Earpiece	55
Hands-free	The bottom mic is for voice only, and the top is for noise reduction and stereo recording/voice.
BT headphones	Excellent left-right separation and DA makes quite a difference with DA content.

Sound quality

Deep Bass 20-40Hz	Nil
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	Starting at 64Hz
High Bass 100-200Hz	Building to 200Hz
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Flat
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Flat
High-Mid 1-2kHz	Flat
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	Flat
High Treble 6-10kHz	Slight decline
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Flast to 20kHz
Sound Signature type	This has just enough mid-and-high bass to satisfy and give a clean thump instead of a whump. The flat, almost neutral sound signature (excellent as the EQ can adjust this) is also great for clear voice and music.
Soundstage	2D is slightly wider than the phone. DA gives it a far wider sound stage but still no 3D height.
Comment	10-points for having some real bass. The mid-treble is well controlled and removes the harshness. The Personal Audio Test works with wired or Bluetooth headphones to boost frequencies you have trouble hearing. Ambient Sound Amplification mode captures sound through the phone’s mic and to your headphones.

Build

Size (H X W x D)	155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3mm  flat 155.1 x 67.1 x 15.8-14.2mm fold
Weight grams	263
Front glass	Main screen – protective film – no toughened glass protection as it folds
Rear material	Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the external screen and back
Frame	Aluminium – hinge rated 200K cycles
IP rating	IPX8 – 1.5m x 30 minutes
Colours	GreyGreen Phantom Black Beige Burgundy (Samsung online only)
Pen/ Stylus support	Yes
In the box
Charger	No
USB cable	USB-C cable 3W rated
Buds	No
Bumper cover	No
Comment	No charger – bad Samsung. Gorilla Glass Victus+ and solid alloy frame make it a keeper but use a case to help prevent drops.

OS

Android	12L (for tablets)
Security patch date	1/7/22
UI	OneUI 4.1.1
OS upgrade policy	Up to 4 OS upgrades
Security patch policy	Regular security patches for four years
Bloatware	Samsung alternative to Google suite. Microsoft suite and OneDrive (requires subscription)
Other	Selection  of Galaxy Apps
Comment	Great upgrade policy, and One UI is easy to use.
Security
Fingerprint sensor location/ type	Fingerprint on the power button
Face ID	2D
Other	Knox and Secure folder
Comment	One of the more secure Android devices

 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 – rear camera

Rear Primary	Wide
MP	50MP bins to 12.5MP
Sensor	Samsung S5KGN3
Focus	Dual Pixel PDAF and detail enhancer mode
f-stop	1.8
um	1 bins to 2
FOV° (stated/ actual)	74.1-86.7°
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	No
Rear 2	Ultra-wide
MP	12MP
Sensor	Sony IMX258
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2
um	1.12
FOV (stated/ actual)	123 (104.3-116.3°)
Stabilisation	No
Zoom	8X
Rear 3	Telephoto
MP	10MP
Sensor	S5K3K1
Focus	PDAF
f-stop	2.4
um	1
FOV (stated/ actual)	Unknown
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	3x optical 30x Hybrid Space Zoom
Special
Video max	8K@60fps and 1080p with EIS
Flash	LED
Auto-HDR	HDR10+
	Scene Optimiser (30 modes)     Shot suggestions     Scan QR codes     Single Take     Quick Shot     Photo     Video     Pro     Panorama     Food     Night     Portrait     Portrait Video     Pro Video     Super Slow-mo     Slow motion     Hyperlapse     Director’s View
QR code reader	Yes
Night mode	Yes

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 – front camera x 2

Front	Selfie external screen / main screen under display
MP	10MP / 16MP binned to 4MP under glass
Sensor	Sony IMX374 / IMX471
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2 / 1.8
um	1.22 / 1um binned to 2um
FOV (stated/ actual)
Stabilisation	No/Gyro EIS
Flash	Screen fill – both
Zoom	8X
Video max	4K@60fps
Features	HDR Three selfie modes 10MP external screen is typical of any selfie camera 16MP binned to 4MP under glass is fuzzy, lacks dynamic range and really only good for video conference Use the primary camera as a selfie and the external screen as a viewfinder – very good.
Camera summary	1X Day Primary sensor – the colours are excellent if over-saturated with a good dynamic range. Good details in the background, shadows, and highlights 2X Day Primary sensor – colours are excellent with good dynamic range. The background is getting noisy. 4X Day Telephoto sensor – excellent detail 10X Day: Telephoto sensor: Forget it 30X Day Telephoto: Forget it Ultra-wide: Second sensor: good colour and details, although you can tell it is a different sensor from the primary. Macro: The 50MP primary sensor takes reasonable close-up shots, but it is not a macro lens Indoor office light: Colours are excellent, and the dog’s face/ears are deep black Bokeh Depth: Very good bokeh. Dark <40 lumens: It has great details and colour – better than night mode on most cameras. Night mode brings up the detail, saturates the colour – excellent Selfie: The 10MP selfie has natural skin tones and details and a range of filters to enhance any image. Best in a day and office light. The internal under-glass 16MP binned to 4MP has a very soft focus and limited dynamic range. Best for close-up video conference work. Video (we are not video experts): You can shoot at 8K@60fps with OIS/EIS, but we think the sweet spot is still 1080p@30fps for excellent, stable video and audio.

Rating Explanation

Features	9
	It has a balanced set of features that you expect at this price – The speakers and screen size set it apart. The rest is what you expect for the price.
Value	8
	Considering that there are better performing, more fully featured glass slabs, it does not get a higher rating.
Performance	9
	It gains points for excellent Wi-Fi and phone reception strength.
Ease of Use	8
	I like the screen-estate, but it’s a two-handed opening, and you need to be extremely careful with the screen.
Design	9
	Samsung has done it well
Rating out of 10	8.6
Final comment	The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is a product of continuous improvement. There is little it could do to improve on this formula. It is outclassed by lower-cost glass slabs like the Galaxy S22 Ultra but in a class of its own as a Fold.