Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 First Look and Unboxing – Breathtakingly Beautiful Bora Purple

The new Galaxy Z Flip4 made its gala debut alongside its larger, productivity oriented sibling the Galaxy Z Fold4 with both phones now gradually being deployed in Malaysia via preorder and telco contracts.

In a nutshell, the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is a more refined upgrade of the earlier Galaxy Z Flip3 and commands a modest premium over the more conventionally designed Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ launched earlier this year on account of its innovative foldable display and more fashion oriented, compact design.

With a sleeker, distinctive design that features a host of improvements, is their latest clamshell foldable worth the money? Here’s our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 first look and unboxing where we give it a quick whirl around the block!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 First look – Unboxing and Design

In terms of packaging, our Galaxy Z Flip4 retail sample ditches the charger and comes with just the phone itself, a SIM eject pin, a quick start guide and a USB-C charging cable. It’s pretty spartan and is contingent on you owning a charger but that’s not as much of an issue in this day and age.

@hitechcentury Check out what’s in the box for the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 in Bora Purple! Feels really premium! #galaxyzflip #samsung #techtok #fyp #sembanggadget #malaysia @Samsung Malaysia ♬ Pink Venom – BLACKPINK

The third incarnation of Samsung’s mainstream oriented foldable phone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is the titular successor to the Galaxy Z Flip3 launched last year and the original Galaxy Z Flip in 2020. To be clear, Samsung skipped a version number to keep it on track with its larger sibling the Galaxy Z Fold series which in itself is already in its fourth generation.

At first blush, the Galaxy Z Flip4 is almost akin to the Galaxy Z Flip3 in its clamshell design but hosts a series of subtle refinements that addresses almost all of its sire’s shortcomings in a decisive fashion along with the customary upgrades in hardware to keep it competitive with this year’s flagship phones.

The phone still retains the same durable Armor Aluminum frame that debuted in the Galaxy Z Flip3 along with the same Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the backplate halves and on the front cover display but differs subtly aesthetically from its predecessor. 

Rather than a shiny mirror finish, our Galaxy Z Flip4 first look and hands-on revealed that it has a more understated, fingerprint resistant matte purple finish dubbed Bora Purple that looks even classier than before along with a shiny frame which is completely opposite of the Flip3’s design aesthetics which had a matte frame and shiny finish which attracted fingerprints in spades. 

If Bora Purple isn’t your cup of tea, the phone can also be acquired in Graphite which is a shade of black, Pink Gold, Blue and you can also acquire it in a customised Bespoke edition with selectable hinge, top and bottom half colours though this option requires a slightly longer wait time.

Closer inspection also reveals that the new Galaxy Z Flip4 is slightly heavier by 4g, turning the scales at 168g but in turn is actually slightly slimmer all around while retaining the same 1.9-inch AMOLED front cover display with 260 x 512 pixels resolution and internal 6.7-inch foldable display despite the smaller form factor on account of slimmer bezels framing both displays.

The front 1.9-inch AMOLED cover display display is the same size as its predecessor and large enough to handle notifications, basic canned replies for texting, show you the time and also act as a viewfinder for selfies without the need to flip the phone open while the main internal display is for when you need more screen real estate and to get things done. Samsung has however added additional widgets for easier access including Voice Recorder, Direct Dial and Calendar among them.

Riding shotgun next to the cover display are the main dual cameras which have been upgraded. The primary 12MP F/1.8 camera benefits from a larger 1.8µm sensor paired with OIS while the 12MP F/2.2 ultra wide camera is mostly similar to its predecessor.

Flipping the Flip4 open is still a two-handed job on account of the sturdiness of the hinge which has also been reworked to be slightly slimmer without any compromise in durability though closing it can still be done one-handed in a pinch. 

The base of the phone hosts a USB Type-C port and a grille for one of the matching pair of stereo speakers with the other speaker perched just on top of the main folding display. The right side of the phone when fully unfolded hosts a volume rocker and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader while the left has a SIM card slot.

When fully opened, the Galaxy Z Flip4 unfurls into a full sized flagship phone with a top-shelf 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display sheathed in Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate that can go as low as 24Hz and FHD+ (2,6400 x 1080 pixels) resolution with support for HDR10+ content. 

A tiny punch hole up top allows for a 10MP F/2.4 selfie camera for video calls. At first blush, the crease in the display looks less prominent than the one on the Flip3’s display though it is still present when viewed at certain angles but it’s generally not apparent when in use.

For those who are balking at swapping over to a foldable, Samsung has rated the Galaxy Z Flip4’s foldable display to last for 200,000 folds which is an absurdly high number that enables it to last for over five years of regular usage, assuming you unfold it 100 times a day. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 First look – Specifications

This time around, all Galaxy Z Flip4 units are equipped with an identical processor regardless of region. Under the hood, our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 first look revealed that it comes with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor that’s built on a 4nm process. This is a marked improvement over the older Snapdragon 888 5nm processor in the Galaxy Z Flip3 with enhancements in performance and efficiency.

Processor aside, the phone runs Android 12 with their latest One UI 4.1.1 user interface. This is paired with 8GB RAM and your choice of 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of non-expandable storage. 

5G connectivity comes as standard with an option for an eSIM and the phone features a slightly larger battery than its predecessor with a 3,700mAh Lithium Polymer battery that has support for 25W fast charging, an improved and swifter 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging.

This is a 12% improvement in capacity over the older Galaxy Z Flip3 which, in tandem with its more efficient processor, ought to offer significantly better battery life. Here’s how it stacks up in terms of specifications

Price	RM4,099 (128GB), RM4,399 (256GB), 4,899 (512GB), RM4,599 (256GB Bespoke)
Display	1.9-inch Super AMOLED cover display, 260 x 512 pixels + 6.7-inch foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, 120Hz refresh rate, 2,640 x 1080 pixels, 426ppi
OS	Android 12 with One UI 4.1.1
Processor	Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
Memory	8GB RAM / 128GB storage (review sample), 256GB and 512GB available
Cameras	12MP F/1.8 w/ Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 1.8µm + 12MP F/2.2 ultra wide [rear] / 10MP F/2.4 [display selfie cam]
Battery	3,700mAh 25W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, 4.5W reverse wireless charging
Size/Weight	165.2 x 71.9 x 6.9mm (Unfolded) / 84.9 x 71.9 x 15.9mm (folded) / 187g

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 First Look – How does it handle?

In terms of handling and tactility alone, the Galaxy Z Flip4 makes for a very premium experience and an awesome fidget toy. It closes shut with a crisp, beautiful clink and when viewed from the side, it feels like a top-shelf money clip. On a side note, the gap between both halves is slightly less than before which is a modest but welcome improvement. 

What is particularly impressive here is that all the improvements and changes in the Galaxy Z Flip4 are for the better and elevate a proven design to new heights.

For all its upgrades, the Galaxy Z Flip4 still retains the same respectable IPX8 water resistance rating which means that it will happily survive in up to 1.5 metres of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the phone still lacks dust protection so some care still needs to be taken in day to day use. 

Ergonomics are respectably top notch and the familiar design of the phone and OneUI means that there’s no learning curve needed to master the nuances of the Galaxy Z Flip4 out of the box and novices will find swapping over to the new Flip4 a relatively simple task thanks to the Samsung Smart Switch app and its relatively comprehensive ability to transfer all your snaps, shots, apps and messages to the phone.

A quick whirl with the cameras saw it capturing very Insta-worthy pics from both its cameras from ultra wide all the way up to 10x digital zoom in a modest array of daylight scenarios and the phone is swift and snappy with the ability to smoothly swap between tabs and fire up Call of Duty Mobile on high settings without issue.

@hitechcentury Checking out the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 that’s now on preorder in Malaysia! #techtok #fyp #sembanggadget.#tech #malaysia #firstlook @Samsung Malaysia #flip4 @Hitech Century ♬ Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Kate Bush

In the days to come, we’ll put the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 through its paces. Stay tuned for our full review!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 review sample courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. For more details and to purchase, please visit their official page at https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-z-flip4/buy/