Galaxy S23 vs Galaxy Z Flip 4: Go with the tried and tested flagship, or flip that trend switch on?

The Galaxy S23 is coming sooner than you think – Samsung‘s 2023 flagship series of traditional, slab form factor phones. But what if you’re feeling like trying something new from the Korean giant, something different, and more unique?

Well, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a great option to consider – one of Samsung’s two current folding phones, and more specifically – the trendy and compact one! Should you get a new Z Flip 4, or should you wait for the Galaxy S23, keeping things safe and traditional?

Let’s compare the two Samsung phones and find out!

Galaxy S23 vs Galaxy Z Flip 4 in a nutshell:

• S23 is a traditional phone, Z Flip 4 is a highly compact clamshell
• S23 starts at $800, Z Flip 4 starts at $1000
• S23 has a 3x zoom telephoto camera, Z Flip 4 does not
• S23 has power user features like Samsung DeX, Z Flip 4 does not
• S23 will offer a newer processor, higher performance
• S23 is better suited for gamers, Z Flip 4 exhibits throttling under heavy loads

Table of contents:

Design and Display Quality

This is the big, main area that you should consider before choosing whether to go with the upcoming Galaxy S23 or the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

By many reports, the Galaxy S23 will remain about the same as its predecessor – a traditional smartphone with a modern, if understated design. On the front, we can expect about a 6.1-inch display with minimal bezels around it, and a holepunch selfie camera embedded into its top center. A rather minimalist glass backplate on the back, and nice, aluminum frames on the sides of the phone. It’s not as special as the Z Flip 4, but it’s a tried and tested design, and hey – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4, however, is indeed quite a unique one. It’s a modern clamshell-style phone with an outer display, plus a folding inner one. When closed, you can use its outer 1.9-inch Cover display to check your notifications, quickly reply to texts and so on, without unfolding the phone. When folded, it’s a very compact and fashionable slab of matte glass, with metallic frames.

Once you unfold the Z Flip 4, you’re greeted with its big 6.7-inch main display. So this is a super pocketable phone from a design standpoint, when you need it to be, but unfolds into a rather large traditional form factor swiftly! It’s the best of both worlds.

Performance and Software

The Galaxy S23 is slated to pack a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which might be about on par with Apple’s iPhone 14 processor (the A15 Bionic), at least when it comes to multi-core results, despite being clocked much lower, so this bodes well for the users. We can reasonably expect flagship performance, and when it comes to software, the same great OneUI 4 experience we know and love from prior Samsung phones. That includes top tier multitasking and even the Samsung DeX desktop mode, which pretty much turns your smartphone into a PC replacement, should you ever need it to be one.

As for the Z Flip 4, its specs are naturally going to be a bit lower, as it is an older phone, but it is still not a slouch, at all. We have the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 inside, which is still a beast of a flagship processor. You can expect a smooth Android experience without any issues. However, certain OneUI features that the S23 has are missing here, such as Samsung DeX, as one of this phone’s design drawbacks are its less-than-ideal thermals. Indeed, it’s not a great phone for gaming either, as in our experience it tends to throttle quite quickly, but then again, does it look like a gaming phone? Nope, this is for the casual users who wish to have something trendy, and when used for average phone stuff – social media, watching videos, texting – its performance is nothing but excellent.

Camera

The Galaxy S23 is rumored to sport a 50-megapixel main camera sensor with optical image stabilization for steadier video recordings, alongside a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera for those bigger shots. Overall, we have everything the modern user may want from their camera – all the options.

Check out how its predecessor’s camera performed in our Galaxy S22 review, but spoiler alert – the camera quality is very satisfactory. In fact, it’s one of the phone’s strongest aspects. So we can expect the same, and a bit better, in fact, from the S23.

As for the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Samsung’s modern clamshell isn’t slacking in the camera department either, despite its unique design, which we can reasonably expect led to some engineering challenges for the Korean giant to work around. Its main camera is a 12-megapixel shooter with optical image stabilization, alongside which you get a secondary 12-megapixel ultra-wide one. No optical zooming, although there is still the option of the less-detailed digital zoom.

Check out our Galaxy Z Flip 4 sample photos below, but in short – despite its smaller megapixel numbers, this phone is a pretty amazing performer when it comes to taking photos. So don’t expect lower quality shots just because it’s a unique foldable – luckily, it’s actually perfect for all of your social media selfies and photos, and even videos.

Speaking of videos, since this is a folding phone, it can even act as its own kickstand! Simply half-unfold it, with its base laying flat, holding its upper half upright, and you can adjust the angle of that upper half, thus adjusting its camera angle! Hands-free video recordings and video calls! There’s a big benefit from having a Z Flip 4!

Audio Quality

The Galaxy S23 isn’t expected to feature any changes to its speaker set-up, so here’s what we know from experience with its predecessor – we have a fairly traditional bottom-firing main speaker, plus the earpiece serving as a second speaker, creating a bit of a stereo effect. This is welcome when watching movies and videos in landscape orientation, as perceived sound comes from both sides of the phone, albeit obviously the main bottom speaker blasts out deeper and richer tones. Unfortunately, compared to other flagships in the face of Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Pixels, Samsung never bothered giving its flagships quite the punchiest high-quality sound, and we can expect the S23’s sound to be no different. So expect no miracles, just serviceable stereo sound. Fairly tinny.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is the same story – we have a main bottom-firing speaker and an earpiece, serving as dual speakers. Unfortunately, the sound is not any better than the S-series, in fact, it might be a tad weaker, even. So once again, don’t have high hopes when it comes to sound, especially if you’re coming from an iPhone, you will be disappointed.

And, obviously, there’s no headphone jack on either phone. No surprise there, but it’s still worth mentioning.

Battery Life and Charging

According to reliable sources, the upcoming Galaxy S23 will pack a 3,900mAh battery, capable of 25W wired charging, and 15W wireless charging.As for the Z Flip 4, it expectedly packs a smaller 3,300mAh, albeit still respectably large considering the engineering challenge of its unique folding design. The Z Flip’s wired charging speed is up to 25W. Its wireless charging speed has not been stated officially, but is likely about 10W. We’ve been able to test the battery of the Z Flip 4, so check out the results for yourself, but basically – it’s a solid single-day phone, or even a two-day phone if you’re a light user.

Specs Comparison

Summary and Final Verdict

So, which of those two phones should you get? If you’re still undecided, let’s summarize things…

You should wait for the Galaxy S23 if you just want a traditional smartphone with a tried and tested form factor, very versatile cameras, flagship performance and power user features like Samsung DeX. It’s also well worth mentioning that the S23 will expectedly be much cheaper, likely to start at around $800. Getting a Z Flip 4 is a deeper dip in your wallet. Also, if you don’t need an ultra-compact phone, unfolding the Z Flip 4 every time you wish to use its main screen may get tiresome.

You should get the Galaxy Z Flip 4 if you don’t want to wait (it’s already out!), and you’re looking for something unique, different, and very trendy. Most of all – extremely pocketable, yet big when unfolded. You’ll still get great cameras for taking photos and selfies for your social media, and best of all – this phone is its own kickstand! So you can take photos, record videos and participate in video calls completely hands-free, no kickstand case needed! If you want to be unique, don’t hesitate – the Z Flip 4 is a result of four generations of progress in folding technology, and Samsung did a great job polishing it and making it a reliable, and again – super trendy device.