With the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, Samsung has shown that foldable phones are ready for prime time. Both are compelling in ways that Apple hasn’t matched.
I’ve lived happily in the Apple ecosystem for well over a decade, but as a technology enthusiast, I’m always curious about what’s happening in the larger mobile world. Hence, I’m always keeping an eye on what Samsung, Google, and other Android handset makers are up to. Every so often, something comes along that piques my interest enough that I entertain thoughts of switching platforms and seeing how the other side lives.
Such was the case with this week’s Galaxy Unpacked event. With the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, Samsung has demonstrated more than ever that foldable smartphones are ready for prime time. Both of Samsung’s new Z series phones are compelling in their own ways, with features that Apple hasn’t yet chosen to match.
Is it enough to make me change sides? Maybe not, but Samsung’s latest releases have made things more tempting than ever before.
I’ve been an iPhone user since the first model came out in 2007, but before then, I had already used just about every other smartphone platform available. My first foray into the world of hybrid PDA and cell phones (they didn’t call them “smartphones” back then) was Qualcomm’s pdQ-1900 — a clunky affair that combined the capabilities of a Palm III with a CDMA smartphone. By the time the iPhone arrived, I was toting a Nokia E90 Communicator — one of the first precursors to today’s foldable smartphones.
When I watched Steve Jobs unveil the iPhone in January 2007, I was pretty skeptical about the platform. From the touchscreen keyboard to the lack of third-party app support, it seemed like a strange and limiting device. However, when I finally got my hands on one a few months later, I was quickly won over. And I haven’t looked back since.
In the intervening years, I’ve played with various Android phones, from the original Nexus One in 2010 to a Google Pixel 6 that I still have on hand for research and testing. There have always been things I liked about Android, and in the early days, it seemed clear that Apple and Google could both learn a lot from each other. However, while those devices were fun, none of them were enough to convince me to abandon whatever iPhone I was using at the time.
That’s become even less tempting as technology has evolved. Nowadays, one rectangular slab of glass and plastic is about the same as any other. Handset makers compete mainly by leapfrogging each other in areas like camera specs and screen quality, but for most folks, we’ve long since passed the threshold of more than enough in these areas.
When it comes to the iPhone versus the rest, that leaves the operating systems and apps as the most significant differences. There are inevitable tradeoffs between Android and iOS, but one isn’t inherently better than the other these days; they’re just different, each with its own benefits and limitations.
Hardware and software work closely together, though, and that’s what I find compelling about Samsung’s latest foldable phones — particularly the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
