Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 vs Galaxy S22: How compact can you get?

If you are looking for a powerful yet compact Android phone, the first one that comes to mind is the Galaxy S22, but did you know that when you fold the Galaxy Z Flip 4, it becomes even tinier than the S22?

So which one should you go for if a small phone is your top priority?

The Galaxy S22 is a traditional slab of a phone, so you don't need to bother unfolding it every single time, plus it has a more powerful camera system, and a few other extras like faster charging. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 on the other hand is plain cool, has a more powerful chip inside, but also costs more.

Let's take a look at the differences between the two, so you can make an informed buying decision.

It'd be easy to dismiss the design similarities between the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy S22 based on form factor alone. Let's not forget that those two come from Samsung, and they're more similar than you might think.

The Flip 4 follows in the footsteps of its best-selling predecessor so closely, that one Samsung rep mistook our own Fold 3 for the new model. This little anecdotal story speaks volumes but it's not a bad thing per se. The design of the new phone remains largely unchanged, barring the frosted glass elements on the upper and lower back cover. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a larger and heavier phone, and even when it's folded it doesn't feel as compact as the Galaxy S22.

Let's talk colors - the Galaxy Z Flip 4 colors is available in Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold, and Blue but using the customization option of the so-called Bespoke edition, you can add another slew of colors to the mix - Yellow, White, Navy, Khaki, Red for the back and Silver/Black/Gold for the frame. The Galaxy S22 on the other hand is available in Cream, Violet, Sky Blue, and Graphite. So, there's overlap here with the Blue and Graphite hues.

Moving on to the display - Samsung has slapped a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display with an LTPO variable refresh rate technology in the Galaxy Z Flip 4. The unit can go all the way between 1 and 120Hz, and it also supports HDR 10+.

Of course, there's a secondary 1.9-inch OLED display on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, so you can glance over notifications and do some basic stuff without the need to open the phone up. Two displays are always better than one, right?

As for the Galaxy S22 - it's a known variable in this equation - the phone sports a 6.1-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 2340 pixels resolution and variable refresh rate that goes all the way up to 120Hz. Here are some in-depth display tests.

Looking at the test scores above, it's clear to see that Samsung has fine-tuned the display of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the differences between the foldable and the Galaxy S22 are miniscule. For what is worth, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a tad more bright, and can also go dimmer than the S22.

On the hardware front the Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes equipped with the top of the line Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset - an overclocked and more efficient version of the regular 8 Gen 1. 

The Galaxy S22 on the other hand features the good old Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the States, so the performance difference between the two devices isn't huge. There is a number difference in synthetic benchmarks but it's really not that big. What's even more interesting is that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 seems to have some thermal throttling issues, especially during the 3DMark stress test.

Both devices feature the same amount of RAM, and given that they run the same software (Android 12 with OneUI on top), the real-life performance is very, very close. Below you'll find the benchmarks.

The Flip 4 features the same 12MP dual-camera system on its back, as its predecessor. There's the main wide-angle camera with Dual Pixel AF, OIS, an aperture of F1.8, and an ultra-wide camera - actually the same one Samsung has been using throughout the S22 range, and also on the Z Flip 3. There's no trace of telephoto here, and in comparison with the Galaxy S22, the camera situation of the Z Flip 4 can be described as "lacking."

The Galaxy S22, on the other hand, adds the aforementioned telephoto lens, alongside a main 1/1.56" sensor with a bigger pixel count - 50MP, with f/1.8. The ultrawide camera is the same 12MP f/2.2 we've seen through different models and generations (S21, S22, Z Flip 3). 

Below you'll find some comparison samples between the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Again, there's no huge difference between the two when it comes to main and ultrawide cameras, and obviously, when zooming in the Galaxy S22 has a big advantage with its dedicated telephoto camera.

On the selfie side of things both phones sport 10MP front cameras, with a slightly different aperture - the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a front camera with F2.4, while the aperture of the Galaxy S22 selfie camera is F2.2. Not a night and day difference in the samples either.

In the video department there are some interesting things happening when shooting 4K@30fps - the Galaxy Z Flip 4 seems to produce slightly over sharpened frames, while the Galaxy S22 on the other hand does a better job with exposure, revealing more background details. The Flip 4 video looks somewhat less choppy, even though the frame rate is locked at 30 on both phones. Image stabilization also looks better on the Flip.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 battery has been upgraded to 3,700mAh (that's actually two batteries working together - first cell has a rated capacity of 2,555mAh, and the second has a capacity of 1,040mAh). This is 400mAh more than the previous version and on par with the S22.

The battery inside the Galaxy S22 has the same typical capacity, and given all the hardware and software similarities, the benchmark results below are anything but surprising. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 runs an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 but the new Qualcomm silicon is also more efficient, so at the end of the day, the Z Flip 4 even manages to topple the S22 in some of our battery tests (the most striking difference lies in the video test result with 2+ hours in favor of the Z Flip 4).

The fast charging situation is also very similar. Samsung has upgraded the charging capabilities of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 compared to its predecessor and the phone can receive juice with up to 25W of power. If it sounds familiar, that's because the Galaxy S22 supports the exactly same charging speed wired.

The Galaxy S22 can charge with up to 25W wired, as we already mentioned above, so this is another key area where both phones are expected to be neck and neck. We shouldn't jump to conclusions, though - we need to slap the Galaxy Z Flip 4 on our bench and run some tests to be sure (already in progress), but on paper, things look pretty close between these two.

Well, there you have it - our detailed comparison between the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy S22. It might not look like the most obvious pair but there are some questions that are legit - should you upgrade to the Galaxy S22 or hop on the foldable train and get the Galaxy Z Flip 4?

Samsung is perfecting its foldable game, and if the clamshell form factor is your thing, then the stars are in favor of the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Given the popularity of its predecessor, the Z Flip 4 is expected to sell even better, and it can turn out to be a gateway to foldable phones for many people.

There's nothing wrong with the Galaxy S22, and if you want a compact flagship (that doesn't fold in half), you can absolutely go for the S22, no doubt about it, and save some money as a bonus.