Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review: The Flip Format Is Starting to Make Sense in a Foldable Phone That Improves Its Cameras Significantly

Samsung was the first company to invest in the foldable format, and its commitment is evident. The South Korean company, which holds a remarkable 20% share of South Korea’s GDP, has been releasing foldable devices for years. Through hard work and solid software, Samsung has effectively made its Galaxy Z series synonymous with “foldable phones.”

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and its counterpart, the Flip 6, exemplify this success. Now that I’ve had the chance to thoroughly test the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, I’d like to share our experience with you.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Specs

Design, Display, and Audio: Thinner and Very Familiar

I believe that if you were to give a blindfolded person a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and a Galaxy Z Flip 6, they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two. Samsung has taken a step forward with the new flip, adding brushed aluminum and straight edges to the design, similar to the ones seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the new Fold. However, apart from the aesthetics, the two phones are virtually identical in every aspect, including dimensions, weight, and screen.

To be precise, the new Flip isn’t exactly identical to the previous model. Samsung has managed to reduce the thickness by 0.2 millimeters when folded, a change that is practically unnoticeable. The weight remains the same at 187 grams, likely due to the larger battery capacity. So, the feel of the phone in your hand is unchanged, which is a good thing considering the previous generation was already comfortable.

The device’s build is good, really good. The frames are made of brushed aluminum, which means it's no longer glossy (a victory for those who hate fingerprint smudges) and feels very premium. The finish is also more rectangular. The back of the bottom module is surprisingly smooth and pleasant to the touch, and can be customized with various cases. The top is mainly occupied by the outer display.

The phone is comfortable to hold, although its 22:9 aspect ratio when unfolded is quite long. Combined with the button placement, it can be difficult to use with one hand. For example, unlocking it using the fingerprint reader is impossible with one hand because the sensor is positioned well above where your finger naturally rests.

However, when folded, the phone feels remarkable. It allows you to perform various tasks without having to open it, such as answering calls or replying to messages on WhatsApp. In my opinion, the Flip format is the most efficient for quick phone usage. The closure is almost perfect thanks to the bezels that protrude from the front. Yet, there’s still a small gap between the joint of the bezels and the screen curvature that doesn’t quite convince me.

Samsung has managed to implement a IP48 rating in the Galaxy Z Flip 6, making it a water and dust resistant foldable. However, in my view, it doesn’t convey the same level of resistance as conventional phones. I wouldn’t take this phone to the beach or to a place with many airborne particles. While it’s one thing for a conventional screen to get scratched, it’s another for a foldable screen to endure the same. In my opinion, it’s a definite “nope.”

Speaking of the hinge, it’s worth noting that Samsung has perfected the folding mechanism. The hinge conveys a feeling of solidity and strength. The closing action is very satisfying, offering both resistance and fluidity. Additionally, the “click” sound when it closes is a delight to the ears and soothes the soul.

Now, let's talk about the crease: It’s a contentious issue, and for good reason. Is it noticeable? Yes, it’s noticeable, primarily to the touch. The crease runs down the middle of the screen, which becomes apparent when watching vertical videos or when the content has a very dark background. However, in everyday use, it’ll go completely unnoticed. In terms of touch, it’s located in a position I hardly use on a daily basis, except in certain games. During my week and a bit of use, I’ve barely noticed it, but when you do, it’s unmistakable.

What I mean is, although the crease is present, it’s not something that you really notice, and eventually you get used to it. You just learn to overlook it. It might catch your eye on the first day (we’ve all done that thing where you tilt your phone to see if it’s more noticeable than it should be), but the truth is that you end up forgetting it’s even there. In fact, in the images accompanying this review, it’s much more noticeable than it is in real life.

On the topic of the crease, let’s discuss the inner display. We’re looking at a 6.7-inch OLED panel with Full HD+ resolution and a 22:9 aspect ratio. It’s a very elongated screen that makes the content at the top completely out of reach when using the phone with one hand. Other than that, it’s a great-looking screen with colors that have impressed me. Additionally, there’s a noticeable improvement in the maximum brightness, which is useful in certain conditions like when the sun hits the screen.

The Z Flip’s inner screen is better for playing multimedia content compared to the Fold’s inner screen, given that it usually fills most of the screen. However, if the content is in a 18:9 or 16:9 aspect ratio, there’ll be black bars on the sides. These can be removed by enlarging the video and sacrificing part of the image.

The phone features a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate, adjusting to 24 Hz, 48 Hz, 60 Hz, and 120 Hz depending on the content being played. The outer display, however, only has a 60 Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10 and HDR10+ but doesn’t support Dolby Vision. Overall, while it’s generally a good screen, it has limitations in viewing angles, causing color loss and a visible crease. Samsung could improve it in this aspect, but we still liked it a lot.

When it comes to the outer display, it remains unchanged from the previous generation. While other brands like Motorola have introduced more visually appealing designs, the Galaxy Z Flip’s existing format serves its purpose well for everyday use. It would’ve been nice to see Samsung reduce the bezels and camera notch, though.

The display performs well, even in bright daylight, although it’s slightly less effective than the main screen in such conditions. It operates at 60 Hz and is mainly used for viewing and responding to notifications and accessing quick information through widgets. You can also launch some full apps like WhatsApp and Google Maps, but Samsung has hidden this option in the Labs section for some reason. To launch any app, users will need to use Good Lock.

I’ve had the best experience with Google Maps and WhatsApp on this screen. Google Maps allows you to open the map, give a voice prompt, and follow the instructions without opening the phone. With WhatsApp, I’ve been able to have entire conversations thanks to the keyboard without opening the phone. This screen alone is worth the foldable format.

It’s also interesting to be able to check and respond to notifications easily, considering you can answer most of them right from the outer screen using the keyboard or AI-suggested responses. Samsung’s expertise in software is noticeable, given that using the small screen when the phone is folded becomes very natural once you get used to it.

Finally, before discussing its performance, let’s touch on the audio department. I was slightly disappointed with the sound quality of the Samsung device. Not because it’s low, quite the opposite, but because at medium to high volumes, the speaker tends to distort. The ideal volume range is 60-70%. On the other hand, the microphone captures voices well, but it’s not the best I’ve tested in a high-end device.

Performance, Software, and Battery Life: Heating Up

Now that we’ve examined the exterior of the phone, let’s take a closer look inside the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. Like its Fold counterpart, it features one of the best combinations for high-end Android devices: 12 GB of LPDDR5x RAM, up to 512 GB of internal storage (UFS 4.0), and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy platform. This Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 includes a faster core running at 3.39 GHz, as opposed to the standard 3.3 GHz.

On paper, the whole package is great. In reality, the performance is very good for everyday apps and even for heavy games like Honor of Kings (which I’ve become more hooked on than I’d like to admit publicly), but it does get hot. The phone becomes very warm on the top, despite Samsung advertising a larger vapor chamber. In fact, it gets hot quite easily. After just one 10-minute game of Honor of Kings, you can already feel that the top of the phone is warmer than it should be.

Sure, I’ve tested the phone in summer and it’s hot, but the tests were performed indoors with the air conditioner on. This is also evident in the benchmarks due to the well-known thermal throttling, which we also experienced in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. It’s clear that this has a significant impact on long-term performance, as shown in 3DMark’s Wild Life Stress Unlimited test and during a one-hour gaming session.

In short, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers high-end performance in terms of FPS, fluidity, and overall user experience. However, it tends to overheat when pushed to its limits for an extended period. While it’s possible to play games on this device, prolonged heavy usage may lead to heating at the back. This is particularly noticeable during intensive tasks, rather than everyday app usage.

In terms of software, Samsung’s custom One UI 6.1.1, based on Android 14, is well-adapted to the foldable format. The company has succeeded in making the most of the folding design through software customization, which enhances the user experience. Additionally, Samsung promises that the device will receive up to seven major updates in the future, further solidifying its feature-rich nature.

Let’s discuss some of its key features. The Flex mode, which allows the screen to be folded into any position, is great for using the dual-screen translator and photography options. The ability to turn your phone into a tripod by folding is a convenient feature. These small functions, like Circle to Search, make life a little easier, and I appreciate these small details. Thanks for inventing this, Google.

Now, let’s talk about artificial intelligence. During the Paris Unpacked event, Samsung mentioned AI numerous times. While the Galaxy AI features work well, they seem to go largely unnoticed in daily use. There are interesting features, such as automatic transcription of voice memos, text suggestions, and Photo Assist, but the initial “wow” effect diminishes after repeated use.

This year, some of the new features include generative AI that can modify photos by adding a doodle on top and turning it into a realistic object, as well as generating an image from a freehand sketch. While the results are nice, these features seem to have limited practical use. However, I personally find the text summarization option in Samsung’s browser to be very useful, along with the automatic call transcription and the ability to remove people from photos in the gallery.

Regarding calls, the real-time call interpreter now works in apps like Google Meet and Instagram, but not on WhatsApp, which is unfortunate. I find the implementation of text calls and the interpreter to be quite interesting, but aside from specific use cases, such as making phone calls to friends in other countries, it’s not something that people will use widely in their daily lives.

Even though I haven’t had the need to convert a text message to a more formal or professional style, it’s great to have this capability available as it might come in handy. The new editor also lets you create text messages from a prompt, and although we may not use these AI-based utilities every day, they’re nice to have and they’re free.

These functions are powered by Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence model. Samsung has taken a hybrid approach, meaning that the information is processed both on the mobile device and in the cloud. We can configure the AI to process everything locally, but this might lead to inferior results and not all the tools will be available.

What I mean by all this is that, in my opinion, Galaxy AI has its own specific use, although it hasn't been a significant part of my daily life and probably won’t in the future. It’s nice to have, but at present, it doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason to choose this smartphone over others.

As for the operating system, Samsung still provides a clean interface with plenty of customization options and settings, along with excellent performance. However, there’s some uninstallable bloatware from Facebook, Netflix, and Microsoft, which is a downside.

Finally, in terms of battery life, Samsung has increased the capacity to 4,000 mAh, and the performance is quite good. It easily lasts a day, and you can expect about six hours of active screen time, depending on your usage. Keep in mind that heavy activities like gaming and continuous GPS usage may impact battery life differently.

During my testing, I found that I could unplug the phone at 8:00 a.m., use it throughout the day at work and outdoors, and still have 45-55% battery remaining at night. In summary, you can comfortably go a day and a half on a single charge, but it’s best to avoid needing a quick charge because that could be inconvenient.

To tell the truth, the charging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is slow when compared to what other manufacturers offer in the market. The Z Flip 6 comes with 25 W wired charging, which is relatively low for a high-end smartphone priced at more than $1,000. It takes more than an hour and a half to fully charge, and the charger isn’t included in the box. It also supports 15 W wireless charging and 45 W reverse wireless charging.

Photography: A Reliable and, Above All, Entertaining Camera

When I reviewed the Galaxy Z Fold 6, I noted that Samsung had used a very similar camera setup to the previous year. However, with the Flip, Samsung has significantly improved the camera resolution, which is clearly noticeable. It’s still not the most comprehensive set of sensors on the market, and at this price point, I feel that it’s missing a telephoto lens (even though it has a 2x optical zoom). However, it’s understandable that Samsung might have omitted this feature in order to maintain a slim design.

• Main camera: 50 MP, f/1.8 aperture, AF, 1.0 µm pixel size, OIS, 2x optical zoom.
• Wide camera: 12 MP, f/2.2 aperture, AF, 123º FOV, 1.12 µm pixel size.
• Front camera (inner display): 10 MP, f/2.2 aperture, AF, 1.22 µm pixel size.

The main sensor’s resolution has undergone an important change, increasing from 12 MP in the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to 50 MP. You’ll notice this change in certain types of photographs. Plus, it’ll enable you to make larger prints. The Camera app is the same as that of other phones from the company and enables you to capture images in RAW format and use Google Lens, among other features.

However, it’s important to remember that mobile photography is not just about numbers. The image processing is equally important, and Samsung has made significant improvements in this area.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Pictures

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers two shooting modes: 12 MP and 50 MP. In the 12 MP mode, you can zoom up to 10x digitally, while in the 50 MP mode, you’re limited to 5x. However, the 50 MP mode doesn’t support animated photos or filters.

In good lighting conditions, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 takes high-quality photos comparable to its Fold sibling. The camera effectively captures details in both shadows and highlights, displaying good dynamic range and competent HDR. It’s a playful camera that allows for creative freedom. Colors are accurately represented, which is a positive change considering Samsung’s tendency to oversaturate.

When it comes to the 12 MP mode, the image quality is decent, but it doesn’t quite match the fine quality of Samsung’s top models (like the S24 Ultra). Typically, the device tends to over-process textures, making the photos appear overly sharp. However, unless you zoom in too much, where you’ll see some seams and a watercolor effect, the photos generally look good. In summary, the camera’s performance is good and it has left me satisfied.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the sharpness and colors when using the 2x optical zoom. The camera manages to maintain the level of detail and color accuracy of the photos without zooming, since it’s the same camera after all. Although it doesn’t offer the highest zoom available, you can still use it to add a different touch to your photos or take portraits.

When you move on to the 4x and 10x digital zoom, you’ll start to notice a drop in resolution. At 4x magnification, some details begin to wash out, and at 10x magnification, the quality decreases further. It’s still usable, but if you need to zoom in that much, it might be better to shoot at 50 MP and then zoom in during editing.

Now let's talk about the wide lens. It has good performance in terms of HDR, dynamic range, and colors. However, the resolution is a bit low, and when you zoom in, the detail starts to disappear. The photo is impressive and the distortion on the sides is well-managed, but considering what’s available on the market, it’s not particularly surprising.

On the other hand, the Portrait mode has good detail on the subject and exceptional subject/background separation. However, Samsung still struggles a bit with isolating fine elements, and the blur may seem less natural than desired. Additionally, the 2x optical zoom for portraits is noteworthy in folded mode.

Taking selfies with the inner camera produces decent results, but they tend to be warmer compared to what you get when using the main camera. While the inner camera offers good light and color, the pictures come with excessive clarity and textures that are a bit too defined. In any case, the selfies are good enough.

If given the choice, I would opt to fold the phone and take the selfie using the main camera, as it yields a much better result and provides access to a wider angle. This also applies to Portrait mode, where the inner camera may not produce as sharp a crop as desired, while the front camera yields very nice results, as seen in previous images.

The 50 MP mode offers a significant improvement in quality and sharpness compared to the 12 MP mode. The resulting images are heavier in size but much higher in quality. For photos intended to be kept, it’s preferable to always shoot in  50 MP mode. The 12 MP mode is adequate for sharing photos on social media or messaging apps.

When it comes to night photography, the camera performs reasonably well, producing decent photos. However, zooming in reveals a drop in sharpness and some loss of detail in background textures. While not subpar, the night photos are slightly below the standard offered by other high-end devices.

And lastly, let’s talk about the video capabilities. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 can record in 4K at 60 FPS, delivering impressive results with good detail, lighting, HDR, and stabilization. The camera performs admirably, even when the phone is folded, although video recording in this mode is limited to Full-HD at 60 FPS.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, Xataka’s Opinion

All in all, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 represents a small step forward, but the design has room for improvement. Let me explain. The device is enjoyable to use, well-made, and offers good performance, enhanced by excellent software optimized for foldable devices. Samsung knows what it’s doing.

However, the outer screen’s potential remains largely untapped, especially when compared to what other brands like Motorola are doing. Samsung has yet to fully utilize the outer screen beyond just widgets and a few apps, despite its significant potential.

Furthermore, Samsung needs to address two issues for the next generation: charging (25 W in 2024 means the phone takes almost two hours to charge...) and overheating, which should be somewhat mitigated with software updates. Having a powerful device limited by thermal throttling is akin to having a Formula 1 car without gasoline or wheels.

On the positive side, the South Korean firm has significantly improved the camera, so much so that it’s left a very positive impression. The screen crease is still present but tends to go unnoticed, and the company has added new playful AI features. The foldable format is finally beginning to make sense, and the Z Flip 6 aims to set the standard for foldable phones. Yet, Samsung is no longer the only player in this space and should strive not to lose its edge.