Galaxy Z Fold 4 Software and features


The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is shaping up to be a productivity powerhouse, just like its predecessors, thanks to some new, even better multitasking features, or at the very least - improvements over the old ones. Running three apps at a time in split view, with even more in popup windows if you wish to, and having a fixed dock are just a couple of novelties that pump multi-tasking to 11.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 now has a functional taskbar of sorts, or a Dock, which houses your recent apps and is customizable with whatever apps and app combos you might wish to have as shortcuts. It functions rather similar to a Mac dock or a PC taskbar, and definitely improves the multitasking capabilities of the inner display. As we mentioned, you can use up to three apps in split-screen mode, with all having fully resizable borders, as well as open other apps in pop-up mode for multitasking that's bordering with the overwhelming.

Granted, even though the inner display is rather large and convenient for such tasks, using an S Pen could definitely improve things as running so many apps at the same time could quickly lead to digital claustrophobia. Speaking of S Pen, Samsung still has a dedicated Fold version of its superb S Pen stylus available as a separate purchase, and just as before, you will have to slot the accessory in any of the available S Pen cases, which are also sold separately.

The whole shebang is ran on Android 12L, with Samsung's latest One UI 4.1.1 software on deck. Have in mind that Android 13 is just around the corner, and we expect this one to hit the Z Fold 4 in a couple of months' time with possibly many new features in tow.

Samsung DeX is also still available on the Z Fold 4, giving you a slightly different but also superb multitasking experience in a desktop environment. DeX comes off as especially useful when you connect your Z Fold 4 to an external display, and wish to take full advantage of that larger screen real-estate. Definitely a productivity powerhouse, this phone is.

Galaxy Z Fold 4 Battery


Despite the slight dimensional differences, Samsung has kept the 4,400mAh battery, which is similar to what we had on the Z Fold 3. Paired with the much more efficient 4nm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset and adaptive refresh rate of the main screen, we could potentially expect a bump in battery life, which could be great to see!

As a refresher, the Z Fold 3 lasted for 8 hours and 15 minutes of web browsing in our dedicated battery test, nearly 7 hours during video streaming, and about 5 hours and 20 minutes in terms of gaming. Anything we get above those figures with the Z Fold 4 should be a win.

In terms of charging, the Z Fold 4 comes with 25W wired charging, giving 50% charge in roughly 30 minutes with a compatible 25W Samsung adapter.

Galaxy Z Fold 4 performance and hardware

Is the Exynos era over? It's hard to say at this point, but the Z Fold 4 will be skipping Samsung's own line of chips in favor of Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chips, which will be powering the foldable globally. The 4nm octa-core chip is being universally praised thanks to its much better efficiency, power and thermal management. Definitely a winner of a silicon that would definitely elevate the performance frontier for foldable phones!

All Z Fold 4 versions will come with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which should be more than adequate for the multi-tasking needs of most people. In terms of storage, we will be getting three versions of the phone, with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of on-board storage, but no memory expansion options.


Galaxy Z Fold 4 Summary and expectations


So, what's the bottom line?

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is certainly shaping up as the top contender for the "Best foldable of 2022" title, and looking at the not-so-diverse competition, the race could be mostly uncontested. A multi-tasking powerhouse with potentially great camera setup and key improvements in some important areas, the Z Fold 4 does a lot of things right and generally feels like an excellent phone.

Still, it also seem like a rather safe and iterative upgrade over the Z Fold 3, which is still an excellent device itself. Samsung has decided to go for the incremental evolutionary path and wouldn't want to change its proverbial foldable winning team. The reason for this is mostly the lackluster competition which doesn't really push Samsung to take bolder risks and innovate more with its foldables, which is the most probable reason why they mostly feel like slightly improved variations of 2021's foldable crop.

Could this somewhat lenient attitude lead to problems for Samsung's foldable line in the near future? It's possible, we've seen Samsung struggle in the past when it has been comfortably resting on its laurels.