Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 review

Daylight image quality

In bright daylight, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4's primary camera captures pleasing images. Colors have plenty of pop, just about bordering on too much, but still not quite there, we'd say, and we didn't encounter any white balancing issues or color casts. The high contrast also contributes to the overall expressive look, while roll-off into the extremes is well judged, so you get detail in both shadows and highlights.

The 12.5MP of resolution provide the expected level of detail, and it's rendered in a very mature way, without excessive sharpening - foliage looks natural, and there aren't halos around contrasting edges. There can be a fair bit of noise, visible in lower midtones even at base ISO (apparently ISO 20), but a little party noise never killed nobody?

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

The 50MP images don't offer significant detail advantages to justify what is usually a 3x file size compared to the regular 12.5MP photos. There's a minor penalty in dynamic range and a more reserved color rendition.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

The 50MP mode does have an extra sub-mode called Detail enhancer, however, and that does capture more detail indeed. It takes a couple of seconds to process, indicating there's some heavier image stacking going on, but it's worth the wait - check out the difference in foliage or texts in photos captured with Detail enhancer off and then on.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP, Detail enhancer: Off • On • Off • On • Off • On • Off • On

Zoomed-in shots from the Fold4 look very good too. Detail is crisp, without obvious signs of the upscaling that goes on to get from the native 10MP resolution of the camera to the 12MP resulting photos. Sharpening remains conservative, and noise is minimal here. Colors are nicely matched to the main camera's rendition, and dynamic range is excellent.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x zoom)

The ultrawide maintains that positive impression and captures very good photos. It's not the sharpest ultrawide on a flagship phone, but it's not bad either, and it holds up well all the way to the corners. It resolves a lot of detail too - that is, unless you shoot something from way up close, in which case the lack of autofocus will get in the way. Color reproduction is in line with the other two, no complaints there.

Perhaps one fault we could come up with here is that shadows tend to be too dark - with a field of view this wide and the general contrasty approach we see on the Fold4, you're bound to end up with parts of your image that can use a boost. Even fairly liberal action with the shadows slider in your image editing software of choice won't make them look overdone in that classic overtly HDR way of the olden days. And while that may reveal some extra noise, 1) it's not terrible, and 2) what we said about noise a few paragraphs earlier.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Low-light image quality

In low light, the Fold may choose to apply auto Night mode processing under certain conditions, as indicated by a cresent icon in the viewfinder. You can enable and disable it on a per-scene basis. It's not too aggressive to kick in, however - out of the following scenes, it only engaged in the 4th and 8th ones, when shooting with the main camera. When it does activate, it captures the same images you'd get if you're in the dedicated Night mode.

With no Night mode at play, there's still some solid HDR action going on, so dynamic range is good, though scenes dominated by shadows can end up on the dark side of usual. There are no signs of desaturation so you'd still get vibrant colors when there's enough light for the phone to work with, and the Fold generally exhibited no issues with white balance in all sorts of different lighting. Detail is good in the better-lit areas, but things are soft-ish and noisy in the shadows.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Auto Night mode off

In Night mode, there's a noticeable improvement in the shadow rendition - the darker the scene in the first place, the more beneficial. A smidge better highlight preservation is also to be seen, though overall, it's still not the most dramatic of Night modes. Noise performance is improved, resulting in smoother areas of solid color, but some actual texture may be lost along the way.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode

We didn't encounter the auto Night mode crescent when shooting with the telephoto camera, so it's entirely up to you to choose between Photo and Night modes. The differences are, again, not dramatic, but not insignificant either, and we'd recommend going for the Night mode as a general rule.

In Photo mode, there will be a bit more noise, slightly harsher highlights and mushier shadows.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x), Auto Night mode off

Night mode will improve the rendition of tonal extremes, revealing some detail in the shadows and lower midtones and also minimizing haloing around point light sources. The slightly heavier sharpening is still well within reason. Color reproduction remains fault-free in either case.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x), Night mode

The ultrawide camera was a bit more inclined to summon the auto Night mode - it chose to engage in scenes 3, 7, and 8 below and overall in roughly one in three scenes.

While the higher rate is welcome, it's still not quite enough because with no Night mode to help out, the ultrawide images are looking rather dim, soft, and noisy.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera, Auto Night mode off

So on the ultrawide, too, we'd recommend just straight up switching to Night mode when light levels drop. All three adjectives above get addressed to one extent or another, and photos now have improved dynamic range, especially with respect to the shadows. Sharpness gets a kick, and the noise is wiped clean.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera, Night mode

Once you're done with the real-world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 stacks up against the competition.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 against theHuawei Mate Xs2 and the Oppo Find N in our Photo compare tool

Portrait mode

Portrait mode on the Fold4 gives you options to shoot at 1x and 3x zoom levels, each one coming from the respective camera.

The 3x magnification puts you away from the subject, removing all sorts of discomfort from sticking a camera up one's nose. It also allows for more flattering facial features thanks to the perspective achieved from the longer subject distance. Quality is good, particularly in well-lit conditions, but also quite reasonable in dimmer indoor settings. The subject separation is excellent, the bokeh looks natural, and HDR is working on full blast.

Portrait mode samples, 3x

The 1x zoom level does come with a small quality advantage which will get bigger in darker surroundings. Conversely, the wide focal length doesn't look quite so good at distances that will get you head-and-shoulders portraits, but can work for wider shots.

Portrait mode samples 1x

Selfies

Or for selfies with the rear camera at arm's length - both portrait ones, and regular photo mode ones. What's worth pointing out here is that Portrait mode handles even messier hair competently.

Selfie samples, main camera (1x), Portrait mode

Selfie samples, main camera (1x)

More important here is the ability to capture ultrawide angle selfies - with a viewfinder, that is. That lets you frame shots with more people or with context, though the lack of AF on the ultrawide camera does limit its usefulness for whacky close-up perspectives.

Selfie samples, utlrawide camera (0.6x)

If you can't be bothered to shoot with the phone unfolded, or you'd rather not draw attention to your selfie shooting, the cover camera will do nicely. It, too, is missing autofocus, but its focus distance is excellently judged, so you'd get sharp results on your mug, very well-detailed ones too. It's a bit less enthusiastic in terms of color than the rear modules, but not all the way to be called dull.

Selfie samples, cover selfie camera

There's a portrait mode on this one too, and it's generally very good too, though it's not quite as proficient when dealing with unruly hairstyles.

Selfie samples, cover selfie camera, Portrait mode

Then there's the internal selfie camera, the one underneath the foldable display. While you could, technically, use it for taking photos, the vastly superior alternatives make that a very illogical pursuit. The 4MP selfies are passable if more than a little hazy - that's good enough for video calls, which seem like the only sensible use for this one.

Selfie samples, inner selfie camera