Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

It’s easy to look at Samsung’s new foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and assume it’s just a minor, iterative upgrade over last year’s model. After all, the Fold 4 looks virtually identical to the Fold 4—at first glance, anyway—and some of the hardware shortcomings consumers and reviewers have had with Samsung’s foldables, like the hard screen crease, are still present in this fourth-generation device.

But pick up the Fold 4 and hold it for even a minute, and you may already notice one subtle but crucial improvement. Use the phone for weeks like I have, and you’ll likely realize that the series of small improvements Samsung made add up to more than the sum of its parts. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 isn’t a generational leap the way the Fold 2 was over the original Fold, but it further brings polish and refinement to a product category that is beginning to go mainstream. I recently traveled through Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many Samsung foldables I saw in the hands of people. The Fold 3 had already kickstarted that mainstream movement and the Fold 4 is poised to take it further.