We still aren’t satisfied with Samsung’s foldable phones. But last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 managed to score an 8/10 in our rigorous review—it wasn’t perfect, but it offered a compelling look in the future. And to our excitement, the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 4 could give us a deeper look at what’s to come.
Let’s get one thing out of the way; early leaks show that Samsung will only make incremental changes to this year’s foldables. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 come with some small upgrades and should look identical to their predecessors.
Broad Details: Release Date and Pricing
We expect Samsung to debut the Galaxy Z Flip 4 in August or September of 2022. Previous Samsung foldables launched in the month of August, and leaker Jon Prosser suggests that Samsung will host its launch event on August 10th.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 should launch alongside Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4. And as with most Samsung releases, these phones should go on sale about two weeks after their reveal.
Pricing is still a mystery. And although the Galaxy Z Flip 3 sold for $999, there’s no guarantee that Samsung will maintain this pricing for the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Chip shortages, increased logistics costs, and other hurdles could impact the price of all new smartphones.
That said, 2022 is a pretty unpredictable year. We won’t be surprised if Samsung delays its new foldables.
Design: The Least Amount of Crease
Early leaks suggest that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will look very similar to its predecessor. That said, Samsung could implement a handful of small design changes to make this puppy worth the upgrade.
Most leakers agree that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will use a 6.7-inch foldable display, the same screen from last year. But an improved hinge could give the phone a narrower gap when in a closed position. And as with previous releases, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 should have a less obnoxious crease.
So only Hardware differences. pic.twitter.com/27hLTBCysi
— αѕωιи נ кυмαя (@AswinJKmr) June 12, 2022
Yogesh Brar says that Samsung will use a 2.1-inch cover display in the Galaxy Z Flip 4. That’s about a quarter of an inch larger than the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s cover display.
And oddly enough, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 could be a bit thicker than its predecessor. Experts at 91Mobiles expect the phone to measure at 165.1 x 71.9 x 7.2mm when unfolded (that’s 7.2mm wide, up from 6.9mm). Information obtained by SamMobile states that the phone will have a larger 3,700mAh battery (up from 3,200mAh), which could explain the thicker build.
That said, I’m not sure that an extra 0.3mm of thickness explains this big of a battery upgrade. Previous leaks point to a 3,300mAh battery, which seems more appropriate. (But we still don’t know a lot about this phone, so it’s up in the air.)
Oh, and according to leaker Ross Young, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 should come in Gold, Gray, Light Blue, and Light Violet colorways. Last year’s model put a huge emphasis on color and pricing to pull in young buyers, so even if this leak is incorrect, it’s safe to assume that the Flip 4 will come in several colors and support Samsung’s Bespoke customization system.
Spec Talk:
A Geekbench score uncovered by Ice Universe shows that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will probably run a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus processor (an upgrade from the Snapdragon 888 5G) and use 8GB of RAM (the same as last year).
Leaks also point to a larger battery, which is awesome because the Galaxy Z Flip 3 had a middling battery life. SamMobile claims that Samsung will upgrade from a 3,200mAh battery to one with a 3,700mAh capacity. Again, I question this leak, and previous information indicated that Samsung would only upgrade to a 3,300mAh battery.
We may also get a faster charging speed. While digging through a Chinese benchmark site, Mukul Sharma found information that suggests a 25-watt charging speed in the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4. Previous models only supported 15-watt fast charging.
Other specs, including storage configurations, are unknown.
Cameras:
Old rumors stated that the Galaxy Z Fold 4 would have three outer cameras, though such rumors now seem incorrect. New leaks from Yogesh Brar point to a 12MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 10 MP selfie camera. These are the same cameras we got with last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 3.
That’s a shame, because the Galaxy Z Flip 3 didn’t shoot amazing photos. The cameras were certainly usable, but they didn’t match the price of the phone and fell short of Samsung’s usual quality.
Some leaks claim that the Flip 4 will use an under-screen selfie camera, much like the Galaxy Z Fold 3. While an under-screen camera wouldn’t be much of a surprise, a traditional hole-punch lens seems more likely. This is supposed to be Samsung’s “affordable” foldable, after all.
We expect the Galaxy Z Flip 4 to launch in August or September alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Pricing is still unknown, though Samsung will probably aim for last year’s $999 price tag.
We will update this article as we learn more about the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Be sure to join our free newsletter for future updates, news, and reviews!
