Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 review

Introduction

A quick poll around our office, asking what we'd like to see improved in our smartphones, is very likely to yield 'battery life' and 'cameras' at the top of the list of answers. Well, Samsung didn't ask us, but that's exactly what's new on the Galaxy Z Flip6.

The clamshell foldable Galaxy for 2024 brings a handful of tweaks. A larger battery is one of them, the relatively small increase being nevertheless most welcome. Also on the menu is a new primary camera, the high-res sensor hopefully elevating the Flip's zoom game a notch.

Another new addition is an IP-rated protection against solids to go along with the previously available water resistance. We're not sure just how significant that development is from a practical perspective, since it's not really dust that's being covered, but we'll take an intermediate evolutionary step, sure.

Naturally, there's also a new chipset, and if you're the type of person to obsess over these things, you'll be happy to learn it's Snaprdagons everywhere. A RAM bump to 12 GB has made it to all Flip6s too - that's better than most vanilla S24 versions with their measly 8 GB.

The cover display is still the same notched design as before, unlike the Moto Razrs and their all-screen top panels - perhaps next time we'll see something of the sort from Samsung. We're less hopeful about getting some actually fast charging - should we just accept Samsung's... conservative approach to the matter?

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 specs at a glance:

• Body: 165.1x71.9x6.9mm (unfolded), 85.1x71.9x14.9mm (folded); 187g; Glass front, glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP48 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: Main: 6.7" Foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2640px resolution, 22:9 aspect ratio, 426ppi; Cover: Super AMOLED, 3.4 inches, 720x748px resolution, 306 ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): 8-core (1x3.4GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.2GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x3.0GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 750.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 14, One UI 6.1.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultrawide: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), 1.22µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/120/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@60fps.
• Battery: 4000mAh; 25W wired, QC2.0, 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 6e; BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 unboxing

The Galaxy Z Flip6 travels in a minimalist black cardboard box that brings down environmental impact, but doesn't contain a whole lot in terms of accessories.

All you get, in addition to the (mostly useless) documentation, of course, is a USB-C cable and a SIM tool.