The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 include some notable improvements to the camera sensor – especially the Fold 4, which uses the same 50MP sensor from the Galaxy S22 – but do these new sensors really improve photo quality in a meaningful way?
I’ve had the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (opens in a new tab) in my hand for over 24 hours now and wasted no time putting Samsung’s camera improvement claims to the test.
Whether it was around my house, down town or in the River Arts District to check out some amazing graffiti, I made sure to grab a few samples from the main camera, ultra-wide camera, telephoto camera, and front-facing camera to give you an idea of what you can expect if you’re planning to pick up one of these awesome foldable phones (opens in a new tab).
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 camera vs Galaxy Z Fold 3 camera
Of Samsung’s two new foldable devices, the Fold 4 includes the most camera improvements. The main sensor on the back is the same great 50MP sensor from the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, and Samsung even included the same 10MP telephoto sensor from those phones with a 3x optical zoom lens. This provides up to 30X “Space Zoom”, as Samsung calls it, which is a hybrid method of digital and optical zoom that enhances fine details.
The ultra-wide sensor and the lid camera sensors are the same resolutions, but are newer sensors than what’s in the Fold 3. The camera below the display is the same 4MP sensor from the Fold 3, but Samsung has tweaked the display a bit to optimize it further the concept providing cleaner photos and better concealment of the sensor.
Without further ado, here are the quality differences between the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Fold 3 cameras!
Main camera
No camera review of mine is complete without pictures of my favorite backyard chickens. I took them under the deck which gives them shade during the day. Please excuse the mess as I’m in the middle of building a rabbit cage!
The first photo has a less processed look of the Z Fold 4 compared to the Fold 3. First of all, it’s not over-sharpened like the Fold 3 photo is, which makes it look more like it was taken with a “proper” camera and it’s not a smartphone.
The second photo of one of my other chickens is completely out of focus on the Z Fold 4. You might call it a test bird (see what I did there?), but the Fold 4 did that a few times, while the Fold 3 has it in focus every time. I ended up taking this picture five times on each phone and they all came out this way. I’ll have to test more, but it’s disconcerting. My best guess is that something about her feather color compared to the other chicks was tripping the sensor.
The third stock photo is indistinguishable between the two, but I have several other day photos where this happened. It can’t be upgrade all the time!
Finally, the fourth example was picked up at my local Target while browsing for coffee. On the other hand, the Fold 4’s picture has slightly clearer fine details (look at the price tags). The problem is that it’s quite overexposed compared to the Fold 3.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 sample camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 8
I went out at 5am this morning to make sure I had some low light shots worth comparing. The first is in a well-lit enough corner of a closed store where you can see that the Fold 4’s white balance looks much better. There’s also a noticeable increase in fine detail in this scene compared to the Fold 3.
In the second example of low light on a wall with some pretty elaborate graffiti, you’ll see a noticeable difference in brightness/dynamic range between the two phones. There’s only the slightest deviation in fine detail, but this increase in brightness on the Fold 4 is impressive.
The latter low-light example looks identical at first glance, but closer inspection reveals very, very slight improvements in fine detail and focus. But here’s the thing: it was a very dark area and night mode made me hold both phones still for a few seconds. The Fold 3 needed a 7-second exposure for this photo, while the Fold 4 only needed 4 seconds to achieve the same result. It’s an improvement, for sure!
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Sample night camera on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
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A sample night camera on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Sample night camera on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
A sample night camera on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Sample night camera on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
A sample night camera on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 (Image: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Telephoto camera
We’ll start with some telephoto shots during the day to see if there’s a noticeable improvement in well-lit conditions.
The first shot is an obvious improvement. At 2x, the Z Fold 4 still uses the main 50MP sensor to take a photo, while the Z Fold 3 switches to its 2x optical telephoto lens. Even with just digital cropping, the Fold 4 looks better.
The second shot is surprising because at 3X telephoto, the Fold 4’s lens kicks in. It certainly looks better than the Fold 3’s shot — including noticeable loss of sharpness and other artifacts that occur with digital sensor cropping — but it’s not quite as heads-and-tails better as I’d expect.
The third photo is zoomed to 10x — the Z Fold 3’s maximum zoom level — and displayed. The Fold 4 looks significantly sharper and cleaner here, bringing in much more detail everywhere, while the Fold 3 just looks like a blurry mess. It’s the difference between a usable photo (from the Fold 4) and one you probably wouldn’t want to share (from the Fold 3).
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 day 2x telephoto camera sample (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 day 2x telephoto camera sample (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 day 3x telephoto camera sample (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 day 3x telephoto camera sample (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 day 10x telephoto camera sample (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 day 10x telephoto camera sample (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 8
Now what about telephoto shots in low light?
In the first shot, street lighting seems to have affected the Z Fold 4 more than the Z Fold 3, washing out the Fold 4’s shot a bit. Even with that, the Fold 4’s handling is significantly better, and you can see how the over-sharpening of the shot of the Fold 3 affects the final quality and fine details.
The second shot is a 5x zoom in a very dark area (no direct light at all). In this scenario, there’s no real noticeable difference between the two, though again the Fold 4’s handling is slightly better.
The third photo, at 10x, shows a noticeable difference between the two. You still won’t want to make a habit of zooming in too far at night, but the Fold 4’s shot is certainly more usable than the Fold 3’s. There’s also more detail — which you can see in the text and plaster of the building walls on background — and better overall dynamic range that you can see in street lighting.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 night 3x telephoto camera example (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 night 3x telephoto camera example (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 night 5x telephoto camera example (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 night 5x telephoto camera example (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 night 10x telephoto camera example (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 6
Ultra-wide camera
Ultra-wide cameras often get the short end of the stick when it comes to overall quality, but Samsung has certainly improved the camera quality of the Fold 4’s ultra-wide sensor. You’ll notice no real difference between the phones during the day – except perhaps for a slight shift in the balance of the white – but the night shot is a dramatic difference, to say the least.
Absolutely everything about the Fold 4’s ultrawide camera looks better than the Fold 3’s at night, from detail to white balance and even brightness levels. That’s a pretty damn impressive improvement that I certainly wasn’t expecting.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 sample daytime ultrawide camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 sample daytime ultrawide camera (Image: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Image 1 of 4
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 at night…
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