If you’ve read some of the reviews I’ve written about Samsung foldable phones over the last few years, you know I’m particularly interested in this type of device. Foldables are the best. Especially with models like Samsung’s sixth-generation book-like foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 6, you get to carry around a device that has multiple functions. It’s a portable TV screen that you can prop up against the mirror while you get groomed, it can launch into a laptop-like desktop mode by connecting to a display, it can stream cloud games, and it can be attached to accessories like the Razer Kishi Ultra to turn it into a handheld console.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Reviews
Samsung’s flagship foldable smartphone is too expensive to have a boring camera.
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Strong Points
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Battery life has improved dramatically
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The square shape is easier to hold
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The cover screen is a little large
Cons
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Optical zoom up to 3x
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The case makes it thick and bulky
But just because the Galaxy Z Fold 6 does almost everything doesn’t mean it’s perfect in every way. While Samsung has made improvements to the Z Fold, like the hinge and overall design of the case, and improved battery life, the pricey Galaxy Z Fold 6 falls short on camera performance and long-term durability. Priced at $1,900, $100 more than last year’s base model, we expect the device to be able to shoot nearly as well from a distance as the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Indeed, the pop-up glass required for that functionality comes at the expense of the Z Fold 6’s relative thinness, a perfect example of the compromises you should consider before committing to the foldable life.
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Galaxy Z Fold 6 design
Square has joined the chat
From the first images and promotional materials, you may have noticed right away that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a more square device than ever before. Samsung has dropped the corners like a cardboard box. When open, it’s a tablet-like device, and when closed, it’s a phone-like device. I like this new shape. Samsung made the Z Fold 6 slightly thinner than the Z Fold 5, which is awesome. It’s less than half an inch when folded. Still, it’s more comfortable to carry in a bag unless your pants pockets are thick and reinforced. The front cover screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a 6.3-inch panel, slightly larger than the previous narrow 6.2-inch display. It may not seem like a big leap when you look at the numbers alone, but this version of the Z Fold 6 feels much better to hold when in “phone” mode.
One thing to keep in mind when carrying a foldable device is that they aren’t the most durable devices — the Galaxy Z Fold 6, for example, is only IP48 rated, which is great if you accidentally spill a margarita on it or get caught in the rain, but we wouldn’t recommend a foldable if you’re someone who frequently goes out near water with your phone slung around your neck.
Better hinges
The hinge on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has been improved to make it more durable. Samsung isn’t too forthcoming about details, but it does say that it removed the exposed metal in the hinge and tightened it for extra strength, which is said to reduce creases in the internal display that tend to become more noticeable with use.
Samsung improved the hinge on last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 compared to the Z Fold 4 before it, which is to be expected for a device considered cutting-edge. Buying this device means relying on technology that’s still evolving. If you’re curious about the actual lifespan of this foldable, a Reddit forum has revealed some of the headaches that come with daily use of the Z Fold. I didn’t experience these firsthand with Gizmodo’s review unit, but as the saying goes, your experience may vary.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 Specifications
Great specs as always
You probably already know that the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s hardware is an improvement over last year’s Z Fold 5. Equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and 12GB of RAM, You’ll need enough memory for everything you’ll be doing with this device, and the Z Fold comes with up to 1TB of storage for an extra fee.
In terms of performance, this is one of the best Samsung smartphones available. The Geekbench 6 results were satisfactory; nothing out of the ordinary for a Snapdragon processor. From my experience with the last two models, the Z Fold maintains solid performance out of the box for at least the first year and a half with things like game streaming and running apps in parallel (you can run three at a time). But let’s be honest, it’s hard to sustain that many screens, even if there are some things to brag about.
Battery life has improved significantly on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. In our battery drain tests, the foldable phone lasted 20 hours and 35 minutes on a single charge with the internal screen set to 200 nits, which is three hours longer than last year’s Z Fold 5, which had the same 4400mAh battery.
The camera should be better
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s camera system. It’s got everything you need: a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilization and AF/1.8 aperture, a 12MP ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree field of view, and a 10MP telephoto camera with up to 3x optical zoom. It’s the same camera system as the Galaxy S24/S24 Plus, and not just because it’s a $1,900 phone instead of an $800 phone, but it’s fine. It would be nice if Samsung upped the ante on its most expensive smartphone. Let me zoom in a bit more so my photos of the kids playing soccer on the other side of the field aren’t jagged.
The under-display camera remains mediocre: a puny 4MP sensor with the aperture of a 16MP sensor. It’s not sharp enough for a TikTok confessional, and it’s not great for Instagram selfies either. At least it’s easier to prop the phone up and take a confessional with the front camera, but I wish the front camera could offer the same quality.
What about Galaxy AI?
There’s not much to say about the new features of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 beyond what we’ve mentioned in this article. New features like PDF overlay, sketch-to-image, and real-time interpreter, while extensive, are still limited compared to what most Android phones already offer. For example, the Galaxy AI interpreter doesn’t yet offer Dutch translation, so I’ll be using the Google Translate app to get directions in the Netherlands in the coming weeks. In retrospect, having both features on the Z Fold 6 seems redundant.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 review: The best foldable could be bigger
Samsung knows how to make a foldable phone that has mass appeal. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 follows all the steps the company has taken to achieve some success in this niche gadget category. It’s powerful, well-built, and can handle all the software tricks Samsung is pushing through Galaxy AI. The Z Fold 6 is a worthy update for anyone who’s three years late and it’s time for a new foldable. If you can stand it, it wouldn’t hurt to wait a year to see how Samsung improves the camera hardware. A phone this expensive should offer one of the better camera systems in the lineup, and it’s not the same glass as a phone that everyone can afford.
I’ll have more to say about the camera and its performance as a desktop device in a pinch once I return from my two-week overseas stay with the Galaxy Z Fold 6. I plan to bring just the foldable as an all-in-one device to test the true validity of its promise and whether its performance is worth the several thousand dollar price tag. Stay tuned.
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