Microsoft Surface Event 2022

 

Microsoft unveiled 9th upgrade of its Surface Pro along with new Surface Laptop 5, a new branding of plus with Surface Studio 2+ and new adaptive accessories for Microsoft Surface devices.

Surface brand of devices have been Microsoft's innovative, productivity focused and the best hardware for Windows operating system. For past ten years, Surface devices have made 2-in-1 hybrid form factor the go to option for Windows oems inspiring to breath fresh air to pc industry for best of world Windows experience available to homes and enterprises. The Surface laptop for past five years also have been a door to great high end Windows experience with amazing battery life and optimized cpu delivering a great Windows os machines.

This year's Surface Pro 9 is Microsoft's high end take at competition with incremental specs matching Apple's M1 Pros to more battery life, faster than previous generation and design upgrades. This year, there is a SoC choice with Intel 12th gen i5 or i7 or Snapdragon Microsoft SQ 3 with 5G. The battery life is more hours on arm based 5G model though RAM and Storage support limited at 16 gb and 512 gb versus 32 gb and 1 tb. The 5G over esim support also makes Surface Pro 9 at $1299 more smarter choice to $999 Intel powered version. With Android apps support, arm based Microsoft SQ 3 with 5G is well positioned for gamers and Android fans also.

Microsoft and Liberty is also launching Windows 11 Bloom inspired Surface Pro keyboard with blue bloom theme made for style and personality.

                                         

Microsoft fifth edition of Surface Laptop is with upgraded pixel sense display for more brightness, Intel's 12 th gen with Intel Evo certified, The Surface Laptop 5 is with two display sizes 13.5 or 15 inch. The display is with Dolby Vision IQ support taking on Apple's Macbook displays to vivid colors and more sharper in daylight. The external speakers are updated with Dolby Atmos 3D spatial audio support for immersive sound without headphones also.

Microsoft also announced a new branding to their Surface Studio product with a new Studio 2+ thats more than a generation update. The specs are really high at $4299 price going close to Apple's iMac Pros with Intel's latest i7 H series with 50% more performance than Studio 2, upgraded 3:2 pixel sense display, Dolby 3D Atmos external speakers and gaming might with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3060 gpu for high performance gaming with Windows 11. Microsoft delivers an impressive iMac Pro competitor with powerful cpu, gpu and high quality display.

Microsoft is also launching adaptive accessories for Surface devices with Microsoft Business Pen Grip, Microsoft Presenter+ and Microsoft Audio dock. Microsoft audio dock is an all-in-one portable speaker shape device with built in ports for hdmi and usb C and A, noise reduction microphone an omni sonic speaker for noise free meetings. Microsoft Presenter+ is a remote with quick tasks switch like changing slides, mute/unmute audience and others.

Microsoft is pushing more innovations and premium design for home and enterprise customers with Surface devices powered by Windows 11. The hardware specs of this year's Surface devices are positioning Microsoft as a device leader to 2-in-1 hybrid category with a new e-sim and 5G powered Surface Pro 9,  Surface Laptop 5 with more battery life and upgraded display and a new product category Surface Studio 2+ with Intel's H series cpu and Nvidia's high end gaming gpu and Surface Adaptive accessories for more time-saving and smarter computing.

Galaxy Z flip 4 Review: Samsung's Flip for Style.

Galaxy Z Flip 4 is Samsung's stylish perspective on foldable display smartphones to a flip form factor for a modern clamshell phone. Samsung is leading high end clamshell foldable smartphone maker defeating Motorola and Chinese oems with Galaxy Z Flip 3 and previous generations. The hardware specs update for Galaxy Z Flip 4 shows Samsung redefining high end experience for clamshell foldable design for a value for money stylish smartphone.

Here are the specs of Galaxy Z Flip 4 2022: 

SoC: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm) cpu, Adreno 730 gpu

RAM:  8 GB

Storage: 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB GB

Display: AMOLED 2X, HDR10+, 1200 Nits( Max Brightness), 120 Hz, 6.7 Inch at 1080 x 2640                      resolution. 1.9 Inch at 260 x 512, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+

Main Camera: 

12 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 12 MP, f/2.2, 12mm (ultrawide)
4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@960fps (gyro-EIS), HDR10+ Video Recording

Selfie Camera: 

10 MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide)
4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS Video Recording

Battery:

Li-Po 3700 mAh, non-removable
Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min 
Reverse wireless charging 4.5W

OS:

Android 12, One UI 4.1.1

Colors:

Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold, Blue, Yellow, White, Navy, Khaki, Red

Price:

256 GB Fold 4 $999

512 GB Fold 4 $1160

1 TB Fold 4 $1280

Un-box:

Samsung has delivered its best hardware specs for this year's Flip 4 with the display upgraded to HDR10+ AMOLED 2X panel for supporting 10 bit and above HDR encoded movies and camera recorded videos. The display is now protected by latest from Corning's Gorilla glass Victus+ that adds more durability against scratches, falls and spills. The device is also IPX 8 protected against water, dust and shocks. The hinge is now more stronger than previous generation as it stands unbroken against harsh folds and reverse folds. At 1200 nits maximum brightness, the display shows vivid colors, 1 fps to 120 fps support and better power saving.

The dual displays at 6.7 inch and 1.9 inch provides a great user experience balance for Samsung's own One UI 5.0 on the top of Android 12 L. The hinge based split screen really making it a Top Gun of smartphone to tablet experience a powerhouse for productivity, entertainment and gaming. And this year, fast charging and increased capacity to 4400 mAh upgrades the user experience without the hassle of waiting for hours of device charging. Samsung has also outdone Apple in supplying out of box charger while still remaining green smartphone packaging oem. There is also S-Pen support on dual displays.

The selfie camera has also received a great upgrade with addition of another for Samsung's Ultrawide strategy for a options spectra. The 10 Megapixels main selfie is supported by 4 Megapixels for an option galore selfie shooting experience of ultrawide mode, macro modes and more. The main camera is with Samsung's Ultrawide imaging strategy of three camera modules of 12 Megapixels in 12 Mp output.

The chipset powering the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is Qualcomm's flagship 4 nm based Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Octa core and Adreno 730 GPU. The new SoC is delivering blazing fast performance and optimized battery life on top of 8 GB RAM.

Checkout the hands on video by CNET for Galaxy Z Flip 4's user experience and performance:

                                           

Durability:

As tested by jerryrigeverything, Galaxy Z Flip 4's hinge is strong as advertised by Samsung against the harsh folds and reverse folds with almost no damage to mechanism. Though against the flames, not under the IPX 8 protection, display got burned along with the back-plate While against the drops, Z Flip 4 turned out shatter proof defeating other Android smartphones.

Photography:

Samsung has also updated hardware specs apart from the design with key improvements on both front and back camera. From previous generations, the new Galaxy Z Flip 4 now featuring dual 12 Mps camera for ultrawide and better night photography. Samsung's own S5K2LD lens outputs 12 Megapixels sharper, dynamic colors and vivid images in both outdoors, indoors and at night time. The selfie camera is also updated from last year with 10 Megapixels Samsung rather than Sony on Fold 4 as S5K3J1 sensor with fixed focus still outputting bright, vivid and clear selfie images.

The video recording is innovative on Galaxy Flip 4 with so many angles users to choose from. The flex app camera modes provide variety of angles of video recording in 720p, full hd or 4K.

Check out the camera test of Galaxy Z Flip 4 by Phandroid:

One UI 5.0 and Flex app user experience:

Samsung has also released new One UI 5.0 on top of Android 12. Android 12 is well optimized for Galaxy Z Flip 4 with the lock screen for both displays showing the same app shortcuts and notifications, While the home screen is dynamic in terms of which display is closed or if the hinge is folded to a single display. The app drawer is pretty similar to Galaxy S22 in portrait modes while on tablet display mode its similar to Galaxy Tab.

The Flex user experience is also improved and updated with support for more app experiences. It is also integrated with more support for Play Store apps.

Checkout the review of software experience on Galaxy Z Flip 4:

Conclusion:

At $999, Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 4 is Samsung's flagship clamshell Foldable-dual display smartphone that overshadows the competition by Oppos, Xiaomis and Chinese foldable smartphones by Qualcomm's blazing fast SoC, Samsung's own Ultrawide cameras that are zoom-savy, vivid and brightest dual displays and One UI Android 12 with Flex app experience on top. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is an immersive dual-display fold clamshell form-factor flagship smartphone by Samsung that fuels entertainment, productivity and gaming to the most dynamic and smarter user experience.