What kind of a zoom camera upgrade does the Galaxy Z Fold 4 bring?

The biggest drawback of the first three Galaxy Z Fold smartphones was their outdated zoom camera. The three phones featured a 2x optical zoom camera similar to the one that was introduced way back on the Galaxy Note 8, all while the Galaxy S series was getting better and better at zoom photography with each passing year.

But what about the Galaxy Z Fold 4? We've heard many questions about its camera setup, especially the zooming capabilities, so we thought a separate article was in order.

Galaxy Z Fold 4 supports 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom

The answer? The Galaxy Z Fold 4 features a zoom camera that supports 3x optical zoom, and up to 30x digital zoom (which Samsung calls Space Zoom). The former may not be a huge upgrade, but the latter is, as the Galaxy Fold, Z Fold 2, and Z Fold 3 all featured a maximum of 10x zoom.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 offers nothing close to the zooming experience you find on Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra smartphones. All of them have a maximum of 100x digital zoom, though optical zoom varies a bit. The Galaxy S20 Ultra featured a mix of optical and digital zoom past 4x magnification, while the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra feature separate 3x and 10x optical zoom cameras, once again for a maximum of 100x zoom.

Still, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 brings an upgrade in camera zoom, even if it isn't as good as what you find on the Galaxy S Ultra smartphones. The main camera has also been upgraded – it is now a 50MP sensor instead of a 12MP sensor, the same one that is featured on this year's Galaxy S22 and S22+. A 12MP ultra-wide camera is also present on the rear.

For selfies and video calls, the cover display features a 10MP camera, while the main display has a 4-megapixel under-display camera. Nothing has changed as far as the front-facing cameras are concerned – no, the rumored upgrade to a 16MP under-display camera didn't turn out to be true, although the under-display camera is now more hidden than before during use.

In the coming days, we'll be testing out the Galaxy Z Fold 4's cameras (and its other features), so stay tuned for more details on what the phone is capable of. In the meantime, check out our Galaxy Z Fold 4 hands-on and unboxing videos below.

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Abhijeet Mishra - Editor-in-Chief

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First Samsung device: SGH-D500

Abhijeet's writing career started with guides for custom firmware for Samsung devices (including the original Galaxy S), and he moved to SamMobile in mid-2013 and worked up the ranks to Editor-in-chief. In addition to phones and mobile devices, his interests include gaming on both PC and console, PC hardware, and spending countless hours on YouTube watching videos on tech, movies, games, politics, and internet dramas.

Phone Galaxy Z Fold 4