Review Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 hands-on review: A smarter (and sleeker) foldable

Apple Jackson

Distinguished
Jan 26, 2014
10
0
18,560
Dude, if you're NOT using an s-pen with this phone, I honestly don't know why you'd even want it. I had it for a day before my s-pen arrived (turns out the device wont even let you use one from an old Note or current Galaxy Tablet for fear of screen damge) and the whole experience felt... broken, would be the best word I can use to describe it. I mean, it just feels clunky and awkward using fat fingers to navigate and perform actions, whereas using the pen couldn't feel more natural. Plus, I mainly switched from the Note (Ultra, now) series due to how much I use my phones for sketching and blueprinting. It's nice to not have that waterfall edge they inexplicably added to the Note series too. It's a pointless and counterintuitive design choice for a device intended to be used with a stylus. Additionally, the pressure sensitivity actually seems even better than on my S8+, but that may be due to the glass screen protector and anti-reflective film on the tablet. I wish the pen was usable on the outside display though. It's weird that it doesn't work there, especially since the precision would be welcome on the compact display.
 
Apr 12, 2023
2
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10
If you use wireless Android Auto, and listen to music in the car, warning!

My wife and I recently purchased the (very expensive) Flip 4 and Fold 4. Both of us keep our phones up to date. What we have discovered is that these phones CANNOT properly play music (Spotify or Pandora) through Wireless Android Auto. We have tested both of these phones in 3 different cars (2 BMWs and 1 Mercedes), and in ALL cases, songs skip like a bad 80s CD player between 1 to dozens of times per song.

Unfortunately, we discovered this too late, and thought, reasonably, that this could not be the fault of these flagship level phones from such a huge brand.

It's the phones. This never happened with our previous OnePlus phones.

We have tried so many things suggested in forums, including:

  • Re-pairing the phone to the cars
  • Setting unrestricted battery management on all programs involved, including Spotify, Pandora, Android Auto, and Bluetooth
  • Having the cars checked with local dealers for any issues with the head units
  • Rebooting the phones

Having described all of this to Samsung chat support, the final suggestion was to upgrade to a different, also expensive Samsung phone.

Bottom line: If you're going to buy either of these phones, and if you use Wireless Android Auto with music in the car, TEST THIS IMMEDIATELY AFTER PURCHASE, so you'll have time to return the phone for something else.
 
Oct 24, 2023
1
0
10
I just want to say I have had some very bad experience with the Fold4 lately. I have the phone for about 14 months and its folding screen has already broken. At first, about a month ago, the protector started to come off, after a couple of weeks or so the screen of the folding area stopped showing anything and stopped responding to any touch.

According to the product page on my Samsung account I have a 'confirmed' warranty till 30 Oct 2023. When I brought my phone to the service centre on the 21 Oct, they said my phone is out of warranty because the invoice date is 18 Aug 2022. Something for you guys to watch out for. Don't trust the warranty date on the product page on your Samsung account!!!

Now that the centre considered my phone is out of warranty, they would charge me $750 to have the screen repaired!! The service centre said I could call Samsung Customer Centre to appeal and hopefully could get a free repair. But do I want to wait in line for hours for a service call, and to have the screen repaired for what would last for just another year? I am not so sure about the answer to that question.

Fold4-Off.jpg


Fold4-On.jpg
 
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