Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 hands-on review

Introduction

It's that time of the year again, and Samsung is taking the wraps off of its latest foldables. On the surface, not a lot has changed about the Z Fold6 and Z Flip6. Some slight design tweaks here and there. But dig a little deeper, and certain innovations will start to shine through.

We'll do our best to go over what's new in the Galaxy Z family - spoiler alert, a lot of it has to do with AI and software. But before we get to all that, here are both devices' quick specs and rundowns.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 specs at a glance:

• Body: 132.6x153.5x5.6mm (unfolded)/68.1x153.5x12.1mm (folded), 239g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2) (folded), plastic front (unfolded), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP48 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), Armor aluminum frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (advertised), Stylus support.
• Display: 7.60" Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Infinity Flex Display, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1856x2160px resolution, 20.9:18 aspect ratio, 374ppi; Cover display: Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, 6.3 inches, 968 x 2376 pixels, 22.1:9 ratio, 410ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): 8-core (1x3.39GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.1GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.9GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.2GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 750 (1 GHz).
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 14.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123-degree, 12mm, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: Wide (under-display): 4 MP, f/1.8, 2.0µm; Wide (cover): 10 MP, f/2.2, 1.22µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@960fps (gyro-EIS), HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4400mAh; 25W wired, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6e; BT 5.3, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Samsung DeX (desktop experience support), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 specs at a glance:

• Body: 71.9x85.1x14.9mm (folded)/71.9x165.1x6.9mm (unfolded), 187g; Plastic front (unfolded), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP48 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min), Armor aluminum frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance (advertised).
• Display: 6.70" Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2640px resolution, 22:9 aspect ratio, 425ppi; Cover display:, Super AMOLED, 3.4 inches, 60Hz, 720 x 748 pixels (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), 306 ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): 8-core (1x3.39GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.1GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.9GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.2GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 750 (1 GHz).
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 14.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123-degree, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 1.22µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30fps.
• Battery: 4000mAh; 25W wired, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 6e; BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers.

As we said, nothing instantly jumps out to us on a hardware level. Naturally, the foldable pair gets Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset. Both phones also promise improved cooling to handle all of that power. And there's the upgraded ingress protection rating, which has gone from IPX8 to IP48 for this generation meaning at least some dust resistance.

Other standout changes include the wider 6.3-inch cover display on the Z Fold6. The panel has a slightly different aspect ratio this generation, which should greatly improve the phone's usability when closed.

The Z Flip6, however, arguably has more upgrades under its belt this year. Its main camera now boasts a 50 MP sensor and maintains an f/1.8 aperture. Despite a slight reduction in thickness, the Flip6 sports a larger 4,000 mAh battery and incorporates a vapor chamber inside.