The good news is here: Our first battery tests show that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 has noticeably better battery life than the Z Flip 3, with an extra two hours, which can really make a difference at the end of the day. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, meanwhile, seems to have roughly the same battery life as the Z Fold 3, which is fine.
Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4 battery tests
Our standard battery test involves running a YouTube video at full-screen brightness over a slightly choppy Wi-Fi connection, with 4G/5G enabled in the background. It’s not like real life use, but it’s something we can do that allows us to directly compare phones over the years. The Galaxy Flip 4 ran the video for 9 hours, 25 minutes before reaching 10% battery and entering low-power mode, when it forced the display to dim. It then continued for another 2 hours, 7 minutes, for a total of 11 hours and 27 minutes. The Flip 3 ran for 9 hours and 30 minutes even with the low power mode. So what we see is that the Flip 4 has noticeably better screen-on time. The Fold 4 got a total of 11 hours and 30 minutes of video playback on the main internal display, with a significantly shorter period of low power towards the end. Overall results were similar to the Z Fold 3 (11 hours, 25 minutes) and actually better than the Samsung Galaxy S22+ (10 hours, 30 minutes). So, somewhat hesitantly, I can say that the Flip 4’s battery seems to be on par in a way that the Flip 3’s wasn’t. It’s still not going to be a major battery leader like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (12 hours, 14 minutes) or the iPhone 13 Pro Max (18 hours), but it doesn’t look like it’s going to struggle like many smaller phones do, thanks to a slightly larger battery (3,700 mAh vs. 3,300 mAh) and the more efficient Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor.
Charging: Slow and steady
Neither Samsung nor Apple have state-of-the-art fast charging. In Samsung’s case, I think this is because there is still a hangover from the Galaxy Note 7 explosion. As a result, Samsung is extremely careful with charging speeds, especially above the last 20% of the battery. While OnePlus is now pushing 125W fast charging speeds, Samsung’s phones are stuck at 25W and slow down significantly after the batteries are 80% full. The Fold reached 42% in half an hour and 80% in an hour, but it took 95 minutes to reach 100%. The Flip reached 40% in 30 minutes and 71% in an hour, with a total charge time of 100 minutes. In comparison, the new OnePlus 10T fully charges in 25 minutes. Both phones also feature 15W wireless charging, according to GSMArena (Opens in a new window), as well as 4.5W reverse charging, which allows them to wirelessly charge other devices, such as a smartwatch or headphones. We’re in the middle of reviewing the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 right now. Be sure to check back for our full reviews and see what our early tests showed in terms of benchmarks, photo quality, and signal strength.
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