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Galaxy Z Flip 6 Intro
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is now finally official. This time, it's a relatively minor upgrade over the Galaxy Z Flip 5; however, we've got several notable improvements that Samsung has prepared for us.
We have an upgraded main camera that jumps to 50MP from 12 on its predecessor, a new chip optimized for Galaxy AI, refined hinge with less visible crease (and the phone is slightly thinner when folded) and a slightly bigger battery.
Apart from that, in terms of displays, looks and overall feel, we have little differences from the Flip 5, but the improvement is there nonetheless.
As for the price, the rumors have turned out to be true and we have a $100 price increase in the United States. So now, for the U.S., the Galaxy Z Flip 6 12/256GB costs $1099. The European price doesn't change and remains at EUR 1199.
(512GB) Z Fold 6: up to $1,200 off; Z Flip 6: up to $650 off
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are available at Samsung.com. Right now, you can get the 51GB Galaxy Z Fold 6 for up to $1,200 off with a trade-in. The Z Flip 6 comes at up to $650 off, provided you spare an eligible device in good condition.
This device scores 2.8% worse than the average for this price class, which includes devices like the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra
Disclaimer: We use a new review rating system at PhoneArena, which is why the total score of all devices tested under this protocol is lower than you might be used to. We believe it's a better system, covering a number of categories and providing a holistic view of the device, and we encourage you to look at the scores in context, rather than focusing on the number. You can learn more about our PhoneArena Review Score here.
We don't have huge upgrades when it comes to the looks of the clamshell foldable. A similar premium build is adorning the phone, and there is a slight improvement in the hinge mechanism. The crease is now less visible and less noticeable, which is actually epic. It feels as if it's almost gone, and it's way less bothering when your scrolling or viewing the display.
Apart from that though, the other differences from the previous generation aren't as huge. The frame now sports flatter edges which actually looks more modern and bold. The display closes completely, just like the Flip 5. With the flatter edges, the phone is now more comfortable to hold. But I still can't open it with one hand. It does feel sturdy and durable in the hand, which is a good thing, especially when we're talking foldables.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is available in Silver Shadow, Yellow, Blue, and Mint, with Samsung.com exclusive colors being Crafted Black, White, and Peach. The colors wrap around the frame as well, which wasn't the case for the Flip 5, for a more seamless look.
As for protection and durability, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 rocks Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which makes it better protected against scratches.
As for the displays, the Flip 6 retains the 3.4-inch external display of its predecessor but it now has some more features like Auto Zoom and Suggested Replies. It still features a 60 Hz refresh rate.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
On the inside of the foldable, we have a similar 6.7-inch AMOLED display to its predecessors, but it features enhanced layers for more durability and a less visible crease. So the display has been improved, although not by much.
It is brighter than the Flip 5, which is always a welcome improvement, and also can go lower in minimum brightness, fantastic for those who want to browse some social media at night.
Galaxy Z Flip 6 Camera
Main camera jumps to 50MP resolution
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
PhoneArena Camera Score
BEST 157
137
PhoneArena Photo Score
BEST 162
141
Main (wide)
BEST 85
79
Zoom
BEST 28
21
Ultra-wide
BEST 25
17
Selfie
BEST 30
25
PhoneArena Video Score
BEST 153
133
Main (wide)
BEST 80
71
Zoom
BEST 27
18
Ultra-wide
BEST 23
19
Selfie
BEST 28
27
The Z Flip 6's camera is where we get one notable upgrade. The Flip 5's main camera sports a 12MP resolution, which is not ideal for a phone in its price range. However, this time, Samsung has fixed this by including a new, 50MP main camera on the Flip 6. The camera features an f/1.8 aperture.
Apart from the upgraded main sensor, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 sports the same ultra-wide with 12MP resolution to complete its dual-camera setup. On the front (or, more like the inside) of the phone we have a 10MP front-facing selfie camera.
Foldables aren't historically famous for their photography prowess. But the 50MP main camera is a welcome improvement to the Flip and may turn how we look at foldables and their cameras.
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Of course, Galaxy AI is available on the Flip 6. The generative AI experience has a couple of camera-centric features, including Generative Edit and Edit Suggestions. Now, let's see some images samples we took with the Z Flip 6:
Main Camera
The main camera is where we are seeing better image quality thanks to the new 50MP camera. We have a more natural color processing on the main camera and colors look more like what they are in real life and less like the known Samsung look.
We have more natural greens and blues and a very good level of detail.
The Z Flip 6 is doing relatively okay with portrait mode. It has a good level of separation from the background and very beautiful bokeh. Our challenging shot with the trees did manage to confuse the Flip a little bit and you can see that a part of the tree has remained in focus.
That's not such big of a deal though and the photos look quite good. We have more natural-looking skin tones (in comparison to the Flip 5), and good dynamic range.
Ultra-wide Camera
The ultra-wide on the Z Flip 6 is the same 12MP one as on the Flip 5. And we don't see many differences from the previous model, apart from a more natural color palette.
Zoom Quality
Samsung advertised that generative AI will be helping with zooming in on the Z Flip 6 up to 10x. And I'm not gonna lie, these zoom shots have a very good level of detail to them and are generally better than what the Flip 5 managed last year.
You can see that on the 10x shot, the words and letters are clearly visible and we don't have loads of strange artifacts or noise going on. Good job, Galaxy AI!
Selfies
Seflies on the Flip 6 are good too. Here, the foldable form factor plays a huge role and you can actually take a selfie with the main camera, something that not a lot of phones can brag with.
Skin tones look natural, there's no over-saturation and just a little bit of sharpening going on.
Some of the night-time photos are better than others. In some, there's noise going on, and some of the details are missing - like in the trees. But they're not terrible either and the camera didn't get confused from the light bulbs in our second and third photo. Overall, it's doing okay in night-time photography.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes with a premium flagship processor: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. The chip has been optimized for AI. During our short time with the phone for our hands-on, we didn't notice any hiccups or issues with the performance - as is expected from such a powerful chip.
The new chip in the Flip 6 helps it beat its predecessor in every benchmark that we ran on it. In some cases like the Geekbench Single, Multi, and 3D Mark Extreme it even beat the Galaxy S24, which is quite a feat!
The powerful chip ensures smooth performance and we have seen no hiccups. Basically, it should be able to handle anything you throw at it, including the hardcore generative AI features.
Besides the stronger chip, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is finally getting 12GB of RAM. So far, Samsung's clamshell foldables have been limited to 8 gigs, but this is no more. This makes the phone great for multitasking and also helps with all the generative AI features.
As for storage, we have the usual: 256 and 512GB storage. We didn't get a 1TB option, although the Fold has one. The Flip doesn't have support for MicroSD cards, but that's a standard with flagships nowadays.
Galaxy Z Flip 6 Software
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 launches with Android 14, just like any other Android phone launching before October. It has Samsung's One UI (One UI 6.1.1) on top, and the cool Galaxy AI features that were introduced with the S24 series. So we have no surprises here, and we get a standard Samsung Galaxy feel from the UI.
We have the regular Galaxy AI features like Instant Slow-Mo, Generative Edit, Note Assist etc. However, we have Suggested Replies that's an exclusive Z Flip 6 feature that works only on the FlexWindow display (it's similar to Chat Assist, but simplified for the 3.4-inch screen).
You also get more widgets for the cover display, which allow for more customization (are are quite fun as well, at least in the beginning) including Animated ones, Interactive ones, and created with AI.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 doesn't support Samsung DeX, which is a bummer for users who'd like to multitask with Samsung's system.
The Flip 6 is promised 7 years of OS updates and 7 years of security updates, which is awesome news.
Things are more exciting when it comes to the battery. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes with an upgraded battery over its predecessor.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a 3,700 mAh battery cell while the Flip 6 improves on that and features a bigger 4,000 mAh battery. Any increase in battery is a good thing, especially when it doesn't come with an increase in size or weight (which we don't have).
We see a notable improvement in battery performance on the Flip 6 in comparison to the Flip 5 from last year. The phone is able to withstand 16h and 10 minutes on continuous web browsing, 9h and 8 min of video playback, and 10 hours and 20 minutes on continuous gaming. These results are very good and mean that the phone is more than capable of lasting a full day on a single charge - light to moderate usage.
Apart from that, we have the same 25W fast charging capabilities on the Flip 6 just like on the Flip 5.
As you can see on our charging test, the phone performs similarly to its predecessor, although it's a bit faster in the beginning. It takes 1 hour and 34 minutes to get it fully charged.
Flip phones aren't particularly the best when it comes to audio quality. The sound is very similar to the Flip 5, almost indistinguishable (at least for my ear). It seems a little bit more refined and clear though.
As for haptics, we don't have many changes here compared to its predecessor. You get pleasant vibration feedback when typing, but nothing sophisticated or too refined. It feels a little bit gentler than the Flip 5, but hardly noticeable.
Should you buy the Galaxy Z Flip 6?
Although the Galaxy Z Flip 6 doesn't offer as many upgrades in comparison to its predecessor as many would like, it still isn't just an iteration. With a better camera, bigger battery, and an improved hinge and almost unnoticeable crease, the Flip 6 is the best Samsung clamshell foldable right now, so you won't be wrong if you decide to go for it.
It performs reliably in terms of raw power and battery, and has overall better camera performance than rivals such as the Motorola Razr Plus (2024). The Flip 6 is also a very good-looking phone, and with the latest refinements of the design - flat edges, gorgeous colors, durable feel - it's a serious phone that shouldn't be taken as just an accessory. Now with 12GB of RAM and fast-and-furious Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it's a great performer and a serious contender for the best foldable phone of 2024.
All in all, I'd recommend it to anyone who would love to get a Samsung clamshell foldable in 2024.
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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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