7 reasons why you shouldn’t buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

So you’re bored of your smartphone slab and are a little flipping curious about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4? I’ve used this as my daily driver for a while now and here are 7 reasons why you should maybe not flip that way.

Reason 1 – Not a one-handed device

This is something you’ve probably not really considered in all those shiny reviews you’ve watched about the Z Flip. But the candybar-rectangle-slab-no-flipping phone you currently own is way easier to use one handed than this super compact flip phone. To illustrate this example, let’s meet DadBod. A new parent, he still thinks he can be an Instagram star and a parent at the same time. Look as he struggles with a baby in one hand and a flipping phone in another. There’s no easy release button to go from half phone to slab phone – Star Trek style. Or even Nokia style.

He pretty much needs the full force of both his hands to open the phone. ….And now he’s dropped his baby. That’s not going to go down well at home. The reason this phone is hard to open one-handed is because Samsung wants you to use this phone at various angles. So the hinge needs to be strong enough to hold it in place in all those places. Not something we thought of when we first got this phone.

Reason 2 – Welcome to dust-ville again

This flip design is fantastic, but almost every time I flip it open, the screen is full of dust, lint and other small particles that I can only hope are dust and lint. Initially, I blamed my pockets and the state of the world for this, but it turns out that the flip doesn’t close flush and there’s this little gap on the screen that slathers your screen with these tiny torturous particles. And it doesn’t help that the Z Flip 4 has this screen protector-like screen. Now it turns out that you can remove this screen protector without any adverse effects, unlike the earlier generations.

But let’s be real – I ain’t doing that!! I have two left hands and don’t wanna end up with a broken screen. So all those edges also end up gathering dust. If you buy this phone, be sure to have a microfiber cloth as part of your everyday carry. Or else your expensive new phone is gonna like it’s been through a warzone.

Reason 3 – IP rating and speaking of warzones

This Flip 4 is not rated for dust. It’s rated IPX8, which means it can withstand a fair bit of water but is NOT rated for dust. And it’s not just light dust you have to worry about either. Do you like going to the beach? Well – think about the sand and what it’s going to do to this phone with a gap in it and no dust rating. It’s just not as worry-free a phone as a regular phone. The older S22 phone for example has an incredible IP68 rating which means you can pretty much take it everywhere. And since there are no creases and crannies, you’ll be fine.

Reason 4 – The screen looks weird with glasses on

So this is something we learned while shooting this screen for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro video. We wanted to shoot the app on the screen but always got this rainbow-like effect. Ok – “no big deal”, you say. “I’m not planning to shoot my phone’s screen using my camera. You YouTubers are weird”. But the same happens with sunglasses when you try to look at the screen. This has never happened before on phones we’ve used, so you can be sure that this is annoying for regular people too! So as it turns out this happens with polarized sunglasses and ND filters with certain plastic films. And that looks pretty annoying and to be frankly bad for such an expensive device. What’s the use of high refresh rate and pixel density, when it feels like you’re basically looking at the Bifrost?

Reason 5 – Missing tele camera

What also looks bad is the missing telephoto camera from this phone. I’ll be honest – I don’t mind the Samsung-saturated look for photos and video. I used the S22 and the S21 before that – both had very capable camera systems. But despite paying a premium, the flip skips the telephoto lens. Unlike its folding sibling – the Fold 4, you don’t get 3, but a two-camera system without the telephoto lens that’s been on the S series phones so far. So if you wanna zoom in – you’re gonna have to do it digitally. And we all know what digital zoom looks like. Probably one of the biggest compromises if you like documenting your life through your phone’s camera.

Reason 6 – Crease on the screen

Ok this reason doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother other people online. But the crease is pretty much always there. Visually, I don’t care as much because I’m not watching immersive content on this phone, but I can imagine that being the case for your phone-video-consuming folks. Where it does come up in everyday use is when you glide your finger over the screen. You do feel the crease. And of course, at certain angles, the crease has a slightly different brightness level. Again – none of these is a big issue for me and I actually like feeling the crease – weird I know. But you may not be a creaseophile. So be aware.

Reason 7 – Expensive / resale value

And that brings us to the final reason. All the points we mentioned above are just one too many issues for a premium mobile device. Sure – if you’re enthusiasts like us, you’ll pre-order this phone right away. But for anyone who wants to have a hassle-free phone experience, unfortunately, this phone has one too many compromises on a day-to-day basis. And you can get a more solid phone, even one from Samsung, for much cheaper. You’re paying for the novelty of the flip and that’s it. And it’s not just a purchase either – think about resale. A device with so many moving parts and delicate components will have a much greater possibility of being damaged and consequently a lower resale price. But – is it all bad?

No – actually I love the Z Flip 4 but wanted to give you guys some food for thought. We’ll be back with why the Z Flip 4 is actually amazing and why we don’t regret buying it at all – but that’s a video for another day.

You’ve been flipping out and we’ve been DHRME.

Namaste!