The outdated zoom camera on the first three Galaxy Z Fold smartphones was their major flaw. The Galaxy S series was becoming better and better at zoom photography with each passing year, but none of the three phones had a 2x optical zoom camera like the one that was first launched on the Galaxy Note 8.
How about the Galaxy Z Fold 4 though? We believed a separate article was necessary because there have been so many inquiries about the camera setup, particularly the zooming possibilities.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 offers 30x digital and 3x optical zoom.
The response? A zoom camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 allows 3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom (which Samsung calls Space Zoom). Although the Galaxy Fold, Z Fold 2, and Z Fold 3 all have a maximum of 10x zoom, the latter is a significant advance.
When it comes to zooming, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 falls well short of the Galaxy S Ultra devices. Although the optical zoom varies somewhat, they all offer a maximum digital zoom of 100x. While the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra have separate 3x and 10x optical zoom cameras, again for a maximum of 100x zoom, the Galaxy S20 Ultra used a combination of optical and digital zoom past 4x magnification.
Even while the camera zoom on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 isn’t as good as that on the Galaxy S Ultra smartphones, it is still an improvement. The primary camera has also been improved, moving from a 12MP sensor to a 50MP one, the same one found on this year’s Galaxy S22 and S22+ models. On the back comes a 12MP ultra-wide camera as well.
The front of the cover display contains a 10MP camera for selfies and video calls, while the main display sports a 4-megapixel under-display camera. No, the promised increase to a 16MP under-display camera didn’t materialize, even though the under-display camera is now more concealed than before while in operation. Nothing has changed in terms of the front-facing cameras.
Keep checking back for more information as we test the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s cameras (as well as its other features) over the next several days. View our Galaxy Z Fold 4 hands-on and unboxing videos below to pass the time.