Speaker 1: This is the galaxy Z fold four. It's the fourth version of Sampson's phone that folds open into a small tablet. It costs $1,800. Yes, that's $1,800. AKA, a lot of gravy. Now, most of that price is because of this, a screen that folds in half, but it's also a screen that you can write and draw on one that has a high refresh rate for playing video games and one that even has a clever camera behind [00:00:30] it for video calls. And yet, despite not being a huge fan of galaxy fold phones, I cannot get enough of the galaxy Z fold four. Hi, I'm Patrick. And this is my in-depth review of the Samsung galaxy Z fold four. I've had a review sample on loan from Samsung for two weeks and we'll cover the design changes, the screen improvements, the new cameras, processor, and software, and so much more. I know that's [00:01:00] a lot, but yeah. So is the Z fold, four chapters are enabled in the description. So peruse around the video at your will. Also, we got some links in there, so you could check out the Z fold four for yourself. Now that all the housekeeping is out of the way let's fold. Speaker 1: Remember the first time you had a crush, I mean, maybe you didn't even know what a crush was, [00:01:30] but you found yourself enamored with someone else. That's kind of what has happened to me with the galaxy Z fold for, and like a kid with their first crush. It's hard to describe why I'm so drawn to this phone, especially since the fold four is so similar to last year's fold three, which I liked, but, uh, <laugh> I was not crazy about that phone. Now maybe part of my infatuation with the fold four comes from the dozens [00:02:00] of small ways. It's a refinement over the fold. Three, the hinge is a little thinner. The phone is a little lighter. The bezels on the cover screen are a little smaller. The phone's a little wider, making it more enjoyable to use when closed everything about the fold. Four feels more tailored. Speaker 1: And as far as foldable phone tropes go, let me address the two biggest ones right off the bat. [00:02:30] Yes, you can see and feel the crease. And no, it doesn't bother me. Do I wish there wasn't a crease? Of course does Samsung. I'm willing to bet they do too. But when I use the fold four, I'm usually head on with the display and the crease is not this glaring Scarlet letter. Now the other trope is that the fold four is too expensive for what you get. Yes. I could buy a galaxy S 22 ultra and an iPad mini [00:03:00] for the same price, but neither of those devices can do this or this, the core of the galaxy fold is its hinge. It enables the phone to fold open and close. And the hinge on the fold four is slimmer than the one on the fold. Speaker 1: Three. It feels firm and is satisfying to close. I mean, just listen to that sound because of the phone's size and the firm hinge. This isn't like the galaxy Z flip where you can open and close it with one hand. [00:03:30] Now, combine that hinge with aluminum sides and gorilla glass fix plus, and the phone feels solid more so than any other foldable phone I've tested. And the hinge enables really great and unique use cases like being a little tiny stand for watching films and videos like on an airplane or it's own tripod for capturing photos and videos. It's three millimeters wider than last year. It's fold three, [00:04:00] which makes it feel less awkward and cumbersome when it's folded closed and phone mode though, the onscreen keyboard is still a little cramp for my hands. The fold four is packed with features ranging from significant ones like the task bar turned dock that I truly enjoy to features that are well more. Speaker 1: Oh, well that seems kind of fun, but will I ever use that? Like the new cursor and trackpad in flex mode, all [00:04:30] of these features are enabled by Android 12 L, which is optimized for large screens and foldables 12 L and Samsung's lovely tweaks to one UI. Uh, Samsung's window dressing for Android really make you feel like you're using something well special, but without necessarily compromising the capabilities that you expect and require from a regular phone that doesn't fold in half the dock at the bottom makes getting in and out of multitasking app super easy. I mean, you just drag one on top of the other. It's straightforward. [00:05:00] It's simple to understand, and it makes using multiple apps at the same time, kind of fun. And it's this ease of use. That's just another reason that the fold four is so appealing to me also, it's kind of ridiculous that I can have three apps open where the fourth app in a floating window though, in my time, I usually just have one or two apps open at the same time. Speaker 1: And by the way, if you wanna have the ultimate time drain, use the fold four [00:05:30] have TikTok and Instagram open side by side. One of my favorite things to do with the fold four is watch videos. Now some of that might be because I caught C while reviewing the phone, but I dig that if I close the fold, while I'm watching a video, it picks up instantly on the cover screen and vice versa. Now some of these features are on by default, but other software features are buried in settings under something called labs. Uh, and I very unscientifically turned [00:06:00] everything on in the labs tab and have been the happier for it, but not all apps are optimized for the fold. Four, for example, Instagram awkwardly floats in the middle of the screen. There are arrows on either side to align it to the left or right side. Speaker 1: Then there's flex mode. When the fold is positioned half open, like a, a mini laptop, it moves the app from the middle of the screen to the top of the screen, but keeps the controls at the bottom. Now [00:06:30] Samsung has improved flex mode, including ITSs gallery app. So now when you edit a photo in flex mode, the pitcher stays on the top half of the screen and the edit tools and interface on the bottom, as opposed to previous folds and flips, where when you edited the photo would go to the middle of the screen and it was just awkward and weird. The fold four brings a new addition to flex mode, and that's the ability to make the bottom of the screen into a mini track pad complete with a cursor on the top of the screen. Now [00:07:00] I can't say I found a lot of use with this setup, but I, I love that Samsung's embracing the folds unique form factor and look, Hey, more of this, please. Speaker 1: The fold four supports the Spen look it's fun to use, but I wish it magnetically attached to the side of the fold. Kind of like the apple pencil does on the iPad. The fold four has five cameras. Now on the back cover, there are three, a main camera with a wide angle lens, another one with an ultra wide angle lens and a third one with a [00:07:30] three times telephoto lens. There's a selfie camera on the cover screen and a camera under the main display. The under display camera is the one I use the least, which is probably the case for a lot of people. And that's why Sampson put it hidden behind the display. Now you can see where the under display camera is. It's not invisible like a two-way mirror kind of thing, but it's not as distracting as having a whole punch cutout or a notch. Speaker 1: I use the under display camera a [00:08:00] couple of times for video chats and no one on these calls notice anything out of the ordinary, but if I'm being us, I found the image looked a little flat and processed the main and telephoto cameras on the back are similar to the ones on the galaxy S 22 plus photos look good and have punchy colors. In contrast, these cameras are definitely a step up from the ones on the fold three, but they lag behind the cameras on the galaxy S 22 ultra the pixel six pro and iPhone 13 pro [00:08:30] the only times I noticed the phone struggle was under low or mixed lighting though. I gotta say night mode was pretty great on the fold four in terms of video image quality was good, but again, in low lighting, things would look a little muddy and unless you're JJ Abrams, you're not gonna like all the lens flares. It gets a lot. Take a look at some photos and videos. I shot with a galaxy Z fold four. Speaker 1: [00:09:00] The best part of the cameras on the fold four are the fact that they're on the fold four, this phone is its own tripod. You could put it in all sorts of places. And one of the coolest features is the ability to use the rear cameras for selfies or share a preview of the camera's view finder on the cover screen with your subject. The fold four has a snap drag and eight [00:09:30] gen one plus chip. It's the fastest processor on any Samsung phone. It's also the same one that we see on a lot of gaming phones. And speaking of gaming, the fold four is the perfect size for having an amazing gaming experience. The screen is immersive and the fold didn't have any problems handling any of the game. I played like Mario Carter gugen impact or PUBG mobile and the speedy processor and the high refresh rate display. Speaker 1: Aren't just good [00:10:00] for games. Animations look incredibly butter, smooth check out the animation for when I pull up and down the notifications shade. Look, I, I know I'm a little insane for calling out this mundane thing, but it's one of the reasons I like this phone so much in terms of the battery. It's the same size as the one on the fold three, which was just okay. I was hopeful that the combination of Android 12 L and the Snapdragon eight gen one plus processor would mean that I got more battery [00:10:30] life. And to an extent I did, but it was just a little bit more. The fold was able to make it through most days on a single charge, but sometimes I found myself needing to top it off around eight or nine o'clock at night, I ran a test where over 45 minutes, I watched YouTube videos then scrolled through my TikTok feed, then played Mario cart, PUBG, mobile and FIFA mobile. Speaker 1: It's my job. But the point is over 45 minutes, the battery went from [00:11:00] a hundred percent to 82%. Obviously battery life is gonna be different for everyone. And since the fold four has two screens, battery life can vary even more. There was a stretch when I primarily used the cover display and the fold four was able to make it through a day and a half on a single charge. Luckily charging is pep though. It's not as fast as something like the one plus 10 pro. I charge the fold four for 30 minutes and the battery went from 20% up to 73%. And, [00:11:30] uh, remember the fold four does not come with a wall charger. The galaxy Z fold four adds all of the nuance and refinement that the fold three needed. But if you have a fold three, I don't think there's a reason to upgrade to the four. Speaker 1: Unless money is not an issue for you, then congrats your rich. But if you have a fold two, it might be worth upgrading. Especially if you can score a sweet trade in deal, you get a better [00:12:00] processor, better build waterproofing though. The fold force still lacks dust resistance, Spen support and better cameras as for me. Well, I hope my infatuation with the fold four last look, only time will tell the galaxy Z fold four is Samsung's best take on a foldable tablet. In fact, I'd say it's my favorite Android tablet period. The engineering and software improvements are impressive and also indicate that we're just at [00:12:30] the Dawn of foldable phones.