Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 hands-on review

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 hands-on review

Let's start with the Fold and its physical appearance. Samsung has tweaked the overall design slightly to feature smaller curves and more straight lines, edges and flat surfaces. The new design is very symmetrical. It is by no means a major change, but it is still noticeable in person if you've held the Z Fold5 before.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6

The Z Fold6 weighs 239 grams, making it 14 grams lighter than its predecessor and lighter still compared to the Z Fold4. The Z Fold6 measures 132.6x153.5x5.6mm (unfolded) and 68.1x153.5x12.1mm (folded). That makes it 1.4 mm shorter, 2.7 mm wider, and 0.5 mm thinner when folded compared to the Z Fold5.

The extra width translates to a slightly different aspect ratio on the cover display. It is now technically larger at 6.3 inches, as opposed to the 6.2 inches on the Z Fold5. More importantly, the new 22.1:9 aspect means the display is not quite as "tall and skinny" as before. In our experience, this makes it more usable. The actual resolution of the cover screen hasn't changed much and now sits at 968 x 2376 pixels. That's basically the same as the 904 x 2316 pixels on the Z Fold5.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 next to Z Fold5 (middle/right)

Since we are already on the topic of displays, we should mention that the main foldable panel has experienced a bit of a resolution and aspect change as well. It still measures 7.6 inches, but its resolution is now 1856 x 2160 pixels, compared to 1812 x 2176 pixels on the Z Fold5. This particular generational difference is much harder to spot even in person while holding both phones since the main display is so large anyway.

The display tech hasn't really changed for this generation. Both the internal and the cover displays are of the Dynamic AMOLED 2x variety, meaning they can do a 120Hz refresh rate. The cover display is still finished with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The main display is still HDR10+ certified, and so is the cover one.

While we definitely need to test the brightness figures for ourselves, Samsung says that the main display on the Z Fold6 will do a whopping 2,600 nits of peak brightness, which is an improvement over the Z Fold5 - up to 1.5x improvement, in fact.

Apparently, the new display is brighter and more efficient since Samsung says that the Z Fold6 can offer an extra hour of video playback from the same unchanged 4,400 mAh battery pack.

Circling back to materials and build for a bit, not much has changed, at least on the surface. The Z Fold6 now gets an IP48 ingress protection rating instead of IPX8, which means it's at least partially sealed from dust particles.

We already mentioned the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover on the outside display. Apparently, the main display now has "enhanced layers", whatever that means, which help reduce the display crease while maintaining strength.

The crease on the unit we handled was very minimal and hard to notice. But do keep in mind that, as with all foldables, the crease will only get more pronounced with use.

Anyway, back to materials - the frame and hinge on the Z Fold6 are covered with Armor Aluminum, just like before. Though Samsung says that it has been "enhanced" in this generation.

The hinge has been improved as well. Its dual rail structure is further supported and strengthened by a folding edge, better distributing the shock of external impacts.

Samsung also continues to focus on sustainability in its products. That's why both the Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 use recycled minerals like cobalt and rare earth elements and recycled plastics, aluminum and glass in their construction, just like the Galaxy S24 series.

For the first time ever, Samsung has also used recycled gold and copper for the Z Fold and Z Flip.

The phones also ship in boxes made from 100% recycled paper material.

Finishing off the physical tour of the Z Fold6, we can't fail to mention the available color options. These include Silver Shadow, Pink and Navy, which are available in most markets. In keeping with tradition, Samsung.com will also be selling exclusive colors - Crafted Black and White.

Not a lot has changed on the inside of the Z Fold6. We already mentioned the move to this year's flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. Samsung paired that with a new internal cooling design with a 1.6x larger vapor chamber.

The rest of the internals are unchanged and include things like stereo speakers and a 4,400 mAh battery, still with only 25W wired charging and 15W wireless. You also can choose between 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of non-expandable storage. It is, perhaps, worth noting that the USB 3.2 Type-C port on the Z Fold6 has video output and Samsung DeX support since neither is a thing on the Z Flip6.

We will be glancing over the cameras on the Z Fold6 since these appear to be borrowed straight from last year's Z Fold5. The Z Fold6 still has a 50MP, OIS-enabled, f/1.8 main shooter, accompanied by a 10MP, OIS-enabled, f/2.4 telephoto and a 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide. There are two selfies onboard - a 4MP, f/1.8 unit under the main foldable display and a conventional punch hole 10MP, f/2.2 selfie on the cover screen.

The Z Fold6 runs on Android 14 with OneUI 6.1 on top. The same goes for the Z Flip6, and both devices come with seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security patches, just like the S24 line. There are plenty of new and returning AI features to go over, which we will do on a separate page.