Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: What we want to see

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 arguably represents the apex of the foldable phone market right now, bringing a more durable folding screen, water-resistant design, and compatibility with the S Pen. Another feather in the device’s cap is that it’s available in a ton of markets, which is more than can be said for rival foldables.

As good as Samsung’s large foldable is, the device isn’t without its flaws and areas of potential improvement. So here’s what we want to see from the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

A better camera setup

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 mainline flagship phones. That triple 12MP rear camera setup was flexible on paper, but it was inherited from the Z Fold 2 and simply delivered good but not great shots.

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So we’d like to see Samsung bring an upgraded rear camera system to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. We wouldn’t mind seeing the S22 and S22 Plus’ rear sensor setup appearing (50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, and 12MP 3x tele lens), but the S22 Ultra‘s dual telephoto setup would be even nicer to have for maximum flexibility — especially given the price.

A more conventional smartphone display

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

Improve the under-display selfie camera

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

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Aside from actual picture quality, the haze produced by this camera was also extremely noticeable on the foldable screen itself. We’d therefore like to see Samsung address the haziness and/or image quality if it sticks with an under-display selfie camera this year.

Minimize the display crease

One aspect that surprised many people when the first foldable phones were revealed was the display crease that occurred at the folding line. Samsung has done a solid job of reducing the crease over the three generations of foldables, but it’s still something you’ll notice today.

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We hope the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s display crease is minimized even more, as rival foldables such as the Oppo Find N and Honor Magic V seemed to have made progress in this regard. We’re not expecting the crease to disappear completely just yet, but there’s definitely scope for reducing it.

Per-screen display options

Simply put, I’d love to see display options on a per-screen basis. For example, I seldom used auto-rotate on the outside screen, but used it quite a lot on the main display. It would also be great if refresh rate options varied by screen, so you could have the smartphone screen at 60Hz and the foldable display running as fast as it can (or vice-versa).

Some measure of dust resistance

One of the best things about Samsung’s 2021 foldables is the fact that they’re water-resistant. It’s a pretty astounding achievement given the challenges associated with designing foldable phones in the first place. Don’t believe me? Well, rival foldables aren’t water-resistant just yet.

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Unfortunately, the Z Fold 3 lacks dust resistance of any kind. This means you still have to treat it with care in some situations. We’d love to see Samsung address this by offering some sort of dust resistance on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. We’re not expecting the top-level IP6x rating, but an IP5x rating would still be great for a foldable.

Dex mode on the foldable screen

Samsung’s Dex is one of the coolest experiences around, giving you a full desktop-like user interface when connecting a flagship device to an external monitor. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 indeed has Dex as well, but we’d love to see Dex on the device itself. This way, you’ve got a full-blown desktop UI on the foldable screen, allowing you to treat the device like a netbook of sorts.

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It wouldn’t be unprecedented though, as Samsung already lets its higher-end tablets run in Dex mode on the tablet screen itself. So this is another feature we’re adding to our Galaxy Z Fold 4 wishlist, even if the foldable screen isn’t quite as expansive as a flagship tablet display.