Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs. Galaxy Z Fold 3: More than meets the eye
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The Galaxy Z Fold 4 makes the right improvements to make this the ultimate smartphone experience. The cameras are great, and the battery life is fantastic. Combine these factors with everything already impressive about Samsung foldables, and you have the most compelling foldable yet.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 finally brought a level of durability to foldable phones thanks to its IPX8 water resistance rating. While the battery life and cameras leave a lot to be desired, the Fold 3 remains a multitasking powerhouse that gets things done.
Foldables are the exciting new form factor that many people are excited about. When you look at Samsung’s foldables, it’s impressive to see how stable the company has made this particular product category within only four generations. On paper, theGalaxy Z Fold 4doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade over theZ Fold 3, but the differences may be more significant in person. A spec sheet only tells half a story, so let’s dig deeper and explore how each phone compares.
Price, availability, specs
With the Fold 4 approaching a year old, both phones can frequently be found for less than their $1,800 launch prices. The Fold 3 is usually around the $800 mark these days, and for Prime Day, the Fold 4 was down to just $1,000. As the launch of theZ Fold 5approaches, expect to see more frequent price drops. Like most Samsung products, you’ll find these devices in most major retailers almost worldwide.
While specs don’t tell the whole story, they are important, so you may see how they stack up below:
Unless you memorize which colors each model comes in, it can be hard to tell them apart, but if you hold them side-by-side, the difference becomes more apparent. The Fold 4 is slightly wider and shorter than the Fold 3, and the camera module has grown to accommodate the new 50MP main camera. Also, the hinge is smaller on the Fold 4, so the cover screen can move over closer to the edge of the phone. That extra space, combined with the broader phone, makes both displays wider than before, but not enough to make a significant difference when in use. Both Folds still look like chunky TV remotes.
Overall, however, these seemingly small changes make for a noticeable improvement in comfort. The Z Fold 4 is more pleasing to hold than the Z Fold 3, and it offers a wider keyboard when typing with the front display and no longer digging into your palms when opened. Combined with the squared-off frame, the Z Fold 4 feels noticeably different from its predecessor when you hold it, but it isn’t a night and day difference.
The Z Fold 4 has all-new display panels. Both are the same size diagonally, but the aspect ratios have changed, which makes a more meaningful difference than you’d expect. Two millimeters doesn’t sound like much, but both of the Z Fold 4’s displays feel more spacious when used in portrait. In addition, the cover screen is easier to type on — although many people wish it were even more expansive — and the inner display is better at split-screen multitasking than ever before, giving up-to-three apps more room to breathe.
Aside from the shape, the technical qualities are quite similar. For example, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 can reach a higher peak brightness on both panels, but the Z Fold 3 was already capable of searing your corneas.
Performance and battery life
This is where all the magic happens. The Z Fold 4 uses the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 instead of the 888, and the improvements in performance, especially battery life, are vast. The Snapdragon 888 wasn’t a bad chip; it was just less suited to this type of device than the newer chip.
The Fold 3 was plenty fast, but only in short bursts. Multitasking or gaming would make it heat up quickly, throttling the chip’s performance. This also ruined battery life. Thankfully, the 8+ Gen 1 focussed on improving cooling and efficiency, so the Z Fold 4 lacks this issue. Despite using the same 4,500mAh cell as the Fold 3, the Z Fold 4 lasts much longer, consistently beating our Exynos S22 Ultra. Performance is fast and lasts longer, thanks to the better cooling. The 8+ Gen 1 is a chip that stays cool no matter what you throw at it. Gaming outside in the hot sun couldn’t get the Z Fold 4 to warm up, which means sustained performance won’t be an issue, and the device will continue to feel smooth under prolonged workloads.
Both phones now use One UI 5.1 after being updated earlier this year when the Galaxy S23 series launched. That counts as the first major update for the Fold 4 and the second for the Fold 3. Both devices were promised four years of Android updates, with a fifth for security patches. So, the Fold 3 will get updated to Android 15 next year, with a final round of security patches in 2026. The Fold 4 will see Android 16 and patches through to 2027.
Aside from the taskbar, a new gesture lets you swipe up from the bottom of the display with two fingers to enable split-screen, which now applies to all Samsung phones withOne UI 5.
The selfie cameras on the cover display are the same on both phones, but that can’t be said for the rest of the cameras. The under-display selfie shooter inside the main screen has twice the number of pixels covering it on the Z Fold 4, making it harder to see. That and the arrangement of the pixels make anything in the UI that sits over the camera less pixilated. It’s not perfect, but it melts away from your notice after a little while.
Around the back, the Z Fold 4 borrows the 50MP primary and 10MP 3X zoom sensors from the Galaxy S22+, a significant upgrade to the old 12MP sensors found in the Fold 3. The 12MP ultrawide appears unchanged, though that was the one sensor we didn’t find much to complain about. While the Z Fold 4 mightnot be our favorite phone camera, it’s much better than last year’s and more befitting a device this expensive.
Should you upgrade?
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a bigger upgrade than we thought, and the improvements are enough that it’s the foldable we recommend above all others. As for whether you should upgrade from your Fold 3, we’d say no. It was worth it at launch when trade-in deals were prevalent, but you’ll find less of those now, and the release of the Z Fold 5 is likely only five months away.
If you don’t have a foldable yet, the Z Fold 4 is an excellent choice even though it’s been around for a while now. The performance and battery life have remained consistent thanks to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, and the software experience has only gotten better since it was updated to One UI 5.1, which brought a ton of software optimizations over from the Galaxy S23 series.
The best foldable yet
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 makes the right improvements to make this the ultimate smartphone experience. The cameras are great, and the battery life is fantastic. Combine that with everything that was already good about Samsung’s foldables, and you have the most compelling foldable yet.
The Z Fold 3 has an almost identical software experience as the Z Fold 4. It’s only let down by the poor thermal and battery performance of the Snapdragon 888, and it struggles to make it through a day on one charge. On the other hand, its age means that it’ll see heavier discounts as we progress through the year, so if Prime Day or some other event discounts it enough, it could make for an excellent secondary device.
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