Samsung has followed a two-pronged flagship phone strategy for a decade and continues to do so even after it retired the Galaxy Note series. This year, Samsung's top-of-the-line smartphones are the Galaxy S22 Ultra – essentially a Galaxy Note Ultra in disguise – and the state-of-the-art Galaxy Z Fold 4. One flagship has a traditional “candy bar” form factor, while the other is at the cutting edge of foldable display and under-panel camera technologies. And today, we're taking a closer look at these two devices side-by-side in a new video.
In our latest video below, we've pitted Samsung's best flagships to date against one another across several categories, including design and display technology, performance, camera, software, and battery life. There is one caveat: we tested the Galaxy S22 Ultra powered by the Exynos 2200 SoC and the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset by default in every market. With that in mind, it's easy to see why the Galaxy Z Fold 4 was our top choice in terms of performance and even battery life.
Which Samsung flagship is leading the charge?
The two phones stand apart in many other areas, including design, display(s), and software experience. They are similar in some ways; for example, they both support the S Pen, although the Galaxy Z Flip 4 doesn't have a dedicated holster and requires a special Fold Edition or Pro S Pen variant.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra has the inherent advantage of durability because it is a “candy bar” smartphone without a hinge, but Samsung went to great lengths to ensure that the Galaxy Z Fold 4 doesn't have weak spots around the hinge and that it can survive at least a quick dip in freshwater. The Galaxy S22 Ultra wins in the durability category, but the Z Fold 4 is no slouch, especially for a foldable phone.
At the end of the day, although the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has yet to catch up with the Galaxy S22 Ultra in terms of popularity, the foldable device is fantastic nonetheless. Some of us gravitate towards the Galaxy Z Fold 4 because it pushes the limits of mobile technology even more so than the Galaxy S22 Ultra and because the large tablet-grade inner display does create new possibilities and use cases.
All that comes at a cost, so the Galaxy S22 Ultra will be the better flagship for some because it is more accessible, more resilient, not as heavy, and has a dedicated S Pen holster. But if money is no object, and you want to be at the cutting edge of hardware and software, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 certainly has some unique advantages over the company's other flagship.
Check out our video below for a much more detailed look at these two Samsung phones side-by-side. And you can refer to our second video for a closer look at how these two phones compare to one another in the camera department.
SamsungGalaxy Z Fold 4
