It will cost $220 less to fix a broken Flip 4 or Fold 4 screen

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Last year, the flip and fold turned around. The previous versions of the folding phones were awkward, expensive, and too fragile for just anyone to use. The change began in August of 2021.

The S-series flagships have been upgraded this year, bringing more parity to the foldable line. Picking a Z Fold 4 over the S22 Plus doesn't require you to sacrifice as much as it did in the past There is still a lot of work to be done if foldables are going to be a mainstream product.

If you subscribe to Care Plus, the cost of screen repairs for the Flip and Fold will be less this year. The deductible for repairing a screen on an out-of-warranty flip or fold was previously $249. That is with the Care Plus subscription. As a result of the lower deductible, a cracked folding screen can be repaired for less than $30. If you're choosing between a foldable and a slab-style phone, it's a small thing.

The camera hardware is very close to what the main flagships have. The main series S21 Plus had a 3x zoom while the fold 3 had a 2x zoom. It was a hybrid 1.1x optical/digital combo. The Z Fold 4 has the same rear camera specifications as the S22 Plus, but with a 3x telephoto lens.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Digital zoom, also known as space zoom, was not available last year. The Fold 4 allows up to 30x digital zoom, while the Fold 3 only allows 10x. Digital zoom technology isn't bad in a pinch, but it's not a replacement for good old fashioned optics.

There are a few pain points that have been addressed, but there is still some work to be done. The cost is right at the top. The Flip 4 is the same price as the main S22 phones, but it misses out on the telephoto lens. The very fanciest, flagship-iest foldable is out of reach for a lot of people. The $1199 S22 Ultra looks like a good deal.

It is not clear how the phones will hold up over time. The problem of screen protectors coming unglued is something that has been addressed in the flip and fold 4. Neither phone is dustproof. Is dust intrusion inevitable after four years of use for a Fold 3 or 4? What will it cause? This is a completely new product category.

We need to be convinced that the unique form factor is worth the added cost. It hasn't yet The 10 million units it sold last year are a small fraction of the 270 million phones it will ship in the next two years. The persistence of the Fold through its early troubles makes me believe that it will continue for a long time.