Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Z Fold 3: comparison

 

The new Fold 4 is also a bit less thick and weighs a bit less. The difference is hardly noticeable unless you actually measure it, but it is a little thing that shows Samsung's commitment to perfecting every little detail which we appreciate.

Other things to note are the IPX8 water resistance rating, the same one as last year. Keep in mind that the Fold 4 and Fold 3 are both water resistant, but not resistant to dust which remains the biggest danger to folding phones, so if you go out in the wild or work in a dusty environment, you should keep that in mind.

Also, the new under display camera! It's still not quite invisible, but it's far less noticeable than before. Image quality also appears to be better, but more on that below.

One inconvenience remains though: it's still almost impossible to unfold the phone with just one hand! You need to use both your hands, and this can be annoying when you need to unfold the device in a hurry.

In terms of biometrics, nothing has changed: you still have the fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button on the side. That worked great on the Fold 3, works great on the Fold 4 as well.

Considering the premium price, we are happy to see that Samsung made zero compromises with the components on the Fold 4.

All buyers, regardless of their country, will get the latest and most powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor on the new Fold. This is great news for those who live in the UK and Europe where Samsung S series flagships usually get the less powerful Exynos processor.

Compared to the Fold 3 which runs on the Snapdragon 888 chip, it's not a huge jump in performance but a welcome boost nonetheless.

Both the Fold 4 and Fold 3 also come with 12GB of fast LPDDR5 RAM for all models. Even the base model has 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, which is definitely plentiful. The Fold 4 is also available with 512GB and you also have a 1TB model, a first for a Samsung foldable. Neither of the two Folds supports microSD cards, in case you were wondering.

The Z Fold 4 comes with the new Android 12L on board (the L signifies this is a special edition of the Android platform for tablets) and One UI 4.1.1 on top of that. Samsung has taken a commitment to deliver 4 major software updates to most of its devices, and 5 years of security updates to both the Fold 4 and Fold 3, but of course, the Fold 4 will end up getting one more update because it's the newer release.

The coolest new software feature has got to be the fixed taskbar, much like what you have on a traditional PC. This feature made its debut on the Fold 4, but has recently arrived on the Fold 3 as well via a software update. This makes a huge difference to multitasking, and is our favorite software addition to a foldable phone OS in recent years.

From the back, the Fold 4 is hard to tell apart from the previous generation as both use the same pill-shaped triple camera.

The new edition Fold has a larger, 50MP sensor for the main camera, compared to the 12MP one used on the previous model, and this should help with both detail and low-light performance. Additionally, you get a 3X telephoto lens, an upgrade from the 2X zoom used before. This translates into up to 30X digital zoom vs the 20X you used to get on the previous model.

As usual, though, it's not all about the hardware, and it is the software algorithms that keep on improving and that will get you better photos and videos in real life.

As you can see, the Fold 4 now comes with a main camera with a wider lens and photos turn out less contrasty and with more pleasing, softer detail.

The processing with the ultra-wide camera has also evolved and you can notice the improved dynamic range as the highlights are not burned out on the newer Fold 4.

The Fold 4 also captures much cleaner zoomed shots thanks to the new 3X telephoto camera (the Flip 3 has a 2X tele camera). The Fold 4 can zoom digitally up to 30X, while the Fold 3 maxes out at 10X digital zoom, and the difference is quite striking at 10X.

Both phones do a great job separating the subject from the background in portrait mode, but the color science of the Fold 4 is improved and you can see the true color of greenery in the first shot. Having 3X zoom allows you to capture close-up portraits, while the previous-gen Fold captures 2X portrait photos.

The Fold 4 also has two selfie cameras, which is the same approach as the previous generation. You have a traditional punch-hole camera on the Cover screen, while the big screen actually has one of those newer cameras that are hidden under the screen. On the last year Flip 3 model, the area around that under-display appeared pixelized and it kind of ruined the effect a bit. This newer edition hides the under-screen camera better, but it's still not totally invisible.

The front camera located on the Cover screen that you will probably use for most selfies has gotten a bit wider which is useful for group shots. The under cover camera is a major downgrade in quality over the traditional camera on the smaller cover screen, even if it has improved slightly from the previous generation.

When it comes to video quality, the Fold 4 brings a wider field of view from the main camera, but otherwise colors and detail are similarly good during the day. The bigger difference comes when you zoom in 3X or further where footage from the Fold 4 appears far better stabilized and is a big upgrade over the predecessor.

Curious about that under display camera and what's the quality it produces when recording videos? Well, it might have improved a tiny bit, but honestly, you should just use the regular camera on the Cover Screen. The under display captures only 1080p video and detail is lacking, it looks like a recording out of a smartphone released 10 or 20 years ago, while the regular camera on the cover screen captures 4K video and looks way sharper.

The Fold series have always had some of the most impressive loudspeakers on a smartphone, probably because of the larger form factor that allows the speakers more space to shine. We are yet to test the Fold 4, but chances are its speakers will not disappoint either.

Neither the Fold 4, nor the Fold 3 have a headphone jack, but that is hardly surprising these days.

As for haptics, it seems that both phones are very similar with a nice and tight vibration motor that we find helpful with pacing when you type.

One thing that has not changed in the Fold 4 is battery size as the phone will have the same 4,400mAh cell as the last year's version. This worked out just fine in our experience, so we can’t say we are disappointed.