Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6: Redefining the Foldable Smartphone Experience

I replaced my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with the Z Fold 6 for a week - and can't go back

Like with older Z Fold models, camera hardware and battery performance remain areas of improvement. I've tested every Galaxy Z Fold model since 2019, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the closest the company has ever come to perfecting the phone-to-tablet form factor. It's gotten so good that I'm already dreading what life will be like when I inevitably switch back to my Galaxy S24 Ultra. When open, the Z Fold 6's 7.6-inch screen is a near-perfect canvas for watching movies, playing games, and getting work done. Since carrying the phone around, the tablet I have stationed on the kitchen countertop for pulling up recipes and playing videos has become less valuable. When closed, the Z Fold 6 almost feels like a regular smartphone, with a slimmer, lighter design this year that helps with the illusion. Also: The Galaxy Watch Ultra convinced me to replace my Apple Watch in less than a week. Here's why Of course, if you've been following the tech world over the past five years, this isn't the first time you've read about the Z Fold's value proposition. Your response, whether positive or negative, probably hasn't changed much either. I mostly blame Samsung's lack of innovation for that. That's why I've spotlighted the key differences with this year's model below -- and how they ultimately affect the day-to-day experience -- to assist with your buying decision in 2024. While the dimensions of the Z Fold 6 and last year's Z Fold 5 are a game of millimeters, flattening the edges, widening the outer screen (and, naturally, the inner screen), and switching to a lighter aluminum material have made the new model much easier to manage. The only issue I've encountered with the flat edges is that they make it difficult to unfold the phone at times, as there's no groove or indent to dig your finger into. Also: Buying a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6? Make sure to order this model Regardless, the phone feels very Ultra-esque, as it should for the price, with a polished Silver Shadow color that looks strikingly similar to the Titanium Gray of the S24 series, and I'm a fan. At 239 grams, the Z Fold 6 weighs the same as the OnePlus Open and just a little more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max (221g). While the phone still bulges a bit when tucked in a pants pocket, it's less of a burden to use now when standing on the subway or navigating through the city. However, lefties may feel some discomfort when holding the Z Fold 6 as the bottom corner is sharper than previous models, so I'd advise putting on a case, which you would probably do regardless. Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs. OnePlus Open: Which foldable phone should you buy? The rest of the Z Fold 6's design is admirable, too, including the wider outer display, which makes two-handed typing more feasible, and there's less letterboxing when watching videos in landscape orientation. Samsung has also certified the Z Fold 6 with an IP48 rating, meaning it can withstand water immersion of up to 1.5 meters, so showering, rain, and dropping the phone in the sink or toilet is a little more forgivable. With 12GB of RAM and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the Z Fold 6 flew through most, if not all, tasks I threw at it, including browsing the web in split-screen mode, using both the inner and outer displays when taking pictures and videos outdoors, and gaming on max settings. Naturally, I've come to appreciate the brighter 2,600-nit display (up from last year's 1,750), which made things easier to visualize under the summer sun. Also: Here's why Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a major design success Likewise, Samsung's OneUI software continues to be a bright spot for its foldable line, with plenty of ways to multitask, open pop-up windows, and interact with the larger Z Fold display. Since testing the Z Fold 5 last year, the company has also added the ability to continue using an app when switching from the inner display to the outer one. It's a feature I once praised Samsung's competitors for having. With Samsung's commitment to seven years of OS upgrades -- a key advantage when compared to other foldable phones -- you can expect the Z Fold 6 to stay feature-relevant until at least 2031. My only knack with the phone is how glossy and reflective the inner display is, an inevitable limitation with thin, foldable glass. This feels like an aspect Samsung can (and should) work on going into next year. It's also easy to muffle the speakers, as they're positioned where you'd typically tuck your pinky finger when holding the phone. The Z Fold 6 is the latest device to promote Samsung's Galaxy AI initiative, with a larger canvas for users to take advantage of the brand's productivity, communication, and creative tools. That list includes Circle to Search, Note Assist, Composer, Interpreter Mode, and Sketch to Image, most of which I found to be more on the gimmicky side, though useful when needed. It really depends on your use cases, whether you often need help drafting emails or designing graphics for social media or are a part of a few too many meetings and need summaries to keep up. Also: Every new AI feature coming to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 (and how they work) For me, the tech simply isn't reliable enough to play a bigger role in my workflow; I often found myself taking a chance on a feature, like Interpreter Mode, to work, only for it to mistime, misinterpret, and therefore, mistranslate a conversation. I'm hopeful that such features will only improve with time, but for now, they shouldn't be a primary reason to buy the Z Fold 6 (or any other AI-touting smartphone.) If you were expecting camera upgrades with this year's Z Fold, I have good news and bad news. While the camera system has a new ultrawide sensor that Samsung says can pull in and process more light data (read: improved nightography and more details overall), that's as far as the changes go. Fortunately, photos and videos on the Z Fold 6 are still vibrant and sharp, with just enough pop to separate subjects from backgrounds. I just wish Samsung matched the S24 Ultra's camera setup, from the farther zoom capabilities to the 200MP main sensor. The company's most expensive phone should have those specs. Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs Z Fold 5: Which premium model should you buy? Lastly, Samsung settled with the same 4,400mAh battery and 25W charging rate as last year's Z Fold 5, and the difference in endurance and speed (for the worse) compared to my S24 Ultra was immediately noticeable. Even when compared to competing foldables, like the OnePlus Open, the Z Fold 6 doesn't last as long and charges slower -- a big miss for a device that now costs $200 more. With the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung has taken another step closer to normalizing the foldable phone experience. But with the $100 price increase this year, you really have to consider its benefits -- especially when compared to other foldable phones -- before splurging. You should buy the Z Fold 6 if you want the best phone-to-tablet experience on the market right now, with a refined design that's sturdier, more durable, and lighter in the hand than ever. You should also consider the after-sales support, with Samsung including seven years of software and security support and a free screen repair, which are unavailble on competing devices from Google, OnePlus, and Motorola. Lastly, look into trade-in offers and discounts across retailers and carrier stores; there's a good chance you'll be able to knock off a few hundred dollars with the phone you already have.

Samsung Galaxy Flip 6 Review: Mighty Small Update

Key Takeaways New 50 MP main sensor improves sharpness and detail, particularly in low-light conditions, though the 12 MP ultra-wide and 10 MP selfie cameras remain unchanged. The larger 4,000 mAh battery offers a noticeable improvement over the Flip 5's 3,700 mAh cell, providing better overall usage time without added weight or thickness. While the software boasts a lot of AI-oriented features, many of them are also going to be available on the previous generation as well as other cheaper Samsung Galaxy phones. Let's face it, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 looks nearly identical to the previous Galaxy Z Flip 5. The only way you can discern between the two phones from the outside is by checking to see if the metal around the camera modules is color-matched to the phone's frame, whereas the previous generation was just black. From the outside looking in, the Galaxy Flip 6 looks like a minor update over the previous generation, but having used the Flip 5 last year and having that contrast between it and the new phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 surprisingly feels refreshing. From the screens to the cameras and battery life, I'd argue this year's Galaxy Flip highlights the benefits of a more focused Samsung. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Small But Mighty Upgrades 8/ 10 The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a stylish, foldable smartphone featuring a dynamic 6.7-inch AMOLED internal display and a durable hinge mechanism. Equipped with the latest Snapdragon processor, it delivers outstanding performance, an enhanced dual-camera system, and Flex Mode for convenient hands-free selfies and video calls. ProsBrighter displaysMuch sharper main cameraImproved battery life ConsCan only run select apps on cover screenMore expensive than predecessor $1100 at SamsungSee at T-MobileSee at VerizonSee at AmazonSee at AT&TSee at Best Buy Price and Availability The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is available at every major carrier and directly through Samsung's web store and major online retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy. Storage options start at 256 GB, and a larger variant of 512 GB is available as well. The Z Flip 6 has color options in Silver Shadow, Yellow, Blue, and Mint, and Samsung online exclusive variants in Crafted Black, White, and Peach. Specifications Brand Samsung SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Display 6.7-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits, 3.4-inch 1600 nit cover display RAM 12GB Storage 256 or 512GB Battery 4,000 mAh Ports USB-C Operating System Android 14 Camera (Rear, Front) 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide), 10 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (selfie) Expand Can You Spot the Difference? This Flip 6 looks and feels just like the Flip 5, but there are a few very nice improvements across the board. Most of this mirrors what we saw with the Galaxy S24 series earlier this year. The aluminum frame finally has a matte finish like the Galaxy S24, compared to the shiny fingerprint magnet of the last iteration. It also has the new speaker design of the S24 series, which makes it look much cleaner compared to the elongated hole design before. Just like its book-folding sibling, the Z Fold 6, the Flip 6 also gets a minor update to its hinge design, where this new hinge protrudes slightly less compared to the previous Flip 5 and still retains the near-gapless design between the two folding halves. Aside from the new colors and new accent color ring around the camera lenses, that just about rounds up the visual changes made to the phone, but the real changes are found in the things you don't see. Durability on foldable devices has always been a major concern for their long-term usability, but it's a crucial area that has often been overlooked, and I'm happy to see Samsung continue to make strides wherever it can. For the first time, we're finally getting a dust rating on the Galaxy Z series, with the Z Flip 6 sporting a rating of IP48. This rating means it has minor resistance to dust and can be submerged underwater up to 1.5 meters for about a half-hour. This is, of course, a long way away from matching the durability of Samsung's regular Galaxy S series phones, which all sport ratings of IP68, and there's even a chance this rating matches up with the previous Flip 5's durability and we just have an official numeric standard for it, but it's great to see here. Brighter Displays The Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers a marginal upgrade with its main display, which provides a brighter peak brightness of 2,600 compared to 1,750 on the Galaxy Flip 5's main display. The 3.4-inch cover display still lets you quickly skim through notifications, toggle your playlist, or even fire off brief replies to messages. Just like before, under the Labs settings, you can still run apps on it, including YouTube and Google Maps. New this year is the ability to use Samsung's new Interpreter feature, which is part of their Galaxy AI suite, which utilizes the cover display to showcase the live translation directly to the other person without them having to look down, which is pretty cool. The 6.7-inch main display maintains the 120Hz refresh rate and the Flex Mode from previous iterations. The main screen continues to offer an excellent experience for multimedia consumption or multitasking, especially because of its really tall aspect ratio. An Excellent Camera Experience The Galaxy Z Flip 6's camera performance has been an area I've been really happy with during my testing. Like the Galaxy Flip 5, this year's iteration continues to house dual rear cameras with a single selfie camera, which can take great photos and videos, though might suffer from the same limitations and drawbacks as before. The dual rear cameras consist of a new larger 50 MP main sensor compared to 12 MP on the Flip 5 and what looks to be the same 12 MP ultra-wide camera. The selfie camera also remains a 10 MP sensor, located in a hole-punch cutout on the 6.7-inch main display. Using these cameras over the past week, I noticed that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 produces some very pleasing results that are consistent and replicable. My biggest issue with last year's device had to do with sharpness and detail, especially in low-light situations as well as zooming in. This new main sensor seems to be on par with Galaxy S24, and I think it's great. Samsung continues to deliver punchy and contrasty photos but does so in a way that doesn't necessarily go over-the-top as before. The biggest difference between this and Flip 5 is the sharpness across the entire image, which now feels much more usable than it did before. While I wish Samsung had added a third telephoto lens to the Flip 6, as it does with virtually every other phone in their lineup, the larger 50MP sensor allows for digital zoom to look much more pleasing. Close New with the Flip 6 is the ability to adjust the frame automatically when new subjects enter it. This is possible when the camera is using Flex Mode with the cover display acting as the viewfinder; you essentially prop up the phone to take a picture, and when someone enters the frame, the device uses the ultra-wide to include them in the frame. While I think this is very practical in theory, I'd much rather use the main wide angle, just because it provides the superior image quality. Mighty Power and Battery In terms of software and hardware performance, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers a similar experience to the rest of Samsung's flagship lineup this year, which is to say, very good. The device runs on Samsung's One UI 6.0 atop Android 14. Just like all the other Samsung flagships, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes with a commendable update policy, where Samsung guarantees seven years of security patches and software updates continues to be a great deal if you plan on using it for a long time. In terms of hardware specs, the Galaxy Flip 6 is equipped with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset and 12 GB of RAM compared to 8 GB on the Flip 5. This means the device has a smooth and responsive software experience that is consistent across both screens. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 also has either 256 GB or 512 GB of internal non-expandable storage, and this is a bump up from the base and maximum storage options from last year's device, which is great to see. On Geekbench 6, our Flip 6 scored 1,219 on Single-Core and 5,980 on Multi-core, which really translates to: you're going to use this phone and not worry about any sort of weird hiccups or hitches when you're casually browsing the web, consuming media, or playing games. The Galaxy Z Flip 6's battery life is a noticeable improvement over its predecessor. The device now has a larger 4,000 mAh battery compared to the 3,700 mAh cell found on the Flip 5. Pairing this larger battery with the more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset finally makes this foldable feel much more cohesive as a total package compared to regular phones. Battery life was one of the Flip 5's weaker spots, so I am glad Samsung was able to increase the cell's capacity without adding weight or thickness. AI Everything, Everywhere When it comes to software, this year's Galaxy Z Flip 6 is all about Galaxy AI. I'm not going to go over all the features in this software suite -- for that, you can read my thoughts on them more extensively in my Galaxy S24 Ultra review. What I do want to cover, however, is how these features integrate with the Z Flip experience, and what that entails. With the Flip 6, it's all about using that cover display. As mentioned before, you can now use Flex Mode to use the Interpreter feature for live translations, with the translation being readily available to the person you're conversing with. I love having the ability to have it propped up on a table, set it in Flex Mode, and carry on a conversation that way. While this is supposedly great in theory and does actually make you feel more present than just having to constantly look down at your device, it does make the actual translation input slightly worse. That's because when the device is in Flex Mode, the microphones are facing upwards, not directionally outwards to the person in front of you. The effect of this could be countered up as a marginal difference, but even in a relatively quiet room, I noticed the microphones struggle to pick up on words for accurate translation, especially when the language is not English. In Samsung Notes, you can now turn sketches into AI-generated art, similar to what we saw with Apple's iPadOS 18 with Apple Intelligence. While this can be useful to enhance things like class notes or ideas, the truth is, the Flip 6 isn't really the phone to benefit heavily from it, especially since it lacks S-Pen support. Close The other notable AI feature that is coming to the Flip 6 is Chat Assist, which can be accessed directly from the Flex Window when replying to messages. In my experience, it works just as you'd expect ChatGPT to work, but it is quite useful when I'm feeling too lazy to give a thoughtful reply to messages. It's also worth noting the Flip 6 has Gemini built-in. Everything else that is found in Samsung's Galaxy AI suite, like speech transcription, photo editing, Circle to Search, and the summarization tools found in Samsung Notes are all also present. Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6? The Samsung Galaxy Flip 6 presents a familiar yet refreshing update, focusing on subtle refinements that enhance the overall user experience. While the design changes are minor, the small upgrades to its hinge design, display brightness, and dust rating add a layer of polish and durability to the foldable. Photographers will appreciate the new 50 MP main sensor, which delivers sharper and more detailed images, although the absence of a telephoto lens remains a minor drawback. Ultimately, the Galaxy Flip 6's main selling point this year is Samsung's Galaxy AI suite, which is coming to last year's phones anyway. In that light, the Galaxy Flip 6 is a compelling choice for those who want the latest enhancements because they're coming from a much older phone. If you already own the Flip 5, the upgrade will feel negligible, but for new users or those with older models, the Flip 6 offers a well-rounded smartphone experience, one that is the closest to merging the gap between foldables and regular phones. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 8/ 10 The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a stylish, foldable smartphone featuring a dynamic 6.7-inch AMOLED internal display and a durable hinge mechanism. Equipped with the latest Snapdragon processor, it delivers outstanding performance, an enhanced dual-camera system, and Flex Mode for convenient hands-free selfies and video calls. $1100 at SamsungSee at T-MobileSee at VerizonSee at AmazonSee at AT&TSee at Best Buy

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: Not Just for Early Adopters Anymore

Key Takeaways Refined screen sizes, decreased weight, and polished software make the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 a solid choice. Despite some downsides, like app optimization and no Qi2 magnetic charging, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is still worth the hefty $1900 price tag. Samsung's improvements in hardware design and software AI features make the Galaxy Z Fold 6 a compelling foldable phone option. In the U.S., Samsung has led the foldable market. Now that competition is increasing, the company is under pressure to innovate. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 isn't groundbreaking, but with this year's improvements, I have no problem recommending this phone. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 8/ 10 The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a foldable smartphone that combines the functionality of a tablet with the convenience of a phone. It features a large, flexible internal screen that automatically picks up where you left off on the cover display. It is the definition of mobile productivity and entertainment with advanced multitasking capabilities, powerful performance, and enhanced Galaxy AI capabilities. ProsRefined and improved screen sizesDecreased weightPolished software experience ConsNot all apps (but most) are optimized for the internal displayNo Qi2 chargingAlmost twice the cost of a traditional Android smartphone $1900 at SamsungSee at T-MobileSee at VerizonSee at AmazonSee at AT&TSee at Best Buy How We Test and Review Products Price and Availability The Galaxy Z Fold 6 costs $100 more than 2023's Fold 5, retailing for $1,899.99 with 256GB of built-in storage. The 512GB and 1TB models cost $2,019.00 and $2,259.99, respectively. All three spec tiers have 12GB of RAM and the Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 3 for Galaxy. The foldable can be purchased from almost every carrier and third-party retailer and is available in Pink, Navy, and Silver Shadow (the color I tested). If you buy directly from Samsung, you can also choose from Crafted Black (with a textured back) and White. Specifications SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 3 for Galaxy Display 7.6-inch AMOLED inside display, 6.3-inch AMOLED cover display, both with 120Hz dynamic refresh rate RAM 12GB Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Battery 4,400 mAh Ports USB-C Operating System Android 14 / One UI 6.1.1 Front camera 10MP cover camera, 4MP under-display main screen camera Rear camera 10MP 3x optical zoom, f/2.4, 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2, 50MP main camera with autofocus, f/1.8 Connectivity 5G, 4G LTE, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4GHz+5GHz+6GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, UWB Dimensions 68.1 x 153.5 x 12.1mm (folded); 132.6 x 153.5 x 5.6mm (unfolded) Colors Navy, Silver Shadow, Pink, Crafted Black, White Weight 239g Charge speed 25W wired, 15W wireless, Wireless PowerShare IP Rating IP48 Stylus S Pen for Galaxy Expand Hardware Improvements You'll Feel Close Even if you stared at the Z Fold 6 and the Fold 5, I highly doubt you could figure out which phone is which. Samsung nailed down its design last year, finally making it so that the handset folded flat. But the moment you pick up the Fold 6, you'll feel a difference. The most noticeable difference out of the box is the weight. The Fold 6 comes in at 239g, which shaves off 14g compared to last year's model. That's only 7g heavier than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. We're finally at a point where Samsung's largest foldable doesn't feel like a brick or two phones taped together in your pocket. However, slightly adjusted dimensions and screen sizes are the most welcome changes. When folded, the phone is 1mm wider and 1.3mm thinner than the Fold 5. That doesn't sound like much, but it makes the Z Fold 6's cover display feel that much closer to a "traditional" smartphone. I found myself using it much more than with previous generations, only unfolding the device when I wanted to multitask or use a tablet-sized screen. Those changes also affect the inside display. When unfolded, the Fold 6 is 1.4mm shorter, 2.7mm wider, and .5mm thinner than last year's handset. I have always preferred shorter and wider designs after using the Google Pixel Fold and OnePlus Open. It's easier to use the cover display, reach the top of the screen, and offer a better widescreen experience. I'm happy to see Samsung move in this direction. The cherry on top is the frame's flat edge, found all the way around the phone. It makes the Fold 6 feel slimmer and more premium. Plus, the edges and back glass are matte, which is always preferred over polished metal. The corners are a bit sharper, which means it's not quite as comfortable to hold, but I forgot about this a day into using the foldable. I've gotten pretty accustomed to large camera bumps, but they cause an annoyance on the Fold 6 that I didn't completely notice until I read a piece by my colleague Will Sattelberg on Android Police. As he points out, having the three cameras lined up in the top-left corner of the device causes the phone to be extremely wobbly when placed on a table. It's so unstable that it's uncomfortable to interact with the foldable. I almost always pick up the device when checking notifications. Also, the Z Fold 6 is still incredibly slippery despite the matte back glass. I once had it slide off my bedside table. I don't know if the camera bumps worsened the situation, but I'd feel better if the device wasn't lying awkwardly every time I sat it down. The AMOLED displays themselves are as great as ever. They both have a variable 120Hz refresh rate and a 2600nits peak brightness, making all content look good whether you're inside or outside. The same goes for battery life. The Z Fold 6 retains the 4,400mAh battery found in the Fold 5, but Samsung claims several extra hours of juice while watching videos or listening to audio. In my real-world testing, it was difficult to nail down an average screen-on battery life because they varied greatly depending on whether I used the cover or the inside screen for most of the day. I could always make it through to the end of the day, but some nights, I ended with under 15% left. That normally equated to five and a half to six and a half hours of screen-on time. One UI Is Perfected for Foldable (and AI) Samsung, which adds its own touch and flair to Android, offers the Fold 6 a good mix of easy-to-use multitasking features while retaining heavier customization features in the Settings menu for those who like to tinker. Like desktop operating systems, the Z Fold 6 has a taskbar that hosts shortcuts to your most important apps and the app drawer. Once you have an app open, you can use the taskbar to drag and drop a second (or a third or a fourth) app in another section of the internal screen. Then, you can tap on the indicators between or above each app to adjust sizing, swap out apps, and more. The experience is incredibly intuitive after playing with the phone for several hours. Having both my password manager and two-factor authentication apps open alongside others while setting up the phone is incredibly powerful. Close Thankfully, roughly 95% of my apps scaled properly during my time with the foldable, whether I was using the more narrow cover display or the wide, tablet-sized inside screen. For those that don't play nice, you can go into the Z Fold 6's Settings menu and set the aspect ratio specifically for that app. So, instead of launching in full screen, you can choose between 16:9 and 4:3. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a good stop-gap until developers update their apps. Close Samsung went all-in on "Galaxy AI" in January 2024 with the launch of the S24 Series. This included the launch of Circle to Search with Google, Interpreter mode, and more. Those same features, plus some extras, made their way to the Fold 6. Two of the flagship AI features are Drawing Assist and Photo Assist. The first provides you with a blank canvas to sketch on. From there, you can choose an art style and generate several versions of your drawing. This feature doesn't take too many creative licenses and mostly sticks to the shape you drew. Close Photo Assist takes a different approach. Found in the Gallery app, you take any photo and draw what you'd like added to the scene, such as a tree, bird, dog, or butterfly. Tap the Generate button and wait a hot second. Before you know it, the Z Fold 6 offers you several options to choose from. I've included a selection of samples above. While I'm still in awe that Samsung was able to understand my truly awful drawings and correctly insert the object or animal I drew, none of these look exactly natural. Others, like The Verge, have had better results. Allison Johnson drew a bee next to an out-of-focus flower, and her Z Fold 6 inserted an equally out-of-focus bee. It looks surprisingly realistic, and I would have never guessed it was AI-generated. Speaking of which, Samsung automatically adds an "AI-generated content" watermark to the bottom-left corner of every one of these images. The issue is that this watermark is almost transparent and can easily be cropped out of the frame. While I don't think anyone will be fooled by my images, it won't be long before this tech is perfected. As both of these new AI features require you to draw, they would benefit from an S Pen. Thankfully, the inside screen supports Samsung's stylus, but one does not come with the $1,900 phone like it does with the S24 Ultra. Instead, you'll have to purchase a $130 case or the S Pen by itself. While I understand the choice not to include a built-in slot for space-saving and battery-related reasons, throwing one in the box would have helped promote the new AI features. Stop Advertising on $2,000 Phones Samsung has been known to push notifications to advertise upcoming announcements. I'm sad to report that it's still happening on the Fold 6. More than once, I felt the phone buzz, only to find an ad prompting me to pre-order the Z Flip 6 or Z Fold 6. Beyond the irony that this message was being sent to a Fold 6, it was common for this notification to be pushed twice in the span of a couple of minutes. It shouldn't need to be said, but Samsung has to stop dropping advertisements on its customers. I can forgive the company if it places a banner ad in its apps, but to push a notification multiple times is ridiculous. The Cameras Have Gone Mostly Untouched The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 has five cameras: a 10MP selfie camera on the cover display, a new 12MP ultra-wide, 50MP wide, 10MP 3x telephoto, and a 4MP under-display camera (more on that below). I've included image samples taken outside on a sunny day, inside a store, using Portrait mode with 2x zoom, night shots, and several selfies. Overall, the photos all came out pretty sharp, with plenty of contrast. I don't think they're equal to what you can capture using Samsung's flagship smartphone (or even Google's Pixel 8a), but they're more than adequate. Close The main difference between the new 12MP ultrawide and last year's is that it is better optimized for shooting in low light. Beyond that, the image quality is basically on par with what you might have experienced with the Fold 5. In basically every instance, I preferred the look of selfies captured using the rear-facing cameras. They're more natural-looking, the color is more accurate, and the scene doesn't look as compressed. Close Samsung makes it pretty easy for you to swap between cameras, but there's a taking-photos-with-a-13in-iPad-type of awkwardness with an unfolded handset. Plus, you have to grip the more fragile inside screen, which is a bit nerve-wracking. It's Time to Drop the Under-Display Camera Close The promise of under-display cameras was that you would maintain a selfie camera while not losing screen real estate. Unfortunately, despite Samsung using this tech for multiple years, the image quality is still terrible. As you can see from the first two photos above, pixels cover about half of the camera when you're interacting with the phone. But when you launch the camera, they disappear. When you take a selfie, Samsung processes the image and tries to fill in missing details. Despite this work, you still have a soft and out-of-focus-looking photo. It's 2024. At this point, most consumers are used to and fine with hole punches, notches, and Dynamic Islands. I never found myself actually needing to use the inside display's selfie camera, but if I had, I would have tried to find a way to use any of the foldable's other sensors. The under-display camera is potato quality and should be replaced or removed completely. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 Is Also Worth Considering The Z Flip 6 will launch alongside the Z Fold 6. Despite it also including a foldable display with ultra-thin glass, it targets a different audience. Instead of someone who wants a large, 2-in-1 device, the Flip 6 is all about minimalism and convenience. It's a small and pocketable package with a cover display for quickly checking notifications and a standard phone-sized internal screen for everything else. Unlike the Fold, the Flip has fewer noticeable improvements but's also slightly thinner and lighter. The most notable year-over-year change is the improved camera sensors. It gained the 50MP sensor found on the Galaxy S24 series, allowing you to capture sharper images. Camera quality has always been poor on the Flip series, so this is a welcome change. How-To Geek will have a review of the Z Flip 6 published shortly, but in the meantime, you can read my thoughts after a brief hands-on. Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6? I've really enjoyed testing the Galaxy Z Fold 6 over the past week and a half. Its ability to function as both a phone and a tablet has been great. I can comfortably use the cover display as a regular phone and then easily multitask with two to four apps at once on the inside screen, something I can't do with my primary smartphone (an iPhone). The foldable finally feels like a finished product that shouldn't be reserved for early adopters. If you have a Z Fold 5 or the OnePlus Open, there is basically no reason to rush out and spend $1,900 on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The improved dimensions, more rugged hinge, and IP48 rating aren't worth replacing last year's handsets. But if you're considering a foldable phone for the first time, the Z Fold 6 is a fantastic starting point. However, you have to consider that Google will launch the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in less than a month. Last year's model was far from a success, with a hinge that didn't unfold flat, but I have high hopes for the second generation. If camera performance is a high priority for you, I'd consider holding off until we see what comes out of the Googleplex. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 8/ 10 The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a foldable smartphone that combines the functionality of a tablet with the convenience of a phone. It features a large, flexible internal screen that automatically picks up where you left off on the cover display. It is the definition of mobile productivity and entertainment with advanced multitasking capabilities, powerful performance, and enhanced Galaxy AI capabilities. $1900 at SamsungSee at T-MobileSee at VerizonSee at AmazonSee at AT&TSee at Best Buy

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review

It costs a ton, it's not the most durable device, and the camera still doesn't perform like the Galaxy S24 Ultra. If you've read any of the last few reviews I've done on Samsung's foldables over the years, you know I'm particularly keen on this type of device. Foldables are cool, damn it. They let you carry around a device that serves multiple functions, especially in the case of models like the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung's sixth-generation book-like folding smartphone. It's a portable TV screen that you can prop against the mirror as you groom for the day, and it has a laptop-like desktop mode you can engage by plugging it into a display. It can stream cloud games and fit into accessories like the Razer Kishi Ultra to transform into a handheld console. But just because the Galaxy Z Fold 6 does nearly everything doesn't mean that it's perfect in every way. Whereas Samsung has improved things like the overall hinge and chassis design of the Z Fold and prolonged the battery life, the expensive Galaxy Z Fold 6 falls short with its camera performance and long-term durability. At a starting price of $1,900â€"$100 more than last year's base offeringâ€"I expect the device to shoot nearly as well from far away as the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Yes, the pop-out glass needed for that capability would compromise the relative thinness of the Z Fold 6. It's a perfect example of the kind of compromises to consider before committing to the foldable way of life. You may have noticed immediately from the initial images and promotional material that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a square-like device, more than ever before. Samsung cornered off those edges just like a cardboard box. They make for a more tablet-like device when it's opened and more phone-like when it's closed. I'm digging the new form. Samsung made the Z Fold 6 a smidge thinner than the Z Fold 5, which is a wild feat. It's under half an inch when folded up. But still, you'll be more comfortable toting this in a bag unless your pants have thick, reinforced pockets. The Galaxy Z Fold 6's front cover screen is a slightly larger 6.3-inch panel than the narrow 6.2-inch display that existed before. I know the numbers don't sound like a significant leap, but this version of the Z Fold 6 feels much nicer to hold when it's in "phone" mode. One caveat of carrying a foldable is that it's not the most durable device. For instance, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is merely IP48-rated. That's good for accidentally spilling a margarita or getting caught in the rain, but I wouldn't recommend a foldable to someone frequently on the water with a phone around their neck. The Galaxy Z Fold 6's hinge has been revamped to be more durable. Samsung is relatively slim on the details, though it mentions that it removed any exposed metals in the hinge and tightened it so that there's more resistance. This supposedly cuts down on the crease on the inner display that tends to become prominent with use. Samsung improved the hinge on last year's Galaxy Z Fold 5 relative to the Z Fold 4 before it, too; it's par for the course with a device considered cutting edge. Buying into it means relying on technology that's still evolving. If you're curious about the actual longevity of the folding device, the Reddit forums can give you a taste of some of the headaches that develop with the Z Fold as a daily driver. I haven't experienced these things firsthand with Gizmodo's review units, but as they say, your mileage may vary. You already know the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has improved hardware from last year's Z Fold 5. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and plenty of memory for the things you will do with this device. The Z Fold comes with up to 1TB of storage if you're willing to pay extra. Performance-wise, this is one of the best Samsung phones you can get. The Geekbench 6 results were pleasing; nothing was unusual for the Snapdragon processor. From my experience with the last two models, the Z Fold maintains a consistent performance for at least the first year and a half of its life out of the box for things like game streaming and running apps side-by-sideâ€"you can run three apps at a time. However, I'll be honest: it's hard to maintain that many screens, even if it is a valid bragging right. The Galaxy Z Fold 6's battery life has improved significantly. In our battery rundown tests, the foldable managed 20 hours and 35 minutes on a charge with the inside screen at 200 nits. That's three hours more than last year's Z Fold 5 with the same 4400 mAh battery size. There's nothing inherently wrong with the Galaxy Z Fold 6's camera system. Everything you need is here: a 50-MP primary camera with OIS and a f/1.8 aperture, a 12-MP ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree field of view, and a 10-MP telephoto camera with up to 3x optical zoom. It's the same camera system on the Galaxy S24/S24 Plus, which is fine, except that it's not because this is a $1,900 phone and not an $800 one. It would be nice to see Samsung up the ante for its most expensive smartphone. Let me zoom in just a little more so that the photos of my kid playing soccer on the other side of the field don't appear jagged. The inside under-display camera remains just as mediocre as ever. It's still a measly 4-MP sensor with the aperture of a 16-MP sensor. It's not crisp enough for making TikTok confessionals, and still, I'm not too fond of it for selfies on Instagram. At least the phone can be more easily propped up for front-camera confessionals than before, but I wish I had the same quality from the inside camera. I don't have much to say about the Galaxy Z fold 6's new features that I haven't already in this piece. New features like PDF Overlay, Sketch to Image, and the Real-Time Interpreter are helpful in scope but still limited compared to what most Android phones already do. For instance, Galaxy AI's interpreter does not yet offer Dutch translation. So, I'll use the Google Translate app to find my way around the Netherlands in a few weeks. In retrospect, having both abilities on the Z Fold 6 seems redundant. Samsung knows how to make a foldable smartphone that can appeal to the masses. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 retraces all the steps that have worked so far for the company to find some relative success in this niche gadget category. It's powerful, well-built, and capable of handling all the software tricks Samsung pushes through Galaxy AI. The Z Fold 6 is a worthy update if you're due for a new foldable and are three years behind. If you can hold out, waiting a year to see how Samsung refines the camera hardware wouldn't hurt. A phone that costs this much should offer one of the better camera systems in the lineup, not the same glass as the phones that everyone else can afford. When I return from two weeks abroad with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, I will have more to say about the camera and its ability as a pinch desktop device. I'm tasking myself with bringing nothing but the foldable to serve as my all-in-one to test the true efficacy of its promises and whether those abilities hold up to the multi-thousand price point. Stay tuned.

Review: The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is an old phone in new clothes

Foldables are still very much a new form factor in the smartphone industry. Manufacturers have been quick to make improvements year over year, but it feels like Samsung has somewhat stalled. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a good phone - that's hard to deny - but it feels like little has changed. As a whole, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is built very well. It takes on a matte aluminum frame with very flat sides. this is a considerable improvement from the Flip 5, which has more rounded edges, which I'm not the biggest fan of. Because of the matte, sandblasted look along the aluminum rails, the phone takes on a very clean look. The added radial insert around each camera lens really contributes to that clean look. Even better, the lens accent matches whichever Flip 6 color you bought. Even in my case, the plain Silver Shadow looks elegantly simple. The phone's rear has a frosted Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panel, which completes the look. In any matte versus glossy battle, I'll almost always take the matte side. Even the hinge cover, with a simple Samsung logo etched in, nails its execution. Strictly, from a hardware perspective, I don't think the Galaxy Z flip 6 could look any better. Every material choice fits together in harmony, and a closed Flip 6 on a table just looks great. Open, it's a little harder for Samsung to let design choices speak for themselves. The bezel around the inner display feels a little more raised than last year. That contributes to a near-minimal gap when the device is folded. The bezel acts somewhat like a railing around the display, ensuring contact when the phone is shut. As bezes go, it's plenty thin enough that I can't complain in any way. The GalaxyZ Flip 6 is still a thin phone. It measures just 71.9mm wide, which is thinner than any other slab phone you'll find. This takes a little getting used to, but it isn't the end of the world in any way. it does tend to make typing a little harder. This is especially the case with the Samsung Keyboard - more on that later. I've also noticed that the screen crease over a period of a few weeks is a little bit better in this model, compared to the Flip 5. it isn't anywhere near perfect, and I think other manufacturers do a better job of handling the after-effects of bending glass. Overall, it's completely livable. Dead on, you'll never notice the crease created by the folding phone. From the side, though, is a little different. Since the Z Flip 6 is a flip phone, it'll often be closed. That's its whole thing. When it's in that shut position, you'll see notiications and alerts through the external cover display, a display that's essentially a gateway to the phone - the thing that gives first impressions of your super duper cool phone. That's why, for the life of me, I can't fathom why Samsung decided to equip the $1,099 phone with a 720p cover display that only goes up to 60Hz. That is nuts. If done properly, the cover display turns your phone into a dual-action unit. You can respond to messages from the front quickly and choose to open it for more demanding tasks that require more real estate. What Sasung has done is make it quite infuriating to use the cover panel. For one, there's a huge contrast between the outer and inner panels. One is clean and crisp at 1080 x 2460, while the other is somewhat blurry and slightly laggy at 720 x 7248. On top of that, Samsung doesn't seem to understand the importance of developing a user-friendly front panel. If you haven't set a fingerprint lock yet, you're greeted with the smallest PIN numbers in the world. Once you're in, you'll find that your interaction options are a few widgets and a total of 8 Quick Setting toggles in the drop-down menu. This is no longer a case of "Hey, at least they've developed a big front display that works." It is a case of "Every other manufacturer has figured out how to take advantage of more real estate and bring a UI that offers the ability to use third-party apps and proper widgets." Once Samsung figures out that the front display is the productivity gateway to the phone itself, the Z Flip series might be the best out there. Right now, the abject face of the phone is the problem. On a positive note, the cover display offers some really nice lock screen customization features, though it lacks AOD. To be fair, Samsung is marketing this phone as the fun one. That means colorful cover display wallpapers and fancy RFID cases that light up. It feels like the Flip 6's front lacks function. I've never been a huge fan of Samsung's One UI, but it's improved a lot over the years.The latest version running on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 - One UI 6.1 - implements features like Quick Settings, notifications, and customization options very well. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 absolutely contributes to the smooth experience, and I've come across no performance issues. Videos, albeit smaller due to the aspect ratio, run well and productivity apps work great. Samsung has also incorporated a lot of AI into the new version of One UI. For instance, there are more translation options throughout the OS, allowing you to easily convert documents, images, and more into a language you understand. There's even an option in the Phone app that allows you to translate incoming and outgoing calls. Much like on the Pixel Fold, Samsung adopted the feature that allows you to see translated text one the outer display while you're speaking. This comes to the Z Fold 6, as well, but it's especially good on the easier-to-manage Flip 6. Google's Circle to Search function is present in One UI. The feature lets users search any page and, by extension, translate any page. I've become reliant on this feature on both the Flip and Pixel series, and it's nice to see it implemented in One UI on brand-new devices. As far as new features go, Samsung's AI sketch tool is one of the only apparent additions, though it feels a little useless. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 employs a 50MP main shooter next to a 12MP ultrawide lens. The main camera, on paper, should perform very well. In reality, it's good, not great. With the release of the Galaxy S24 series, it felt as though Samsung upped it's camera game just a little bit. there seemed to be a change in post-processing that meant clear, better images. that change looks to have extended to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, though the changes are as advanced as I would've liked. Images look a little more crisp and detailed than before, but they always seem to lack a little life. I feel like a lot of that comes from poor shadow rendering, where darker parts of the image take on more grain than anything else. Images feel a little unbalanced, in a way. Ben Schoon echoes the same thought in his Gaaxy Z Fold 6 review. New, better hardware isn't going to fix it. This is a processing matter and Samsung should be doing better than they are right now with smartphone cameras. Even still, the Z Flip 6's camera is plenty usable, and I wouldn't be upset to be stuck with it. The built-in tripod mode is a nice feature, especially with the auto-zoom function. When it works, it's a nice little plus. Another plus is the inherent ability to take better selfies than in most other phones. The Z Flip 6 takes on a bigger 4,000mAh battery, and the change more than shows. Every day I can get everything I need out of the phone. That includes everything you'd normally do, like texting, social media, and streaming. I don't find myself playing a lot of games on the Flip series, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the battery life too bad. I'm pretty sure a part of why the battery works well is the lack of always-on display. In a slab phone, you'll use AOD as part of the phone's normal function. In a flip phone, if the cover display lacks AOD, you'll likely never use it. Samsung does offer the feature for the internal display, but I never leave the phone sitting open. Another part of it is the low-powered front panel, which likely draws less power than the internal one. Even still, I have enjoyed the daily power consumption aspect of the Z Flip 6. I've been able to get it on a charger before I hit 20% each day, but your mileage will vary. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is not a bad phone. in fact, it's a very good one. From a performance point of view, the Flip 6 offers a smooth and easy phone experience. What it's not very good at is the whole "flip" part of it. The cover display really kills me. It doesn't make the experience any better and simply offers a low-res pretty wallpaper at the end of the day. If Samsung had taken a page from Motorola, maybe this review would echo a different sentiment. Beyond that, it has a passable camera with good battery life and incredible hardware design. At $1,099, it's $100 more expensive than the Flip 5. The only major differences are battery and physical camera changes. It's hard to classify the Galaxy Z Flip 6 as a "new phone," rather, it's just wearing some new pieces. Even still, it's the best flip foldable Samsung has released so far in just about every way.

Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review: Wonderful, but Complicated to Recommend

$1,100 starting price Cover screen a step down from the internal one Wonky way to add apps to cover screen For better or worse, Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6 foldable is packed with AI. It can take a rough sketch and turn it into artwork, or help me have a conversation in French or Korean despite me only knowing a few words of either language. But after testing the Z Flip 6 for 12 days, only one AI feature gave me an "aha" moment: the new autofocus/auto zoom feature. I can prop the phone in a half-open position, like a mini laptop, and use the external cameras to take a photo - this part is nothing new. But here's where AI enters the picture. Depending on where I'm standing or how many of us are in the shot, the Z Flip 6 will zoom in or out (switching between the main and ultrawide cameras) to get a photo that best suits the moment. It's not particularly fast or perfect, but I absolutely dig the results. This might be one of the best implementations of phone camera AI that I've experienced - it's right up there with Best Take on the Pixel 8 series. The auto zoom feature and the Interpreter tool are the only AI features that take advantage of the Z Flip 6's unique form factor. More of this please, Samsung. At a time when phone makers like Samsung, Google and Apple push for AI to be the next big thing, it'll likely be simple, unique use cases like the Z Flip 6's auto zoom that get people on board - as long as they work mostly as advertised. What's funny is that AI upgrades aren't even the Galaxy Z Flip 6's best new features. Samsung's latest clamshell style foldable has a new 50-megapixel main camera, finally putting it on par with non-folding flagship phone cameras. The hinge is smaller and helps reduce the size of the crease on the internal screen. It has a new chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and 12GB of RAM for flagship performance. There's even a larger battery. For all intents and purposes, the new Z Flip 6 is a Galaxy S24 that can fold in half - which is fantastic. So the Z Flip 6 should be a slam dunk, right? It would be if it weren't for two things. Samsung raised the price from an already hefty $1,000 to $1,100, and that changes the Flip's value for the worse. The Z Flip is expensive because it folds in half and requires a cutting-edge design to do so. But that's a departure from Samsung's previous approach, which involved packing an incredible amount of features in older Flips at a more reasonable price. You may be able to get a good trade-in deal for a discount on the Z Flip 6 - but it's still $1,100, which makes the phone a premium proposition, well outside of most people's budgets. Then there are Samsung's competitors like Motorola and its new Razr Plus, which also has a new camera, hinge and chip, 12GB of RAM, a larger battery and more AI. It costs $1,000, which is still a lot. But is Samsung's phone really worth an extra $100? No. All this makes it hard to appreciate the Galaxy Z Flip 6 for the absolute great phone that it is. And it is indeed an outstanding phone. But so is the Razr Plus, which also costs less. The Z Flip 6 looks nearly identical to last year's Galaxy Z Flip 5. The glossy back is gone, and in its place is a matte finish that makes the phone look more sophisticated. My review unit is blue on the back with matching highlights around the rings of the cover screen's cameras. It looks killer and industrial. The Z Flip 6 has a striking Bauhaus-like style that would make Dieter Rams happy. When I hold the phone, it feels rigid, solid and like one continuous piece. It has an IP48 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning it can be submerged under 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes. But it's the first number in that rating that is particularly exciting. The "4" in the IP-rating means that the Flip 6 can resist solid objects greater than one millimeter. So fine particles are still a potential enemy, but it should keep out larger dirt grains. Dust ingress has always been a major weakness for foldable phones, dating back to Samsung's original foldable. In 2019, the first round of reviewer models for the first Galaxy Z Fold suffered a number of calamities including having dust and particles work their way through the hinge and under the foldable display. How far we've come! But let me reiterate: There's a dust resistance rating! Aside from last year's Motorola Razr Plus and the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the only other foldable phone I know of that is rated for dust resistance. Does that mean you can take this phone with you to build a sand castle at the beach? Well, probably not. The internal display measures 6.7 inches and supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, just like last year's phone. Perhaps the biggest improvement is that the main screen now reaches a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, compared to the 1,750 nits of the Z Flip 5's internal display. This came in handy testing the phone on bright sunny July days as I could see everything on the screen. The main display's slender aspect ratio did take a little getting used to, especially the keyboard's narrow keys. If you're into watching movies, like me, then this aspect ratio is pretty killer for films shot in a movie theater aspect ratio, like Civil War or Furiosa. The tall slender screen also works great for multitasking with one app on the top half of the screen and a second app on the bottom. The Z Flip 6 has a 3.4-inch cover screen with that trademark Samsung folder file tab cutout for the cameras. It's small, but there are widgets and playful wallpapers optimized for it. With some chicanery, you can run pretty much any Android app you want on it, although I wish this ability was set up out of the box like on the Razr Plus. I still think the Razr Plus' 4-inch cover screen and software is better overall. The larger screen, sharper resolution and higher refresh rate go miles in making it more comfortable to use than the Flip 6. This is an area where Samsung comes up short. Making the cover screen easier to interact with and having it set up by default to run most Android apps would help to make it useful in more situations. Also, it feels odd going from the internal display's 120Hz to the cover screen's 60Hz. The Z Flip 6 has the same 10-megapixel selfie camera as last year's Z Flip 5. The external 12-megapixel ultrawide has an upgraded sensor, and there's a new 50-megapixel main camera that's similar to the one on the Galaxy S24 - which is similar to the one on the S23 and S22 before it. This is the best flip phone camera I've used, but non-flip phones like the Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra are still much better in terms of dynamic range and overall quality. Images from the main camera have sharp details, though some textures such as leaves look crispy from excess sharpening. This is not a dependable "freeze the action" kind of camera, especially when it's dark. Instead, this is a "good enough to post to IG and TikTok" camera. Some photos, like the one below of CNET video producer Jide Akinrinade, show the literal marks of processing. Notice the strange mark in the sky to the right of the lights on his camera. And just above that, take a close look at the "cloud cutout" around the edge of the trees. I don't think this matters a ton if you're viewing photos on social media or in a text message thread. But if you're looking for some keepers to print out and hang on the wall, you'll instantly see that the processing and noise-reduction, which in my experience gave some photos almost an airbrushed look. I am a big fan of Samsung's ultrawide cameras. The lens offers this sweet spot that makes subjects look dramatic without skewing too much into fisheye territory. But there's still room for improvement. Ultrawide images from the Z Flip 6 look decent but are soft and look processed, especially when it comes to details and textures like clouds. The Z Flip 6 is packed to the gills with AI features, but I'm not going to discuss them at length here. For more details, check out my in-depth experience testing Galaxy AI during a day in Paris. But I do want to share a few thoughts. The ability to draw on a photo and turn your sketch into a realistic-looking object or animal is wild. I wish I could use it to draw mustaches or eye patches on friend's faces because otherwise, I'm just not sure when I'd use this feature. But maybe I'll have a second career adding random AI-generated cats to photos? The Interpreter app on the Flip 6 has a mode which uses both screens to show each speaker what the other is saying in their own language, and it's very useful. The translation seems accurate, but not perfect. I tried it from English to Korean and English to French. One consequence that I didn't think about when using Interpreter mode is that the translation's lack of perfection could make a speaker feel self-conscious, or even embarrassed. When I used this mode to order coffee in Paris, the phone's translation was good but got words and phrases slightly wrong. For example, instead of translating a phrase to "yes, no problem," it said "agree on problems." The French speaker apologized, saying it was her accent that may have caused the translation to be off. While she didn't seem too stressed about it, the last thing I want is to make someone else feel embarrassed because AI couldn't understand exactly what they were saying. Then there's portrait studio, which turns a picture of a person into artwork. It's silly and fun, and the results are far from accurate. Again, I'm not sure when I'd use this. All this to say while AI-powered tools like Circle To Search and auto zoom are nifty, they shouldn't be the main reason to get the Z Flip 6 -- or any Samsung phone, for that matter. Lastly, let's talk about performance and battery life. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 12GB of RAM make the Z Flip 6 peppy, fast and fun to use. Even demanding tasks like 4K video recording or playing video games like Genshin Impact didn't seem to stress the phone. The Z Flip 6 has a built-in vapor chamber cooling system for the first time, which no doubt helps keep things from getting hot (remember, this is a super tiny, thin foldable phone). It did occasionally get warm, but nothing I'd worry about. Benchmark test results for the CPU in Geekbench 6 place the Z Flip 6 right up there with other Galaxy S24 phones and the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, while outpacing the Motorola Razr Plus. In a graphics test using 3D Mark's Wild Life Extreme, the Z Flip 6 scored well, just behind the S24 series but ahead of last year's S23 series and the new Motorola Razr Plus. That cooling system along with a larger 4,000-mAh battery has meant that the Z Flip 6 is an all-day phone. Over the 12 days I've used it, the Z Flip 6 finished the day with 10 to 15% of a charge left. And I got that result on days where I had the screen cranked to full brightness and was shooting tons of photos and videos. In CNET's 45-minute battery endurance test (which involves having a video call, playing a video game, scrolling social media and streaming a video) the Z Flip 6's battery dropped by 12%. That's more than the 10% both the new Razr Plus and the Z Flip 5 lost in the same test. In CNET's three-hour video-streaming test, the Z Flip 6 dropped 19%, which is nearly identical to the Z Flip 5's result of 20% in the same test. It's also more than the 16% the Razr Plus lost. Ultimately, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a wonderful phone. The fact that Samsung offers seven years of OS and security software upgrades is amazing - that's more than double the three years Motorola promises for the Razr Plus. And if I were just judging the two phones on this one criteria, the Z Flip 6 would be my pick, hands down. But the truth is Motorola made a number of smarter compromises to keep the Razr Plus' price at a grand, like using the less power-hungry Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chip while expanding the cover screen's size and capabilities. If the Z Flip 6 and Razr Plus were the same price, it would be harder to choose between the two. That's not to say that you shouldn't get a Z Flip 6. It's just to say you have other options that are just as compelling. Every phone tested by CNET's reviews team was used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like Geekbench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates. All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests. We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET's initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 review: Smarter than ever, and compact, too

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. In just two days, the latest generation of the world's bestselling folding smartphone -- the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 -- will debut, and it's chock full of new features. We're talking all kinds of AI-fueled functions, plus faster performance, a better camera system, a longer-lasting battery and a more compact design. Right now, you can preorder the phone, save money and get some nice perks. Whether you're an experienced Android smartphone user, or thinking about switching from an Apple iPhone to the Galaxy Z Flip6 because you're intrigued by its folding design, there are some compelling reasons to make this your next phone. The folks at AT&T Wireless sent me a review unit of this folding phone (pre-activated with its wireless service) for me to try firsthand. Before you preorder one for yourself, keep reading to learn about my experiences using it. Or if you've already made up your mind (and -- here's a hint: I can't blame you) you can get it below. People love the the Galaxy Z Flip smartphone. It comfortably fits in a pocket, is easy to hold, makes for easy content creation, and it now offers the latest AI features. The phone is also durable and highly customizable. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 also comes in a bunch of trendy colors. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 starts shipping July 24 with a base price of $1,100, but Samsung, Amazon and AT&T are each offering preorder deals that are well worth taking advantage of. Right now, when you preorder the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 directly from Samsung and have an eligible trade-in, you can get up to $650 in instant credit. You also get a free memory upgrade, from 256GB to 512GB (worth $120). And if you purchase the new Galaxy Buds3 Pro earbuds, Galaxy Buds3 earbuds, Galaxy Watch Ultra, or Galaxy Watch7 at the same time, you get an extra 25% off these. If you activate the phone with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or US Cellular when purchasing it from Samsung, you'll get one year of Samsung Care+ for free (a $156 value). Samsung also has three casing colors that are exclusive, including black, peach and white. Plus, anyone who qualifies for the Samsung Offer Program -- including educators, students, first responders, U.S. military personnel (as well as veterans and their families), and U.S. government employees -- is eligible for an additional discount. AT&T is also offering a free memory upgrade, from 256GB to 512GB, when you preorder the phone. But if you take advantage of AT&T's trade-in plan, activate service and sign up for 36 month, zero-interest financing, you can get up to $1,100 off. This means the phone is basically free. Of course, restrictions apply. When you preorder the Galaxy Z Flip6 from Amazon for $1,100, you automatically receive a free memory upgrade, from 256GB to 512GB, plus get a $200 Amazon gift card as a bonus. Front display: 3.4" | Main display: 6.7" | Display type: Dynamic AMOLED 2x (main), Super AMOLED (front) | Display resolution: 2,640 x 1,080 pixels (main), 720 x 748 pixels (front) | Display brightness: Up to 2,600 nits (main), 1,600 nits (front) | Refresh Rate: Up to 120Hz (main), 60Hz (front) | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (octa-core) | CPU speed: Up to 3.39 GHz | Storage options: 256GB or 512GB (with 12GB of RAM) | Housing material: Enhanced Armor Aluminum, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Dimensions (open): 6.5 x 2.83 x 0.27 inches | Dimensions (folded): 3.35 x 2.83 x 0.59 inches | Weight: 6.6 ounces | Front camera: 10MP | Rear camera system: 50MP (wide), 12MP (ultra-wide) | Rear camera zoom: 2x optical, 10x digital | Operating system: Android | Port: USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C | Waterproof rating: IP48 | Battery capacity: 4,000 mAh The Galaxy Z Flip6 is part of Samsung's Galaxy ecosystem, which means it works with the Galaxy smartwatches, tablets, laptops, wireless earbuds and even the new health and fitness-oriented Samsung Galaxy Ring (also available for preorder). Aside from being a bit thinner and lighter than the previous model, a few of the standout new features include brighter and more detailed displays, more RAM, faster performance and a longer battery life. All that allows the phone to handle AI-driven features, like advanced photo and video editing, live language translation, audio transcription and summarization, and the Circle to Search feature that was introduced with the Flip5. The angle adjustability of the phone also gives it capabilities that rectangular phones can't match. The folding design of the Flip6 and its front-facing display provide really cool ways to interact with the phone -- without opening it. Caller ID, texts, notifications, email summaries and other data appears on the display. This is a key reason to switch from a traditional phone to one with a folding design, like the Flip6. Galaxy AI is powered by Google Gemini, which is Google's enhanced AI toolset. Here are five of the features I found to be the most powerful and useful: One of the most compelling things about the Galaxy Z Flip6 is its camera system. Launch the Camera app and snap a photo using the front camera (on the cover) while the phone is still folded, or open the phone to gain full access to the full array of camera functions. You get easy access to a handful of core shooting modes -- Photo, Portrait, Video, Pro, Pro Video, Night, Food, Panorama, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse, Portrait Video, Dual Record, and Single Take. You can turn off the flash, set a timer, adjust the aspect ratio, activate the Motion picture taking feature, turn on filters, use the Face or Color Tone features, switch between the front and rear-facing cameras, and when using the rear cameras, switch between resolutions (up to 50MP). That's all pretty straightforward and what you'd expect from most Android phones. But we haven't gotten to the new AI functions yet. The Shot Suggestions feature analyzes what's in your viewfinder and suggests how to frame the perfect shot. Here are a few images I took with the phone. The first image was taken using the 50MP, rear-facing camera with no zoom. The below image showcases the capabilities of the Camera app's zoom and micro photography capabilities. The rear-facing, 12MP camera can capture the extreme detail and vibrant color of small objects with no difficulty. While walking briskly, I snapped the below selfie. The Camera app's AI-driven image stabilization was able to ensure that everything in the image remained in focus, while auto-adjusting lighting, color, contrast and other photo taking features in real time. The camera setup built into the Galaxy Z Flip6 is certainly impressive, but the AI tools make editing and enhancing images incredibly simple. Using a few on-screen taps, I used the Blur Background feature to edit the original selfie. This feature puts more emphasis on the main subject. With the introduction of Galaxy AI, many photo editing tools available are greatly enhanced. The below image focuses on the dog as the main subject, but the blue bow on her harness and the small objects in the background are visually distracting. Using the AI-based Object Eraser tool, simply by drawing a lasso around the unwanted objects, I easily removed them in a matter of seconds. This is just a sample of one image editing tool that uses AI to perform tasks that in the past required advanced photo editing skills and tools being used on a powerful computer (not a mobile device). Both the front and main displays on the Galaxy Z Flip6 are touchscreens and are impressively customizable. In addition to personalizing the home screen layout, you can add custom widgets, so information and features are easily accessible. When folded, the compact size of the phone makes it easy to hold in one hand or slip into a pocket. It's this compact design that makes the phone very appealing. Plus, many of the core functions you'd use the phone for (like calls, messaging and picture taking) can be accessed from the cover screen while the phone is folded. Based on the app you're using and whether the phone is opened at an angle or fully extended, whatever's on the screen auto-adjusts. Samsung has done an impressive job fine-tuning the interface and performance of this latest Flip phone. The most compelling features, however, are the ways AI has been integrated into the Android operating system, preinstalled Google apps and into so many of the features and functions. With generous preorder deals now available, it's the perfect time to experience firsthand a powerful Android device that makes excellent use of artificial intelligence. After testing the phone for several days, I have an extremely positive initial impression and definitely recommend it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 review: Perfect for students, content creators and more

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. The new Fold6 is thinner, lighter, more powerful and faster than anything else in the AI-packed Galaxy Z Fold lineup. It also has more detailed and vibrant displays, a faster processor, and more smarts than ever, thanks to AI that can help with all kinds everyday conundrums. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is now available for preorder from Samsung, AT&T, Amazon and other retailers. By preordering your phone today, you can snag a great deals that'll save you some money. The phone begins shipping July 24 with a starting price of $2,020 (before money-saving offers). AT&T sent me a review unit (activated with its service), so I could try out the Galaxy Z Fold6 myself. This phone is perfect for busy students or power Android phone users who need a larger display and want to multitask, but don't want to carry around a smartphone and a tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 runs the latest version of Android. It also integrates the latest Galaxy AI features and an even more compact form when it's folded. It's now thinner and a bit smaller (when folded) than other popular smartphones, like the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. When it's unfolded, you get the functionality of a small tablet, plus the ability to run two apps at once. This makes it a perfect phone for college students, mobile gamers, content creators or anyone else who wants a feature-packed Android phone that makes full use of Galaxy AI. This phone is also compatible with the optional S Pen stylus, so you can handwrite, draw or annotate directly on the screen. Pro Tip: If you're thinking about switching from an Apple iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, our in-house tech experts have compiled five compelling reasons to do this. It's not too late to preorder the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and take advantage of the deals being offered by Samsung, AT&T or Amazon. Get up to $1,200 in instant trade-in credit and a free memory upgrade (worth up to $240). Plus, if you purchase the phone from Samsung and activate it with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or U.S. Cellular, Samsung with throw in one year of Samsung Care+ for free (a $156 value). Samsung has two exclusive phone color options -- black or white. At the same time you preorder the Galaxy Z Fold6, if you also purchase the new Galaxy Buds3 Pro earbuds, Galaxy Buds3 earbuds, Galaxy Watch Ultra, or Galaxy Watch 7, Samsung will immediately take 25% off any of this gear. And yes, financing is available. When you preorder the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 from AT&T, you can purchase it outright or sign up for an installment plan. Either way, you'll get up to $1,100 in instant credit for your old (eligible) phone, plus get a free memory upgrade for the new phone. You can also add an eligible Galaxy Watch7 (40mm) or Galaxy Tab A9 + 5G tablet to your order for just $0.99 per month each (after 36 monthly credits). And AT&T will give you up to 50% off any Samsung accessories you purchase at the same time you preorder. Amazon is offering up to $420 off the Samsung Galaxy Fold6 when you preorder. This deal doubles the phone's storage space, and as a bonus, you get a $300 Amazon gift card. Front display: 6.3" | Main display: 7.6" | Display type: Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity Flex (main), Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity-O (front) | Display resolution: 2,160 x 1,856 pixels (main), 986 x 2,376 pixels (front) | Display brightness: Up to 2,600 nits (main and front) | Refresh Rate: Up to 120Hz (main and front) | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy | CPU speed: Up to 3.39 GHz | Storage options: 256GB, 512GB or 1TB | RAM: 12GB | Housing material: Enhanced Armor Aluminum, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Dimensions (open): 6.04 x 5.22 x 0.22 inches | Dimensions (folded): 6.04 x 2.68 x 0.48 inches | Weight: 8.43 ounces | Front camera: 10MP (main), 4MP (under display) | Rear camera system: 50MP (wide), 12MP (ultra-wide), 10MP (telephoto) | Rear camera zoom: 3x optical, 30x digital | Operating system: Android | Port: USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C | Waterproof rating: IP48 | Battery capacity: 4,400 mAh (up to 77 hours) | S Pen stylus: Sold separately ($55) Compared to the previous model, the Galaxy Z Fold6's CPU offers 18% faster performance, while the GPU can render graphics 19% faster and the NPU offers 42% better on-device AI performance. Combine this with the slimmed down and lighter design of the phone itself, along with the improved battery life and more vibrant and responsive displays, and this phone becomes a wonderfully customizable tool for students, content creators or just a really busy power user. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 features three touchscreens -- the outer 6.3-inch display and the inside display. The inside display can be used as two separate displays -- so you can run two apps at the same time -- or you can use it as a single screen. The fold in the main display is barely noticeable. One standout feature is the enhanced camera system. The Fold6 offers improved cameras, plus dramatically upgraded photo and video enhancement via AI-driven tools. Add S Pen stylus support, and you get a tool that power users really appreciate. The multitasking capabilities offered by the inside screen is unparalleled, but when you use the unfolded inside screen to run a single app, having that extra on-screen real estate offers a tablet-like experience, especially when it comes to streaming video, editing photos, playing games, word processing, note taking (with your own handwriting) or surfing the web. Combine this functionality with the Galaxy AI integration and you get a powerful device that asily fits in a pocket and held comfortably with one hand. And since the outside display is also a touchscreen, you can use the Galaxy Z Fold6 while it's still folded. So, you get full smartphone functionality for calling, messaging, receiving alerts, using the cameras and more without having to unfold the phone. Galaxy AI is powered by Google Gemini, which is Google's enhanced AI toolset. It's designed to adapt to your habit, make decisions for you and help you enhance your productivity and organization. The AI also swaps data seamlessly between apps, and gives you access to an enhanced chat feature. Galaxy AI can already do a lot, but it's constantly being improved. Here are six of the features that impressed me the most: The Note Assist app allows you to handwrite on the screen and have what you write translated into editable and sharable text. You can also tap into the AI tools to create to-do lists or summarize long documents. And when it comes to word processing, not only does the inside screen offer plenty of space, but you can edit using an external keyboard or the on-screen virtual keyboard. Plus, you can annotate, markup and sign documents using the S Pen stylus that's sold separately. The Galaxy Z Fold6 works flawlessly with Google's free Workspace apps (including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chat, Meet, Drive, Gmail, Calendar and Chrome), but can also run all Microsoft 365 apps if you subscribe to this service. And with the phone unfolded, you can easily cut and paste or drag-and-drop content between two apps. There's a split-screen mode and a floating window mode that can even display video while you're working on something else. Composing text -- whether it's an entire document, email message, text message, a love note, an original limerick or a haiku about any topic you type or say -- has never been faster or easier. This phone can compose text from scratch based on prompts you provide, or tweak your own content to make you seem -- dare we say -- smarter. And based on how you're holding the phone, the inside screen automatically adapts to better organize and showcase information.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6 Are Impressive as Ever, but Competition Is Fierce

Refined, well-built folding phones with a smart new design. Fold6's front screen is great. Sketch to Image is my favorite AI feature. Six years on, I'd have liked to see Samsung in a different place with its folding smartphones. Don't get me wrong, the new Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 are closer than ever to fully matching their nonfolding counterparts, with better durability, slimmer designs, brighter screens, and lighter weight. Every year we've seen small refinements, but these devices cost more than ever: The Fold6 starts at $1,900 and the Flip6 is $1,100 -- $100 more than 2023's models. I'd have expected Samsung to figure out how to stuff its popular S Pen stylus from its Galaxy S Ultra series into the Z Fold series by now, truly turning it into a mini drawing tablet. I assumed we'd see far more apps supporting a multipane layout on the 7.6-inch screen instead of the blown-up version from a normal phone (looking at you, Slack). Or more creative ways to use the screen real estate, something the OnePlus Open excelled at on its first try. Dare I ask for a 5X zoom camera like on Google's Pixel Fold? Even with the folding flip phones, I prefer what Motorola's doing with its larger external screen. Samsung's updates on the Flip6 seem stale. I might be a little unfair in this criticism. Almost no one else has a lineup of six generations of folding phones, and these handsets now feel equivalent to the traditional smartphone unlike any other folding handset sold in the US. You don't have to worry about water resistance, overall durability has improved (they've been tested for some dust resistance now at IP48!), and the specs are more or less identical to the Galaxy S24 flagship phones (you can read all the full details about these phones here). Samsung is even offering a free replacement screen protector on its folding devices if you scratch the internal screen one year from your purchase date, or a reduced $200 screen repair price if you crack the display two years from the date you bought it. That helps remove some apprehension when dropping wads of cash on a phone with a hinge. I like the new angular, sharp edges of the Fold6 and Flip6, but the Fold6's wider front screen is what's most impressive. Yes, the device is still a bit thick, but using this 6.3-inch screen feels completely normal, unlike in previous years. Apps don't feel squeezed in, and I've been comfortably using it roughly 70 percent of the time. The other 30 percent is with the phone opened to its expansive 7.6-inch display. It's remarkable how flat this unfolded device is; it's an engineering marvel. The Flip6 continues this impressive build quality, though I wish there were an indented lip to more easily open the device with one hand (I don't have long nails, so this could be a me problem). I find the external screen on the new Razr+ more useful and easier to navigate, whereas you need to do more work to customize the Flip6's cover screen to get what you want. Samsung has added a vapor chamber to dissipate heat and cool the Flip6 during intense processing. But on my day out with it in the Paris heat (around 80 degrees Fahrenheit), snapping pics and using Google Maps, I got a notification telling me the device needed to cool down. Still, it is so much easier to recommend the Flip6 to anyone. Who doesn't want a tiny phone in their pocket that expands to a 6.7-inch screen with a flick? The battery life, thanks to a beefier 4,000-mAh cell, is a little better, though it requires a once-a-day charge with average use. On busy days, like when I walked throughout Montparnasse in Paris for half the day, I had to borrow someone's charger so I wasn't stranded without a phone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review: pure laziness | Digital Trends

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us? Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 MSRP $1,100.00 Score Details "The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a very good foldable held back by a higher price and tough competition." Pros Top-notch hardware IP48 dust and water resistance Very good inner display Fast, snappy performance New 50MP camera is great Seven years of updates Cons Bad cover screen Slow charge speeds Frustrating price increase Extremely similar to the Flip 5 Well, folks -- you know what we're here for. It's time to review the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. It's the same phone as the Galaxy Z Flip 5, except there are colors around the cameras, and it's more expensive. Bye! Contents Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: design and hardwareSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: screensSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: camerasSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: performance and batterySamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: software and updatesSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: price and availabilitySamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: verdictShow 2 more items I jest, but that's not a totally inaccurate description of the Z Flip 6. This year's Flip is a very solid phone that's objectively good at everything it does, but it's also an incredibly lazy one that I struggle to wholeheartedly recommend. Confused by that juxtaposition? Let me explain. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: design and hardware Let's start on a positive note. As far as flip phone foldable build quality is concerned, I'm not sure it gets much better than the Flip 6. Samsung has been churning out folding phones for five years now, and it shows. The Z Flip 6 is sturdy, well-made, and almost perfect in its design -- save for one thing. I love that the Flip 6's aluminum frame is now matte instead of glossy like it was on the Flip 5, but the flatter sides and sharper edges don't feel nearly as comfortable. I don't like the glossy frame on the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, for example, but I also find its rounded edges and frame much nicer to hold. The Flip 6 isn't annoying to hold, though I do hope the more rounded design comes back next year. The Z Flip 6 also has an exceptional hinge. It moves fluidly with no resistance or creakiness, it can be propped up at almost any angle, and it easily snaps open and closes shut with one hand. The hinge is also more durable than ever, featuring Samsung's new "dual rail hinge" design. The company says it has better shock distribution than past models, while the new folding edge mechanism offers better resistance to pressure and sharp objects. Combined with an IP48 rating that offers dust and water resistance, this is one of the most durable folding phones you'll find. But it's not just the hinge that Samsung does so well; it also expertly executes the smaller details. All of the buttons are firm and clicky. The speaker is loud and sounds surprisingly full. The fingerprint sensor is lightning-fast. These are smaller details that other flip phones sometimes have to sacrifice, but not here. Previous Next 1 of 4 As for colors, there are a lot. The "normal" colors this year include yellow, mint, blue, and gray. Yellow is my personal favorite, though I've grown quite fond of the blue color on my review unit. If you buy the Flip 6 from Samsung's website, you get three more options: peach, white, and "Crafted Black." Crafted Black has a Kevlar-like texture on the back that looks cool in photos, though it feels a bit cheap in person. Also, even though I joked about it at the beginning of the review, I do kind of love the matching colors around the cameras. It's a fun touch. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: screens We have two screens to discuss here, and we'll start with the inner one. It's great! It's a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with a 2640 x 1080 resolution, up to a 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 2600 nits of peak brightness. The increased brightness is a very nice touch (up from 1750 nits on the Flip 5), but otherwise, this is the same display as last year. This is one area where I'm fine with Samsung keeping things the same. The Flip 6's display is bright, colorful, and sharp, and it looks excellent whether I'm watching YouTube or scrolling Reddit. Samsung has long been an expert in the display field, and it shows once again on the Flip 6. I also have to mention that the crease is far less prominent on the Flip 6 than it was on the Flip 5. It's still there and more noticeable than the almost nonexistent crease on Motorola's new Razr phones, but it's a big step in the right direction. Where the Flip 5's crease felt like a canyon, the Flip 6's feels like a very small divet. That's the inner screen -- what about the cover one? This is where I start complaining. Last year, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 took the teeny-tiny 1.9-inch cover display on the Flip 4 and expanded it to a much larger 3.4-inch one. It was a big deal, enabling helpful widgets, an on-screen keyboard, and full application support. It was a commendable step forward, but even in 2023, it already fell behind what Motorola offered with that year's version of the Razr Plus. So, how did Samsung improve the cover screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 6? It ... didn't. Not at all. Just like last year, it's a 3.4-inch AMOLED panel with a 720 x 748 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. It's serviceable, but that's about it. The low resolution makes icons and text look fuzzy, the 60Hz refresh rate feels sluggish, and the 3.4-inch size feels cramped by 2024 standards. You also still can't run apps on the cover screen without jumping through a half dozen hoops. Meanwhile, the Z Flip 6's biggest competitor -- the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 -- kicks the living daylights out of it. For context, the Razr's cover screen is a 4-inch AMOLED panel with a 1080 x 2640 resolution and up to a 165Hz refresh rate. Yes, those are the cover screen specs. The Razr Plus makes the Galaxy Z Flip 6 look antiquated by comparison. This is one of the areas where Samsung needed to improve the most. Instead, it took the Flip 5's cover screen, slapped it on the Flip 6, and called it a day. It's incredibly disappointing and one of the phone's biggest sins. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: cameras On a better note, the Galaxy Z Flip 6's cameras are good. They aren't amazing, but the two main sensors are capable and reliable. If you want a phone that can consistently capture great (if not phenomenal) images, you'll be happy here. The star of the show is a 50-megapixel primary camera -- the same one you get on the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus. It's joined by a 12MP ultrawide camera with a 123-degree field of view, plus a 10MP selfie camera at the top of the inner display. Overall, photos captured by the Z Flip 6 look nice. Images are sharp and detailed and often return bright, pleasing colors. The jump to a 50MP primary camera over the 12MP camera on the Z Flip 5 is particularly handy. Not only do standard 1x photos look sharper, but digital zoom on the Flip 6 is also very usable. Samsung says 2x photos are "optical quality zoom," and I tend to agree. Even jumping to 4x and 10x, I don't hate the results. It certainly doesn't make up for the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera, but it makes the camera system more versatile than last year. The 12MP ultrawide camera is good, too. There's some slight distortion at the edges, but the 123-degree field of view allows you to capture a lot more in the frame. Photos also have a decent amount of detail despite the lower 12MP resolution, and colors are very similar to photos taken with the main camera. Like previous Samsung phones, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 still struggles a bit with moving subjects. It can also be a little much with vibrant colors at times, particularly with bright blue skies. Similar to the Flip 5, the Flip 6 has a good camera system, if not a spectacular one. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: performance and battery Take a look inside the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and you'll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset -- the exact same one you get in the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra. It also comes equipped with 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage -- a welcome increase from the 8GB of RAM on the Flip 5. As expected, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 performs exceptionally. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 performs exceptionally. It is worth mentioning that the Z Flip 6 is the first Z Flip smartphone with a vapor chamber -- specifically, one that's 50% larger than the vapor chamber used in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This is supposed to keep the Z Flip 6 much cooler when under pressure compared to past models, and it seems to work well. I've noticed the top part of the phone warm up once, and that was only after almost an hour of streaming a 2160p YouTube video while also running other apps on the phone. Throughout "normal" use, the Flip 6 stays as cool as a cucumber. What about battery life? The 4,000 mAh battery inside the Flip 6 is the largest one Samsung has ever put in a Z Flip, and while it's still a one-day smartphone like its predecessor, it's a more comfortable one-day phone. With over three-and-a-half hours of screentime (including YouTube, X, Telegram, etc.), I can easily start a day at 6 or 7 a.m. and get to well past 11 p.m. with 25% (or more) battery remaining. Samsung certainly still has room to improve, but this is a step up compared to the Z Flip 5. Unfortunately, charging speeds haven't improved at all. Once again, you're stuck with 25-watt wired charging, 15W wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. For a phone in 2024 -- let alone one that costs $1,100 -- Samsung should have done much better here. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: software and updates The Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes with Android 14 and is paired with Samsung's One UI 6.1.1 interface. If you've used a Samsung phone in the last couple of years, you'll be right at home. While Samsung's take on Android isn't my preferred interface, this latest version of One UI is incredibly smooth, polished, and feature-packed. While I don't like the cover screen's hardware, I do appreciate some of the updated software for it this year. In addition to customizing the cover screen with full-size widgets for things like the weather, your calendar, and more, you can now have pages with multiple smaller widgets. For example, I have one page with three different Samsung Health widgets, and tapping each one shows more information about it. It's a small change, but I really like it. Speaking of AI, all of the Galaxy AI features introduced with the Galaxy S24 series are on the Galaxy Z Flip 6. This includes Circle to Search, the Interpreter app, Chat Assist, etc. These features all work on the Z Flip 6 just like they do on every other Samsung phone with Galaxy AI, though the Flip has a couple of exclusive additions. For one, Interpreter mode can be used with the cover screen -- showing your language on the main screen and the other person's language on the cover screen. If you're traveling in another country and trying to converse with someone in a different language, it's a bit easier than both of you huddling around one display. Further, if you're looking at a message on the cover screen, Chat Assist can analyze your conversation and offer suggested replies based on the context of the messages. There's also a new "Sketch to Image" feature. As the name implies, you can sketch/draw on top of a photo you've taken, and Galaxy AI will turn it into something much more impressive. It's fine and technically works, but I can't personally see myself ever using it after this review. You can see a couple of examples above. I don't think Galaxy AI is the reason to buy a Samsung phone over a competitor, but it is nice to see Samsung finding more use cases for its AI tech -- even if ones like Sketch to Image are downright silly. As for updates, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is promised seven years of software updates, including major Android OS upgrades and security patches. This is the same level of support you get on the Galaxy S24 series, and it's great that Samsung has extended it to the Z Flip 6. Well done, Sammy. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: price and availability The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is available for preorder now. It starts at $1,100 in the U.S., which is a $100 increase over the Flip 5. If you need more storage (the base model comes with 256GB), you can upgrade to the 512GB version for $1,220. Price increases are a natural part of the smartphone industry, but it feels especially bad with the Z Flip 6. By every measure imaginable, this is an extremely iterative update over last year's Galaxy Z Flip 5. Outside of improved durability, a new chipset, a little extra RAM, and a new camera, it's essentially the same phone as last year. The Z Flip 6 can be purchased from Samsung's website, Amazon, Best Buy, and most major carriers. Regular sales will begin on July 24. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: verdict Samsung got so much right with the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The hardware is top-notch and among the best you can find. The inner display is wonderful. Performance is lightning quick. Battery life is reliable. The cameras are strong. The seven-year update guarantee is huge. That's a lot of praise, and it's all rightfully earned. But for everything the Z Flip 6 does well, there's one nagging issue that can't be overlooked: how little Samsung actually changed. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a very solid smartphone, but that's largely because it's essentially a rehash of the Flip 5. The Flip 6 has a nice design, but it's almost identical to the Flip 5. It runs well, but the Flip 5 is plenty fast, too. The Flip 6 cameras are great, but they aren't a massive improvement over the Flip 5. Keeping what works is fine, but Samsung also kept what didn't work -- namely, the cover screen and the slow charge speeds. Combine all of that with the $100 price increase, and it's difficult to justify what Samsung's trying to sell here. This all puts the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in an awkward position. This all puts the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in an awkward position. If you have a much older Z Flip and you're dead set on getting the newest model, you won't have a bad time with the Flip 6 at all. Hell, I've had a great time using it. But I also don't think it should be at the top of your shopping list. If you want a good Samsung foldable, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars by buying a Galaxy Z Flip 5 and really not miss out on much at all. Alternatively, if you can escape Team Samsung, this year's Razr Plus kicks the Flip 6's butt in more ways than one and costs $100 less. It's not that Samsung made a bad phone with the Galaxy Z Flip 6. It just made a lazy one.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Review - Pros and cons, Verdict | 91Mobiles

Charging speeds could have been better Limited customisation on cover screen It has been nearly half a decade since the first Samsung flip foldable phone was released. Since then, the company has been introducing newer iterations annually with incremental upgrades. Now, in its fifth generation (due to the company skipping a generation in 2021), Samsung's newest flip phone which comes in the form of the Galaxy Z Flip6 features a more seamless crease and premium design, an advanced chipset, upgraded camera hardware, bigger battery capacity, and a host of AI features. What does all this mean for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, which is priced starting at Rs 1,09,999? Read this review to find out. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 feels like a more refined iteration of its predecessor. Although I would have liked to see more significant changes, the updates are still greatly appreciated. Performance, camera quality, and battery life have all seen notable improvements. Additionally, the crease on the screen is less pronounced, and the overall design appears cleaner While charging speeds might not fully satisfy, the enhanced AI contributes to a more enjoyable user experience. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 design is similar to its predecessor, with subtle improvements that make it look cleaner and more elegant. For example, the side rings of the cameras now match the colour of the body. I received the grey variant of the device, but it also comes in yellow, blue, green, mint, graphite, lavender, and cream. Additionally, the edges are flatter and have a matte finish. While the design is visually appealing, I encountered one peculiar issue. If your finger is resting on the hinge when unfolding the device, there's a small chance of your skin getting caught between the corners covering the hinge. Though it doesn't sting or anything, it is something to keep in mind. This wasn't an issue with the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, another flip smartphone, or the Fold5. Using a case should be able to help here. Moving on, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 weighs 187 grams and feels comfortable for prolonged use. The company has also made the main display more impact-resistant and added a new coating to make it more scratch-resistant. Moreover, the handset is IP48 water and dust resistance certified. This is an advantage over the Razr 50 Ultra, which is IPX8-rated. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 features a 6.7-inch foldable FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED main display with a 120Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 2,600 nits, along with a 3.4-inch HD Super AMOLED cover display with a 60Hz refresh rate. There isn't an iota of change in the display, specs-wise. The crease on the main screen, however, has been improved to make it barely noticeable. Other than that, from viewing experience to usage, everything remains practically the same. The cover screen provides information through app widgets such as weather, calendar, smart home controls, and notifications. Additionally, access to apps like WhatsApp, YouTube, Maps, and others can be enabled via Samsung Labs in Settings. Although the space feels a bit cramped especially when typing, it's quite functional and can be used to send messages or quickly check directions without opening the device. The compatible apps support the continuation feature on the cover screen as well. The cover screen provides information through app widgets such as weather, calendar, smart home controls, and notifications. Additionally, access to apps like WhatsApp, YouTube, Maps, and more can be enabled via Samsung Labs in Settings. Although the space feels a bit cramped when typing, it's quite functional and can be used to send messages or quickly check directions without fully opening the device. Be that as it may, I wish it was a bit more customisable and offered support for more apps. Inadvertently, you will be forced to use the main screen, which is well-calibrated for most apps except for multimedia consumption. The 22:9 aspect ratio makes it less ideal for watching videos, as you'll see thick black bars on either side. However, it is a near bezel-less display, offering punchy and vibrant colours. It now even supports flex mode by default, allowing you to use a trackpad on the bottom portion of the screen while the phone is folded upright. My only qualm with the screen is its outdoor visibility. The brightness is slightly underwhelming compared to the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, which supports 3,000 nits of peak brightness. For security, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that unlocks the device quickly. Additionally, the phone has stereo speakers that provide sufficiently loud sound without crackling at maximum volume. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 has gone through camera hardware upgrades as well. The primary sensor has been enhanced to a 50MP OIS, up from the 12MP on the Galaxy Z Flip5. This is complemented by a 12MP ultrawide lens with an f/1.8 aperture. Spoiler alert! Cameras have not been the focal point of the foldables. That said, the handset still performs admirably. Both sensors produce crisp images with near-accurate colours (despite a tad saturation boost) in well-lit environments. In low-light conditions, the images are pleasing, though the details might look a bit muddy. To give you a better perspective of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 camera quality, we compared the results with one of its closest rivals Motorola Razr 50 Ultra. Check it out: For selfies too, more details are noticeable on the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra. However, skin tones look paler in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, which delivers more lively selfies from its 10MP front camera. When it comes to performance, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is driven by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. It is Qualcomm's flagship SoC that can be found on other smartphones within the segment. While its synthetic benchmark scores may not be on par with regular smartphones or some foldables, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 outperforms its immediate rival, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, which uses the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 scores approximately 15 lakh on AnTuTu and achieves 1,891 and 6,158 on Geekbench's single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. For everyday use, the phone delivers smooth performance. There were no stutters, app freezes, or crashes during browsing, streaming, scrolling, or when switching between the cover and main displays. The handset also manages gaming relatively well. Despite not being a gaming device, the phone's thermal management was on par with its competitors. The Z Flip6 temperature increased by roughly 6 degrees on average after playing some of the graphically demanding games such as BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3. On the software front, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 runs Android 14-based OneUI 6.1.1 out of the box. The phone comes with as many as 48 apps pre-installed, including six popular third-party ones which have millions of downloads. Moreover, the handset can be expected to receive seven years of major OS and security updates, which is the longest support for any foldable device in India to date. In addition to the AI features offered by the Galaxy S24 series, the Flip6 also comes with several other Galaxy AI features. Here's a look: Sketch to Image: As the name would suggest, this Galaxy AI transforms sketches into images. You can draw a sketch on any image (whether taken with the cameras or downloaded from the internet) as long as it is open in the Gallery app and the sparkle AI icon is selected. The AI converts your sketch into a real object, generating several variations of the image until you find the best one. While there are areas that still need improvement, it is a fun tool to use. Sketching on the Galaxy Z Flip6 might not be as accurate as on the Galaxy Fold6 that supports an S Pen and offers bigger screen real estate. Nevertheless, the generated results bear an AI-generated content watermark on the bottom edge to add clarity. Portrait Studio: This feature allows you to convert simple self-portraits into a stylised image, with Comics, 3D cartoons, Sketch, and Watercolour as the available options. Sketch and Watercolour provide more realistic results, while Comic and 3D cartoons can be less accurate and sometimes completely off. Additionally, the feature only works on individual photos, not group photos, and the effect is not applied to the entire image. Suggested replies: The feature on your screen looks at your last seven messages sent to a chat and suggests possible replies. Although nearly accurate, the replies sounded formal and lack that human touch. Interpreter: This tool utilises both the cover and main screens to display translations, enabling real-time conversation with another person who might not speak the same language as you. The cover screen shows the translated text to the other person, while the main screen shows the translation in your native language. This provides a more natural experience than twisting the phone back and forth to see both sides of the conversation. Besides this, there are a handful of other features as well such as Google's Magic Eraser-like Photo Assist to delete, move around, and resize objects in a photo, Instant Slo-mo to convert regular videos into slow motion, Live Effect to add depth in your image, Text-to-image to create wallpapers, Notes Assist, Browser Assist, among other things. Overall, Galaxy AI offers a mix of productive and fun tools. To keep things running, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is equipped with a 4,000mAh battery. The battery is decently optimised to last a full day of regular usage. On the PCMark battery test that runs a series of tasks till the battery life drops below 20 percent, the handset achieves 9 hours and 2 minutes. This is underwhelming compared to the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra flip smartphone, which scores over 12 hours with its 4,000mAh battery. In our 30-minute video streaming test, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 performed marginally better, consuming 4 percent battery compared to 5 percent on its counterpart at similar resolution and volume levels. Battery optimisation during gaming shows negligible differences between the two smartphones. After playing BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3 for half an hour each, the Flip6's battery was reduced by 21 percent, while the Razr 50 Ultra consumed 20 percent battery. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 supports 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. However, the compatible charger must be purchased separately. The wired charging solution takes approximately 77 minutes to charge the device from 20 percent to 100 percent. This is relatively slow compared to the Razr 50 Ultra, which can achieve a full charge in about 45 minutes with its 45W wired charger. This brings us to who should consider buying the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6. At over a lakh, it's not easy to recommend. Additionally, its nearest rival, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra does shine in aspects like outdoor visibility, customisation options, charging speeds, and image quality. Nevertheless, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 manages to make a compelling case for itself when it comes to performance. It is currently the most powerful and durable flip smartphone in the market. Additionally, its AI features are also unmatched by competitors, though their long-term utility for end users remains to be seen. The phone also boasts the longest software support for a flip smartphone, along with accurate colour reproduction and a stylish design. These factors make the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 a compelling choice for those seeking a compact foldable smartphone.

Samsung's Z Flip 6 can take a beating like a champ

Summary A new durability test shows that Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6 can take a beating, but its pre-applied screen protector scratches easily. The outer cover display holds up well with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, though the inner screen's PET plastic screen protector doesn't fare well against flames. The phone's IP48 rating was put to the test with lots of sand being forcibly wedged into the folding mechanism, and the hinge and phone held up well. Samsung's foldables aren't necessarily known for their durability and toughness, and although they can hold up to everyday use somewhat well, they aren't quite as durable as traditional slab phones yet. Samsung has touted its recently released Galaxy Z Flip 6 as a more durable successor to the Z Flip 5, with the latter sporting an enhanced armored aluminum frame, pared with IP48 water and dust resistance. For reference, its predecessor is only IPX8 resistant, which means it can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes, though it is not dust-resistant. To test Samsung's claims, tech durability guru Zack Nelson, AKA, JerryRigEverything took the Z Flip 6 for a spin through a world of pain, and the foldable held up pretty well. Related Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 sure looks tougher than its predecessor in latest JRE torture test Zack Nelson's new durability test shows Samsung's latest clamshell foldable can take a beating In his test, Nelson tortured the phone with all of his usual tricks, including bending and scratching the phone, and putting the device in direct contact with fire. Before all that though, he quickly noticed that the horizontal crease on the Flip 6 is significantly muted when compared to the Flip 6 side-by-side. Additionally, another quick-to-point-out difference was that the Z Flip 6 now has four top-aligned earpiece slits instead of four, which might potentially boost incoming audio volume during calls. Nelson then went on to perform the deed, opening up the Z Flip 6 and scratching it. For reference, just like the Z Flip 5, the Z Flip 6 too has a permanent PET plastic screen protector over the glass display. Source: JerryRigEverything This, as expected, started showing scratches on level 2 of the Mohs Hardness Scale, with deeper grooves at level 3. Further, Nelson was able to leave scratches on the screen by barely running his finger nails on it, suggesting that the screen protector isn't all that improved from its predecessor. This, however, shouldn't be a huge concern, considering that you won't be stuffing your phone in areas where it can get scratched, like your pocket, in its unfolded glory. Nelson then went on to stress test the outer 3.4-inch cover display, and considering that it is made of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, it held up much better, with scratches on level six, and deeper grooves at level 7. This essentially means that the outer display should be fine if it is placed in the same pocket as copper pennies. The enhanced aluminum armor frame, however, scratches as easily as ever with a utility knife, replicating a chalkboard scraping sound. The two rear cameras, on the other hand, are well protected with glass. The Z Flip 6 isn't very flame-retardant Source: JerryRigEverything As expected of a screen protected by a layer of PET plastic, it didn't hold up too well against direct flame. According to Nelson, the display started to "melt" after 14 seconds of contact with a ligter flame, which, by all means, is a lot more than we were expecting. He added that the pixels themselves looked fine, indicating no damage to the internal screen. Source: JerryRigEverything Then, to put the IP48 claim to the test, Nelson began pouring layers of sand onto the Z Flip 6, ensuring that he got some (read: a lot) to go into the outer hinge. Despite it being grains of sand, and not dust, which the Flip 6 is rated for, the foldable was able to hold up pretty well, with the hinge performing as intended, albeit with a "squeaky groaning" sound. Further, just like last year's Flip 5, the phone does flex backward when you try to snap it from the middle, but locks out with no damage to the screen. Appreciating the internals Source: JerryRigEverything Repairing the Z Flip 6 will likely be a nightmare. According to Nelson, as soon as he tried to open up the screen from the front, and lifted out the plastic protector, the pixels fizzled out. In total, Nelson had to remove two plastic layers before reaching the device's actual AMOLED 2X Ultra-thing glass (UTG) display. A very brief torture test ensued, which made it clear why Samsung has two plastic layers protecting the main display: it punctures very easily, and once that happens, the underlying pixels go black with no way to recover. Tearing down the phone further reveals a massive vapor chamber, which essentially prevents the foldable from running too hot, a 'live look' at the rear cameras, and a peek at what the hinge looks like from inside. Source: JerryRigEverything It's safe to say that Nelson tore down the device in such a way that most of its components would have ceased to function, but for everyday use by regular users, the Z Flip 6 should fare just fine. It appears to be slightly more durable than its predecessor, and albeit still not as tough as a traditional slab phone, it can hold its own in regular use. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is Samsung's most evolved take yet on the flip-style foldable form factor. Its 3.4-inch AMOLED cover screen supports Galaxy AI features without opening the device, along with upgraded widgets and suggested replies, but its gorgeous 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED folding display will still have you flipping the phone open quite a bit. $1100 at Samsung$1100 at Amazon$1100 at Best Buy