If you haven’t heard, foldables are all the rage this summer. New devices from Google and Motorola — not to mention theupcoming arrival of whatever OnePlus has— are finally giving Samsung some much-needed competition in North America. There’s no doubt the company hopes to hold onto its early lead in this product category once the next-genGalaxy Z-series launches on July 26th. If early leaks are any indication, though, you should skip waiting for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and save yourself a few hundred bucks in the process, because the Fold 4’s price this week isthedeal to beat.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is one of the best folding phones you can buy right now. While its follow-up is due to launch later this summer, you won’t want to miss this great chance to pick the foldable up for just $1,400 at Best Buy.
I’ve used theGalaxy Z Fold 4on and off for nearly a year now, ever since former AP editor Ryne Hager sent me his review unit. It was my first foldable ever — of any shape — and a great entry point to come on. A year later, it’s not quite as impressive as it was in 2022, but not by any fault of Samsung’s. Instead, I’ve spent the first half of this year traveling to various tech-centric events, checking out phones like theMoto Razr+, thePixel Fold, and even devices like theHuawei Mate X3. Once you see the competition, it’s clear that Samsung isn’t moving fast enough to hold its position against the competition.
But that only matters at its normal $1,800 price point. At $1,400 — what Best Buy’s offering right now — things get a lot more interesting. Suddenly, that gap between the two screens, the one that seems so distracting next to the Pixel Fold? It’s a lot easier to ignore (and it could even save your displays ifearly Pixel Fold units are anything to go by). The so-so cameras? While they won’t rival what’s found in the company’s ownGalaxy S23 Ultra, they’re capable enough of capturing shots with that typical Samsung look that so many users love, especially in good lighting. The weird under-display camera? It’s unlikely to improve much on the next model!
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Even at $1400, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 might not be for everyone. And you know what? That’s fine! Samsung’s got plenty of other top-tier phones, and they don’t get any better than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. With this one available over Prime Day for just $850, it’s maybe an even more tempting offer than the foldable.
Sure, there’s aGalaxy Z Fold 5on the way, and it’ll fix some of the problems I’ve outlined above. It should almost certainly pick up some camera improvements, though whether those will be enough to make a difference remains to be seen. The biggest change seems to be to the hinge, as numerous leaks have shown the Galaxy Z Fold 5 folding flat. If that’s important enough to you to spend an additional $400 — or more — next month, by all means, keep waiting for Unpacked in a couple of weeks.
At this price, who cares about a gap?
But for everyone else — those who don’t mind leaving novelty behind for the sake of a good deal — the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is an obvious pick. While the rest of the world has seen affordable alternatives to Samsung’s folding phones like theTecno Phantom V Fold, consumers in the US have been stuck paying nearly two grand for devices like this. Accepting that you won’t have the latest and greatest come early August is pretty easy to do when the discount is this cheap.
So what do you have to compromise on to save $400? It’s not the displays — leaks suggest those are set to stay the same on the Z Fold 5, with a 6.2" screen on the front and a 6.76" panel inside. It’s not the cameras, as all three sensors are rumored to be unchanged this year as well. Samsung presumably managed to slim the phone down — dropping its width from 16mm to somewhere around 13mm, while the weight could be just 254g — but does that really matter at this price point?
Really, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 feels like it’s shaping up to be a stopgap, an iterative update just like the one the Galaxy S23 Ultra received this year. Even then, though, it’s unlikely to be as noticeable as the changes in Samsung’s S-series lineup. While the S22 phones utilized Qualcomm’s problematic Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, the Z Fold 4 uses the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, a chipset so good it’s still being used in 2023 smartphones. The jump from that chip to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 — almost certainly what powers the Galaxy Z Fold 5 — just won’t be as obvious.
Even the biggest factor that keeps some consumers from buying year-old phones — software support — is a non-factor when it comes to Samsung. TheGalaxy Z Fold 4 is set to receive three more OS upgrades, bringing it to Android 16 in 2025. It’s also supported for five years of security patches, bringing its full lifespan to 2027. Sure, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will live to see Android 17, but is that worth an extra $400 upfront?
Come this time next year, Samsung will once again be teeing up to launch another generation of foldables. It sounds like thenext Galaxy Z-series will see a big reinvention, potentially swapping to the Pixel Fold’s book-esque hinge. While I found Google’s implementation flawed, there’s no doubt that it’s an appealing change for users everywhere. Whether you’re a budget-focused shopper or obsessed with novelty, do yourself a favor and grab the Galaxy Z Fold 4 this year before the real changes arrive in 2024.
Don’t worry about next-gen upgrades on the horizon. At this price, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the foldable to buy.
