I’ve been living every single day for the last several weeks with the Galaxy fold 4, and it’s been an experience. Initially, going into a foldable lineup, I had many apprehensions and concerns about something in this form factor. Whether it could not only effectively but also practically weave its way into my lifestyle in the ways that I would need it to. So does the Fold Four check enough of my boxes to be my primary device or will I end up packing it up and sending it back?
Design: How does it Hold Up?
One of the initial concerns that I had about a foldable device was durability. There are many moving parts in this, the most important moving part being right smack dab down in the center of the device. My concern was opening and closing this throughout my day would cause a lot of additional wear and tear. There’s been device-bending anxiety here, but I can say that the hinge feels incredibly premium. There’s this resistance when opening and closing it. Not one that makes it feel like the device is fighting you but one that reassures you that it will stand the test of time.
In terms of weight, Samsung did a fantastic job as the device is slimmer and sleeker. The front screen’s a little wider than its predecessors the Fold Three. It fits well in hand and subjectively weighs less than I expected from my previous phone than Note 20. This phone fits in your hand well. With some other phones, they’ve gotten very light over the last couple of years. But this phone has a sort of premium heft in the hand when you’re holding it. It doesn’t feel like it will just slip out or fall out. It feels like it’s anchored into your hand in a very pleasing way.
The Cameras:
No other device on the market has more cameras than the Galaxy Fold 4. I find that, like most people, the most used camera is my front camera, and this year Samsung stepped up their game. The front camera can now record in 4k 60fps. This is a significant boom for creators who shoot videos in their cars (like this writer). I can see the shot I am about to record on the front screen and use that to get the proper framing before I start the recording. Speaking of the front screen…
The Front Screen:
The narrow screen lends to the usability I found in my personal day-to-day use. It is one of those things where the screen is wide enough to do everything you need to do, and you don’t feel like you are being punished and forced to use the inside display. Instead, the bigger inside display is there for when you want it, not because you need it. The narrow outside display lends itself to one-hand usability. It feels fantastic on this device compared to its predecessors that I have felt at Best Buy. One thing that gets overlooked on the front display (because you have the massive inside screen) is that you can multitask on the front display. Now it’s not going to give you the enormous boost of productivity that the larger screen is going to. But there have been times that I’ve been using the phone, and I just use it like a normal phone. Sometimes I even forget that I do have the inside display to use. Most recently, this happened while I was waiting for a rep at the AT&T store. I watched YouTube videos while keeping an eye on discord via the split screen; both were visible and, more importantly, readable and sharp.
For me, that speaks volumes about the usability of this front display. When I picked up the iPhone 14 on display, I realized that though regular phones are much broader, I would not trade that single-handed experience for a marginally wider phone. If I need to make something larger, I can make everything bigger by unfolding The Fold 4. If you’re concerned about the front display, it’s beneficial for everyday use. You’re not going to feel like you’re hamstrung, but if you need more workspace, you open up the device and have that massive 7.6-inch AMOLED display. TLDR on both displays is; crisp, vibrant, smooth at 120thz on both displays, and responsive.
The Team Viewer Experience:
I can’t leave this phone review alone without speaking to the Team Viewer Experience. As someone who does Remote Support Sessions, this needs to be on point every time. I can say that the Galaxy Fold 4 Delivers. In fact, I was just at my kid’s swimming lesson when I call came in from one of my clients. My Watch 5 Pro (perhaps something worth reviewing later) Informed me that I needed to get this. I flipped down my Open Comm Headset and pressed the call receive button. My client informed me about some technical issues they were having so out whipped the Fold 4 to the inner display and WOW was I impressed. No longer was I squinting on the TeamViewer interface or doing the pinch-to-zoom flip the phone sideways dance. It was clear, sharp, and ready to work. Even when I brought up the on-display keyboard I was still able to see clearly where I was on the interface in case the client moved the mouse or touched the keyboard while I was assisting them with their issue. This additional level of options I now have at my disposal means that for certain circumstances I can leave my Ipad pro in the car and still know that I can support my clientele.
The Dex Experience:
Dex has had a massive overhaul compared to my previous note 20. Samsung got the memo that I was very unhappy about my previous foray into living the DEX-only life. In 2019 as an experiment, I lived a whole year using only DEX as my primary computing platform for work and pleasure. I could only stomach a year as I could no longer take the artificial software limitations they placed on the phone. So has Samsung fixed the Dex experience? The short answer is yes! Resoundingly YES! Gone are the days of requiring a “DEX” dock to get full compatibility or the software. With its perpetually nagging you to get a genuine Dex accessory. Gone are the artificial limitations on what resolutions you can run on your phone without a DEX accessory. Now, if you have a 4k or ultrawide, the Dex desktop will auto-adjust to a resolution that won’t leave you with black bars around the monitor. It looks fantastic on my apple studio display without the blur you get with low resolutions on high dpi monitors.
The ability to use the tablet as an independent environment leaves me the ability to play Civilization IV on the inside screen while using dex for productivity while using a Next Dock. If you have never tried a NEXT DOCK laptop, think of a laptop that removed all the internals except the display, keyboard, trackpad, laptop shell, and battery. As it would allow you to be able with one device, have a fully functional all-in-one device that is both a phone, a small Ipad mini-sized tablet unfolded, and a fully portable laptop for work while on the road.
The Downsides to the DEX Experience
If DEX is so improved, why won’t you do another year of DEX only for your workflow? The answer to that question hides the main reason why it would not work for my workflow. Dex relies on everything you need to function correctly from the Samsung or google play store. Dex brilliantly allows any app to be turned into a floating window in the dex environment. However, if you run your applications off of websites, you will quickly hit a brick wall. If you design WordPress websites using a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get), then the browsers on android are not going to cut it. (perhaps you, dear reader, can tell me the error of my ways) But for now, I do not know of any desktop-class browsers that offer full functionality or proper desktop rendering on android.
The second reason DEX would not work for me is the inability to run multiple displays. DEX has never advertised this feature (though technically possible years ago as demonstrated by pluggable) As some of my work requires me to reference material on one display and then transform that information onto another. I don’t know if this objection still holds up in the long run due to the ability to see the tablet screen at the same time. But for now, until my workflow changes, not having the ability to drive multiple displays is a poor excuse in 2022. To build on this theme Samsung needs to update DEX more regularly to truly make it a first-class experience. Every year it feels that Samsung holds back the development of DEX so that it can show off the latest and greatest version of DEX. But given the expense of the phones, I could not stomach paying $1800 every year to upgrade my software and expect better from Samsung.
The TLDR of The Galaxy Fold Four:
Summarizing in one word my experience with the Galaxy Fold Four I would state that it is: Enjoyable. From my viewpoint, it makes life a lot more convenient, which I appreciated about this device. Accessing all of those different multitasking functions on this device are incredibly accessible. Samsung’s packed a lot of options into this device for accessing your multitasking. Samsung sometimes is roasted, and often rightfully so in the past, for their software not quite being up to snuff. But man, can I tell you that multitasking on this is effortless. You don’t feel the phone chugging or lagging or having a hard time doing what you’re asking it to do. The Snapdragon Gen eight plus one chip does all of the heavy liftings. However, I want to give Samsung some credit here (As one who is neck deep into the apple ecosystem) opening and closing applications sifting back and forth the applications, the animation sets that are baked into the operating software, everything is very smooth and delightful. With the 120 hertz display, you get an excellent user experience daily.
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