If you’ve read the last few reviews I’ve done of Samsung foldables over the years, you’ll know that I’m particularly passionate about this type of device. Foldable devices are cool, damn. They allow you to carry a multi-functional device with you, especially a model like the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung’s sixth generation of book-folding smartphones. It’s a portable TV screen that you can lean against a mirror while you get dressed up for the day, and it has a laptop-like desktop mode that you can enable by plugging it into a monitor. It can stream games from the cloud and can be plugged into accessories like the Razer Kishi Ultra to transform into a handheld gaming console.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review
Samsung’s flagship foldable phone is too expensive to have a boring camera.
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advantage
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Battery life greatly improved
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Square shape is more comfortable to hold
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The cover screen is slightly larger
shortcoming
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Optical zoom up to 3x
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Thicker and bulkier with the casing
But just because the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has almost everything, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect in every way. Although Samsung improved the Z Fold’s overall hinge and chassis design and improved battery life, the pricey Galaxy Z Fold 6 falls short in terms of camera performance and long-term durability. Starting at $1,900, which is $100 more than last year’s base product, I expect the device to be nearly as good at long-range shots as the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Yes, the pop-up glass required for this feature compromises the Z Fold 6’s relative thinness.
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Galaxy Z Fold 6 review design
Square has entered the chat
The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s square corners make the device easier to hold.
What you might immediately notice from the initial images and promotional materials is that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a boxy device, more square than ever. Samsung corners these edges like a cardboard box. They make the device feel more like a tablet when open and more like a phone when closed. I’m discovering new forms. Samsung made the Z Fold 6 slightly thinner than the Z Fold 5, which is an insane feat. Less than half an inch when folded.
However, unless your pants have thick reinforced pockets, you’ll be more comfortable keeping them in your bag. The front screen of Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a 6.3-inch panel, which is slightly larger than the previous 6.2-inch narrow display. I know those numbers don’t sound like a huge leap, but this version of the Z Fold 6 feels better to hold in “phone” mode.
One caveat with carrying a foldable device is that it’s not the most durable device. For example, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 only has an IP48 rating. This is useful for someone who accidentally spills a margarita or gets caught in the rain, but I wouldn’t recommend a foldable phone for anyone who regularly hangs their phone on water.
better hinge
The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s hinge has been improved and is more durable.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s hinge has been improved and is more durable. Samsung is relatively sparse on details, although it does mention that it removed all exposed metal from the hinge and tightened it to increase resistance. This is claimed to reduce creases on the internal display, which tend to become prominent during use.
Samsung also improved the hinge on last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 relative to the previous Z Fold 4; that’s par for the course for what is considered a cutting-edge device. Buying it means relying on technology that is still evolving. If you’re curious about the actual lifespan of a foldable device, a Reddit forum can shed some light on some of the headaches the Z Fold has encountered as a daily driver. I haven’t experienced any of these things first-hand with Gizmodo’s Z Fold 6 review, but as they say, your mileage may vary.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 specifications
Excellent specs as always
You already know that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has improved hardware over last year’s Z Fold 5. It has Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB RAM, and enough memory to store the actions you will perform with the device. If you’re willing to pay extra, the Z Fold comes with up to 1TB of storage.
In terms of performance, this is one of the best Samsung phones you can get. The Geekbench 6 results are satisfactory; there’s nothing unusual about the Snapdragon processor. Based on my experience with the last two models, the Z Fold has maintained consistent performance for at least its first year and a half out of the box on things like game streaming and running apps side by side—you can run three apps at once. However, I’ll be honest: maintaining so many screens is difficult, even if it’s a valid bragging right.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 has significantly improved battery life. In our battery rundown test, the foldable device lasted 20 hours and 35 minutes on a single charge and had an internal screen brightness of 200 nits. That’s three hours more than last year’s Z Fold 5 with the same 4,400 mAh battery size.
camera should be better
The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s camera system is the same as the Galaxy S24’s.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s camera system. Everything you need is here: a 50-MP main camera with OIS and af/1.8 aperture, a 12-MP ultra-wide-angle camera with a 123-degree field of view, and a 10-MP telephoto camera with up to 3x optical zoom. It’s the same camera system as on the Galaxy S24/S24 Plus, which is nice, but not because this is a $1,900 phone instead of an $800 phone. It’s great to see Samsung upping the ante on its most expensive smartphone yet. Let me zoom in a little bit more so the photo of my kids playing football on the other side of the field doesn’t look jagged.
The built-in under-screen camera remains as mediocre as ever. It’s still a puny 4-MP sensor with an aperture of 16-MP. It’s not clear enough for TikTok confessionals, and I’m not a big fan of using it for Instagram selfies. At least the phone can support the front-facing lens more easily than before, but I wish the internal cameras were of the same quality.
How about galactic artificial intelligence?
I don’t have much to say about the new features of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that I haven’t covered yet in this article. New features like PDF overlays, sketches to images, and instant interpreters are helpful in scope, but still limited compared to what most Android phones already have. For example, Galaxy AI’s translator doesn’t yet offer Dutch translation. So I’ll be using the Google Translate app to find directions around the Netherlands in a few weeks. In retrospect, having both features on the Z Fold 6 seems redundant.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 review conclusion: The best foldable device should be better
Samsung knows how to make a foldable smartphone that appeals to the masses. Galaxy Z Fold 6 looks back at all the steps the company has taken so far to achieve relative success in this niche product category. It’s powerful, well-built, and capable of handling all the software tricks Samsung has rolled out with Galaxy AI.
If you’re three years overdue for a new foldable phone, the Z Fold 6 is a worthy update. If you can hold out, there’s no harm in waiting a year to see how Samsung improves its camera hardware. A phone this expensive should offer one of the better camera systems in the range, not the same glass as a phone everyone else can afford.
When I return from a two-week trip abroad with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, I’ll know a lot more about the camera and its capabilities as a pinch-top device. I gave myself the task of bringing only the foldable as my all-in-one to test the true efficacy of its promise and whether the features hold up for the multi-thousand price tag. stay tuned.
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