Key Takeaways
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 encompasses a flatter and lighter design, making it extra sensible and comfy to make use of.
Each the quilt and foldable shows are brighter and sharper, with higher usability outside, because of a peak brightness of two,600 nits. The quilt show now carefully mimics slab telephones.
Regardless of stable efficiency, the Fold 6’s digicam system stays largely unchanged, falling behind rivals like Google and OnePlus.
When you’ve adopted the Galaxy Z Fold line through the years, you’ll know that that is the collection that proved foldables might be mainstream gadgets. My first foldable was Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3, and since then, the Z Fold lineup hasn’t modified all that a lot, a minimum of visually.
Enter the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which, let’s face it, seems to be to be one other incremental replace over the previous two generations. Nonetheless, there may be actually extra to this 12 months’s telephone than meets the attention. From efficiency to battery and software program, I feel Samsung’s deal with the core consumer expertise feels extra constant than ever, and that’s mirrored within the {hardware}, too.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a foldable smartphone that merges the utility of a pill with the convenience of a telephone. Its expansive, versatile inside display screen seamlessly continues your actions from the quilt show. This system epitomizes cellular productiveness and leisure, boasting superior multitasking options, sturdy efficiency, and enhanced Galaxy AI functionalities.
Worth and Availability
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is obtainable at each main service and straight by way of Samsung’s net retailer and main on-line retailers, together with Amazon and Greatest Purchase. Storage choices begin at 256 GB, and a bigger variant of 1 TB is obtainable as effectively. The Z Fold 6 has colour choices in Silver Shadow, Pink, and Navy, and Samsung on-line unique variants in Crafted Black and White.
Flatter and Lighter Design
The brand new flattened design stands out while you decide up the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Because the Fold3, the Galaxy Z Fold collection has regularly flattened out the edges, however this 12 months, Samsung went all out, mimicking the design language of the Galaxy S24 Extremely, and I need to say, I like it. New this 12 months is the inclusion of a mud score, which suggests the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is now IP48 licensed and might present minor mud resistance whereas sustaining its water resistance as much as 1.5 meters for a couple of half-hour.
My greatest concern continues to be long-term sturdiness as a result of, on the finish of the day, that is nonetheless a really giant system that sports activities a foldable display screen, which might simply scratch with simply your fingernails. Samsung is utilizing a extra sturdy formulation for its display screen protector this 12 months, and it actually feels a lot nearer to common glass than earlier than, however they nonetheless will seemingly are likely to peel over time, and for a telephone that now provides seven years of software program updates, it’s not a assure that your new very costly telephone will stay as much as these seven software program cycles with out robust bodily safety.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 opts to make use of aluminum for the edges, in contrast to the titanium Galaxy S24, however I’m actually comfortable they opted to make it a matte end this 12 months in contrast to the Galaxy Fold 5 from final 12 months. This goes for the hinge too, which now picks up on much less seen fingerprints as you employ the telephone.
Talking of the hinge, it’s as small as ever, and that’s obvious while you’re utilizing the quilt show. Not like earlier generations, the place the hinge would aggressively bulge out on one aspect, the Galaxy Fold 6 primarily eliminates this and makes utilizing the outer show really feel extra like a typical telephone.
Regardless of the smaller footprint, that is nonetheless one of the best hinge on any foldable I’ve tried so far, together with that of the OnePlus Open and Google’s Pixel 9 Professional Fold. It’s gapless and has one of the best fluidity between opening and shutting and the tightest tolerances for utilizing the telephone in Flex Mode.
That mentioned, Samsung continues to lag when it comes to the crease visibility in comparison with the likes of OnePlus. Very like the Galaxy Fold 4 and 5, the crease isn’t seen or bothersome when viewing content material straight straight forward, however as quickly you catch a mirrored image or view the telephone from an angle, it’s very seen.
Screens Are Brighter, Sharper, and Extra Usable Open air
Transferring onto the shows, Samsung continues to excel in high quality and sharpness with the Z Fold 6. Very like the flattened-out design, the shows obtain related remedy, with the corners shedding their rounded edges as seen in earlier iterations.
Whereas the rounded edges give the system a softer look, I a lot want the utterly straight-angled method this 12 months, particularly with the outer show, which lastly receives constant nook bezels on all 4 corners. This makes the design look extra constant and eliminates the bizarre further bezel on the hinge aspect of the telephone, which at all times needed to accommodate for the rounding of the show corners.
The quilt show is now barely bigger and wider than earlier than at 6.3 inches, and this delicate change makes it really feel far more like a conventional smartphone, particularly with the elimination of the hinge bulge. As somebody who spends most of my time utilizing the quilt display screen, this transformation makes the Z Fold 6 way more sensible for consuming content material. It’s a reasonably first rate quality-of-life enchancment that extends the system’s battery life because you’re not consistently unfolding to make use of the larger telephone display screen.
The 7.6-inch Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel additionally receives the sharp nook remedy however largely stays the identical as earlier than. Samsung hasn’t made any main enhancements to the crease or the under-display selfie digicam, which is sort of a disgrace as a result of that is in any other case a implausible viewing expertise.
The resolutions of the Fold 6 stay sharp at 1856 x 2160 on the principle show and 968 x 2376 on the quilt show, with each panels sustaining 120Hz adaptive refresh charges and HDR10+. Each shows are a lot brighter than earlier than, reaching a peak brightness of two,600 nits in comparison with 1,750 nits on the Fold 5.
The Fold 5 shows had been completely seen in my testing with them final 12 months, however having this increased ceiling on the Fold 6 permits it to be far more versatile in consuming content material in direct daylight or vivid environments. Its barely lower than the two,700 nit show of the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold or the two,800 nit show on the OnePlus Open.
Regardless, Samsung continues to offer top-of-the-line shows for content material consumption on any telephone, and I doubt {that a} increased peak brightness would make any main variations to what’s in any other case a really flagship pair of panels.
Cameras Are Constant however Largely Unchanged
The digicam {hardware} on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 stays largely the identical as final 12 months’s Z Fold 5, however Samsung has launched some processing enhancements to enhance picture high quality. The rear digicam array encompasses a 50MP wide-angle lens, a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide lens with a 123-degree discipline of view.
Just like the Galaxy Flip 6 I reviewed beforehand, the colour consistency throughout all three sensors is sort of spectacular, with the twin pixel PDAF and OIS guaranteeing quick, sharp pictures in most circumstances, however it’s nowhere close to the standard of the higher-end S24 Extremely or OnePlus Open digicam techniques, which doesn’t use B-tier {hardware}.
That is most obvious in low-light pictures, which nonetheless leaves room for enchancment. The outcomes aren’t as robust as what you’d get with the Galaxy S24 Extremely, particularly relating to autofocus in less-than-ideal lighting situations.
The selfie digicam has additionally remained the identical: a 4MP under-display digicam on the interior display screen and a ten MP entrance digicam on the quilt display screen. After all, you may at all times decide to make use of the principle cameras with the quilt display screen preview as earlier than, however I’d like to have seen some new sensors throughout the board.
Total, not a lot totally different is occurring when it comes to the digicam this 12 months, and it’s clear Samsung desires to keep up that differentiation between what it desires the Z Fold line to cowl in comparison with the Galaxy S Extremely line. Whereas the digicam expertise on the Fold 6 shouldn’t be dangerous by any means, with rivals like Google and OnePlus coming into the North American market, it’s clear that that is an space Samsung is definitively missing in, and I hope this awful method gained’t maintain for for much longer.
Flagship Efficiency and Battery Life With Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Underneath the hood, the Z Fold 6 is supplied with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which delivers flagship-level efficiency on par with the Galaxy S24 Extremely. There’s additionally 12 GB of RAM and storage choices of 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1TB—all utilizing UFS 4.0.
In real-world use, the system handles intensive duties like a champ, and I didn’t expertise any stutters or lags, even with a number of apps open without delay. From modifying and exporting a number of images in Lightroom to consuming HDR content material by way of Netflix and YouTube to even taking part in a little bit of Minecraft, the telephone didn’t decelerate.
For customers who worth productiveness and rely closely on their telephone for work, this foldable stays a wonderful alternative, and I a lot want Samsung’s suite of multitasking options in comparison with that of OnePlus. Issues just like the app dock and Edge Panel for fast entry to apps make the expertise really feel fluid and really pure.
Realistically, I doubt anybody would discover any discernible distinction in day-to-day efficiency from this 12 months’s mannequin in comparison with the Fold 5 as a result of that telephone additionally carried out exceptionally effectively. However there may be one space the place I feel the brand new chip made the largest distinction: battery life.
Regardless of retaining the identical 4,400mAh battery because the Fold 5, the effectivity features from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 are noticeable. The Z Fold 6 comfortably lasts a full day of use, even with average interior show utilization. When you rely totally on the quilt display screen, you may simply prolong the battery life to a day and a half.
It additionally looks like you may cheat to get to even higher battery life on this telephone, extra so than earlier generations. For my utilization, the quilt display screen on my Z Fold 3 was the extra used show in comparison with the interior foldable show, however with the Fold 6, this behavior is accentuated by the broader side ratio that makes it simpler to devour content material than earlier than. With the quilt display screen mimicking regular slab telephones so effectively, I not often felt the necessity to open up the telephone to make the most of the bigger show until I wished to.
Charging speeds are nonetheless capped at 25W wired, with 50% cost in half-hour and 15W wi-fi charging. These numbers aren’t groundbreaking, however they’re adequate for a tool that prioritizes multitasking and media consumption.
Galaxy AI on Samsung’s Largest Display screen
Identical to each different Samsung flagship launched this 12 months, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 headlines with Galaxy AI, a set of seven new options grouped into translation, summarization and formatting, and picture manipulation. Every function could be toggled on or off in settings, and Samsung permits lots of them to make use of on-device processing.
I’ve already reviewed all of those options in-depth in my Galaxy S24 Extremely and Galaxy Z Flip 6 evaluations, however when it comes to precise utilization on the Z Fold 6’s bigger display screen, I feel these options change the way you work together together with your telephone.
For instance, translation works a lot quicker on-device, and having each Interpreter mode and textual content translation accessible on a large show feels far more intuitive for multitasking. Nonetheless, utilizing translation in Flex Mode—whereas handy on the Z Flip 6—feels a bit awkward on the Fold 6 as a result of the display screen dealing with the opposite individual is elongated and never sq. just like the Flip collection, so it’s important to both bend right down to catch the interpretation or impede your view to verify the opposite individual can learn the outer show. Belief me, simply use Translation on both one of many two shows with out Flex Mode.
The place the Fold 6 shines is in its picture manipulation instruments as a result of you will have a bigger canvas and S-Pen help. Enhancing pictures on a display screen of this dimension makes it simpler to fine-tune images, whether or not it’s eradicating undesirable objects or adjusting publicity and distinction. That mentioned, Samsung’s AI processing isn’t as up-to-date as discovered on Google’s newly launched Pixel collection, so the outcomes, whereas nonetheless comparatively good, aren’t on par with the competitors.
After all, this runs on high of Samsung’s OneUI 6.1 primarily based on Android 14, and similar to the opposite Samsung flagships, that is an extremely dependable and optimized software program expertise throughout the board. Whereas I want Google’s vanilla pores and skin on the Pixel, Samsung has performed lots with OneUI to lastly make it really feel cohesive with the {hardware} it is operating on, and with a promised seven years of software program updates, I’ve little concern about how this telephone will carry out long-term.
Ought to You Purchase the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6?
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 builds on the success of its predecessors with a extra refined design, higher shows, and stable efficiency, although the enhancements nonetheless really feel incremental for these already utilizing a earlier Z Fold telephone. The flatter, lighter physique and the improved cowl show alone make the Z Fold 6 a much more sensible system, whereas the highly effective Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and environment friendly battery administration make it a dependable workhorse for productivity-focused customers.
Nonetheless, the shortage of great digicam upgrades nonetheless limits this telephone’s capability to maintain up with different considerably cheaper flagships. For these seeking to improve from older foldables or for energy customers who need top-of-the-line multitasking experiences on a smartphone, the Z Fold 6 is a compelling alternative, but it surely doesn’t exist in Samsung’s bubble anymore.
With Google and OnePlus making a stable effort within the foldable house, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold line is beginning to really feel stale as compared. With out significant modifications to enhance upon some core points just like the crease or the digicam expertise, it’ll solely turn out to be more durable to contemplate the Z Fold 6 a viable choice when different gadgets providing superior {hardware} packages can be found.