ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The $1,099 Galaxy Z Flip 6 is Samsung’s newest tackle a modernized flip cellphone.
- It comes with just a few upgrades, akin to a more durable design, higher efficiency, a brand new most important digital camera, and a much bigger battery.
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It is from thrilling, nonetheless, given its similarities to the Z Flip 5, and it prices $200 greater than Motorola’s Razr Plus.
Samsung is already on the sixth iteration of its Galaxy Z Flip, and by now, we have all grown accustomed to folding telephones, what they’re able to, and what their uncommon type elements deliver to the desk. The Z Flip 6 is probably the most polished clamshell we have seen so far. In comparison with the Z Flip 5, Samsung has modified little or no, with solely a handful of options to market the brand new mannequin with.
Additionally: I changed my Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely with the Z Fold 6 for 2 weeks – and may’t return
The beginning value has additionally gone up by $100 to $1,099. So, after utilizing the Z Flip 6 for slightly over every week, the massive query for me is whether or not the brand new price ticket is justified, particularly when Motorola’s Razr Plus, the Z Flip’s closest competitor, did not go up in value. This is my reply.
Samsung does not must reinvent the wheel each time it ships a brand new folding cellphone, however there’s been room for enchancment on the Z Flip’s design for some time. On the Z Flip 6, Samsung switched again to matte aluminum sides as an alternative of shiny like on the Z Flip 5, which I recognize.
Additionally: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs Z Flip 5: Key variations you need to know earlier than shopping for
The brand new Z Flip additionally has an IP48 score, marking the primary time one of many firm’s folding telephones has provided any licensed type of mud safety. The hinge has additionally been strengthened, leading to a shallower crease alongside the center of the show.
This is the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s cowl show subsequent to the bigger show on Motorola’s Razr Plus (2024).
Max Buondonno/ZDNET
These enhancements are good to see, however are under no circumstances monumental. I might’ve cherished to see a much bigger cowl show; Samsung upped the ante final 12 months when it swapped the Flip 4’s 1.9-inch cowl show for a 3.4-inch panel on the Flip 5. The Flip 6 carries that very same bigger display screen on the skin, but it surely’s dwarfed by the a lot cooler-looking 4-inch panel on the 2024 Razr Plus.
Additionally: I examined Motorola’s new Razr Plus (2024) and it made the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip really feel outdated
Not solely does Motorola’s show stretch to every edge and behind the cameras, but it surely additionally helps you to run any app you need, so that you hardly ever have to open the cellphone to do fast issues like reply to a textual content. On the Z Flip 6, you are restricted to the panels and widgets Samsung offers you entry to, which makes the expertise far much less helpful than Motorola’s.
Naturally, I discovered myself opening the Z Flip 6 show lots, however that is not a nasty factor. The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X is beautiful, with a pointy Full HD+ decision and glorious colour copy. There is a 120Hz refresh fee that retains all the things silky easy, and Samsung even threw in 2,600 nits of peak brightness, which is far brighter than the 1,750-nit panel on the Z Flip 5.
I additionally love the efficiency of this cellphone. Inside sits a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and both 256GB or 512GB of storage. It is quick. Whether or not you are scrolling Instagram, flipping between your calendar and to-do listing, gaming, or taking footage like a loopy particular person, the Z Flip 6 could have no downside maintaining.
Additionally: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr+ (2024): I’ve examined each, and the winner shouldn’t be so apparent
What I might wish to see Samsung work on is warmth administration. There’s little or no house for firms so as to add the identical air flow and cooling techniques as regular telephones, so most foldables are likely to undergo from extreme warmth even once you’re doing regular issues like checking TikTok or firing off emails. The Z Flip 6 isn’t any exception; I’ve seen it will get actually heat very often, each in the summertime warmth and in my 62-degree bed room. When gaming, it may possibly get even hotter.
The cameras are a step up from the Z Flip 5, however they proceed to fall in need of what regular flagships are able to. I like a lot of the pictures I’ve taken with the Z Flip 6; the brand new 50MP most important digital camera collects extra element and sharpness than the outdated 12MP sensor did on the Z Flip 5, and you may take full-resolution 50MP pictures if you wish to crop in or have them printed. In the meantime, the 12MP 123-degree ultra-wide performs tremendous throughout the day, however will get fairly darkish and muddy at evening with numerous synthetic gentle injected into it.
Captured with the primary 50MP digital camera.
Max Buondonno/ZDNET
In case you care about digital camera high quality and need a clamshell flip cellphone, the Z Flip 6 is the one to get. I in contrast a number of the pictures I took to pictures I captured with the Razr Plus, and the distinction is sort of evening and day. Colours are extra true to life on Samsung’s cellphone, lighting is oftentimes higher, and you may take footage at evening with out every of them popping out unusable. Video high quality can be higher on the Z Flip 6 than the Razr Plus.
Additionally: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 hands-on: The foldable most individuals should purchase will get one key improve
After all, the taking pictures expertise stays unmatched with the Z Flip’s versatile type issue. Like different foldable telephones, you’ll be able to prop it up like a kickstand for hands-free pictures, use the quilt display screen as a second viewfinder, file movies in traditional handheld camcorder vogue, and extra.
That entire expertise is pushed by software program, which is strong on the Z Flip 6. The overarching story is that it is nonetheless purely Samsung, with One UI 6.1 and its smorgasbord of options piled on prime of Android 14. There are Edge panels, split-screen modes, an array of customizable UI choices, efficiency and battery optimization settings, and extra, together with all of the options that make foldables so distinctive. Samsung can be promising as much as seven years of software program updates on the Z Flip 6, which implies it falls in keeping with the route the business is heading.
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Samsung additionally features a listing of AI options on the Flip 6 prefer it does with its different 2024 flagships, together with context-aware replies for messages on the quilt display screen, stay translations, dialog recording, and automated transcriptions. None of those options have been ground-breaking, however they’re good to have and add a little bit of aptitude to the expertise. It is solely a matter of time earlier than Samsung goes as exhausting as Apple is in iOS 18 with AI, so let’s all take pleasure in it whereas it is nonetheless complimentary.
The battery on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 can final a full day, as long as you are cautious. Samsung elevated the scale of the battery from 3,700mAh to 4,000mAh, which helps it stretch nicely into the later hours of the day, but it surely’s under no circumstances a two-day cellphone.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
At $1,100, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is straightforward to understand as “boring” or “overpriced,” particularly when the Z Flip 5 was so related and value $100 much less. Odds are, nonetheless, that nobody who owns a Z Flip 5 goes to purchase a Z Flip 6, and Samsung is banking on older Flip clients or people who’re new to foldables altogether to spring for its newest clamshell, and for many who do, you will get a fairly respectable cellphone in alternate.
That stated, the Motorola Razr Plus is on the market looming over the Z Flip 6 with its superior cowl show, vegan leather-based design, and cheaper price. In case you do not thoughts giving up your ultra-wide digital camera (and do not want seven years of software program updates), you would possibly wish to take into consideration selecting up the Razr Plus as an alternative.
