Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: Not New, Definitely Improved

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Ranking

Professionals

• Wider cowl show
• Brighter panels in and out
• Thinner and lighter design
• Improved aesthetics
• New Galaxy AI options

Cons

• Nonetheless similar to Z Fold 5
• Much more costly
• Crease is greater than the competitors

Our Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a really iterative replace – a whole lot of the {hardware} stays unchanged – however the enhancements which are right here serve to make the gadget higher. The result’s Samsung’s most polished and refined foldable thus far. It won’t be thrilling, but it surely’s nonetheless an exquisite cellphone.

Worth When Reviewed

From $1899

Greatest Costs Right this moment: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6

£1799

$1,899.99

$1899.99

Samsung’s 2024 Galaxy Z gadgets have landed, and whereas the Galaxy Z Flip 6 acquired some fairly vital {hardware} upgrades, the adjustments to the Z Fold 6 are way more refined. This yr, the main focus is on refinement, and naturally, Galaxy AI.

This yr, we get a wider cowl show, slimmer bezels, and a slimmer and lighter design refresh, however that’s about it on the {hardware} entrance. The remainder of the options are software-based, and thus prone to make their technique to different Samsung Galaxy gadgets sooner or later.

However with a £50/$100 worth enhance, plus stiff competitors from Chinese language producers like Xiaomi, Honor and Vivo, has Samsung accomplished sufficient to keep up its dominance as the most well-liked large-screen foldable? I’ve been residing with the Z Fold 6 for simply over per week to seek out out – right here’s all the pieces I realized.

Design & Construct

• Wider cowl show
• Matt end with squared-off edges
• 239g, IP48 rated

Essentially the most noticeable {hardware} change is with the bodily dimensions of the Z Fold 6. The quilt show is now shorter and wider, to make it really feel extra like a typical candybar smartphone when closed.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

It’s definitely a change for the higher, and I discovered it a lot simpler to sort on this newly-widened show. Nonetheless, it has solely grown by a few millimetre, and the show remains to be considerably narrower than the competitors.

It appears like a cellphone that’s designed for use unfolded the vast majority of the time, whereas you might solely use the quilt show of a cellphone just like the Honor Magic V2 and never really feel such as you’re making a serious compromise. It’s not a foul factor, simply looks as if a distinct faculty of thought.

The cellphone has adopted sharper corners this time round, mimicking the look of the Galaxy S24 Extremely. Personally, I believe it seems to be a lot nicer this manner, however relying on the way you maintain the cellphone, it could possibly be a lot much less snug. It positively pokes your palms a bit if you’re holding it one-handed.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

When unfolded, the dimension change interprets to a 2.6mm wider fundamental display, and the squared-off corners offer you some additional actual property to work with. It’s not a large change, but it surely’s noticeable.

The cellphone additionally will get a extra matt end on each the aluminium aspect rails and the rear panel, once more matching the Galaxy S24 fashions. It’s a pleasant end that feels extraordinarily premium, and it’s rather less vulnerable to fingerprint smudges than its shinier predecessors.

The cameras now have massive black bezels round them, which is a purely aesthetic selection. I really feel prefer it offers the cellphone a barely cartoonish, playful look, however and I’m keen on it. They protrude fairly removed from the again panel, although, so that you’ll discover a good bit of wobble when it’s positioned screen-up on a desk.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

One other massive change is with the burden of the cellphone, it now is available in at 239g, which is 14g lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 5. It’s additionally slightly slimmer, now solely 12.1mm thick, in comparison with 13.4mm. It’s a welcome change, however I need to say, it feels very chunky in comparison with the likes of the 9.9mm Honor Magic V2, particularly with the brand new boxy design.

The Z Fold 6 is out there in Silver Shadow, Pink and Navy choices as customary, with Crafted Black and White variations unique to the Samsung web site.

Apparently, somewhat than making a refined black model, Samsung has opted for a fake carbon-fibre look on its Crafted Black mannequin. It seems to be nearly prefer it has a pores and skin utilized, and I’m not satisfied it was the proper transfer. In fact, that’s subjective, and I’m positive some will adore it.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and its Z Flip 6 sibling each profit from an IP48 score. It’s the primary time Samsung foldables have been rated for mud resistance, and it ought to give consumers some additional peace of thoughts.

This score means it’s protected in opposition to particles which are 1mm-sized or bigger, so it’s not totally dustproof, but it surely’s basically waterproof, and might face up to being dunked in as much as 1.5m of contemporary water for as much as half-hour.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The haptic suggestions on this cellphone feels similar to the Galaxy S24 Extremely, which implies it’s a number of the greatest available on the market. You get a pleasant mechanical-feeling clunk when toggling settings, and suggestions whereas typing is exact and highly effective. It’s nearly good.

Display & Audio system

• 120Hz 6.3-inch OLED cowl show
• 120Hz 7.6-inch OLED folding show
• Twin stereo audio system

I’ve already talked about the change in display dimensions, and naturally, which means a slight change in panel decision. The quilt show now has a 968 x 2376 decision, whereas the within is 1856 x 2160 pixels.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

When it comes to pixel density, there’s no significant change – it’s only a barely totally different type issue. What’s totally different, although, is the utmost brightness. Each shows now peak at 2600 nits, in comparison with 1750 nits on the Z Fold 5.

Each shows are straightforward to see in direct daylight, however I had just a few events the place the display would robotically dim itself to maintain the cellphone from overheating, regardless of adaptive brightness being disabled. It was on a scorching day, by British requirements, but it surely was irritating, and my different foldable gadgets didn’t have this subject.

I used to be actually hoping to see the beautiful anti-reflective glass coating from the S24 Extremely make an look on this mannequin, but it surely’s simply a regular Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the quilt show. The foldable display protector remains to be very shiny, so I’m wondering if this improve was omitted to make the expertise of switching between shows much less jarring.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The crease has apparently been diminished on this mannequin, but it surely’s nonetheless fairly sizeable. You actually really feel it in your fingertips when swiping round on the primary show and the shiny protector makes it all of the extra seen.

On the plus aspect, the folding display feels tougher than competing gadgets, so it’s doubtless extra sturdy. Your fingers additionally glide throughout it extra easily and fingerprint smudges are much less seen. There are vital upsides to this model of show.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Elsewhere, the show specs are an identical to the earlier technology. Each shows nonetheless have adaptive refresh charges from 1-120Hz (due to LTPO tech) and assist HDR10+ playback. It’s additionally nonetheless the one foldable display that works with Samsung’s S Pen stylus, although it’s nonetheless offered individually.

The audio system don’t appear to have been upgraded, however they’re nonetheless implausible. They produce a pleasant stereo impact, firing from all sides of the primary show, with loads of element and little bit of low-end response. They’re not the loudest round, although.

Specs & Efficiency

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• 12GB RAM
• 256GB, 512GB or 1TB storage

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is powered by Qualcomm’s high chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and as normal, it’s a particular “For Galaxy” version. This basically means it’s had a slight overclock utilized, and may give marginally higher outcomes than the vanilla Gen 3 chip.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The RAM and storage choices are an identical to the Z Fold 5 – you get 12GB of reminiscence throughout the board and might choose between 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of inside storage. There’s nonetheless no expandable storage.

To maintain the gadget cool underneath load, the Z Fold 6 has a a lot bigger vapour chamber than its predecessor. Nonetheless, it nonetheless will get fairly toasty if you’re operating a graphically demanding recreation. It’s not the worst in that division, however I wouldn’t say it’s the perfect, both.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

With such a high-end chip, and a beefed-up cooling resolution, it’s no shock that the scores properly in our normal benchmarks. The efficiency is simply nearly as good in real-world gaming, too. I used to be in a position to max out the settings in Zenless Zone Zero (proven above) and play for hours on the big show with no noticeable slowdowns or body drops. It’s luxurious.

Day-to-day duties really feel extraordinarily snappy and responsive, too. I’m unsure whether or not it’s intelligent optimisation of the OS or a trick of the animation model, however 2024 Samsung flagships simply really feel a contact faster than most Android gadgets.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp fundamental sensor (1/1.56-inch)
• 10Mp 3x telephoto, 12Mp ultrawide
• 10Mp cowl digital camera, 4Mp under-display digital camera

For probably the most half, the digital camera array on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an identical to the Z Fold 5. Apparently, the 12Mp ultrawide is a model new sensor, but it surely has the very same specs because the outdated one, and to be sincere, I couldn’t actually see any distinction in my images. There’s nonetheless no autofocus on this digital camera, which actually limits its usefulness.

Contemplating this is likely one of the priciest telephones available on the market, the dearth of innovation within the digital camera division is disappointing to see. That mentioned, you’re not prone to be sad with images from the Z Fold 6 – it’s able to nice outcomes.

Samsung’s strategy to picture processing appears to have modified not too long ago, the model is thought for its extremely sharpened pictures and vibrant colors, however simply as I noticed with the Galaxy S24 Extremely, pictures from the Fold 6 have a extra pure look.

On the entire, I believe it’s a change for the higher, but it surely’s not at all times constant. Sometimes, my images appeared slightly boring, and generally grass would nonetheless be ridiculously inexperienced, however for probably the most half, the colors had been lifelike and pure.

Photographs from all lenses are very sharp and detailed, however they’re slightly noisier than the competitors, and it’s particularly noticeable in low-light situations. On the plus aspect, there’s hardly ever any movement blur in any respect.

The selfie digital camera configuration is unchanged, too, which implies you get a 10Mp punch-hole digital camera on the entrance and a 4Mp under-display digital camera on the primary display. 

The quilt display selfie digital camera is nice, but it surely lacks autofocus in comparison with the S24 collection telephones. It’s helped by the truth that Samsung’s portrait mode results are a number of the most correct and convincing available on the market. In fact, you may at all times use the rear cameras to take a selfie, with this being a foldable. See my pattern pictures beneath.

The under-display digital camera is terrible. It will get the job accomplished for video calls, however it is best to positively keep away from snapping any footage with it. Truthfully, I want Samsung would hand over on this concept. The decrease pixel density over the lens is simply as distracting as a punch gap, and I don’t assume it’s well worth the trade-off.

Battery Life & Charging

• 4400mAh battery
• 25W wired charging, 15W wi-fi
• No charger included

The battery and charging specs are additionally unchanged in comparison with the Z Fold 5. It’s one other space that I hoped to see an enchancment, however regardless, the environment friendly design of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip give us some slight battery life good points.

In real-world use, the Z Fold 6 by no means didn’t get me to the top of the day, but it surely generally reduce it very nice. That was very true once I was gaming on the big inside show or taking numerous images and movies.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

As is commonly the case with Samsung telephones, there’s no charger within the field, only a USB-C cable. With 25W wired charging, it’s not prone to wow you with its charging velocity, but it surely’s fast sufficient to not be a serious trouble. Half an hour on the charger will take the cellphone from utterly lifeless to round 60% charged.

There’s wi-fi charging assist, too, however once more the 15W speeds are removed from spectacular. When you’re not in a rush, it’s very handy to only depart it on a charging stand for some time and let it slowly do its factor.

And if you wish to cost earbuds, there’s additionally reverse wi-fi charging at 4.5W.

Software program & Apps

• One UI 6.1, primarily based on Android 14
• New Galaxy AI options
• Prolonged assist phrases

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 runs Samsung’s One UI 6.1 software program (primarily based on Android 14), and in the event you’ve used a current Samsung cellphone you’re positive to really feel proper at dwelling right here.

As I discussed earlier, my favorite factor about this OS is how snappy and responsive it feels, but it surely’s completely loaded with options, too. 

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

My least favorite facet is how cluttered it’s starting to really feel. There’s not any bloatware, as such, however Samsung has its personal model of virtually each Google app, and this implies the system apps are successfully doubled on Samsung telephones. It will get slightly complicated in the event you’re not a die-hard Samsung fan.

The massive focus this yr is on Galaxy AI, we noticed it with the Galaxy S24 collection, and all the identical options have now been applied on the model’s foldable gadgets. This time, although, extra optimisations have been made to benefit from the big format show, and there are a few brand-new options which are debuting with the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6.

When you use the AI-powered summarisation options constructed into Samsung’s browser and recorder apps, they’ll now show in a side-by-side view when utilizing the big foldable show. Extra excitingly, although, the Samsung Interpreter app now enables you to use each shows on the identical time, so you may two-way-translate a dialog in actual time.

I used to be impressed to be taught that the interpretation all occurs on-device, too. That would save the day in the event you’re travelling with restricted knowledge – you’ll simply want to recollect to obtain the required languages beforehand, although.

Essentially the most fascinating function that Samsung has added to its AI arsenal this time round known as Sketch to Picture. This lets you draw a doodle, after which generative AI will offer you a collection of stylised artworks primarily based in your authentic drawing. It’s nice enjoyable, and it really works on high of images, so you may add an AI-generated hat to your selfie, for instance.

Regardless of Samsung having probably the most strong set of AI options round, I simply don’t discover myself utilizing them fairly often. I’m positive the interpretation stuff can be helpful whereas travelling, however I additionally don’t really feel that it provides a lot in comparison with simply utilizing the Google Translate app.

The one factor I do use quite a bit is Circle to Search with Google. It’s quite simple – you simply circle something in your display and it’ll shortly carry out a reverse picture seek for no matter you’ve circled.

You are able to do the identical factor with Google Lens, however there are much more steps concerned, and that is so easy that I discover myself utilizing it on a regular basis. Nonetheless, it’s on no account unique to this gadget.

Past software program options, one other massive promoting level of Samsung telephones is the size of the assist time period.

Certainly, identical to the S24 collection, the newest Galaxy Z foldables additionally profit from 7 years of software program upgrades and safety patches. For reference, that takes you all the way in which to Android 21 in 2031, it’s a really spectacular dedication, even in the event you’re unlikely to make use of the gadget for that lengthy.

Worth & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is out there to buy globally now, and there are many contact offers, too.

The cellphone acquired a reasonably vital worth hike throughout the board, within the UK, it begins at £1799, which is £50 costlier than its predecessor. You should purchase one outright from the likes of Samsung and Amazon, or on contract through the next.

It’s the identical case within the US, the place the cellphone now begins at $1899 – that’s $100 greater than the Z Fold 5. It’s additionally obtainable at Samsung, Amazon and several other third-party retailers, plus a variety of contract choices.

These costs are for the bottom mannequin, which comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but it surely’s additionally obtainable in 512GB and 1TB flavours.

When you assume the Z Fold 6 is the proper cellphone for you, then take a look at our information to the perfect Z Fold 6 offers. We cowl all the pieces from contract offers to outright purchases in each the UK and the US.

When you’re nonetheless undecided, then verify how the competitors compares with our information to the perfect folding telephones. The OnePlus Open and Google Pixel Fold are the primary book-style options, although the Honor Magic V2 can be value contemplating in the event you’re primarily based within the UK.

Do you have to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 leaves me with combined emotions. On one hand, it’s the perfect big-screen foldable that Samsung has produced thus far. It has a degree of polish that outclasses something that got here earlier than it and it’s a delight to reside with. The software program expertise and assist phrases are among the many greatest round, too.

However, except for a refined design, the {hardware} is basically unchanged from the Z Fold 5. Whenever you mix that with a worth hike, it begins to look much less interesting. I definitely can’t think about Z Fold 5 homeowners dashing to improve, and in the event you’re a savvy shopper, you may wish to contemplate shopping for the older mannequin as an alternative.

The largest enhancements with this model are software-based, and Samsung has all however confirmed the Z Fold 4 and 5 will likely be getting the identical options in a future replace. So the one actual benefits of this cellphone are the marginally wider cowl show, brighter screens and the thinner, lighter design.

Competitors from Chinese language manufacturers is absolutely heating up, and we’re seeing loads of fashions with bigger shows, higher digital camera specs and big batteries – simply take a look at the Xiaomi Combine Fold 4, for instance.

The massive benefit of the Samsung possibility lies in its availability and assist. Many of the competitors is tough to seek out within the UK and US, particularly if you’d like a contract deal. None of them match Samsung’s seven years of software program updates, both.

So, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 won’t be revolutionary, or overly thrilling, it’s nonetheless the proper selection for lots of people. When you’re coming from a foldable that’s just a few years older, or getting one for the primary time, you gained’t be disenchanted. It’s a beautiful cellphone that’s straightforward to reside with.

Specs

• One UI 6.1, primarily based on Android 14
• Cowl: 6.3-inch, 2376×968, AMOLED, 120Hz
• Primary: 7.6-inch, 2160×1856, AMOLED, 120Hz
• Aspect-mounted fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• 12GB RAM
• 256GB storage
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp fundamental sensor
  • 12Mp ultrawide
  • 10Mp 3x telephoto
  • 10Mp cowl digital camera
  • 4Mp under-display digital camera
• As much as 4K @ 60 / 120fps rear video
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM + eSIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 4400mAh battery
• 25W wired charging
• 15W wi-fi charging
• 153.5 x 68.1 x 12.1 mm (folded)
• IP48 licensed
• 239g
• Colors: Silver Shadow, Pink, Navy
• Samsung unique colors: Crafted Black, White