Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4: Five Reasons You Should Use a Foldable Smartphone

It’s been a long way since the original foldable smartphone hit the market back in 2019, when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Fold in its annual Unpacked event. The device represented a massive development leap since the original smartphone was produced more than a decade ago, but it didn’t come without enormous design and engineering challenges. So, how does the fourth iteration of Samsung’s foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold4, hold up today? Here’s five reasons you might want to consider the foldable to be your next smartphone.

Flexible Multitasking

Those who rely on smartphones to get work done expects nothing less from a phone capable of handling multiple tasks at once. Of course, most smartphones these days allow you to interact with two apps (split in two halves) at the same time, with some even featuring pop-out window feature for even greater multitasking flexibility. But you’re eventually limited by the screen itself – there’s only so much you can fit into a 6-inch screen without making everything way too cramped to navigate.

Here’s where foldable devices comes in. You get effectively double the display area over traditional candy bar form factor smartphones, allowing you to use three apps in a single screen. The Galaxy Z Fold4 goes further than that – Flex Mode will adapt apps into fitting two partially-folded halves of the display, especially useful for video viewing. Aside from that, it comes with a new Taskbar and swipe gestures, with controls similar to how you navigate a PC. A few apps below the screens provides quick access to recently used apps, and you can resize apps with just a single swipe.

Enhanced User Experiences

In the early days of foldable phones, many Android apps were not designed for large form factor displays – causing glitches switching between inside and outside displays among other ‘growing pains’. Many years on, the most popular apps has adapted to foldable displays by offering unique experiences exclusive to foldable displays. It is among the first devices to be equipped with Android 12L, which is exclusively developed for large screen devices such as tablets and foldable displays.

To ensure users get the most out of the foldable experience, Samsung has collaboration with leading app developers to create custom UIs and optimizations such as drag-and-drop feature across apps. Google apps such as Chrome and Gmail now supports this feature; Microsoft’s Office suite apps has received foldable-specific customizations to display more information on-screen, with faster ways to edit and work.

Improved Navigation with S Pen

Originally a Galaxy Note staple, the S Pen has now been part of the Galaxy Z Fold4’s experience – those who prefer to write instead of type have the option to draw, write, scribble on the 7.6-inch main display with utmost precision. This iteration brings AI into the mix, once you perform a Smart Select action, the AI will recommend you follow-up action automatically depending on what you do. To ensure the Z Fold4 remain as light and thin as possible, the S Pen can be attached with the Standing Cover that comes in matching colors of the device itself.

Thinner, Lighter & More Portable

Looking back at the original Galaxy Fold, it had its rough edges – it was fairly bulky compared to the traditional candy bar form factor smartphones; with thicker bezels as well. Samsung has improved much in that regard, with large screens able to fit on a smaller, thinner bezels and chassis, making the phone much easier to handle with one-handed usage. It retained the same 7.6-inch main display over the preceding Z Fold3, however the device’s physical size has been reduced and aspect ratio slightly altered to improve the usability.

Designed To Endure The Distance

The perception on foldable phones has been that of fragile durability in the early days – however this is no longer the case. Just like regular candy bar smartphones, the Z Fold4 offers water resistance up to IPX8, with additional components like Armor Aluminum frames and hinge covers, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the outside to protect against accidental drops. The hinge itself has been meticulously engineered to handle up to 200,000 folding cycles, easily exceeding a typical phone’s usage lifetime. The Z Fold4’s 4,400mAh battery carries you throughout a whole day with 50% charge in 30 minutes should you need to top up in a rush.

Of course, you can read on our review of Galaxy Z Fold4 here to see for yourself.