Samsung - Galaxy Z Fold4 512GB - Phantom Black (Verizon)

My Husband loves his new phone it’s big and has good sound

It's absolutely amazing. This phone is really awesome. it's really Sturdy. It's so cool when I unfold my phone, and it turns into a tablet. The camera is amazing. im super impressed and happy with this phone.

Best Buy is truly always gone above and beyond weather. Be customer service or quality product and this one was no different

Best phone I've ever purchased!!!! Definitely worth bragging about....

I love watching my shows on lunch break with this amazing foldable screen

I really love Galaxy Z Fold 4. Battery last long and charger faster.

The Z Fold 4 is my first foldable and after going through the usual learning curve, I find it a joy to use. It's a tablet in your pocket and a great relief for eyes that are no longer young. My comments are based on one week of use and the experience is great. Professional reviewers have this right and wrong. Most reviewers critique from a standpoint of upgrading from newer, recent smartphones. Plus, many reviews tend to be idealistic. My needs are for a great smartphone as a tool with decent cameras - not perfect photography but really good. As background, I'm a power user and serious photographer with pro-grade equipment. My upgrade path was from a 4.5-year-old Galaxy Note 8, which I really liked. I don’t upgrade yearly. My intention is to upgrade when phones wear out and new services are too intensive for older equipment. That seems to be about 3 years. Wow. I didn't realize how improved smartphones have gotten. We have lots of 5G in my area and the connections are solid. The thing everyone gets right is this being a heavy smartphone. Although it's height and width are smaller than my old Note 8, it is 2x thicker. Yet it has an amazingly solid build and the fit and finish are stunning. Furthermore, I’m glad this doesn’t have the Note 8’s curved display. The Samsung case adds a little to the dimensions. But having a case is a good thing because the front display and camera lenses are flush with the body and could be prone to scratching when placed on any surface. A case adds a couple millimeters between the display & camera lenses and a surface. The multitasking OS is great! Being able to have three apps open and move data between them is far easier than switching between app views. Reviewers tend to diss the opened display because some apps don’t dynamically adjust to the large screen. In my case, over 98% of my apps size perfectly. I assume the few that don’t will eventually be optimized by their makers. Most importantly, Kindle books dynamically fit the open screen. Many reviewers comment about seeing the screen crease even though better than the Z Fold 3. Yes, it’s there but I was immediately ignoring it when reading emails, looking at pictures, watching streaming content, etc. For me it’s not a big deal. The newest Snapdragon processor is powerful and the right thing to power the Z Fold 4. The phone does get warm when wirelessly charging but not hot. Battery life is good and getting better as the smartphone learns my behaviors and starts shutting down unused apps. I've already seen a big difference after the first week. The cameras are significantly better than my 4.5-year-old Note 8. Most reviewers say they aren't as good as the S22 Ultra or Pixel 6 (or whatever it is) phones, but smartphone camera technology is a moving target. There will always be improvement. Smartphones will never rival my D850 or a dedicated camera and I don't expect them to when it comes down to pixel peeping. This is my 7th smartphone in 16 years and I can attest everyday pictures (especially at 50 mb with enhanced sharpening) are really nice compared to the older phones. Yes. Samsung overprocesses the colors a little but that’s fine. Serious photography can be shot using raw in pro-mode and processed accordingly. I haven’t shot night modes, etc. There is one thing I cannot figure out. I’m used to having different ring and notification sounds for different apps and calls. I don’t know if this is a temporary feature omission or I simply cannot figure out how to make the customizations. One improvement I’d like to see in future generations is a slightly wider phone. Not as wide as my Note 8, but wider to the point of better reading and typing when not using in the open format. A wider phone might also create room for a revised stylus design. About the stylus, the Samsung case that came with the phone (pre-order promo) also includes the stylus. The stylus caddy can be swapped out for a kick-stand. Figuring out how to get the stylus inside the phone and having a case with kick-stand would be ideal. Maybe someday. Foldables definitely have a future and I envision forthcoming phones being much more svelte. Assuming the folding screen remains intact over three years, I’m looking forward to the next version. In summary, if 2x thickness, weight, having the absolute best cameras, and price are a concern, stay away from the Z Fold 4 and wait for future iterations. I was an early adopter of the Galaxy Note phones and now somewhat early in the foldable adoption cycle. For now, unless something seriously unexpected happens, I cannot imagine going back to a slab phone.

Let's face one fact: This phone is a brick. To expect anything else is to ignore physics. This Fold4 is like you're holding two phones. It weighs twice as much and twice as thick you're regular phone. With the Fold4, you are holding the leading edge of cell phones at this time. Enjoy this, because it will not be true next year. I held off on the Fold line of phones before because I was concerned with the large screen cracking at the fold. With the Four I felt that Samsung had made significant improvement on this problem. My previous phones over the last 10 years were all Notes. To be honest, I was seriously thinking about about the S22 Ultra since that is the successor to the Note line. If it weren't for a promotion from Best Buy and a nice trade-in price for my Note, I would probably have waited for the S23 Ultra to be released. After running the numbers, I decided that it was time to go with the Fold4. After a month with the phone, I have a few observations. It took me a while to get used to unfolding my phone. Truth is, I'm still adjusting. But each day I'm learning new tricks and features. When I open up the main screen, I almost feel like I'm holding my own personal IMAX. there is so much wonderful screen real estate to take in. And as a full fledged senior citizen, I don't need to constantly keep a pair of reading glasses at the ready. I was a little concerned about the fingerprint reader. With moved from the screen to the side key, I was worried I'd have to move my thumb into different positions in hopes of unlocking my phone. I'm happy to say that I have never had any problem unlocking the phone on the first try, something I can't say about my former Note. I'm a fan of the icons of the recent apps at the bottom of the screen. Instead of having to hit the recent apps icon to gain access. Plus, this makes it much easier to bring an app back in split screen. The speed of the processor is a marked improvement from my last phone. And the responsiveness is second to none. Something to consider, though. A folding screen requires a little more care in handling than the others. Sand and other fine particles can find their way under the screen, Keep this in mind when you're at the beach and keep the phone tucked away someplace safe. Speaking of tucking away the phone, this is not the device you put in your back pocket, sitting or falling down, and then expecting it to be like it just came out of the box. But this goes for all cell phones. We've all seen reviewers lament about how they put their phone in their best Hello Kitty case, only to have it break after two days of "normal" use. I've also found that a few of my live wallpapers don't work on the Fold4. Fortunately, the wallpapers I've used on my phones for years all work fine. So for me, this is not a problem. Now let's talk about what is missing. There is no charger included with the phone. Fact is, this is true of so many cell phones these days. And this isn't a problem for me since I exclusively use wireless charging. Plus, like most of us, I've got a drawer full of chargers. Still, for a couple thousand dollars... And then there's the S pen. I know that the pen is included with the S22 Ultra so we all will know that it is the replacement for the Note line. And I'm guessing that the pen will be an extra accessory come the future S2# Ultra. But, again. For a phone that costs as much as the Fold4... I would have given the Fold4 a five star rating, but I'll save that for a future Fold when they make it a little more indestructible. So, if you've read this far, consider this a 4.5 star review.