**Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4: A Mixed Bag of Updates**

In my experience, the main screen on my previous Samsung device was surprisingly strong and resistant to fingernails and strong taps, but dive online and you'll find people having all sorts of problems with their devices and the customer service needed to solve them. Bossman Austin Evans, who's the biggest Z-Flip fan I know, recently got a warranty replacement on his Z Flip 3, only to have the screen protector bubble a mere few weeks after getting it back on a normal phone - no biggie, just get another one, but on a foldable, it's quite an ordeal to take care of since it's crucial to protecting the thin screen from common abrasives and therefore officially requires an RMA to replace.

Samsung claims better durability on this year's Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4's main screen with an optimized component layer structure to help withstand shock. However, I'll be curious to see if this year's screen holds up long term and if Samsung's support channels can well accommodate an estimated uptick in sales this generation. With my time in New York, I was put in a room with Samsung employees, and their pre-production phones wear and tear tests were obviously out of the question - we'll just have to leave that to our friend Jerry after they go on sale.

The screens on the Flip 4 and Fold 4 look just as good as they did last year, and with slightly less pronounced creases, according to Samsung. To their credit, I especially noticed it on the Flip Four, but the Fold 4 didn't seem like much of a meaningful improvement compared to my Three, at least from what I could remember, because I couldn't get them side by side to compare for more concrete improvements.

Between the new Snapdragon chip and the 400 milliamp hours of extra capacity, I'd like to think it could comfortably last a full day compared to the last generation - just like durability, we'll have to wait on real-world reviews to see how much of a difference this improvement makes. On the software front, Samsung continues to iterate on One UI to make the most of its folding form factors - I was especially impressed with the multitasking capabilities on the Fold 4.

It's actually the first phone to ship with Android 12L right out of the box, which gets you above all things a desktop-esque taskbar to make app switching and window organizing insanely quick. Most importantly, this isn't exclusive to the Fold 4; Samsung mentioned to me that my Fold 3 will be getting a software update to 12L, which is perfect because I'm probably sticking with it for another year.

Let's run it back to the question that I posed in the beginning of this video: how much did Samsung do with this year's Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold baseline? I think Samsung did enough for people who are already considering buying a foldable or for those who are considering getting one upon finding out that they actually exist again with 8 million in sales last year and tons in the wild. There's lots of momentum for this fourth generation to start from, and I think Samsung did the absolute minimum updating their mid-cycle products making them competitive going into this next year.

Plus, we know they're going to keep aggressively marketing these things to continue turning units over at retail, especially the Z Flip, which sells like hotcakes priced under a grand. Personally, I want this form factor to take over and succeed, and there are plenty of people that agree and even think it's already here.

However, there are plenty of others waiting for mass improvements in areas like durability, and this year's foldables probably won't move the needle on optics at all in that regard. If I have to sum up my thoughts, the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 are suffering from success - Samsung with an 88% market share for the foldable space doesn't have much competition nor a reason to go above and beyond.

And so, we'll just have to wait until next year to potentially see a truly exciting upgrade.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe wraps are off the galaxy z fold 4 and flip 4. but you wouldn't know these are brand new phones because they totally look the same as last year of course samsung will tell you that they've changed and improved the product but how much did they really do to find out i flew to new york to get a hands-on sneak peek at the company's newest foldables before launch overall i was a mix between impressed and disappointed depressed we already started on it but we have to talk about the looks let's be real a fresh design can do a whole lot to mentally make a product seem new i would know as an avid apple user i've gotten this complaint over the years samsung knows as much as apple that you don't have to necessarily draft a whole new style when your product already looks good to begin with of course it's all subjective but the carryover design of the flip 4 and fold 4 is something i think most people can get behind after all samsung did sell 8 million of them in the past year though they didn't just reuse the same parts both devices carry slightly different dimensions from last year this year's z flip is slightly thinner and taller which samsung says is easier for one hand use while the z fold is slightly wider and shorter providing a more optimal screen aspect ratio for both its internal and external display now in person i could hardly tell a difference though the fold 4 felt lighter than my z-fold 3 or maybe that's placebo sure the phone can look the same but a sticking point in folding phone discourse is always durability samsung claims that the z-fold 4 and flip 4 are 45 more durable on the outside it carries over the ipx8 water resistance from last year's phones which is good for splashes of rain but both of this year's foldables include corning's gorilla glass victus for better scratch and drop resistance on the front and back but let's be real what people are curious about is the durability of the folding display which up until this point has been hit and miss among users as i mentioned in the past the z-fold 3's main screen in my experience is surprisingly strong and resistant to fingernails and strong taps however dive online and you'll find people having all sorts of problems with their devices and the customer service needed to solve them bossman austin evans who's the biggest z-flip fan i know recently got a warranty replacement on his z flip 3. only to have the screen protector bubble a mere few weeks after getting it back on a normal phone no biggie just get another one but on a foldable it's quite an ordeal to take care of since it's crucial to protecting the thin screen from common abrasives and therefore officially requires an rma to replace now samsung claims better durability on the fold 4 and flip 4's main screen with an optimized component layer structure to help withstand shock but i'll be curious to see if this year's screen holds up long term and if samsung's support channels can well accommodate an estimated uptick in sales this generation for what i'm able to speak for with my time in new york i was put in a room with samsung employees and their pre-production phones wear and tear tests were obviously out of the question we'll just have to leave that to our friend jerry after they go on sale but the screens on the flip and fold look just as good as they did last year and with slightly less pronounced creases according to samsung to their credit i especially noticed it on the flip four but the fold four didn't seem like much of a meaningful improvement compared to my three at least from what i could remember because i couldn't get them side by side to compare for more concrete improvements within the z flip 4 and the fold 4 the performance and battery life are looking pretty good powered by the snapdragon 8 plus gen 1 soc that i also looked at on the oneplus 10t not only is it great for intensive tasks like gaming it also brings power efficiency gains that are certainly nice to have on the z fold for but especially needed on the flip between the new snapdragon chip and the 400 milliamp hours of extra capacity i'd like to think it could comfortably last a full day compared to the last generation but just like durability we'll have to wait on real world reviews to see how much of a difference this improvement makes on the software front samsung continues to iterate on one ui to make the most of its folding form factors i was especially impressed with the multitasking capabilities on the fold 4. it's actually the first phone to ship with android 12l right out the box which gets you above all things a desktop-esque taskbar to make app switching and window organizing insanely quick most importantly this isn't exclusive to the fold 4. with samsung mentioning to me that my fold 3 will be getting a software update to 12l which is perfect because i'm probably sticking with it for another year let's run it back to the question that i posed in the beginning of this video how much did samsung do with this year's galaxy z flip and z fault baseline i think samsung did enough for people that are already considering buying a foldable or for those that are considering getting one upon finding out that they actually exist again with 8 million in sales last year and tons i see now in the wild there's lots of momentum for this fourth generation to start from and i think samsung did the absolute minimum updating their mid-cycle products making them competitive going into this next year plus we know they're going to keep aggressively marketing these things to continue turning units over at retail especially the z flip which sells like hotcakes priced at right under a grand personally i want this form factor to take over and succeed and there are plenty of people that agree and even think that it's already here but there are plenty of others waiting for mass improvements in areas like durability and this year's foldables probably won't move the needle of optics at all in that regard if i have to sum up my thoughts the z fold 4 and z flip 4 are suffering from success samsung with a whopping 88 of the market share for the foldable space doesn't have much competition nor a reason to go above and beyond and with that we'll just have to wait until next year to potentially see a truly exciting upgradethe wraps are off the galaxy z fold 4 and flip 4. but you wouldn't know these are brand new phones because they totally look the same as last year of course samsung will tell you that they've changed and improved the product but how much did they really do to find out i flew to new york to get a hands-on sneak peek at the company's newest foldables before launch overall i was a mix between impressed and disappointed depressed we already started on it but we have to talk about the looks let's be real a fresh design can do a whole lot to mentally make a product seem new i would know as an avid apple user i've gotten this complaint over the years samsung knows as much as apple that you don't have to necessarily draft a whole new style when your product already looks good to begin with of course it's all subjective but the carryover design of the flip 4 and fold 4 is something i think most people can get behind after all samsung did sell 8 million of them in the past year though they didn't just reuse the same parts both devices carry slightly different dimensions from last year this year's z flip is slightly thinner and taller which samsung says is easier for one hand use while the z fold is slightly wider and shorter providing a more optimal screen aspect ratio for both its internal and external display now in person i could hardly tell a difference though the fold 4 felt lighter than my z-fold 3 or maybe that's placebo sure the phone can look the same but a sticking point in folding phone discourse is always durability samsung claims that the z-fold 4 and flip 4 are 45 more durable on the outside it carries over the ipx8 water resistance from last year's phones which is good for splashes of rain but both of this year's foldables include corning's gorilla glass victus for better scratch and drop resistance on the front and back but let's be real what people are curious about is the durability of the folding display which up until this point has been hit and miss among users as i mentioned in the past the z-fold 3's main screen in my experience is surprisingly strong and resistant to fingernails and strong taps however dive online and you'll find people having all sorts of problems with their devices and the customer service needed to solve them bossman austin evans who's the biggest z-flip fan i know recently got a warranty replacement on his z flip 3. only to have the screen protector bubble a mere few weeks after getting it back on a normal phone no biggie just get another one but on a foldable it's quite an ordeal to take care of since it's crucial to protecting the thin screen from common abrasives and therefore officially requires an rma to replace now samsung claims better durability on the fold 4 and flip 4's main screen with an optimized component layer structure to help withstand shock but i'll be curious to see if this year's screen holds up long term and if samsung's support channels can well accommodate an estimated uptick in sales this generation for what i'm able to speak for with my time in new york i was put in a room with samsung employees and their pre-production phones wear and tear tests were obviously out of the question we'll just have to leave that to our friend jerry after they go on sale but the screens on the flip and fold look just as good as they did last year and with slightly less pronounced creases according to samsung to their credit i especially noticed it on the flip four but the fold four didn't seem like much of a meaningful improvement compared to my three at least from what i could remember because i couldn't get them side by side to compare for more concrete improvements within the z flip 4 and the fold 4 the performance and battery life are looking pretty good powered by the snapdragon 8 plus gen 1 soc that i also looked at on the oneplus 10t not only is it great for intensive tasks like gaming it also brings power efficiency gains that are certainly nice to have on the z fold for but especially needed on the flip between the new snapdragon chip and the 400 milliamp hours of extra capacity i'd like to think it could comfortably last a full day compared to the last generation but just like durability we'll have to wait on real world reviews to see how much of a difference this improvement makes on the software front samsung continues to iterate on one ui to make the most of its folding form factors i was especially impressed with the multitasking capabilities on the fold 4. it's actually the first phone to ship with android 12l right out the box which gets you above all things a desktop-esque taskbar to make app switching and window organizing insanely quick most importantly this isn't exclusive to the fold 4. with samsung mentioning to me that my fold 3 will be getting a software update to 12l which is perfect because i'm probably sticking with it for another year let's run it back to the question that i posed in the beginning of this video how much did samsung do with this year's galaxy z flip and z fault baseline i think samsung did enough for people that are already considering buying a foldable or for those that are considering getting one upon finding out that they actually exist again with 8 million in sales last year and tons i see now in the wild there's lots of momentum for this fourth generation to start from and i think samsung did the absolute minimum updating their mid-cycle products making them competitive going into this next year plus we know they're going to keep aggressively marketing these things to continue turning units over at retail especially the z flip which sells like hotcakes priced at right under a grand personally i want this form factor to take over and succeed and there are plenty of people that agree and even think that it's already here but there are plenty of others waiting for mass improvements in areas like durability and this year's foldables probably won't move the needle of optics at all in that regard if i have to sum up my thoughts the z fold 4 and z flip 4 are suffering from success samsung with a whopping 88 of the market share for the foldable space doesn't have much competition nor a reason to go above and beyond and with that we'll just have to wait until next year to potentially see a truly exciting upgrade