Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 First Take: Bigger Cover Screen, New Cameras

Speaker 1: With the new galaxy Z fold four, Samsung is addressing some of the biggest criticisms we had with the Z fold three, the Z fold four has a better camera. That's similar to the galaxy S 22 S and Samsung tweaked the folds designed to make it more like a regular phone. When it's closed the Z fold four launches on August 26th, alongside the Z flip four and starts at $1,800. We've only had a short amount of time with the device, but it seems like another [00:00:30] step in the right direction for Samsung's large size foldable phones. Now that Samsung has been selling foldable phones for almost three years, it's clearly gotten a better grasp on who these phones are for and what people want from them. But at $1,800, the Z fold four is still too expensive. For many people. Here's a closer look at what's new in Samsung's latest foldable phone. Speaker 1: The best thing about Samsung's galaxy Z folds devices [00:01:00] is the way they can function as a phone when closed and a tablet when opened. But one of my biggest complaints about the Z fold so far has been that it still feels kind of awkward to use as a phone when it's closed. It's screen is a little longer and taller than that of a regular phone. So the aspect ratio is slightly different. Samsung is trying to change that with the galaxy Z fold four, the new phone has a slightly wider screen with a wider aspect ratio, which makes it feel a little bit more [00:01:30] like a regular phone when it's shut, but don't expect it to feel exactly like a normal non folding phone. The screen still isn't as wide as what you'd experience with something like the galaxy S 22 or the iPhone 13. And it's still thick when folded, but it's still an improvement over the galaxy Z fold three, the 7.6 inch main screen on the inside is also brighter and 45% stronger compared to the Z fold three, the under display camera blends into the screen, more [00:02:00] seamlessly too, but it's not just about the hardware that giant screen. Speaker 1: Isn't very useful without new software features to go along with it. Thankfully, Samsung is adding some new functionality to the Z fold four. When the phone is folded halfway, you can use the bottom portion of the display as a touch pad to control apps. On the top half of the screen, the Z flip four is getting this feature too. There's also a redesigned task bar that now sits at the bottom of the screen. I'm glad [00:02:30] Samsung is experimenting with different software features for its foldable phones. The ability to switch between phone and tablet mode is already pretty useful, especially for people who don't own a personal laptop or tablet, but foldable phones still need a killer app that makes a compelling argument for why they exist in the first place for Samsung. The first step with its earlier foldables was getting apps to work easily between different display sizes. Speaker 1: Now that it's accomplished that it's finding new ways to [00:03:00] actually push the software experience forward. Samsung is also making some notable upgrades to the Z folds camera. The Z fold four will have a 50 megapixel main camera, 12 megapixel ultra wide lens, and 10 megapixel telephoto lens with a three times optical zoom and 30 times digital zoom. That's a step up from the Z fold threes camera in a few ways the Z fold three can only zoom in optically two times and 10 times digitally. Plus the main camera on the Z [00:03:30] fold three has a lower resolution of 12 megapixels. The Z fold four is also getting the same improvements to lowlight photography that we saw with the galaxy S 22. We'll know more about these camera improvements once we actually test the Z fold for, but it's nice to see Samsung close the gap between the cameras on its foldable phones and its flagship phones. Speaker 1: The galaxy Z fold fours battery capacity remains the same at 4,400 millions. And Samsung also says it should be able to charge up to 50% in [00:04:00] 30 minutes, like the new Z flip four, the Z fold four also runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon eight plus gen one processor. That chip is a slightly newer end upgraded version of the one in the galaxy S 22 lineup. Overall, the galaxy Z fold four seems like a step forward for Samsung's foldable phone with the better camera refined design and more software tricks. The Z fold four certainly seems to be moving in the right direction. Samsung is starting to answer the question of who the [00:04:30] galaxy fold is really for Samsung's positioning this phone as a productivity device because of its large screen and stylist compatibility, which makes sense. In some ways it feels like the galaxy Z fold lineup is replacing the galaxy note. Speaker 1: When the first note launched more than a decade ago, it was too large and expensive for most people, but it ended up being a hit with a specific audience of users that wanted a notebook like productivity device and a phone in one over the last 10 years. [00:05:00] The note lineup gradually overlapped with Samsung's galaxy S devices finally blending into the lineup completely with the galaxy S 22 ultra earlier this year, maybe the galaxy Z fold will eventually take a similar path, but that seems far off the Z fold fours, $1,800 price is still way too expensive for many people and companies like Samsung are still proving the promise behind foldable phones. We'll have to wait until we've had more time with the galaxy Z fold for to see if it really lives up to the hype. So [00:05:30] what do you think of the galaxy Z fold for let us know in the comments and don't forget to check out the links and the description for more Samsung coverage. Thanks for watching. And I'll see you next time.