What is the deal?
You should purchase Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 for as little as $899 on Amazon. This deal solely applies to the 256GB mannequin in Silver, however different configurations have seen related reductions.
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The $1,219 Galaxy Z Flip 6 is Samsung’s newest tackle a modernized flip telephone.
- It comes with a number of upgrades, reminiscent of a harder design, higher efficiency, a brand new foremost digicam, and a much bigger battery.
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It’s miles from thrilling, nonetheless, given its similarities to the Z Flip 5, and it is priced over $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 conversant in folding telephones, what they’re able to, and what their uncommon kind elements carry to the desk. The Z Flip 6 is essentially the most polished clamshell we have seen up to now. 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.
The beginning value has additionally gone up by $220 to $1,219. So, after utilizing the Z Flip 6 for somewhat over per week, the large 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. Here is my reply.
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Samsung does not must reinvent the wheel each time it ships a brand new folding telephone, 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 a substitute of shiny like on the Z Flip 5, which I admire.
The brand new Z Flip additionally has an IP48 ranking, marking the primary time one of many firm’s folding telephones has supplied any licensed type of mud safety. The hinge has additionally been strengthened, leading to a shallower crease alongside the center of the show.
Here 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 certainly not monumental. I might’ve cherished to see a much bigger cowl show; Samsung upped the ante final yr 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.
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Not solely does Motorola’s show stretch to every edge and behind the cameras, but it surely additionally allows you to run any app you need, so that you not often must open the telephone 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 loads, however that is not a nasty factor. The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X is gorgeous, with a pointy Full HD+ decision and glorious coloration replica. There is a 120Hz refresh charge that retains every thing silky clean, 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 this telephone’s efficiency. Inside, it has 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 photos like a loopy individual, the Z Flip 6 could have no downside maintaining.
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What I would wish to see Samsung work on is warmth administration. There’s little or no house for corporations so as to add the identical air flow and cooling programs as regular telephones, so most foldables are likely to endure from extreme warmth even if you’re doing regular issues like checking TikTok or firing off emails. The Z Flip 6 is not 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 could possibly get even hotter.
The cameras are a step up from the Z Flip 5, however they proceed to fall wanting 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 foremost digicam collects extra element and sharpness than the previous 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 superb through the day however will get fairly darkish and muddy at night time with a variety of synthetic gentle injected into it.
Captured with the principle 50MP digicam.
Max Buondonno/ZDNET
When you care about digicam high quality and need a clamshell flip telephone, 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 night time and day. Colours are extra true to life on Samsung’s telephone, lighting is oftentimes higher, and you may take photos at night time with out every of them popping out unusable. Video high quality can also be higher on the Z Flip 6 than the Razr Plus.
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In fact, the taking pictures expertise stays unmatched with the Z Flip’s versatile kind issue. Like different foldable telephones, you may prop it up like a kickstand for hands-free pictures, use the duvet display screen as a second viewfinder, document movies in basic handheld camcorder style, and extra.
That complete expertise is pushed by software program, which is stable 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 also 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 duvet display screen, reside translations, dialog recording, and computerized 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 get pleasure from it whereas it is nonetheless complimentary.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 battery 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 properly into the later hours of the day, but it surely’s certainly not a two-day telephone.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
At $1,219, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is simple to understand as “boring” or “overpriced,” particularly when the Z Flip 5 is so related and prices considerably 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. For many who do, you will get a fairly first rate telephone in change. (Particularly for those who reap the benefits of the Z Flip 6 supply presently on Amazon.)
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 lower cost. When you do not thoughts giving up your ultra-wide digicam (and do not want seven years of software program updates), you may wish to take into consideration choosing up the Razr Plus as a substitute.
