The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is out and it’s very cool – there’s just one thing modern flip phones can’t do compared to the old school favourites.

Folding phones are clearly here to stay with Samsung releasing its fourth iteration of both their folding devices – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

The innovations in the foldable market have been steadily increasing over the past few years and it’s awesome to see large screen devices fitting into seriously small pockets.

This is my hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.

The new Flip 4 is available in four brilliant colours – Pink Gold, Graphite, Blue and Bora Purple – with just a USB-C charging cable and some documents in the box.

More excitingly, there will also be a ‘Bespoke edition’, available on Samsung’s website, which allows you to order a Flip 4 in a combination of different colours. You can customise the front panel, back panel and even the frame of the phone’s colour to create your own unique device. Apparently there are up to 75 unique colour combinations.

Otherwise, the design looks fairly similar to the Flip 3, with a more squared off, flat edges. And the phone now presents more matte and, on the bora purple at least, fingerprints are almost unnoticeable. This is a nice, subtle improvement compared to the Flip3, which was shiny front and back and much more of a fingerprint magnet.

The hinge of the Flip 4 feels seriously well built and it allows it to sit half open at many different angles. The only downside is it’s a little difficult to open and close with one hand, though this has always been common with the Z Flip. It doesn’t have the same swing or snap close that old school flip phones did, so more often than not you need to nuzzle your fingers between the display and flick it open when going one-handed.

Additionally, the phone now has Corning ® Gorilla ® Glass Victus® + covering the entire back of the phone, including the cover screen panel and an IPX8 water resistant rating making it the world’s only water resistant foldable smartphone.

It’s safe to say if you were worried about the phone’s durability before, you can relax. Although the Flip 4 doesn’t look a whole lot different to the Flip3, Samsung has certainly put in the work to greatly improve the longevity of this device.

The cameras are actually one of the most exciting features of this phone. Due to the Flip’s folding functionality, you can use the phone while it’s completely closed but still take a selfie using the high quality ‘back’ cameras, while looking at yourself on the front cover screen.

Or you can open the phone to a 90 degree angle and sit it on a table, and take hands-free photos, as though you’ve set it up on a tripod.

You can even hold the phone sideways sort of like you would with an old camcorder to help get a high angle shot.

There’s so much unique functionality here and all the cameras perform really well and even offer 4K video recording resolution. This ‘Flex Cam’ functionality is also seriously awesome for taking a video call.

I love that it has a screen on ‘the outside’ of the phone, which has a clock and shows you notifications that come in, even when your Flip 4 is closed.

What’s even more fun is that you can customise your cover screen a bunch of different ways. This includes setting a GIF as your clock background, an AR emoji, a photo and now even your own videos. Quick settings are also accessible from this screen, such as the flashlight.

With the upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus processor, battery life has been improved – something I was really hoping for. The battery also increased from 3300mAh to 3700mAh. Before the Flip 3 would just last until the end of the day but it always felt like it was lagging behind most mainstream phones on the market. Now, it survives the day much more reasonably.

There’s also improved fast charge support from 15W on the Flip 3 to now 25W and the phone also supports wireless charging. On the Z Flip 3 wireless charging was 10W and on the Flip 4 it’s now 15W. Overall, some nice upgrades here.

I think this is the most fun and compact phone on the market right now. Not only can you make it totally yours, by customising the shell and frame of the device on Samsung’s website, but it offers completely unique features that no other phones have.

I love its ability to fit into women’s unfairly small pants pockets and also handbags. The fact that its hinge allows your phone to sit on a desk, at a ninety degree angle, for video calls or taking photos or videos is awesome.

And how incredible is it to have a phone with a screen that’s protected on the inside of its own clamshell?

I’ve really enjoyed all the iterations of the Samsung Z Flip 4 but previously, the durability and lifespan of these phones have varied due to what makes it great – the unique folding design. With the new improvements on the Flip 4 I can comfortably recommend that if you’ve ever considered the Flip, now’s the time to take the plunge.

There are also a bunch of awesome Samsung-made cases you should consider grabbing if you purchase the phone. The Flip 4 will be available from the September 2 and starts at $1499 for the baseline model with 128GB of internal storage and 8GB of ram.

Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawesometech | YouTube

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