The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a fantastic smartphone for on-the-go media consumption, and Samsung has unmistakably worked this year to enhance the cases for the tablet to work better with that aim. Samsung’s kickstand case for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has been available for us to test out, and while it initially seemed intriguing, it eventually fell short of expectations.
The Slim Standing Cover for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a two-piece case with an integrated kickstand that has a bumper for the front display and a full cover for the back of the phone. One of the most cheap case alternatives in Samsung’s official selection, it retails for $49.99.
The case initially reminds me a lot of Samsung’s tablet cases with kickstands. Samsung uses this concept in some of its other tablet cases, and the Galaxy Tab S8s Protective Standing Cover ‘s kickstand can be adjusted at various angles. Microsoft Surface tablets employ a very similar technique, and Lenovo tablets running Android and Chrome OS also have a similar kickstand design.
Unfortunately, the Slim Standing Cover for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 does not operate in this manner. When the kickstand is fully extended, there is a fixed position that appears to be at a 45-degree angle or so. Additionally, there is no resistance to keep the kickstand in that position; rather, it just detaches from its magnetic attachment point and dangles lazily until you set it down on a flat surface.
This isn’t to indicate that the case is unfavorable. The kickstand is still quite helpful, and the position it’s held at is typically almost ideal for setting the phone down on a table so you can see the entire canvas.
But the fact that the kickstand isn’t even adjustable is a little frustrating. It reminds me of the debate surrounding the kickstand on the first Nintendo Switch. Although the product ultimately gains from it, the current design simply doesn’t deliver the correct experience. Nintendo ultimately fixed that by redesigning the kickstand in the Switch OLED , which also provides the ability to change the kickstand’s angle.
I hope Samsung learns from Nintendo while designing the Fold 4s kickstand case. The adjustable features that this product deserves might be added with a Slim Standing Cover Pro. I won’t be holding my breath, though, given the way Samsung often builds its folding casings and how slowly it addresses problems.
However, we also had another opportunity this week to test out the Standing Cover with Pen for the Fold 4 on the subject of kickstands for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. When the Samsung S Pen was released in 2021, it had a terrible storage problem that even third parties were unable to fully resolve. Back on launch day, we reported on this case as the answer.
The kickstand that can be switched out for the S Pen storage slot has now also been tested. This solution isn’t ideal, just like the Slim Standing Cover isn’t. It employs a significantly smaller surface area to hold up the phone and the angle cannot be changed. However, choosing this option is significantly more cost-effective (despite the Pen cover costing $89 ) because it practically serves as two cases in one.
As of today, which is the final day of pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 , Samsung is giving away the Standing Cover with Pen with pre-orders for Samsung.com .
Personally, I believe I’ll continue to use both of these cases with my Fold 4 but, unfortunately, the Slim Standing Cover hasn’t been as successful as I had thought.
