Phones Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

[SteveJUAE]

it seemed linus was going to take a selfie then he saw the crease looked bad and quickly moved the angle away. The concept of a phone that turns to a tablet sounds great but i dont think the tech is ready yet and almost 2k for this just not worth it imo

Considering this F4 cost 50 euros more than an Iphone Pro Max 512 typically in Europe and includes free buds 2 and probably generous trade in, its a great buy in Europe especially if you do not need a small tablet anymore, or a kindle or both, its a win win

 

[Bkdodger]

This x 100.

I've had every Fold and I've never once thought, "man this crease is in the way and ruining the experience". When watching media, I never notice it. Same with working all day with construction drawing pdfs, emails, excel, sending messages, taking pictures, looking at pictures, playing games (COD mobile mostly). It's just not an issue for me and likely isn't for the large majority of users. The only time I ever notice it is in my office under a flourescent light or really if any source of light hits it at an angle and I'm not looking at it straight on. I do think Samsung will get it to a point of having a less pronounced crease but I'm not sure it would ever be possible to be completely eliminated and I'm fine with that.

My wish list for the Fold line is:
Camera on par with the Ultra line
Slightly wider front display (although the ZF4 is a noticeable improvement)
Higher battery capacity
Can the silly under display camera on the inside screen. I'll take the punch hole for a higher quality camera
Silo for S Pen although I realize that's probably not possible

I have to say I do hate that non-punch hole interior camera lol.. I know some peeps argue with me Hi you don't really need such a great camera on the inside.. oh yes I do it's 2022... And I rather see a hole on the screen then inferior camera

 

[Ludatyk]

If you are referring to aesthetics and visual appearance then obviously no crease is better, but I do not see that as an issue.

This. I enjoy the heck out of my Fold and I plan to be a foldable user going forward… but there’s no arguing that the crease exist and for non-foldable users it can be an issue.

Well I think it's going to improve definitely going forward but when I say non-issue I see so many posts by people that are either looking to buy the phone or haven't used the phone or haven't owned the phone and the first thing that comes up is hey I saw that crease man on the screen it looks horrible.. but the point I'm trying to make is every person that uses the phone pretty much has no issues with it when daily driving it.. I mean any phone can use improvement..

No doubt, but as @SteveJUAE mention… it’s the visual appearance I’m referring to. I use mine as my primary daily driver (been 2 years thus far) and I notice the crease… but I choose to ignore it. However, some users might not be able to get to that point.

My wish list for the Fold line is:
Camera on par with the Ultra line
Slightly wider front display (although the ZF4 is a noticeable improvement)
Higher battery capacity
Can the silly under display camera on the inside screen. I'll take the punch hole for a higher quality camera
Silo for S Pen although I realize that's probably not possible

Going to be years until the Fold line matches Ultra camera tech… since the foldable technology is young, but I do think Samsung will continue improving on all the other list you mention.

And I was on your side of the argument with taking a hole punch for a higher quality camera, but I sure do enjoy having no-hole punch on the inner screen. And I tend to use the main camera for selfies with the outer display as a viewfinder.

 

[aggie99]

This. I enjoy the heck out of my Fold and I plan to be a foldable user going forward… but there’s no arguing that the crease exist and for non-foldable users it can be an issue.



No doubt, but as @SteveJUAE mention… it’s the visual appearance I’m referring to. I use mine as my primary daily driver (been 2 years thus far) and I notice the crease… but I choose to ignore it. However, some users might not be able to get to that point.


Going to be years until the Fold line matches Ultra camera tech… since the foldable technology is young, but I do think Samsung will continue improving on all the other list you mention.

And I was on your side of the argument with taking a hole punch for a higher quality camera, but I sure do enjoy having no-hole punch on the inner screen. And I tend to use the main camera for selfies with the outer display as a viewfinder.

Yep agreed. With as much as they pack into these things they are going to be limited on what they can do. The ZF4 camera is definitely no slouch and in some instances I like the pics just as much as what I get out of the S22U, P6 Pro, or 13PM. Can definitely tell the difference in low light situations, but it is good enough then even.

I also enjoy not having the hole punch but I prefer to do zoom or microsoft teams meetings with the bigger screen and also do video calls with the kids FB messenger or Duo when traveling and the camera quality is definitely noticeable. I'm not much of a selfie guy unless the wife is nagging me to take a picture with her, so video calls or meetings are usually the only reason I use a forward facing camera.

 

[sunking101]

What issue ? it does not interfere with any operation or functionality

If you are referring to aesthetics and visual appearance then obviously no crease is better, but I do not see that as an issue.

Its not like a notch that actually took up screen area for example and some loved it and some hated it, so that would be potentially 2 issues for some, using the same metrics

User preference yes, but issue is a bit of a stretch IMO

It can't be that great to move an S-pen over the crease?

 

[rhinosrcool]

It can't be that great to move an S-pen over the crease?

It doesn't interfere.

 

[sporez]

Not directly fold related but more OneUI/Android. Now that I'm on the fold full time instead of ios the notification order is a little baffling to me. For example in my screenshot why are the pushover notifications at the bottom? They were received after the other two. It seems kind of random. I know with goodlock you can enable chronologic order, but I do like how it puts messages at the top by default.

 

[Ludatyk]

It can't be that great to move an S-pen over the crease?

I’m curious… are you genuinely interested in the Galaxy Fold? You ask valid questions as if you are looking to purchase one… but then appears to be skeptical of the whole idea.

But to answer your question… I think SuperSaf did a video discussing moving an S-pen over the crease and it’s not as accurate as you suspect. But it’s not something that’s bothersome.

Not directly fold related but more OneUI/Android. Now that I'm on the fold full time instead of ios the notification order is a little baffling to me. For example in my screenshot why are the pushover notifications at the bottom? They were received after the other two. It seems kind of random. I know with goodlock you can enable chronologic order, but I do like how it puts messages at the top by default.

Yeah, I agree. Looking at the timeline can seem confusing, but I’m a fan of notifications in general on Android… I like seeing the notifications on the status bar.

 

[DaveOZ]

Silo for S Pen although I realize that's probably not possible

This is the biggest one for me. I'm sure it is possible, even a very small pen just for field note. I'd have a full size pen at the office and home but having the pen with me all the time is essential and I really hate the big pen case.

 

[SteveJUAE]

It can't be that great to move an S-pen over the crease?

I use the S pen to annotate photos for site mods etc to houses being built on a daily basis with no issues

Maybe if you was a sketcher/artist and the crease fell on a specific area of fine detail it could annoy you but unlikely as most artists are use to zooming and scrolling and would simply avoid any issues if it was bothering them

 

[solq]

Does the Fold 4 still come with a bunch of undeletable apps like Facebook?

Do you need a Samsung account to use it?

Last time I used a Samsung it was an S8 and I was quite annoyed by its software, I thought it was great hardware which would have benefitted enormously from a Pixel or Sony-like cleaner Android system.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Does the Fold 4 still come with a bunch of undeletable apps like Facebook?

Do you need a Samsung account to use it?

Last time I used a Samsung it was an S8 and I was quite annoyed by its software, I thought it was great hardware which would have benefitted enormously from a Pixel or Sony-like cleaner Android system.

Like all phones yes there are some apps you cannot delete but unlike others you can disable them on Samsung phones

Samsung account is not compulsory but certain apps or features will not be available

If you do not want a feature rich phone then go Pixel, or heavily customise your UI with a 3rd party launcher

 

[Bkdodger]

Samsung has come a long way since that S8... Facebook definitely can uninstall along with a few other apps and if there are any that you don't want to use you can disable.. using a Samsung account I think is a must for backups find my phone and a few other things associated with the account...

 

[sunking101]

I’m curious… are you genuinely interested in the Galaxy Fold? You ask valid questions as if you are looking to purchase one… but then appears to be skeptical of the whole idea.

I ordered the green/grey Z Fold 4 this evening and it will be with me tomorrow. I have researched the heck out of this thing....

 

[SteveJUAE]

I ordered the green/grey Z Fold 4 this evening and it will be with me tomorrow. I have researched the heck out of this thing....

Congrats and about time

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

Does the Fold 4 still come with a bunch of undeletable apps like Facebook?

Do you need a Samsung account to use it?

Last time I used a Samsung it was an S8 and I was quite annoyed by its software, I thought it was great hardware which would have benefitted enormously from a Pixel or Sony-like cleaner Android system.

mostly you can delete the apps except for maybe just a few Samsung made ones like Samsung Free. I don't think the fold came with lots of bloatware overall!

 

[solq]

Thank you for all the answers.

 

[Ludatyk]

Thank you for all the answers.

No problem. We are all here to help and as @Bkdodger mention Samsung OneUI has came a long way from S8 days, they have tried to remove as much bloat as possible since most people criticize Samsung of this. I recall former editor Deiter of the TheVerge did a piece on Samsung OneUI and how Samsung has pulled back the layers in applying a “less is more” approach.

But behind the scenes Google convinced Samsung to dial back in the feature heavy approach on OneUi… this is in reference to a TheWhoseTheBoss YT vid about the battle between Google and Samsung. By dialing back we get quicker major updates to Android and more polished OS.

 

[sunking101]

It's a shame that the Z Fold 4 has a much higher SAR rating than the Note 8 and Note 10 Plus. It's one of Samsung's highest SAR rating phones of all time. I wonder why?

 

[Ludatyk]

It's a shame that the Z Fold 4 has a much higher SAR rating than the Note 8 and Note 10 Plus. It's one of Samsung's highest SAR rating phones of all time. I wonder why?

This never came to mind for me… tbh. Have you gotten your Z Fold 4 yet?

 

[SteveJUAE]

It's a shame that the Z Fold 4 has a much higher SAR rating than the Note 8 and Note 10 Plus. It's one of Samsung's highest SAR rating phones of all time. I wonder why?

No shame just you clutching at straws again

"Consequently, cell phones cannot be reliably compared for their overall exposure characteristics on the basis of a single SAR value for several reasons"

"The SAR values collected by the FCC are intended only to ensure that the cell phone does not exceed the FCC’s maximum permissible exposure levels even when operating in conditions which result in the device’s highest possible – but not its typical - RF energy absorption for a user."

FYI:

What SAR Does Not Show​

The SAR value used for FCC approval does not account for the multitude of measurements taken during the testing. Moreover, cell phones constantly vary their power to operate at the minimum power necessary for communications; operation at maximum power occurs infrequently. Consequently, cell phones cannot be reliably compared for their overall exposure characteristics on the basis of a single SAR value for several reasons (each of these examples is based on a reported SAR value for cell phone A that is higher than that for cell phone B):

• Cell phone A might have one measurement that was higher than any single measurement for cell phone B. Cell phone A would, therefore, have a higher reported SAR value than cell phone B, even if cell phone B has higher measurements than A in most other locations and/or usage configurations. In such a case, a user generally would receive more RF energy overall from cell phone B.
• Cell phone A might communicate more efficiently than cell phone B, so that it operates at lower power than cell phone B would under comparable conditions. Consequently, a user would receive more RF energy overall from cell phone B.
• The highest value from cell phone A might come from a position which the user seldom or never employs to hold a phone, whereas that user might usually hold a phone in the position that resulted in the highest value for cell phone B. Therefore, the user would receive the highest RF exposure that cell phone B delivers but would not receive the highest RF exposure that cell phone A delivers.

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) For Cell Phones: What It Means For You

There is considerable confusion and misunderstanding about the meaning of the maximum reported Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) values for cell phones (and other wireless devices). SAR is a measure of the rate of RF (radiofrequency) energy absorption by the body from the source being measured – in...

www.fcc.gov

 

[sunking101]

No shame just you clutching at straws again

"Consequently, cell phones cannot be reliably compared for their overall exposure characteristics on the basis of a single SAR value for several reasons"

"The SAR values collected by the FCC are intended only to ensure that the cell phone does not exceed the FCC’s maximum permissible exposure levels even when operating in conditions which result in the device’s highest possible – but not its typical - RF energy absorption for a user."

FYI:

What SAR Does Not Show​

The SAR value used for FCC approval does not account for the multitude of measurements taken during the testing. Moreover, cell phones constantly vary their power to operate at the minimum power necessary for communications; operation at maximum power occurs infrequently. Consequently, cell phones cannot be reliably compared for their overall exposure characteristics on the basis of a single SAR value for several reasons (each of these examples is based on a reported SAR value for cell phone A that is higher than that for cell phone B):

• Cell phone A might have one measurement that was higher than any single measurement for cell phone B. Cell phone A would, therefore, have a higher reported SAR value than cell phone B, even if cell phone B has higher measurements than A in most other locations and/or usage configurations. In such a case, a user generally would receive more RF energy overall from cell phone B.
• Cell phone A might communicate more efficiently than cell phone B, so that it operates at lower power than cell phone B would under comparable conditions. Consequently, a user would receive more RF energy overall from cell phone B.
• The highest value from cell phone A might come from a position which the user seldom or never employs to hold a phone, whereas that user might usually hold a phone in the position that resulted in the highest value for cell phone B. Therefore, the user would receive the highest RF exposure that cell phone B delivers but would not receive the highest RF exposure that cell phone A delivers.

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) For Cell Phones: What It Means For You

There is considerable confusion and misunderstanding about the meaning of the maximum reported Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) values for cell phones (and other wireless devices). SAR is a measure of the rate of RF (radiofrequency) energy absorption by the body from the source being measured – in...

www.fcc.gov

I know it's probably a flawed test but they're still all tested the same way and I would prefer that the Fold 4 had come out with a lower rather than higher SAR rating wouldn't you?

 

[sunking101]

This never came to mind for me… tbh. Have you gotten your Z Fold 4 yet?

Yes it arrived today but I haven't unboxed it because I'm waiting for a screen protector for the front display. Samsung have dispatched it and they bizarrely use DPD with next day courier service to deliver a £10 screen protector and with free shipping too! So the Fold 4 will be up and running by tomorrow evening.

 

[SteveJUAE]

I know it's probably a flawed test but they're still all tested the same way and I would prefer that the Fold 4 had come out with a lower rather than higher SAR rating wouldn't you?

No its not relevant measurement in how you are trying to imply, its safe, end of story, that's what the FCC tell you

 

[Ludatyk]

Yes it arrived today but I haven't unboxed it because I'm waiting for a screen protector for the front display. Samsung have dispatched it and they bizarrely use DPD with next day courier service to deliver a £10 screen protector and with free shipping too! So the Fold 4 will be up and running by tomorrow evening.

Completely understand. However, I couldn’t wait to open up mine lol… but did you order the screen protector at the same time as the Fold 4? And did they give you the same delivery date?

For some reason the free case that was ordered with my Fold 4 had a delivery date different from the phone. But still both arrived in the same box. Never used the case… ordered the case primarily for the S-Pen.