MANILA - The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a worthy successor to the Korean electronics giant's earlier folding flagships.

Samsung has been dominating the market for folding phones for several years now, and the Korean electronics giant doesn’t seem likely to let go of its throne with its newest offering.

In terms of features and performance, this is not as big a leap as the Fold 2 was over the Fold 1, or the Fold 3 over the Fold 2. Rather it refines the features that already made the previous phones such big hits.

As anyone who has used a Z Fold before, you get spoiled by the big screen. It can't be emphasized enough how going back to non-folding smaller-screen phones feels like such a downgrade.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Specs-wise, the review unit we got was what you would expect from a premium gadget. It has 12 GB of memory, which is a must for Android flagships these days. It also has 256 GB of storage, but with options for 512GB and up to 1TB.

The battery is still 4,400 mAh. This would have been one of the features that could have used an upgrade considering that a lot of phones with smaller screens boast 5,000 mAh powerpacks.

Samsung however said the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 makes the phone more efficient in terms of power management.

The 6.2-inch cover screen now also has thinner bezels, and its aspect ratio changed from a very tall 25x9 to a slightly wider 23x9.

Relatively unchanged is the 120Hz AMOLED screen, which was already one of the best even in the previous Z Fold generation.

Unfolded, you still get a 7.6-inch AMOLED screen, with the same 5x6 aspect ratio that’s also running at 120Hz.

The inner screen’s under-the-display camera, introduced in the Z Fold 3, is still there, though less visible. But it still has the issues of the previous generation as it sometimes has a problem recognizing your face. Its quality is also still not as good as the selfie cam on the cover.

The crease is still there. But I think until engineers make a panel that stretches instead of just folding, the crease will remain. Most folding phone users however are already used to it.

It has stereo speakers, and sound quality is what you could expect from a super premium phone.

The screen on this phone is just gorgeous. Photos, videos and graphics just look so much better on the big screen of this phone. It sometimes even fools you into thinking that you took an excellent photo, even if you just took a normal one. Such is the screen's quality.

Speaking of taking photos, perhaps the biggest change in the Z Fold 4 is the use of cameras which are now at par with Samsung’s main flagship, which is the S22.

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

Photos taken with the galaxy Z Fold 4

While the previous generation had 12MP sensors for all of its cameras, the Z Fold 4 has a 50MP main camera, a 10MP 3x telephoto shooter, and a 12MP ultrawide lens.

Selfie duties are fulfilled by a 10MP camera on the cover screen, and the less capable 4MP camera on the inner screen.

Samsung’s flagship cameras are always top notch, and except for the 4MP selfie shooter, you can’t go wrong with this phone’s photography capabilities.

It's no slouch either when it comes to video: It can shoot 4K at 60fps, 1080p at 60/240fps and 720p at a time-bending 960fps.

For productivity, there’s a taskbar at the bottom for your most commonly used apps

Splitscreen mode lets you take advantage of the extra space, so you can look at your Facebook Newsfeed and your Messenger apps at the same time, or your Google Calendar and Gmail at the same time. You can even have 3 apps open all at once.

Flex mode lets you take advantage of the folding display, with some apps, you can use the bottom half as a touchpad. It can also use a special S-Pen stylus for note-taking and drawing.

Like its predecessors, this phone is no pushover when it comes to gaming either. But like the previous Z Folds, the smallish battery and the huge screen mean that this probably shouldn't be your first choice if you want hours and hours of gameplay.

Still, for productivity and entertainment, it’s hard to beat this phone. If you want to make a leap to a folding phone, you can’t go wrong with the Z Fold 4.

If you already own the Z Fold 3, the new features of this latest generation may not be compelling enough to justify an upgrade.

The Z Fold 4 unit we tested with 12GB-256GB memory and storage combo retails for P98,990.

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