The Galaxy Z Flip 3 took the market by storm when it was launched last year. It ended up selling well, perhaps more than Samsung had expected, and with good reason. The second iteration of its clamshell foldable brought some very exciting changes. People who had been curious about the Galaxy Z Flip seriously thought about switching. Many did.
Compared to the original Galaxy Z Flip, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is in an entirely different league. The significant design changes make the device look more sleek and stylish. The larger cover display is more useful. It also happens to be one of the world's first water-resistant foldable smartphones. Nevermind all of the improvements made to the internals. The chipset is faster, there's plenty of memory and storage, and the cameras are better.
As August approaches, we now look forward to the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which has to take the baton from its successful predecessor and ideally sell even more units. We recently got to see purported live images of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 leak online. The device seen there doesn't look all that different from the Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Yes, it may come in different finishes and colors, but it doesn't seem to be much more than a nip and tuck operation in the design department. As it stands, the consensus right now is that we shouldn't be keeping our fingers crossed for any exciting design changes. The new foldable will look much like its predecessor. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 has a great design and there's little I'd want to change on it. Yes, a larger cover display will always be welcome, but it's a wish that must be balanced with technical considerations. A larger display would require more power and thus given the limited space there is for batteries inside a clamshell, it may not be a prudent decision as things stand.
Limitations aside, Samsung's design of the cover display is intuitive and feels natural. I'd certainly never want to see the circular cover display eyesore that Huawei went with for the P50 Pocket. The same holds true for its camera cutouts as well. They're well designed and perfectly positioned.
If the leaked photos are any indication, Samsung may be treating the Galaxy Z Flip 4 as an exercise in refinement. The company doesn't need to make any drastic changes just for the sake of making changes. They will not be what ends up selling the new product. There's ample evidence to support that theory.
Look at what Apple has been doing for the past several years. Its iPhones rarely get radical design changes now. All you need is a third-party conversion kit to make an iPhone 7 look like an iPhone 12. Yet, every year, it sells tens of millions of units, even to people who are upgrading from the previous model. Design monotony doesn't put customers off. If they find the design of your product perfect, they'll continue to buy it, even if you don't make major changes for years.
Samsung may be approaching the Galaxy Z Flip 4 with a similar mindset. Let's not forget that the new foldable has a lot more going for it compared to the iPhone. There's the fact that it's a foldable smartphone, a form factor that people are curious about and many more are now deciding to shift. The hinge makes it extremely versatile and portability is the best among all smartphones on the market.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 will obviously get all of the latest tech. It'll be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The cameras will be upgraded. We've also exclusively reported that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will offer a 512GB storage variant. Samsung will also be expanding the Bespoke Edition availability to more countries and also offer more color options.
If the Galaxy Z Flip 3 got people interested, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is what will convert them into customers from Samsung. The success of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 will give people confidence in the latest iteration. Those who bought last year's foldable and loved it would no doubt be recommending it to people in their circle.
Once they see how the phone has held up over the course of the year, and you really can use it just like any other “normal” phone, any apprehensions that they might have had about switching should disappear.
Samsung's marketing efforts for the Galaxy Z Flip has been on point ever since the series was first introduced. It needs to keep that up for this year's model and we can certainly expect it to. A lot of goodwill has been generated for the series by the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The company just needs to capitalize on that to make the Galaxy Z Flip 4 a success. I have no doubt that it will be, even without exciting changes.
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