Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: What we want to see

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 may well represent the pinnacle of the foldable phone market right now, with a more durable folding screen, a water-resistant design, and compatibility with the S Pen. Another compliment to the device is that it is available in a ton of markets, which is more than can be said for competing foldable devices.

As good as Samsung’s large foldable is, the device is not without flaws and areas for improvement. So this is what we want to see from the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

A better camera setting

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

One of the main complaints we had with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 was that the camera experience and image quality lagged behind Samsung’s flagship phones. That triple 12MP rear camera was flexible on paper, but it was carried over from the Z Fold 2 and delivered just good but not great photos.

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So we’d love to see Samsung bring an upgraded rear camera system to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. We wouldn’t mind seeing the rear sensor configuration of the S22 and S22 Plus (50MP main camera, 12MP ultra-wide angle, and 12MP 3x telephoto lens), but the S22 Ultra’s dual-telephoto setup would be even more fun to watch. have for maximum flexibility, especially considering the price.

A more conventional smartphone screen

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

The Z Fold 3’s smartphone screen has a ridiculous 25:9 aspect ratio, which makes for a very long and narrow display. This made for an ergonomic design and was well suited to Twitter and Reddit, but it also had some major drawbacks, such as extremely clumsy typing. So I hope Samsung goes with the new foldable for a more conventional screen size and aspect ratio.

Improve the selfie camera under the screen

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is Samsung’s first phone to feature an under-display selfie camera, which is used on the inner screen, while a conventional front-facing camera is found on the outer screen. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we thought the shooter under the screen made mushy, noisy shots even in ideal conditions.

You told us: you only want cameras under the screen if the image quality is good

Aside from the actual image quality, the blur this camera produced was also very noticeable on the folding screen itself. We’d therefore like to see Samsung tackle blurriness and/or image quality if it sticks to an under-display selfie camera this year.

Minimize the crease in the screen

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority

One aspect that surprised a lot of people when the first foldable phones were unveiled was the crease in the screen that appeared at the fold line. Samsung has done a good job reducing the creases across its three generations of foldable devices, but it’s still something you’ll notice today.

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We hope the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s screen folds are minimized even more, as rival foldable devices like the Oppo Find N and Honor Magic V seem to have made strides in this regard. We don’t expect the crease to completely disappear just yet, but there are certainly opportunities to reduce it.

Display options per screen

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

Simply put, I’d like to see display options per screen. For example, I rarely used auto-rotate on the outer screen, but used it quite a lot on the main screen. It would also be great if the refresh rate options differed per screen, so you could get the smartphone screen running at 60Hz and the folding screen as fast as possible (or vice versa).

Some degree of dust resistance

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

One of the best things about Samsung’s 2021 foldables is the fact that they’re water resistant. It’s quite an amazing achievement considering the challenges that come with designing foldable phones. Do not believe me? Well, rival foldable devices aren’t waterproof yet.

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Unfortunately, the Z Fold 3 has no dust resistance whatsoever. This means that you have to be careful with it in some situations. We’d like to see Samsung address this by offering some sort of dust resistance on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. We don’t expect the highest IP6x rating, but an IP5x rating would still be great for a foldable.

Dex mode on the folding screen

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority

Samsung’s Dex is one of the coolest experiences out there, giving you a full desktop-like UI when connecting a flagship device to an external monitor. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 does indeed have Dex, but we would like to see Dex on the device itself. This way you have a full desktop UI on the foldable screen, allowing you to treat the device like a netbook of sorts.

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However, it would not be unprecedented, since Samsung already runs its more expensive tablets in Dex mode on the tablet screen itself. So this is another feature we’re adding to our Galaxy Z Fold 4 wish list, even if the folding screen isn’t quite as expansive as a flagship tablet screen.