The Z Fold 4 Rumors & Speculation Thread

[The_Chief]

I know, I know... the Z Fold 3 is just 3 months old! Well, Samsung moves fast and rumors are already flying out there about its successor. So let's get started!

First are the rumors that the Fold 4 may fold up & down, creating a horizontal crease on the same size main display. Uh... okay, but Fold 3 owners can get the same effect by turning our screens 90 degrees... but I guess they need something to talk about.

(rant coming)

What's on my nerve today, though, is that virtually every tech site blog is running the same headline about the Fold 4 getting the Fold 3's "worst feature": the under-display camera. I suppose they're all iPhone people who seethe at the thought that we can watch videos with a screen uninterrupted by even a punch-hole camera... let alone a notch.

Guess what, fanbois? We don't have to use that camera! We can use the main cameras and front panel in preview mode and it works just fine. If we are using that camera, it's probably because we're in a videoconference - and the last time I checked, no one is doing Zoom calls in 4K and counting their colleague's nosehairs.

(end rant)

 

[major2112]

I've also seen a few speculating the improvement of the UDC. I like early rumor threads.

 

[The_Chief]

Today's rumor is that the Fold 4 won't have room for an onboard S Pen. Yeah, okay, whatever. They have to talk about something!

I told Samsung in the Members app that there is no reason why such a simple S Pen as the Fold Edition can't be reduced to regular S Pen size; and housed in the Fold 4. It can be just outboard the camera module. A new 3nm processor will sip battery (I haven't run this battery low yet), so there is no reason an S Pen can't go into the device as a folding Note.

 

[Hadron]

What's on my nerve today, though, is that virtually every tech site blog is running the same headline about the Fold 4 getting the Fold 3's "worst feature": the under-display camera. I suppose they're all iPhone people who seethe at the thought that we can watch videos with a screen uninterrupted by even a punch-hole camera... let alone a notch.

Guess what, fanbois? We don't have to use that camera! We can use the main cameras and front panel in preview mode and it works just fine. If we are using that camera, it's probably because we're in a videoconference - and the last time I checked, no one is doing Zoom calls in 4K and counting their colleague's nosehairs.

Most tech blogs post total rubbish (being polite here) about selfie cameras anyway. They'll praise a phone for having a 40MP selfie camera, even though diffraction broadening will be limiting the real resolution (the diameter of the Airy disc will be > 4 pixels for such a small, high resolution sensor) and in any case the images will be viewed on a screen with 4MP resolution and at a distance where the human eye wouldn't come close to resolving 40MP anyway. But they are very good at repeating marketing messages.

 

[ocnbrze]

this just in....... the new fold will look like this:

Spoiler: take a look

where are you going to hide a pen??????

 

[The_Chief]

where are you going to hide a pen??????

I read about that on a UK website, which referenced a German article, based on Chinese reports, quoting a South Korean tech blog. It said anonymous sources cited a pending Samsung patent application for a "visual focal sensor" on each folding panel. Combined, the device will know exactly where your eyes are focused... and various patterns of eye-blinks will control the phone's functions (including S Pen features). Our very eyes, then, will BE the S Pen!

(Do you think I have a future writing tech rumor blogs?)

 

[ocnbrze]

I read about that on a UK website, which referenced a German article, based on Chinese reports, quoting a South Korean tech blog. It said anonymous sources cited a pending Samsung patent application for a "visual focal sensor" on each folding panel. Combined, the device will know exactly where your eyes are focused... and various patterns of eye-blinks will control the phone's functions (including S Pen features). Our very eyes, then, will BE the S Pen!

(Do you think I have a future writing tech rumor blogs?)

well i will be following this post here in this forum about an article on a UK website referencing a German article that was based on Chinese reports that quoted a South Korean tech blog explaining about eye blinking and s-pen support.......so i will keep you posted

wait.......this just in.....new z fold will also be a bracelet!!!!!

Spoiler: breaking news!!!!!

 

[The_Chief]

wait.......this just in.....new z fold will also be a bracelet!!!!!

With an 8K projector!

 

[The_Chief]

Oh no, now our own Phandroid got suckered into parroting the same rumor...
https://phandroid.com/2021/11/22/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-4-might-not-come-with-an-s-pen-slot/

 

[The_Chief]

Holy smokes, the Fold 4 is shaping up to be THE phone of the year!

Better under-display camera
S Pen housed IN the phone
4nm process Snapdragon 88 Gen 1+
One UI 4.5 out of the box

Rumors are flying, but supply chain leaks are coming out almost daily. Final design approval is expected early June; mass production in July; release in late August!

 

[The_Chief]

Take all this with a lot of salt - things like the in-display fingerprint scanner are reportedly not happening, with the fingerprint sensor still on the power button (thank you, Samsung!)

https://www.phonearena.com/galaxy-z-fold-4-release-date-price-features-news

 

[The_Chief]

Rumors abound that Samsung is working on making the Fold 4 thinner - which means no internal S Pen. Android Central has a poll going, asking readers whether they would prefer a thinner phone or one with an onboard S Pen. Two thirds of respondents want the S Pen in the phone.

Samsung, are you hearing us? You keep saying that you listen to what your users want and need... here it is!

 

[The_Chief]

Production has started on the Z Flip and Fold 4 phones... while many may be salivating over the better screen aspect ratios and more functional size of the front panel; or that the cameras on the Fold 4 will blow away even the S22 Ultra's; or that it's got the 888 Gen 1+ processor and upgraded UFS storage, it's going to be a very tough sell for me if an onboard S Pen is not available. As much as I love my Fold 3, I really, really need it to be a folding Note. I miss my pop-out S Pen. I miss the microSD card slot, too... but I won't be too demanding.

 

[The_Chief]

I don't know about you, but I'm not seeing enough improvements to upgrade:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-4-release-date-price-leaks/

Nope, none for me thanks:

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-4-just-got-a-100-accurate-full-specs-leak

 

[The_Chief]

Impressive performance increase, however!

https://www.phonearena.com/news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-4-benchmark_id140774

 

[ocnbrze]

to me its still all rumors. i'll wait for judgement when they actually announce it in August.

 

[The_Chief]

Okay okay... no S Pen slot. But: a better screen, very minor crease, far better cameras, faster performance and 1TB storage? I'm now willing to consider upgrading in August.

https://www.phonearena.com/news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-4-z-flip-4-storage-upgrades-confirmed_id140848

 

[The_Chief]

All ready? Wednesday, August 10th at 1 PM UTC (9 AM EDT) - the Samsung Unpacked event is expected to announce the Fold 4, Flip 4, Watch 5 and... who knows what?

Problem is that I have a medical appointment an hour into it, so I can't watch it live! I'll have to stream it later...

 

[ocnbrze]

i'm curious as to see what they unveil......no s-pen slot means i can wait until next year. i'm very happy with my z fold 3.

 

[The_Chief]

I'm happy with it as well... although the main display's permanent screen protector thing is really looking bad at the crease. It's not as "permanent" as I'd like it to be! The camera upgrades alone would be nice. I made a reservation simply because there are quite a few perks to having a reservation and pre-ordering. We'll see what gets announced!

 

[The_Chief]

BTW for those of us who rely on the S Pen - I spoke with a representative from Spigen, who assured me that the Thin Fit P case for the Z Fold 4 is in progress!

This is great news because every other S Pen case I've seen has the pen storage on the back (preventing wireless charging) or over the hinge (preventing the device from lying flat).

EDIT:

And here it is!
https://www.spigen.com/collections/...fold-4-case-thin-fit-p?variant=41082478952495

 

[Unforgiven]

No more need for rumors, the Fold 4 forum is live.
https://androidforums.com/devices/samsung-galaxy-z-fold4.20320/