Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 review: excellent multitasking, camera, and performance, but $1,799 is steep, the device is heavy, and tablet app support is weak
Allison Johnson / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung is four generations into the Fold line, and each review has chipped away at one flaw while leaving others intact: the Fold3 added water resistance and a better screen feel, and the Fold2 made the cover display usable, yet both were dinged for weight and price. The Fold 4 lands with the strongest core package yet — multitasking, camera, performance — but at $1,799 it carries forward the same two complaints that have never gone away.
The through-line matters because the weak tablet app support flagged here was already called out on the Fold2's improved-but-incomplete tablet interface in 2020. Hardware iteration is clearly working; the software ecosystem around the big inner screen is the part Samsung hasn't moved.
First-order effects
- Buyers considering the Fold 4 at $1,799 are choosing between the best multitasking and camera hardware Samsung has shipped in the line and a device that is still heavy with thin third-party tablet app support.
- Samsung's own prior reviews set the bar: the Fold 4 fixes the under-screen camera problem that sank the Fold3's selfie quality, so the remaining objections are cost, weight, and apps rather than the hardware fundamentals.
Second-order effects
- With the hardware now consistently praised across generations, the recurring 'expensive and heavy' verdicts put pressure on Samsung to differentiate through software and durability guarantees instead of spec bumps — a pressure that later shows up as the seven-years-of-updates promise on the Fold6.
- Weak tablet app support on the flagship foldable gives Android developers little incentive to optimize for large flexible screens, since even Samsung's most committed users are a small, pricey niche.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — the Fold5's flat-folding hinge and the Fold6's battery and update commitments resolve more hardware gripes while price and bulk persist — foldables risk becoming a premium niche defined by what app ecosystems won't support rather than what the hardware can do.
- The multi-year review record suggests durability and app support, not displays or hinges, become the deciding factors for mainstream adoption of book-style foldables.
The trend: Samsung's annual Fold releases are steadily clearing hardware objections one generation at a time, while high prices, weight, and weak tablet app support remain the persistent ceiling on foldable adoption.