It’s a better full-screen experience for the company’s most expensive phone
We’re less than two days away from the official unveiling of Samsung’s latest gadgets, but at this point, there’s not much left to be surprised by. We’ve seen the company’s next-gen foldables, smartwatches, and earbuds in all their glory, and as impressive as they might be on paper, it’s hard to imagine feeling shocked at Galaxy Unpacked. That’s not to say we’re done with the leaks, of course. If you’ve been wondering whether Samsung improved its under-display camera on the Z Fold 4 this year, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to find out.
Samsung added an under-display camera (UDC for short) to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 3, marking the first time a bezel-less display appeared on one of the company’s foldables. Rather than stick with a hole-punch lens or rely on a cutout — as seen in older versions — the Z Fold 3 hid its inner front-facing camera under a series of pixels, providing users with a full-screen experience. Unfortunately, at just 94 PPI across that specific section of the display, it was as noticeable as those previous alternatives — maybe more.
Based on a (now DMCA’d) tweet from Twitter user Samsung Rydah, improvements to the Galaxy Z Fold 4‘s UDC might be one of the phone’s biggest improvements (via SamMobile). This year’s model bumps the resolution up to 132 PPI, a 40% increase that — while not perfect — should better camouflage that portion of the display with the rest of the phone. Meanwhile, Samsung is also using scattered sub-pixels in lieu of a collective layout. It’s how the company was able to squeeze in a higher resolution, but the improved pattern also makes for a huge improvement — especially for text.
The leaked slide highlighting improvements to the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s UDC.
Samsung has spent years pushing its foldables as the best way to watch movies and get real work done, and improvements to how the UDC looks next to the rest of the display should make a huge impact there. Combined with a tweaked crease along the fold of the display, we might be looking at two of the biggest reasons to upgrade from last year’s model. With Unpacked just around the corner, we don’t have to wait long to find out.
