The Galaxy Z Flip 3 was the first foldable phone that was truly accessible. Compared to massive powerhouses like the Z Fold 3, it had a more portable design and a price on par with a typical flagship phone, without compromising on performance. So its successor, the Galaxy Z Flip 4, has a lot to live up to.

Both the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 are expected to arrive this summer, and several major leaks have already all but revealed what both phones are like. Samsung likely won't make many significant design changes to either phone, sticking to the templates that won over consumers last year. But it didn't stand pat, either.

It appears the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will get a boost to its battery and charging speed, both problem areas of last year's model. It'll also receive a solid performance boost as well, but if you were hoping for improved cameras or a larger cover display, current signs point to a letdown in your future.

Below, you'll find all of the rumors and leaks about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 specs, design, release date, and price, along with our wish list for what we want to see in Samsung's petite foldable phone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Design

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

If you're unfamiliar with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 design, it's a vertical-folding phone that evokes the flip phones of the past, with a strong hinge that lets you set the phone at nearly any angle you want, up to 150-degrees open. It has an IPX8 rating, meaning it can withstand spills. And at 183 grams / 6.5 ounces, it's decently lightweight for a phone with a 6.7-inch display.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 allegedly won't change much from its predecessor in appearance. Recent leaked Z Flip 4 renders from 91Mobiles and OnLeaks look remarkably similar from all angles.

The phone's actual dimensions did change, but only very slightly: 165.1 x 71.9 x 7.2 mm vs. 166 x 72.2 x 6.9 mm when unfolded. It's just a bit shorter, thinner, and thicker, in other words. That will likely make it slightly heavier as well, though as we'll discuss later, Samsung likely used that extra space for a battery life bump.

Later, prolific tech leaker Yogesh Brar tweeted (opens in new tab) that the Z Flip 4 will have a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, and 2.1-inch AMOLED cover display. The inner display matches the original, while the cover display gets a slight 0.2-inch bump that still leaves it rather compact. 

Considering the upcoming Motorola Razr 3, another vertical foldable phone coming this summer, will allegedly sport a 3-inch cover display, you might be slightly disappointed by this news. 

We then saw our first leaked real-world Z Flip 4 photos with a slightly taller cover display, smaller hinge, and a "much shallower" crease than last year's model.

Just as the Z Flip 3 had multiple stylish dual-tone color options and special Bespoke Edition designs, it's unsurprising Samsung plans to get creative with its Z Flip 4 colors as well. A recent DSCC leak claims the Z Flip 4 will ship in Gold, Gray, Light Blue, and Light Violet.

Gold Galaxy Z Flip 4 mockup (Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

For comparison, the Z Flip 3 came in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender, Gray, White, and Pink. Samsung may have other Samsung.com-exclusive colors or Bespoke customizations in the pipeline, but at the moment it seems you'll have fewer options than before.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Specs

The aforementioned Yogesh Brar leak gave us a pretty definitive specifications list for what to expect from the Z Flip 4. Other leaks have given slightly different information, though, so until we get the official info from Samsung, there may be some wiggle room on these numbers.

A previous GalaxyClub leak corroborated that the Z Flip 4 will use the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, a mid-year upgrade on the chip found in the Galaxy S22 series. Qualcomm claims it offers a 30% efficiency and 10% performance upgrade over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which itself offered a slight upgrade over the Snapdragon 888 found in the Z Flip 3. 

Brar claims the Z Flip 4 will have the same storage options as last year, but another leak suggested it'll have a new 512GB storage option for $100 extra.

Although the new phone will also stick to 8GB of RAM, you should see slightly speedier performance here. Perhaps more importantly, the Z Flip 4 will complete tasks more efficiently while also possibly jumping from 3,300mAh to 3,700mAh in battery capacity.

Our Z Flip 3 reviewer found that its "battery life isn't the best," and that charging it back to 100% took about two hours. But with a larger capacity and greater efficiency, we should likely see another hour or two of screen time — though it still likely won't be a long-lasting phone. Plus, if Brar is correct that it offers 25W charging, that would greatly increase the recharge time over the 15W max of last year.

For context, a separate certification database leak confirmed the 25W upgrade, but a separate battery leak indicated the phone will have a 3,400mAh typical battery, only about a 100mAh boost. We'll have to wait and see what Samsung reveals, but we hope the thicker design corresponds with a better increase.

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

For cameras, Samsung apparently plans to use the same hardware as the last two generations of foldables: dual 12MP rear cameras with wide and ultra-wide, plus a 10MP inside camera. 

On the one hand, our Z Flip 3 reviewer was satisfied with the camera quality, saying Samsung "pulled off some serious magic" with software upgrades to make old camera hardware feel new. Portrait mode, night mode, and automatic image replacement all work excellently. But without a proper telephoto lens, the Flip 3 can't take decent zoomed-in shots, and our review wasn't impressed with the quality of selfies, especially in low light.

Samsung will likely continue to improve its camera algorithms with this year's model, but if it does lack the upgrades given to the Galaxy S22, that'll be disappointing. Especially since the Z Fold 4 will allegedly get a significant camera boost this year.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

As for the Z Flip 4 display, it'll stick to the same 6.7-inch AMOLED, FHD+ resolution, and 120Hz refresh rate as its predecessor. We were perfectly satisfied with the display quality with last year's model, so it's fine that Samsung will stick to the basics here as well. We're simply curious whether or not the crease will be as prominent as it was in last year's model.

Galaxy Z Flip 4: Software

Launching with One UI 4.1 based on Android 12, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will have all the latest foldable software added by both Samsung and Google in the past year. 

You can either split-screen apps on the top and bottom of the display, or use Flex mode, which squeezes an app into the top square and puts controls in the bottom square. You can also slide out the shortcut tray to open your favorite apps, or check widgets and notifications in the cover display.

As with all new Samsung phones these days, the Z Flip 4 should receive four OS updates and five years of security updates. That'll mean it'll receive support through the summer of 2027, and eventually run on Android 16.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Release date and price

(Image credit: Daniel Bader / Android Central)

Based on the near-identical design, cameras, and incremental processor improvement from 2021 flagship to 2022, we strongly believe Samsung will keep the Z Flip 4 price at $1,000. Also, just like last year, carriers will likely offer significant discounts with phone trade-ins; AT&T, for example, gave away the phone for "free" with a trade-in of almost any decent phone from the last few years.

As for the release date, a Jon Prosser leak revealed a hypothetical Galaxy Unpacked event on August 10, where Samsung may reveal the Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4, and Galaxy Watch 5 to the world — and open preorders. He claims all three devices have an August 26 release date.

Galaxy Z Flip 4: Our wishlist

We may know a lot about the Z Flip 4 from leaks, but that doesn't mean all of the information is accurate. Nor do specs and custom renders truly tell us what it'll be like to use in real life. 

Below is a wishlist of features and improvements that Nick Sutrich, our Galaxy Z Flip 3 reviewer, hopes will come to the Z Flip 4.

Goodbye crease

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

People seeing or using the Galaxy Z Flip 3 for the first time typically have one consistent concern amidst all the positivity and excitement: the horizontal crease in the display's center. To my recollection, everyone I know who has seen the phone in person has asked me if the crease is a bother.

Acting like a crease is ideal isn't any better than acting like a display notch isn't annoying to look at all the time.

While my first answer is no, that the crease really isn't a big deal — and it's not, your eyes do adjust — acting like a crease is ideal isn't any better than acting like a display notch isn't annoying to look at all the time.

We know it's entirely possible to ship a creaseless foldable because phones like the Moto RAZR 5G already have proven it can be done. Even larger foldable phones, like the OPPO Find N, have also begun shipping with no noticeable crease when folded open, so it's time Samsung does a little display hinge redesign and gets on board.

Compared to the Z Fold 3's vertical crease, the crease on the Z Flip 3 annoys me more because it runs lengthwise across a much smaller display. You'll likely thumb it throughout the day because it's easily within reach. That's why, for me, it's the first thing that should go in a proper Z Flip 4 redesign.

Bigger outer screen

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

While we're at it, I'd love to see Samsung borrow one more thing from the Moto RAZR 5G: that larger outer screen. While the Z Flip 3 increased in screen size over its predecessor — making it actually useful for quick tasks like notifications, setting alarms, etc. — having a full-sized 4:3 screen on the front would be a lot more convenient.

Sometimes, it's just nice to have a quick tap on the smaller screen to get the job done.

One of the best design traits of that RAZR 5G is that outer screen, simply because you can actually do anything you want on it. Unlike Samsung's smaller Flip 3 display, which only displays very specific information, the Moto RAZR 5G's outer display is just a normal display, complete with a home screen.

In fact, Samsung is already making headway into transforming that smaller screen into something more useful. A recent Good Lock update adds a full app launcher (opens in new tab) to the cover screen and certainly gives me hope that Samsung will be further expanding the display size with the Flip 4.

The downside to having a larger outer screen, of course, is that it increases the likelihood of possible damage encumbered from a fall. That would make it all the more important to wrap a case around the phone. But I'm OK with the risk given the amount of productivity it would add to the device.

Flipping a phone open is great fun, but sometimes a quick tap on the smaller screen gets the job done. I've learned that from the Z Flip 3, and the same would apply here.

Better cameras

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

This one is a big ask, given that newer, larger camera sensors take up more room in a tiny foldable phone body, but it's still one I'd love to see happen. As much as I hate camera humps, most premium phones utilize the extra space to add in bigger and better camera sensors. If that's what it takes to get better cameras on the Z Flip 4, so be it.

At the very least, adding in some sort of telephoto camera is an absolute must for the 2022 release.

Now the cameras on the Z Flip 3 aren't bad by any means. Samsung completely overhauled their AI-based scene detection algorithm with their 2021 phone releases and, with that, came significantly better photos.

That is especially true when movement is involved, as Samsung's camera software now acts more like Google's. It takes pictures constantly, both before and after you've pressed the shutter button. The back-end processing algorithm will then analyze all these photos, choose the ones with the least amount of blur, then combine them all together to make one super amazing photo.

Now that we've finally got better processing on Samsung's camera software, it's time we see a big hardware upgrade to the camera hardware on the Z Flip 4. At the very least, adding in some sort of telephoto camera is an absolute must for the 2022 release.

More power

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

This one isn't referencing the processing power or the amount of RAM. Those components are both fine on the Z Flip 3, and there's no reason to think Samsung is going to change the high-end spec goal for the Z Flip 4.

No, what we want here is a bigger battery and faster charging. Much like the camera hardware request, this one is likely a difficult task given that extra room has to be made inside the phone for all the folding components and the hinge.

Nevertheless, the Z Flip 3's battery life certainly isn't epic and, for some folks, might not even get them through a full day's use. But Samsung can do a few things to help improve the poor battery life perspective without increasing the size of the battery in the Z Flip 4.

We want a bigger battery AND faster charging.

Adding a larger outer screen — as we so politely requested in the section above — would ensure that users will open the phone less during the day to use that larger, folding display. A smaller display doesn't sip as much power as a larger one, therefore reducing the strain on the battery throughout the day.

Secondly, Samsung really needs to bump up the charging speed on the Z Flip 4. The Flip 3 only charges at 15W wired and only 10W wireless. Those speeds were fast five or six years ago, but today, that's pretty darn slow. If we have to live with short battery life, being able to plug the Z Flip 4 in and quickly charge to 30-50% in just a few minutes would make up for it.

All-in on style

(Image credit: Samsung)

A few months after the Z Flip 3 launched, Samsung announced the Z Flip 3 Bespoke Edition, a special edition of the Z Flip 3 that you could customize and order directly from Samsung. Folks could choose from 49 color combinations to make their Z Flip 3 look exactly like they want it to.

What I'd love to see is a nod back to the Moto Maker days.

But the Bespoke Edition is still pretty limiting in scope. There are really only a handful of colors to choose from — the 49 number comes from mixing and matching colors instead of a huge bin of possibilities — and there are no different materials to choose from.

What I'd love to see is a nod back to the Moto Maker days, where you could completely customize your phone down to the etching on the back. That included wood and leather back options, all sorts of colors for the metal rails around the phone, and more.

As it stands, buying the Bespoke edition isn't such a great idea at $1,000 because, quite frankly, there aren't enough customization options.

Flipping out at the possibilities

The Flip 3 was marketed and catered to an audience that was looking for something hip and new, and quickly became one of the best foldable phones. The ads were fancy, the cases were wild and unique looking, and the phone successfully merged the feeling of nostalgia with the feeling of something new and exciting in a way phones haven't for years. 

I hope Samsung takes further advantage of that with the Z Flip 4 and goes all-in on style and color. And I hope it takes similarly bold strides with the Galaxy Z Fold 4.