Samsung, please make these upgrades for the new Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold

Foldable phones have come a long way since 2019, when Samsung debuted its original Galaxy Z Fold. Last year $1,800 Galaxy Z Fold 3 and $1,000 Galaxy Z Flip 3 are the most polished versions of the company’s foldable devices yet, with improvements to their software and their cover screens.

But there’s a lot Samsung could do to make these devices even better, and I hope to see such changes in the future Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Both phones are expected to debut during Samsung Unpacked event on August 10th. They will represent Samsung’s latest move to maintain its position as a front runner in the emerging but growing foldable phone market.

Continue reading: Samsung Unpacked is 3 days away. Here’s how to watch it live

TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile experience business, said nearly 10 million foldable phones will ship in 2021. That’s generally in line with market researcher IDC’s estimates of 7.1 million foldable phones shipped in 2021, up 264% from 2020.

These numbers suggest that foldable devices aren’t just appealing to early adopters and tech enthusiasts. But there are still some hurdles Samsung and other companies must overcome before foldable devices can become as ubiquitous as standard smartphones.

Lower prices

Samsung’s foldable devices are more expensive compared to their standard smartphones, which can make them a tough sell. That has changed in recent years, with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 specifically, it’s one of the cheapest foldables ever. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 starts at $1,000 with no trade-ins, making it the same price as that Galaxy S22 Plus. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is significantly more expensive, with a usual starting price of $1,800 with no trade-ins, although that’s still a welcome improvement over the $2,000 Galaxy Z Fold 2.

New software features

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 foldable designs certainly set them apart from most phones. But the software has to catch up with the hardware.

Samsung is off to a good start in this regard. Both the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip have a feature called Flex mode, which realigns and optimizes certain apps to fit the device’s screen when half-folded. For example, Flex mode moves some compatible apps to the top half of the screen, while navigation and playback controls appear in the lower part.

My favorite example of this mode being put to good use is in the Galaxy Z Flip’s camera app. When the device is half open, the shutter button, photo settings and other controls are on the bottom half of the screen, while the top half serves as the viewfinder. The flex mode combined with the Z Flip’s ability to stay open on its own make it a great camera and tripod combo.

Aside from Flex mode, the Galaxy Z Fold can also run multiple apps on the screen at once to take advantage of its tablet-sized screen.

These are great additions, but there’s plenty of room for Samsung to do more. It feels like the software is adapting to the hardware when it should be the opposite. While the Z Fold’s Flex mode and multitasking capabilities are a good place to start, they’re not compelling enough on their own to justify buying a foldable phone.

I would like to see Samsung develop more compelling software features. Although I wouldn’t recommend buying it Surface Duo 2 Since it doesn’t work very well as a regular phone, I think Microsoft is up to something in terms of software.

The way the Surface Duo 2 splits compatible apps between screens almost feels like you’re using an app in a whole new way. The Amazon Kindle app turns the duo into a digital book, Xbox GamePass turns it into a Nintendo 3DS-style handheld gaming console, and Outlook split screen turns it into a mini laptop. Foldable devices hold great promise, and I hope Samsung finds more ways to use them.

Longer battery life

Battery life is one of the most important characteristics of a phone, and foldable phones are no exception. Unfortunately, both the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3 had underwhelming battery life. My colleague Patrick Holland could barely make it through a day with the 4,400mAh battery capacity of the Galaxy Z Fold 3. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 only lasted about 11 hours before needing a charge.

I’m hoping that Samsung will improve battery life or come up with new ways to get around this in the next iterations of the Z Fold and Z Flip. And by “handle” I mean that Samsung could boost the devices’ fast charge speeds or improve their power saving modes. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 charges at up to 25 watts, while the Z Flip 3 charges at 15 watts, both of which are nothing special. The Galaxy S22 Plus and S22 Ultrafor example, both have a charging speed of 45 watts.

Better Cameras

Camera quality is on par with battery life when it comes to what matters most in a phone. The cameras on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 are good, but there’s room for improvement. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 has a 12-megapixel wide and 12-megapixel ultra-wide main camera, which, as my colleague wrote in his review, is “the equivalent of the cameras you’d find on a $700 phone.” The Galaxy Z Fold 3 features a triple camera system that adds a 12-megapixel telephoto lens in addition to the 12-megapixel wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses.

These cameras are fine for most people. Anyone considering buying one of these phones is obviously more interested in the display than the cameras. But for the price, I’d like to see camera quality that at least matches, if not surpasses, Samsung’s best non-folding phones. As my colleague Patrick brings it: “The Z Fold 3 has B+ cameras at an A+ price.” That’s especially true for the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s under-display camera, which is the selfie camera for the phone when used in tablet mode.

Luckily, rumors are suggesting that the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will come with some serious camera improvements that will bring it up to date Galaxy S22 lineup.

design improvements

Although the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 are Samsung’s most sophisticated foldable devices, phones with bendable screens are relatively new. As such, it takes time to get the ergonomics just right, and Samsung still has work to do here.

Let’s start with the Galaxy Z Fold. The biggest downside to the Z Fold is that it still feels a bit awkward when used closed as a regular phone. Samsung has made some design improvements to the Z Fold 3 that make it both lighter and slimmer than its predecessors. But it’s still an unusually bulky phone when it’s closed, which can create some inconvenience when used with one hand.

Anyone who bought the Z Fold probably did so because of its large interior screen, not the cover screen. But consider how often you pull out your phone to quickly check a notification or reply to a text message. In some situations these tasks are much more convenient to do with the Z Fold closed, e.g. B. when you are on the go and unfolding the device seems impractical.

Another design upgrade I’d like to see in the Z Fold is the S Pen’s ability to magnetically connect to the device’s hinge. A stylus storage space like that of the Galaxy S22 Ultra doesn’t seem like a plausible solution as it would increase the thickness of the Z-Fold.

The Galaxy Z Flip already feels like a regular phone, but one improvement I’d like to see is a larger screen. The Z Flip 3 is a major upgrade over the original Z Flip in this regard. While Samsung’s first foldable flip phone only had a tiny pill-shaped screen, the Z Flip 3 is large enough to hold widgets for weather, music, alarms, and more.

But I would still like to be able to see more lines of text and widgets on this screen. A larger display would also make it easier to take quick selfies without unfolding the phone, as the cover display can double as a camera viewfinder. Luckily, rumors suggest that Samsung is planning to increase the size of the cover screen with the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

I’m also hoping Samsung finds a way to make the crease less obvious on both the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip. The creases on Samsung’s current foldables aren’t too annoying, but they’re definitely noticeable – both to the eyes and to the touch. Chinese tech giant Oppo has found a way around this it is Find N foldable by implementing a “waterdrop” hinge, making the fold of the device harder to see and feel when opening. Motorola’s Teardrop fold hinge design Similarly, the foldable Razr’s crease is less noticeable.

Samsung’s Z Flip and Z Fold phones are starting to converge in price towards standard non-folding phones, and I’m hoping that trend will continue. Foldable phones are likely to always require a trade-off, whether it’s camera quality or device thickness. I just hope the list of compromises gets smaller over time, starting with the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Biggest features we want

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