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It’s been almost 2 months since Samsung released the Galaxy Z Flip4 and Z Fold4, and while I know that these phones look great and work even better, I am somewhat sceptical about people willing to switch from the traditional Candybar design to a foldable screen.
Oh man was I wrong.
Looking around our office of 30 people (I think, our hybrid working schedules don’t help), I saw like two Galaxy Z Fold4s and three Galaxy Z Flip4s. That’s not including the ones Samsung has provided us, that Tarvin and Seetha are holding on tightly to!
To that end, I’ve set out to get my hands on a two-day adventure with the foldables, a day with the Z Fold4 and the other with the Z Flip4, as well as interviewing our colleagues and my personal friends who are currently daily driving these foldable devices; to find out if this is merely a gimmick of if these are actually useful.
If you’d like Jodee’s take on the topic, check out her piece on this last year.
A disclaimer: This is not a review, this is my thoughts on using a foldable device based on a day’s experience with it, as a naysayer. Also, the devices were provided to us by Samsung.
Flipping Great, Maybe?
I’ve always been intrigued by the Z Flip as it invokes the nostalgia I had from using the old Samsung feature phones from the 2000s, but then again, I’m not about to spend RM4,000 just to reminisce.
I managed to pry the Z Flip4 from Seetha’s clutches for a day so I can experience it for myself, and I get it - the nostalgia is strong with this one.
Nostalgia aside, the fact that the screen folds to act as a stand is such an ingenious use case. While your typical smartphone can do the same with specific cases or addons, I don’t need to add extra bulges on this device just so it can stand!
I’ve used it for conference calls, watching content and using it as a selfie device far more often than I’d do even on my daily driver. In fact, on the Z Flip4, I used it half-folded more often than I did fully open; there’s something about it that makes it super nice to use.
Oh, the fact that I can use it half-folded when taking videos, like a camcorder from the 90s, is so awesome.
Unfold Productivity
As for the Z Fold4, I had a much better time getting Tarvin to pass me the device for a day as he has like 20 other phones to review and this is basically sitting in storage until he’s done with work.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of large smartphones. I’m always looking at screens for both work and entertainment already, so why have another large screen following me around? If anything, I require less screen time!
As expected, I couldn’t wait to pass this device back to Tarvin at the end of the day. My lack of enthusiasm was not because it was a horrible device - in fact, I personally believe that this phone is too good at productivity that it’d destroy my work-life balance.
Such a large screen made working so much easier on a smartphone. I’ve always detested looking at Google Sheets or Word documents on my phone since the experience is so horrible, but on the Z Fold4? It’s the perfect aspect ratio to display everything properly.
Then again, the fact that it works so well with an S-pen is pretty neat though. As a former illustrator, I had a ton of fun drawing on this screen, even more than I had on the S22 Ultra.
As for the folding screen, as a stand, I honestly prefer the Z Flip4 over this. But hey, that’s probably just me.
Change of Habits
In the two days that I was holding on to each of these devices, I did notice what everyone has been saying - the fact that I have to perform a physical action to unfold the devices means that I actually look at my phones less.
That means less Reddit during lunch for me and more time actually holding conversations.
I also find myself half-folding both devices much more often than I’d expect - it is just way too easy to use it as a secondary screen while you’re doing something else, be it a distraction while you’re at the kitchen, or hanging out in a video call.
My Complaints
I’ll admit - both phones are far from perfect, while I haven’t had any major frustrations while using them, I experienced some minor annoyances with both devices.
The most visual one? The GAP. I was 100% confident that Samsung would have found a way to remove the gap while the screen is closed, but it seems that this little thing (which eats away at my soul each time I look at it) will take at least another iteration before it’s solved.
Other than that, the world of app development is still playing catch-up with foldables, as there are a lot of apps that still have less-than-perfect experiences on foldables, especially the Z Fold4.
This is by no means Samsung’s fault. In fact, their Labs feature (found in Settings) can force Apps to work well in Flex Mode even when they’re not made for larger screens. While this resolves most issues most of the time, don’t expect it to work perfectly on all apps, especially if you’re adventurous like me and are always downloading random apps from the fringes of Google Play.
Would I Switch?
After two days of playing around with both devices, I do realise that Samsung has come a long way since they first introduced folding screens to the world. While they still have some kinks to fix here and there, this is already a pretty good product as is.
If I had to choose, as someone who doesn’t live on my phone 24/7, I’d probably pick the Z Flip4 over the Z Fold4. That being said, as I still have a perfectly working smartphone at the moment, I’ll probably not switch devices anytime soon.
Am I tempted to give this a try though? I sure am.