The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 was the world’s most popular foldable smartphone in 2021, and Samsung managed to ship more than 4.6 million devices. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 accounted for 52% of the foldable smartphone market in 2021, making it one of the most popular, and best foldable devices to this date.

Several other manufacturers joined the race with similar flip phones in 2021, and some even attempted to take on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 with an inward folding mechanism, which proved to be more beneficial than the outward folding hinge mechanism that’s used on the HUAWEI Mate Xs 2.

The Galaxy Flip was a great device when it was announced back in 2020, but it lacked many key features that we take for granted today in traditional smartphones. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 improved on the missing features, such as an IP certificate, better display, larger cover screen, and more. The next generation of Galaxy Z Flip 4 is expected to bring even more changes to improve the sturdiness, and we might see a few additional enhancements.

In this article, we collected the changes that we expect to see in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. Here, we’ll explain why we think the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 4 may be your first foldable smartphone in 2022. We also wrote a wishlist of the features and improvements that we’d love to see in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, in case you’re interested.

More affordable

Z Flip 3 on the table folded

According to some recent rumors, Samsung is rumored to produce up to 60% more Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 devices than last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 foldable flagships. If the rumor turns out to be true, that’ll likely mean that the devices will also receive some price cuts, making them even more affordable and available to even more consumers.

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 launched at an already enticing $999 price tag, and if Samsung can lower that slightly, it will make it even better in the US, and elsewhere around the world. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 launched at $1,799, and if Samsung can cut a few hundred dollars off the price, it could make it even more appealing to a much wider audience.

Battery life improvements

The next Samsung foldable devices will be high-end smartphones, much like their counterparts from 2021. They’re expected to come equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, or newer chips, which are more efficient than the Snapdragon 888 chip that was in the third generation of foldables.

Battery life in the Z Flip 3 is rumored to be slightly larger, and the latest leaks claim that it will have a 3,400 mAh battery inside, which is merely a 100 mAh increase compared to the Flip 3’s 3,300 mAh (via GSMArena). Each device comes with more battery and software optimizations, and we expect the battery performance to be slightly better, but it might not break any records. We can only just hope that Samsung does some magic and optimizes the Z Flip 4 to be an all-day device.

Larger cover display

taking a selfie with a flip phone

The cover display is rumored to be larger on the Z Flip 4 than on the Z Flip 3, but the information is quite scarce at the moment. Ross Young recently claimed that the Z Flip 4 would have a larger cover display, which will be more than 2-inches, compared to the previous 1.9-inches.

https://twitter.com/DSCCRoss/status/1521219235032174593

It’s hard to guess how much bigger it will be since the post is vague and lacks any factual information, but it’s a good sign that we can expect a larger cover display. The new screen is expected to offer the same features as the Z Flip 3, offer music playback controls, quick interaction with calls/messages, see notifications, time, and more.

More durable and no less noticeable display crease

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 75

Many competitors managed to make the center their foldable devices without a crease, and we hope that Samsung has managed to come up with an improved hinge mechanism that will reduce the crease significantly, making it barely visible and noticeable. The crease was one of the main concerns for a lot of people, and it was one of the main reasons a lot of people held off on purchasing the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Samsung has to improve the display durability, too, as there were a few concerns about the screen dying after being used in cold or warm conditions for a more extended period over winter and summer. It’s unlikely that the Flip or Fold devices will receive a dust resistance certificate, but the water resistance will likely remain, offering some peace of mind when using the device in the rain or next to a pool.

Check out our review of the Galaxy Z Flip 3

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

Galaxy Z Flip 3 is the phone to get if you've been itching to try out the folding form factor without breaking the bank.