Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 offers a comme il faut rise with a cleaner innovation , top - destruction processing power , Galaxy AI smartness and the longest software promise around , but it ’s set out to fall behind the competition in key areas like camera , charging and foldable screen technical school .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
As we enter the sixth multiplication of Christian Bible - style foldable with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 , we should wait a foldable closer to flawlessness than much of the contender that are only a yoke of generations into their foldable journey .
lark a much sharper , sporty design than its predecessor , a slimmer and easy human body along with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy major power and all the fun of Galaxy AI , the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is indeed a good - looking , performant foldaway with the longest software anticipate you ’ll find on a book - style foldaway properly now .
However , Samsung has keep to overlook areas of the Z Fold experience that are in despairing need of TLC , include the low - res auxiliary camera lens of the eye , comparatively irksome charging and middling battery biography .
Not to advert the internal kris , which remain just as present as ever .
The question is , with increased rival in the foldable space , is this still the flagship foldable to get ? Or are you better off wedge with theZ Fold 5 , or plumping for one of its excellent rivals , theOnePlus Open ? We ’ve compare the Z Fold 6 with theOnePlus Openand theZ Fold 5separately if you ’re curious .
In the UK , the Galaxy Z Fold 6 starts at £ 1799 for the 256 GB poser , rising to £ 1899 for 512 GB and £ 2099 for 1 TB . In the US , price start from $ 1899 .
Design
With the Z Flip 6 , Samsung resolve against making wholesale changes to the invention , but that is n’t so much the case with the Z Fold 6 .
The sixth iteration of Samsung ’s original foldable is perceptibly lighter ( 239 1000 v 253 thousand ) and thin when folded ( 13.4 millimetre vs 12.1 mm ) than the outgoing role model , making it much more comfortable to use and bringing it closer in line of credit with the the like of the 239 g , 11.7 mm OnePlus Open .
But it ’s more than simply making it a fleck thinner and lighter ; it sport a freshen design that makes a Brobdingnagian difference to the overall look . The society has taken a bit of aspiration from theGalaxy S24 Ultraby square off the corners of the phone , while also flattening the sides and adding a lustrelessness finish that does well at hiding smudges .
It form everything look a lilliputian morsel sharper and unobjectionable , especially the extraneous and inner displays , and it does n’t finger uncomfortable in the handwriting either . aboveboard , the rounded edge of most of the foldable competition almost seem a slight scrap dated in comparison .
Flip the folding over and you ’ll find a more or less redesigned camera housing with a new textured bezel surrounding each camera lens , complete with a frosted glass rear protected by Corning ’s latestGorilla Glass Victus 2 , and it ’s useable in attractive colours like navy , pink and atomic number 47 . This all equate to a very nice - looking folding with clean lines that stand out from much of the book - style competition , even at a glance .
The extinct screen is 0.1 - inch bigger and has a somewhat different aspect ratio too , down to 22.1:9 from 23.1:9 , make it marginally wider . It ’s notGoogle Pixel Foldwide , but it ’s not quite as minute as before , though I ca n’t say that I ’ve noticed a huge difference in existent Clarence Day - to - solar day purpose . It ’s still a very marvelous , svelte covert , though that does at least make it easy to use one - handed – as long as you do n’t need to reach the top of the screen , anyway .
There ’s also upgraded IP48 underground which intend the folding is protected from both full submerging in water and ingress from objective larger than 1 mm – though debris is much smaller than that , so it ’s not as exciting an upgrade as it might first seem .
In fact , the small print on the Samsung website explicitly says that the Z Fold 6 is n’t dust- or sand - resistant , so best to keep it away from sandy beaches .
Screens
The Z Fold 6 ’s outer 6.3 - in OLED showing , which Samsung predict the Cover Screen , persist HD+ in settlement with a 120Hz refresh rate and a boosted 2600nits peak luminousness that get it easier to see , even in direct sunlight .
Its sizing has increase somewhat from its 6.2 - in harbinger , but I ca n’t say that it ’s all that detectable in everyday use . It remains a decent control board for answering call , replying to messages and check out your Instagram provender rapidly , but the tall - and - narrow-minded vista proportion means that content can wait a small squish .
I still opt the homesteader smell of the Pixel Fold and OnePlus Open as they have outer displays akin to traditional phone , so you could even play games without much number , although Samsung ’s slight alteration here are a move in the right counsel .
Most of the fun happens on the big 7.6 - column inch midland panel . This 120Hz LTPO - enabled OLED cover can now murder 2600 nits of light , and one issue I ’ll cut into into shortly aside , it ’s a really gracious silver screen . Is great for gaming , watching YouTube or just scrolling through Instagram , even more so in 2024 with most apps and games now supporting the Fold ’s box-shaped 20.9:18 aspect ratio .
It has also replaced my Kindle as my go - to e - lecturer for commutation , meaning one fewer machine I have to carry around in my base . It ’s just so handy have such a declamatory canvas well accessible in my sack .
There is a caution , and it ’s the same caveat that has been present on every looping of the Z Fold serial publication to date – the crease . The divet that execute down the midsection of the screen is still present and still an eyesore .
When most of the folding competition , include 2023’sHonor Magic V2and OnePlus Open , have made serious waves in reduce both the look and depth of the internal crease , Samsung feel stuck in the yesteryear by still having a somewhat noticeable free fall on its intimate dialog box .
You might get used to the sensation of unravel your finger across the crease after a while – and those that have used Fold devices before will feel at dwelling – but for a gadget that cost £ 1799/$1899 , it ’s something I would rather do without .
Cameras
moot Samsung make up one of the best photographic camera phones around in the form of the top - end Galaxy S24 Ultra , you might ask a exchangeable level of quality on its top - end foldable – but sadly , it ’s not quite the case .
You see , the cameras dotted around the Fold 6 are very much the same as those on the forthcoming model . On the back , there ’s a 50MP wide ( OIS , f/1.8 ) , a 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto with 3x opthalmic soar . Inside there ’s a 4MP under - presentation camera , while a 10MP selfie tv camera can be found on the Cover Screen .
The ultrawide is a different sensing element according to Samsung , with good HDR performance and low - light source capabilities , but it still trails behind much of the folding contention .
The OnePlus Open , for example , has a compounding of a 48MP , f/1.7 main genus Lens with a large 1.43 - inch detector , a 64MP periscope lens and a 48MP 114 - academic degree ultrawide , while the Honor Magic V2 offers a 50MP f/1.9 main , 20MP 2.5x telephoto and 50MP ultrawide , and these telephone set are nearly a class old .
So , camera performance is passably much in line with what you have from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 , which is to say that it ’s still a capable folding camera setup , but not quite the best you ’ll find around in 2024 .
The master 50MP photographic camera remains the star of the show with OIS and f/1.8 aperture allowing for crisp shot with balanced firing across the highlighting and shadow . people of colour stay overly vivacious as with most Samsung telephone , but they do at least reckon keen on the AMOLED screens of the foldable .
The wide aperture and OIS also lend themselves well to low - light performance . It ’s not what you ’ll find from the S24 Ultra by any mean value , but it can capture a well - balanced miserable - light dig without unnaturally brightening the environment , though it does suffer moderately ill from lens flare from any particularly bright light author . It ’s also best suit to still subject , as movement can incur a tenuous blur .
The upgraded 12MP , f/2.4 123 - stage ultrawide lens , despite its fresh detector , does n’t deliver a huge boost to overall image calibre . It does , as Samsung claim , do by dynamic mountain chain much better and there is a thin boost to low - light shot , but the latter does still follow out a lilliputian piano and dour equate to the main detector .
The 10MP 3x telephoto crystalline lens is the one that I wish well Samsung would ’ve focussed on a footling more this twelvemonth . It remains the same as the Z Fold 4 , have alone 5 , while the contest has made massive stride in the zoom lens department . The OnePlus Open has a 64MP 3x periscope lens with a larger sensor that can deliver 6x in - sensing element zoom and much good digital soar shots than the Z Fold 6 is capable of .
It can still return nicely detailed shots , specially in lustrous environments , that allow you to get close to the subject without moving , and the 10x digital soar is surprisingly near considering the megapixel count , but I ’d say that ’s about the limit for useable double . I just want somethingmorefrom such an expensive foldable .
In price of selfie performance , the 10MP cover snapper is the one to opt for with pretty good results for a flying catch . The under - screen door nature of the privileged 4MP television camera means photos can wait comparatively soft and oddly coloured , though it ’s likely only designed to be used for video call and not much else .
But , with the ability to habituate a compounding of the higher - timber rear cameras and the front sieve as a view finder , you ’ll likely not use the dedicated selfie lenses all too often .
Performance
The Z Fold 6 is Samsung ’s foldable flagship , and the specs showcase the high-pitched - oddment nature of the machine . It is powered by the sameSnapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxyas the Galaxy S24 Ultra we reviewed earlier in 2024 , paired with 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 1 TB of memory . There ’s also support for Wi - Fi 6E , 5 G , Bluetooth 5.3 dual SIM with a nano - SIM and eSIM .
blend with a larger vapour cooling bedroom compared to the Z Fold 5 , it ’s safe to say that the Z Fold 6 is pretty well equipped for gaming .
Not only can I run games like Genshin Impact with high - end graphical preferences on the 7.6 - column inch internal presentation , but it manages to stay comparatively cool while doing so . It does warm to the touch after 30 minutes of gameplay , and there is a bit of throttling as a result , but it does n’t get anywhere near as hot as some speech sound I ’ve used this yr .
It ’s just as speedy in general usage , with loyal , legato animations , stutter - gratis scrolling and the power to scarper multiple apps at once without die a sweat . And , with Snapdragon ’s GenAI support , the phone ’s AI features are relatively quick too – but more on that in a fleck .
This is comport out in benchmark examination too , with the Z Fold 6 confidently top most of the flagship competition – though it seems that our graphics benchmark was set at 60Hz , and with no way to coerce a 120Hz refresh rate on the Z Fold 6 ’s exhibit , there ’s not much we can do – but dependable to say it can make well over 60fps in most supported secret plan .
Software and AI
Galaxy AI was the big software focus with the S24 serial publication , and a lot of those smart are again big increase for the Z Fold 6 .
The auto - data formatting and AI summary lineament make a lot of sense on the larger interior showing , particularly as the Fold 6 still patronage the S Pen for doodle and note - pickings – though unlike the S24 Ultra , it ’s very much an optional accouterment .
Then , there ’s also unexampled GenAI tech exclusive to this year ’s folding ( until it hits the S24 range via OTA update , anyway ) in the shape of Magic Doodle and AI Portrait Studio . The former is arguably the more interesting of the two , reserve you to do introductory doodles of things like sunglasses on a photo of your domestic dog , then using GenAI , produce something more naturalistic , while the latter essentially bring forth images of your portrait in different styles .
The sound also sports all the other fundamental features of Galaxy AI introduced on the Galaxy S24 series earlier this year , like the power to remove subjects from photos , transcribe and summarising voice recordings and on - gimmick translation capabilities too .
In fact , the latter is good than what you ’d find oneself on the S24 as it can utilise both the inner and out displays , showing your displacement on one side and the recipient on the other . I spent a deal of time cut into into theseGalaxy AIfeatures in myGalaxy S24 Ultra reexamination , so take a read if you ’re curious about how Galaxy AI do daylight - to - day .
AI smarts aside , feature article like Google ’s exceptionally usefulCircle to Searchare also present , which lets you draw around anything on the silver screen to find out more , and works very well on the larger screen . What ’s more , you’re able to now circulate QR codes and get result to complicated maths equations .
Elsewhere , it ’s very much business as usual with OneUI 6.1.1 based on Android 14 , disport the same great deal of Samsung - branded apps as the rest of the Galaxy collection , along with handy features like Samsung DeX. It ’s a more stylised experience than lineage Android , but one that existing Samsung exploiter will be very at home with .
One of the biggest rationality to opt for the Z Fold 6 is its splendid software program reinforcement , offering an impressive seven OS upgrades that ’ll take the foldable through to Android 21 . That ’s among the longest in the grocery store , along with select other Samsung devices and Google ’s latest Pixel range , outflank much every other foldable on the market by at least a few years .
Battery Life
If there ’s one domain where the Z Fold 6 needs to do advantageously , it ’s stamp battery life . Now it ’s usual for a freshly set - up headphone to take a 24-hour interval or two to organise everything in the scope , and that usually means a hit to electric battery aliveness , but it sorts itself out rather rapidly .
The job that I ’ve establish with the Z Fold 6 is that battery life story never really got any in force after those first few day . Despite suffer a full charge in the morning , I ’ve get that even with what I ’d trace as average use , the 4400mAh cell of the phone would dwindle down by the early evening .
One solar day , I set up that the battery had drop to 38 % by 4 necropsy after only 2 hours and 42 minutes of screen - on prison term , the majority of which was on the smaller external control board . This meant that I ’d fundamentally always take a power coin bank with me , not because I ’d need it for sure , but because it was a strong possibility – and I ’ve not had to do that with a phone for a while .
Considering most year - old rivals , include the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V2 , have larger cells at 4805mAh and 5000mAh severally that can handle an mediocre day ’s usage , it would ’ve been nice to see Samsung supercharge the capacity a little turn with this year ’s foldable .
That would n’t be bad if the Z Fold 6 was fast at recharging , but with 25W maximal charge speeds , you ’re look at around 90 minutes for a full charge , gaining 46 % in 30 minutes via USB - C PD . Again , compared to the aforementioned foldables , this is a lot deadening , and an area where Samsung should ’ve really improved with the Z Fold 6 .
You do at least have the option of charging wirelessly with 15W wireless support , and there ’s 4.5W reverse wireless charging for buck accessories like earbuds in a apprehension , total extra convenience to the charging experience .
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Should you buy it?
The updated design help oneself the Z Fold 6 stand out from the crowd , and the custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is the most muscular on the market right now .
While the Z Fold 6 ’s camera frame-up is still capable , it ’s not quite as advanced as what you ’ll notice from the likes of theOnePlus OpenandHonor Magic V2 .
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 remains a tempting book - style foldable , with a review figure with sharp corners and categorical sharpness that help it stand out from the crowd , and a slight and lighter material body work it in dividing line with the foldable contest too .
It ’s also a section leader in term of public presentation from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy , and with a banging seven years of operating system upgrades guaranteed , the Z Fold 6 will see you through to Android 21 . You ca n’t say that about any other book - style folding available right now .
So yes , there ’s a pile to love about this year ’s foldaway , but equally , Samsung is begin to lag behind the increased foldable competition in key areas .
The internal screen ’s crease remain just as present as ever , progress to it one of the more renowned bend around , and the largely unaffected photographic camera organization , while still pretty capable , is start to look a little dated compared to more adequate to , higher - res alternatives .
And , with average assault and battery liveliness that did n’t always see me through to the end of the mean solar day on a single charge , I started carrying around a power bank . I ’ve not had to do that for some time for a foldable .
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How we test
We test every mobile headphone we review thoroughly . We use industry - standard trial to compare feature decently and we use the telephone set as our main equipment over the review flow . We ’ll always tell you what we find out and we never , ever , assume money to brush up a product .
FAQs
Samsung has perpetrate to seven years of oxygen upgrades with the Z Fold 6 .
It ’s IP48 order for dust and water electrical resistance , but it ’s not altogether waterproof .
No , there is n’t a consign brick in the box , only a USB - one C cable .
Test Data
Full Specs
