**The Galaxy Z Fold 3: A Step Forward, But Not Quite There**

When it comes to battery life, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 was underwhelming according to CNET's review. When my colleague Patrick Holland tested the phone last year, it barely made it through the day. This is not surprising considering the phone's large screen area, which includes both a 6.2-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch inner screen, both of which support high refresh rates of up to 120Hz. High refresh rates can be battery-draining, especially when combined with screen brightness. Samsung could have improved the phone's power savings mode or increased its charging speeds, but instead, it only charges at a rate of up to 25 watts.

If rumors are accurate, however, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will not make any significant changes in this regard. According to Twitter leaker Ice Universe, who has a pretty reliable track record, the phone's battery size and charging speed will remain the same as its predecessor. This is disappointing, especially considering that other Samsung flagships, like the Galaxy S22 Plus and Ultra, support 45-watt fast charging.

**Camera Quality: A Mixed Bag**

Battery life is just one aspect of a phone where Samsung could improve the Z Fold 3's performance. In terms of camera quality, the phone's triple-lens main camera system with 12-megapixel telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide lenses is pretty good but not the best you can get on a Samsung device. As Patrick Holland noted in his review, "the z-fold 3 has b plus cameras at an a-plus price." The under-display camera on the inside of the Z Fold 3 could also use an upgrade, as it's only 4 megapixels.

If rumors are true, however, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will have a significant boost in camera quality. According to Ice Universe, who claims to have published pretty much all of the Z Fold 4's specifications, the phone will feature a 50-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and 10-megapixel telephoto camera.

**Ergonomics: Still Room for Improvement**

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is that it still feels kind of awkward to use as a regular phone when it's closed. The phone feels abnormally bulky for a phone, which may be a problem for users who don't care about the cover screen and just want to quickly send messages or check notifications. This is why Samsung might have some improvements in store for the Z Fold 4, according to another rumor from Ice Universe. A new hinge design could reduce the foldable phone's width when closed, making it easier to use in one hand.

Another feature that would be nice to see on the next Z Fold is a less noticeable crease. The crease on the Z Fold 3 isn't too distracting but it's definitely noticeable to the eyes and to the touch. Chinese tech giant Oppo has found a way to make the crease more discreet by implementing what they describe as a "water drop hinge." I'm looking forward to seeing how Samsung addresses the crease in future versions of the Z Fold.

**The Future of Foldable Phones: Trade-Offs Ahead**

Foldable phones will likely require some type of trade-off to keep prices reasonable. Whether it be camera quality, the crease, or the experience when the device is closed, there will have to be compromises made. I'm just hoping that list gets smaller and smaller over time. Samsung's next foldables are expected to address these issues, but only time will tell.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enfoldable phones have come a long way since the first galaxy folds launched in 2019 samsung's newest foldables are cheaper more durable and better designed than they were three years ago but there's still plenty of room for improvement and i'm hoping to see some changes in the rumored upcoming galaxy z fold 4. samsung is expected to announce the next galaxy z fold at its unpacked event on august 10th alongside a new galaxy z flip and other products cnet will be covering the event and will be breaking down all of the products so get subscribed if you don't want to miss those videos rumors say the phone will have a new hinge an improved camera similar to the galaxy s 22s and a cheaper price i'm hoping to see these changes and more in samsung's next big foldable phone sales of foldable phones grew a lot in 2021 but one of the biggest factors holding them back is still their high prices the galaxy z fold three usually starts at eighteen hundred dollars without a trade-in making it six hundred dollars more expensive than the galaxy s22 ultra and seven 700 more than the iphone 13 pro max that's a lot of money for a phone although it is an improvement compared to the galaxy z folds 2 which was priced at 2 000 when it launched but if samsung really wants foldable phones to be the future it needs to continue bringing those prices down thankfully rumors suggest samsung will do just that ross young an analyst with display supply chain consultants tweeted in april that he believes samsung's upcoming foldables could see a price cut foldable phones are all about the hardware after all it's their flexible screens and bendable hinges that make them unique but samsung and other foldable phone makers need to pay more attention to the software too the galaxy default 3 has some neat software tricks like the ability to run multiple apps on screen at once you can also use flex mode which shifts compatible apps to the top half of the screen and shows navigation controls on the bottom half when partially folded these features are somewhat useful but they feel more responsive than innovative instead of pushing the software experience forward it feels like apps are just conforming to the z-fold 3's tablet size screen during my time using the z-fold 3 i actually preferred dedicating the giant inner screen to one app rather than splitting it between several apps i think samsung could take a page from microsoft when it comes to software for foldable phones the surface duo 2 has a lot of flaws and i wouldn't recommend buying it right now the surface duo2's design is also different from the galaxy z folds microsoft's phone consists of two separate displays joined together by a hinge instead of one giant foldable screen but i saw a lot of promise in the way certain compatible apps worked across both of the surface duo screens the kindle app for example turns the surface duo into a digital book while playing mobile games made the surface duo feel like a handheld gaming console similar to a nintendo 3ds i hope samsung finds new ways to tap into the z-fold potential too whether your phone falls in half or not you're going to want long battery life the galaxy z fold 3 was underwhelming in that regard according to cnet's review when my colleague patrick holland tested it last year the galaxy z fault 3 barely made it through the day that's not too surprising considering the galaxy z folds battery has so much more screen to power compared to a standard smartphone there's the 6.2 inch cover screen and of course the 7.6 inch inner screen both of which support high refresh rates of up to 120 hertz this is important because factors like screen brightness and refresh rate are known to be battery drainers still it would be nice to get more out of the galaxy z folds battery on the next version instead of extending battery life samsung could also improve the z-fold's power savings mode or increase its charging speeds the z-fold 3 can only charge at a rate of up to 25 watts while the galaxy s22 plus and ultra support 45 watt fast charging so clearly there's room for improvement however if the rumors are accurate the galaxy z fold 4 will have the same battery size and charging speed as its predecessor that's according to twitter leaker ice universe who has a pretty reliable track record like battery life camera quality is one of the most important aspects of a phone the galaxy z fold 3's camera is pretty good but it's not the best you can get on a samsung device the galaxy z folge 3 has a triple lens main camera system with 12 megapixel telephoto wide and ultra wide lenses once again my colleague patrick holland who reviewed the phone says it best the z-fold 3 has b plus cameras at an a-plus price the under-display camera on the inside of the z-fold 3 could also use an upgrade since it's only 4 megapixels if you're taking selfies you'll probably be using the 10 megapixel camera located on the cover screen but the under display inner camera is still important for video chatting if the rumors turn out to be true the galaxy z fold 4 will get a boost in camera quality that brings it up to speed with the galaxy s22 lineup once again that rumor comes from ice universe who claims to have published pretty much all of the z-fold 4's specifications if these predictions are true the galaxy z-fold 4 will have a 50 megapixel main camera 12 megapixel ultrawide camera and 10 megapixel telephoto camera foldable phones are still relatively new and getting the ergonomics right takes some time samsung is almost there with the galaxy z fold 3 but there's still some work to be done one of the z fold 3's biggest drawbacks is that it still feels kind of awkward to use as a regular phone when it's closed it feels abnormally bulky for a phone most people who have purchased a galaxy z fold probably don't care about the cover screen very much but think about how many times you take out your phone to quickly send a message or check a notification you probably don't want to unfold your phone every single time that's why the cover screen and the way the phone feels when it's closed are so important thankfully samsung might have some improvements in store for the z-fold 4. another rumor from ice universe says a new hinge will reduce the fold for's width when closed which could make it easier to use in one hand the galaxy z fold 3 also supports the s pen so i'm guessing the z fold 4 will too i just wish the s pen could magnetically attach to the z folds hinge since the phone doesn't have a storage slot the galaxy s22 ultra has a place to store the s pen but that doesn't seem like a practical option for the next z fold since it would increase the phone's thickness the last thing i'm hoping to see on the next z-fold is a less noticeable crease the crease on the z-fold 3 isn't too distracting but it's definitely noticeable to the eyes and to the touch chinese tech giant oppo found a way to make the crease on its find and foldable phone more discreet by implementing what it describes as a water drop hinge i'm looking forward to seeing how samsung addresses the crease in future versions of the z-fold also foldable phones will probably require some type of trade-off to keep the price reasonable for the foreseeable future whether it be the camera quality the crease or the experience when the device is closed i'm just hoping that list gets smaller and smaller starting with samsung's next foldables what do you want to see in the galaxy z fold for let me know in the comments and don't forget to check out the links in the description for more samsung coverage thanks for watching and i'll see you next timefoldable phones have come a long way since the first galaxy folds launched in 2019 samsung's newest foldables are cheaper more durable and better designed than they were three years ago but there's still plenty of room for improvement and i'm hoping to see some changes in the rumored upcoming galaxy z fold 4. samsung is expected to announce the next galaxy z fold at its unpacked event on august 10th alongside a new galaxy z flip and other products cnet will be covering the event and will be breaking down all of the products so get subscribed if you don't want to miss those videos rumors say the phone will have a new hinge an improved camera similar to the galaxy s 22s and a cheaper price i'm hoping to see these changes and more in samsung's next big foldable phone sales of foldable phones grew a lot in 2021 but one of the biggest factors holding them back is still their high prices the galaxy z fold three usually starts at eighteen hundred dollars without a trade-in making it six hundred dollars more expensive than the galaxy s22 ultra and seven 700 more than the iphone 13 pro max that's a lot of money for a phone although it is an improvement compared to the galaxy z folds 2 which was priced at 2 000 when it launched but if samsung really wants foldable phones to be the future it needs to continue bringing those prices down thankfully rumors suggest samsung will do just that ross young an analyst with display supply chain consultants tweeted in april that he believes samsung's upcoming foldables could see a price cut foldable phones are all about the hardware after all it's their flexible screens and bendable hinges that make them unique but samsung and other foldable phone makers need to pay more attention to the software too the galaxy default 3 has some neat software tricks like the ability to run multiple apps on screen at once you can also use flex mode which shifts compatible apps to the top half of the screen and shows navigation controls on the bottom half when partially folded these features are somewhat useful but they feel more responsive than innovative instead of pushing the software experience forward it feels like apps are just conforming to the z-fold 3's tablet size screen during my time using the z-fold 3 i actually preferred dedicating the giant inner screen to one app rather than splitting it between several apps i think samsung could take a page from microsoft when it comes to software for foldable phones the surface duo 2 has a lot of flaws and i wouldn't recommend buying it right now the surface duo2's design is also different from the galaxy z folds microsoft's phone consists of two separate displays joined together by a hinge instead of one giant foldable screen but i saw a lot of promise in the way certain compatible apps worked across both of the surface duo screens the kindle app for example turns the surface duo into a digital book while playing mobile games made the surface duo feel like a handheld gaming console similar to a nintendo 3ds i hope samsung finds new ways to tap into the z-fold potential too whether your phone falls in half or not you're going to want long battery life the galaxy z fold 3 was underwhelming in that regard according to cnet's review when my colleague patrick holland tested it last year the galaxy z fault 3 barely made it through the day that's not too surprising considering the galaxy z folds battery has so much more screen to power compared to a standard smartphone there's the 6.2 inch cover screen and of course the 7.6 inch inner screen both of which support high refresh rates of up to 120 hertz this is important because factors like screen brightness and refresh rate are known to be battery drainers still it would be nice to get more out of the galaxy z folds battery on the next version instead of extending battery life samsung could also improve the z-fold's power savings mode or increase its charging speeds the z-fold 3 can only charge at a rate of up to 25 watts while the galaxy s22 plus and ultra support 45 watt fast charging so clearly there's room for improvement however if the rumors are accurate the galaxy z fold 4 will have the same battery size and charging speed as its predecessor that's according to twitter leaker ice universe who has a pretty reliable track record like battery life camera quality is one of the most important aspects of a phone the galaxy z fold 3's camera is pretty good but it's not the best you can get on a samsung device the galaxy z folge 3 has a triple lens main camera system with 12 megapixel telephoto wide and ultra wide lenses once again my colleague patrick holland who reviewed the phone says it best the z-fold 3 has b plus cameras at an a-plus price the under-display camera on the inside of the z-fold 3 could also use an upgrade since it's only 4 megapixels if you're taking selfies you'll probably be using the 10 megapixel camera located on the cover screen but the under display inner camera is still important for video chatting if the rumors turn out to be true the galaxy z fold 4 will get a boost in camera quality that brings it up to speed with the galaxy s22 lineup once again that rumor comes from ice universe who claims to have published pretty much all of the z-fold 4's specifications if these predictions are true the galaxy z-fold 4 will have a 50 megapixel main camera 12 megapixel ultrawide camera and 10 megapixel telephoto camera foldable phones are still relatively new and getting the ergonomics right takes some time samsung is almost there with the galaxy z fold 3 but there's still some work to be done one of the z fold 3's biggest drawbacks is that it still feels kind of awkward to use as a regular phone when it's closed it feels abnormally bulky for a phone most people who have purchased a galaxy z fold probably don't care about the cover screen very much but think about how many times you take out your phone to quickly send a message or check a notification you probably don't want to unfold your phone every single time that's why the cover screen and the way the phone feels when it's closed are so important thankfully samsung might have some improvements in store for the z-fold 4. another rumor from ice universe says a new hinge will reduce the fold for's width when closed which could make it easier to use in one hand the galaxy z fold 3 also supports the s pen so i'm guessing the z fold 4 will too i just wish the s pen could magnetically attach to the z folds hinge since the phone doesn't have a storage slot the galaxy s22 ultra has a place to store the s pen but that doesn't seem like a practical option for the next z fold since it would increase the phone's thickness the last thing i'm hoping to see on the next z-fold is a less noticeable crease the crease on the z-fold 3 isn't too distracting but it's definitely noticeable to the eyes and to the touch chinese tech giant oppo found a way to make the crease on its find and foldable phone more discreet by implementing what it describes as a water drop hinge i'm looking forward to seeing how samsung addresses the crease in future versions of the z-fold also foldable phones will probably require some type of trade-off to keep the price reasonable for the foreseeable future whether it be the camera quality the crease or the experience when the device is closed i'm just hoping that list gets smaller and smaller starting with samsung's next foldables what do you want to see in the galaxy z fold for let me know in the comments and don't forget to check out the links in the description for more samsung coverage thanks for watching and i'll see you next time\n"