Our iPhone 14 vs Galaxy Z Flip 4 comparison pits Apple’s newest standard iPhone against Samsung’s latest clamshell. The iPhone 14 is the most iterative upgrade ever, bringing very few noteworthy changes over its predecessor. It features a powerful A15 Bionic processor, a beautiful OLED display, an impressive camera system, and basic satellite connectivity.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4, on the other hand, is the most stylish foldable phone on the market, featuring a foldable display, Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, a large battery, and improved cameras. But which phone is better for you? Let’s find out.
Apple iPhone 14
The iPhone 14 is the base model of the 2022 iPhone series, offering a balanced set of features for the average user.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a clamshell foldable that combines the compact form factor of yesteryear’s phones with a modern Android experience. It’s equipped with the most powerful Qualcomm chipset and cutting-edge foldable OLED technology.
Apple iPhone 14 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Pricing and availability
The iPhone 14 was released on Sept. 9 and is available through the Apple store and other major online retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy. You can also get one through your carrier, including AT&T and T-Mobile, which could net you a nice deal. It starts at $799 for the 128GB option and goes up to $1,099 for the 512GB option (only the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are available with 1TB of storage). It comes in blue, purple, Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED colors.
Similarly, you can get the Galaxy Z Flip 4 through the official Samsung store, along with other third-party retailers. You can also get a good deal by getting one through your major carrier. It’s available now in Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold, and Blue, and there’s a Bespoke Edition that will let you customize the frame and colors for the panels. It starts at $999 for the 128GB model and goes up $1,179 for the 512GB model.
Apple iPhone 14 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Specifications
| Specification | Apple iPhone 14 | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 |
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| Front Camera(s) | TrueDepth camera: 12MP, ƒ/1.9 | 10MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide) |
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Design and display: Traditional vs. modern
The iPhone 14 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 are worlds apart in their design. The iPhone 14’s design is as classic as it gets, while the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a modern take on the classic clamshell phone. First, the iPhone 14 looks like a carbon copy of its predecessor, featuring the same glass and metal sandwich design with flat edges. It’s still a good-looking phone, but there’s nothing special about it. You can spruce it up with a good case, if you wish.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a unique foldable phone with a design that is truly a breath of fresh air in a world filled with boring, glass slab phones. The design allows the phone to be folded in half to become a miniature phone that’s easy to pocket. When flipped open, it becomes a regular-sized smartphone. Its unique shape also means you’ll have to get a specific case for protection.
The new foldable is more durable than ever, packing an improved hinge, Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on the front and back, and Armor Aluminum Frame. In addition, it also boasts an IPX8 rating for water resistance. The iPhone 14 features Ceramic Shield on the front, which Apple says is tougher than the glass used by other smartphones. And with IP68 certification, it can also withstand water splashes and drizzling as well as dust exposure.
Another striking difference between the two phones is the display. The iPhone 14 has a conventional 6.1-inch flat OLED display with 1170 x 2532 resolution, 1,200 nits peak brightness, True Tone enhancements, and Dolby Vision support. The Galaxy Z Flip 4, on the other hand, uses a 6.7-inch flexible AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,200 nits brightness, and HDR10+ content support. It also has a 1.9-inch cover display that lets you glance at notifications, access widgets and toggles, reply to texts and calls, and take selfies while the phone is folded. The main display is 45% stronger than the Galaxy Z Flip 3, while the cover display has some new tricks to get more things done.
Cameras: Very minute differences
Regarding camera hardware, there’s so much in common between the iPhone 14 and Galaxy Z Flip 4. Both phones have dual camera setups on the back, with all sensors sharing the same 12MP resolution. There are just some very small differences.
The iPhone 14 features a 12MP f/1.5 main shooter with 1.9μm pixel size and sensor-shift OIS and a 12MP f/2.4 ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field-of-view. Despite minor improvements to the camera hardware, the latest model offers significant improvements in low-light photography thanks to the new image pipeline called Photonic Engine. Apple claims up to 2.5x better mid-to-low light performance on the main camera and up to 2x on the ultra-wide camera.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 follows the same theme, packing a slightly upgraded 12MP f/1.8 main shooter and a 12MP f/2.2, 123-degree field-of-view ultrawide camera. The main camera has large 1.8μm pixels, a step up from the Z Flip 3’s 1.4μm pixels. In addition, image stabilization and tracking have also improved, meaning you can expect faster focus and less motion blur when taking low-light photos.
As for selfies, the iPhone 14 has a 12MP TrueDepth camera with autofocus, while the Galaxy Z Flip 4 offers a fixed-focus 10MP lens (you can also use the main camera from the cover screen to take selfies).
iPhone 14 camera samples
Galaxy Z Flip 4 image samples (click on the image to view the Flickr gallery)
Performance, battery life, and software: Z Flip 4 has a slight edge
The iPhone 14 is powered by A15 Bionic SoC. This is the same chip as the iPhone 13, but with one small change: It has a 5-core GPU instead of a 4-core GPU, giving it an 18% faster graphics performance. This is the first time the standard iPhone has missed out on the latest Apple silicone as the company has kept the new A16 chipset exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro series.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, a step up from the Snapdragon 888 on its predecessor. The new chip boasts a 10% faster CPU and 30% power efficiency over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
While both phones perform admirably in everyday tasks, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a slight edge over the iPhone 14. It has a 120Hz refresh rate display, which means scrolling and navigation feel more fluid than on the iPhone 14 with its 60Hz refresh rate. This is especially apparent if you’re coming from a phone with a 90Hz or 120Hz panel.
As for memory and storage, the iPhone comes in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options with 6GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip has 8GB of RAM and is available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage variants.
The iPhone 14 packs a 3,300mAh battery, while the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a 3,700mAh cell. The iPhone 14 builds upon the already impressive battery life of its predecessor, offering up to 20 hours of video playback. Even with heavy use, you can expect to get through a full day on a single charge. If you are a light user, you may even be able to get two days of use out of a single charge.
The battery life was one of the biggest complaints of the Galaxy Z Flip 3, so it’s good to see the Galaxy Z Flip 4 brings some notable improvements. With a 400mAh larger battery and the efficiency gains of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 offers a remarkably better battery life than its predecessor. As long as you start your day with more than 80% battery and don’t play graphics-intensive games for hours on end, you’ll have no trouble getting a full day of use.
While both phones perform admirably in everyday tasks, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has an edge over the iPhone 14.
As for charging, the iPhone 14 uses Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector, while the Galaxy Z Flip 4 uses the universal USB-C plug. Notably, both phones don’t come with chargers inside the box. The charging speeds of these phones are nothing to brag about. The iPhone 14 offers 20W wired charging, 15W MagSafe magnetic charging, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 delivers 25W wired charging, 15W Qi wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging.
On the software front, the iPhone 14 comes preloaded with iOS 16, while the Galaxy S22 ships with Android 12. Going by Apple’s excellent track record, the iPhone 14 should receive at least five years of software updates. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is pretty close, with Samsung promising four major Android OS updates and five years of security patches.
Other notable features of the iPhone 14 include Face ID, Emergency SOS via Satellite, Crash Detection, stereo speakers, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Spatial Audio, and NFC. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 boasts a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers tuned by AKG, Bluetooth 5.2, Flex Mode, and Wi-Fi 6 support.
Apple iPhone 14 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: Should you buy?
Deciding between the iPhone 14 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 shouldn’t be too difficult if you know exactly what you’re after. If you’ve grown bored with traditional glass slab phones and want to try out something different, something fun, you can’t go wrong with the Galaxy Z Flip 4. It’s one of the most stylish phones on the market. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 flips open to become a traditional full-sized phone and folds in half to become a miniature phone for easier pocketability. While it’s not a huge upgrade over the last model, it brings many notable improvements, including a more durable design, a larger battery, and improved cameras.
The iPhone 14 may not look as stylish and fun as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, but it’s one of the most refined smartphones you can buy for under $800 (be sure to check out the best iPhone 14 deals for some sweet discounts). The iPhone 14 sticks to the tried and tested, delivering incremental camera upgrades and novel features such as satellite connectivity and Action Mode in a familiar design.
Apple iPhone 14
The vanilla iPhone 14 offers an A15 Bionic chipset, improved cameras, and basic satellite connectivity in a familiar design.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a clamshell foldable that combines the compact form factor of yesteryear’s phones with a modern Android experience. It’s equipped with the most powerful Qualcomm chipset and cutting-edge foldable OLED technology.
