Nobody else has been producing foldable phones longer than Samsung. And for the first few years, the sheer quantity of Galaxy Z Fold line advancements meant there was not much competition. More lately, though, the speed of invention has slowed as new rivals like the Pixel Fold and OnePlus Open have emerged. Now for 2024, Samsung has strengthened the Galaxy Z Fold 6 with a new ultra-wide-angle camera, a sturdier but more lighter chassis, and many AI-powered features. Sadly, not much else has changed; we now have a quite iterative upgrading. Therefore, even if the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is still the greatest all-around huge foldable available on the market, it seems as complacency is undermining Samsung's advantage among flagship flexible devices.
Design And Displays: Tweaked Dimensions With Even Brighter Screens
Samsung has changed the Galaxy Z Fold 6's size once more for 2024 following closing the screen's gap on last year's phone. But the changes are so little you have to measure them in millimeters. The phone closes to one millimeter slimmer and opens up (in portrait) with a 2.7mm bigger main screen but one millimeter shorter. Though not much, you do have some more space for activities. Naturally, this also influences the outer cover display, which is roughly 1mm bigger as well — just enough to make utilizing its on-screen keyboard more forgiving.
Elsewise, from its boxier edges to the more squared-off corners on both panels, the phone is sharper everywhere. Although Samsung also claims the Enhanced Armor Aluminium used in the Z Fold 6's chassis is roughly 10% stronger than previously, I hope you will pardon me for not dropping it on purpose simply to find out. One revolutionary dual-rail hinge is keeping everything together. And this time, I believe Samsung has perfected the ideal mix of something that is simple to access yet also retains its place when needed. Still, a 14-gram weight cut from the previous generation represents the most design improvement. Though it might not sound like much, today the Z Fold 6 just weights roughly 4 grams more than its non-foldable relative, the S24 Ultra. And on an already weighty phone, this difference is really noticeable.
Regarding the displays, as someone who has lately been using the Pixel Fold a lot — which has a solid screen in its own right — I can say, Samsung's panels are really very flexible. Not only has peak brightness improved to 2,600 nits for both panels much like on the normal S24 series, Samsung has gently flattened and decreased the bezels, so the phone seems even more like a magazine come alive. And right now this is the best screen on a large foldable till I see something better.
Performance
While base RAM is continuing at 12GB, the Z Fold line has never been slow; this year we get the same bump to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU as seen on the S24. The Z Fold 6 performs rapidly and responsively, as one would anticipate. Thanks to the addition of a bigger vapor chamber on the inside, the phone stays cooler over longer sessions, which is a great plus to all the gamers out there who appreciate playing on a really big-screen smartphone. There is no lag when doing practically anything.
Cameras: Mostly Unchanged
Regarding photography, I'm a little dissatisfied with the Z Fold 6 not because it couldn't capture a nice picture but rather because I know Samsung can do better. Samsung has stayed with a trio of back cameras for this time around, using a new 12-MP sensor for the ultra-wide lens and it's very excellent. At the same time, though, I use the ultra-wide lens the least in regular use and it is not near.
Though they are solid, the other two cameras—the 50-MP primary and the 12-MP telephoto with a 3x optical zoom—are ones Samsung utilized on at least the past two generations. The Z Fold 6 created a fantastic picture with rich saturated colors and amazing details in a picture of some strawberries. Simultaneously, though, you can also notice the rather overdone warm tones Samsung cameras produce. And at night the Z Fold created a stunning picture of a flower in a very challenging lighting setting.
The problem is that Samsung hardly has a justification for saddling the Z Fold 6 with degraded photography when compared to the S24 Ultra after Google unveiled the Pixel Fold. The Pixel Fold has an edge in general photo quality and a lengthier five-x optical zoom. Just have a look at two zoom views shot taken with the Pixel Fold and the Z Fold. Samsung's picture looks decent in a vacuum. Look at the Pixel's picture, though, next. It's significantly more detailed and sharper.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Camera Sample Versus Google Pixel Fold
And it's the same thing in really low-light conditions, like the one I shot of some Bluey figurines, where the Pixel Fold caught a less grainy, crisper and more well-exposed pic. And once the S24 Ultra's cameras pleasantly surprised me, it's unfortunate that Samsung's most costly phone ranks second in terms of photography.
Ai Features: Fun And Occasionally Handy, But Not Essential
As we observed at the start of the year, Samsung has brought the Galaxy AI package it introduced to the Z Fold 6. Mostly, the functions are the same as well; things like Chat Assist, which lets you create emails or social posts depending on the tone you choose. Additionally supported by Google's Circle is translation and summarizing tools as well as search engine optimization. A couple fresh adjustments for the Fold are that the phone can now translate text in place rather than spewing it out into a large unformatted blob, which is wonderful but quite situational. And I should note that Google Lens already provides comparable capability. Depending on which side of the phone they are looking at, perhaps the more crucial one is the capacity for dual-screen translations, therefore enabling each person to read text in their language in real-time.
Among the recent improvements are the Portrait Studio tool, which can produce an artificial intelligence-generated drawing of someone depending on a picture and a range of styles like comedy or watercolor. For a chuckle or two, it's entertaining and pleasant; but, I'm not sure how helpful it would be routinely. The Sketch to Image tool lets you apply a basic sketch on a current picture and then have the phone create a more lifelike copy of it in your final image. Since they make it simple to remove distracting elements or do basic touch-ups, I still believe Samsung's basic AI picture editing capabilities are the most practical of the lot. Once more, though, all of this seems more like supplementary material than fundamental requirements.
Excellent Lifespan But Could Use Some Quicker Charging Technologies
Although Samsung did not enlarge the 4,400 mAh cell in the Z Fold 6, its new chip's enhanced energy efficiency helps to somewhat increase the phone's battery life. utilizing its huge primary screen, our video rundown test lasted 20 hours and seven minutes; utilizing its outside cover display, it lasted 25 hours and nineteen minutes. The Z Fold 6 is the simple choice if you require a big-screen phone with lots of lifetime as the first number is even greater than what we seen from the Pixel Fold (15:22) and OnePlus Open (19:19).
Its billing has sadly not altered much. Though both somewhat poor estimates in 2024, you still get 25-watt wired charging and 15-watt wireless charging. I'm also a little annoyed that a phone this costly is taking out significant features off the spec sheet, even as I wasn't anticipating support for Qi2 magnetic charging on the Z Fold 6 after Samsung elected not to include it to the regular S24 range. You may also read this: Google Pixel 9: A Comprehensive Review
Conclusion
Not that long ago, almost every Z Fold line component was unparalleled by its rivals. Now, though, phones like the Pixel Fold exist and provide superior general photography. Next is the OnePlus Open, which, despite recent diet, weights the same as the Z Fold 6. Not to overlook either of those opponents are 2023 models. Moreover slimmer and lighter than Samsung's champion are Chinese rivals like the Honor Magic V3 and the forthcoming Xiaomi Mix Fold 4.
Not to misunderstand, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is still a decent foldable—a wonderful one even. Its performance is outstanding, its battery life is great, and it has useful native stylus compatibility. But it seems as though Samsung has less desire for ultimate control after all this time seated fat and content on its throne. We got a lot of AI-powered tools and stunts, which are amusing but not true standout attractions instead of long-awaited improvements like a built-in S Pen or an upgraded under-display camera. And at $1,900—which is $100 more than last year—the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the most costly model it has ever produced. But I suppose that's the cost Samsung pays for maintaining such a lengthy run on top.
