I have fallen in love with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, with its much more effective camera and resistant design, although I think there are still some areas that need improvement for it to be perfect.
It seems like yesterday, but it’s already been five years since Samsung launched its first foldable smartphone, back in 2019, and we are now on the sixth generation of phones of this type, made up of the new Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Fold 6.
I had the opportunity to spend a week trying out the model that has the potential to be the more popular of the two, the clamshell-type Galaxy Z Flip 6, which maintains its compact format but adds a significant number of new features.
Samsung has improved the Galaxy Z Flip 6 on the outside, with a new look with flat edges and some changes, but fairly consistent with last year’s model. It has also incorporated a myriad of artificial intelligence features as part of its commitment to Galaxy AI.
Before going into detail, let me tell you one thing in advance: the big news about this phone is not the AI, but a camera that is no longer a handicap for this family of clamshell folding phones. For the first time, a folding phone like this can hold its own against a standard iPhone, and that’s great news.
Design and connectivity: small changes that make it more solid and similar to other mobile phones
If when I had its big brother Galaxy Z Fold 6 in my hands I already had the feeling that there were things in common in its design with other Samsung phones for the first time in a foldable, with this Flip 6 I experienced déjà vu.
Although the exterior hardware hasn’t changed much from last year, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is starting to look similar to the rest of the South Korean brand’s recent high-end models thanks to small design changes, most notably its flat aluminum edges and square corners at the top reminiscent of the S24 Ultra.
The new clamshell is the first from Samsung to have this feature typical of traditional format phones, abandoning the rounded edges it had until last year. Other clamshells, such as the ZTE Nubia Flip 5G, have already followed this path recently.
As an additional positive point, the flat metal edges make the Galaxy Z Flip 6 feel like the most resistant folding phone I’ve tried so far, very solid in the hand despite its weight of just 187 grams. On the negative side, without being thicker (14.9mm), it now feels bigger when closed.
Beyond the edges, the only difference from its predecessors is the circle around the camera, which is the same color as the back. In my case it is blue, like the beautiful light blue of the version I have tested — it is also sold in black, white, peach, yellow, gray and green. A mobile phone in 7 different colors is something you rarely see in Spain, but such variety is appreciated.
It is also a phone that lacks nothing in terms of connectivity, as you would expect from a high-end handset (1,209 euros): 5G, WiFi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3. Correct, although in this last section Samsung could have incorporated the most recent, Bluetooth 5.4.
Screens and sound: Galaxy Z Flip 6 probably has the best internal screen in its class, although the external one could be improved
Screens are the big draw of foldable phones and Samsung’s experience, which also makes its own panels, has given the Galaxy Z Flip 6 more than enough to be identified as the foldable phone in its format with the best internal screen at the moment.
Its 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED 2X screen has all the qualities you could ask for in a current high-end mobile: fluid movement thanks to its 120 hertz, HDR10+ and a fairly high brightness of 2,600 nits peak.
And we come to the critical point: is the crease on the inside screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 noticeable?
Well, yes, it is still noticeable, although you can’t see it so much that I haven’t managed to capture it on camera, but I don’t think it’s a problem.
I think this is because at the same time it is the folding phone where it is least visible and least noticeable when you run your finger over the hinge area, which is also the most stable I have found. In fact, if you look at the phone in a straighter line and even with a slight tilt, you won’t notice anything in the image, and you will only see it in reflections.
The external screen is not of the same quality as the internal one, and not only from the point of view of features.
Its 3.4-inch screen is AMOLED but it stays at 60 hertz, something that shouldn’t be a problem because it’s not designed for consuming content either.
Not only is it not as big as the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra’s 4-inch+ screen, but Samsung still lags far behind its great rival in the clamshell format in terms of usability, as it only allows the use of a few widgets and five applications: WhatsApp, Google Maps, YouTube and the Samsung and Google Messages apps.
Unlike Motorola, which allows you to load any app on the two panels, if you are one of those who use Telegram or want to quickly respond to an Instagram DM, for example, you will only be able to do so from the inner screen and opening the phone. In this sense, giving the user more freedom would be ideal so that everyone has the experience they want.
On a positive note, I was surprised that typing from the external screen is more comfortable than I thought: the keyboard covers the whole screen and you can’t see the chat conversation, but in return it is much more usable than I imagined for its small size.
In terms of sound, Samsung meets the minimum requirements with a stereo system that reaches an acceptable maximum volume, although most of the sound comes out from the bottom and only a little from the call speaker.
It’s better if you listen to music from the inner screen because if you play it with the phone closed, all the speakers are oriented towards the same place and the immersive effect that it does achieve when it is open is lost.
Performance and software: it has power and AI in abundance
Despite its compact size, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a high-end phone and Samsung has managed to give it the power to match.
The brand has chosen a configuration with 12 GB of RAM and the most powerful processor available, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from Qualcomm, which has already performed so well in the high-end Android range since the first half of 2024 thanks to its 4 nanometers.
It is not a gaming phone, but it can run titles like Pokémon Unite quite reliably, even with several consecutive 10-minute real-time online battle royale games, with no noticeable lag. In fact, its graphics performance has improved a lot compared to last year.
The only drawback I notice in terms of performance is that after intensive use, it gets very hot at the back, especially in the middle of the outer screen. In some benchmarks (3D Mark Wild Life Extreme) the temperature has exceeded 45 degrees, which is not a cause for concern, but it is higher than normal and this is noticeable in the performance.
In the static tests it can be seen how the power improves with respect to last year, not so much in single-core tasks but above all in those involving several cores, which demonstrate that it is a beast for multitasking. The difference with respect to the standard Galaxy S24 still exists but the margin is narrowing.
Despite the good performance, the software has taken center stage in the case of this Galaxy Z Flip 6. And not because of its Android 14 customized through One UI 6.1.1, but because Samsung has incorporated its second generation of artificial intelligence functions with the new Galaxy AI in this terminal.
What at the beginning of the year were just a few isolated functions without much use, is now becoming a real assistant with which to expand the user’s capabilities, and it is much more noticeable in everyday life.
There are many AI features in the Galaxy Z Flip 6, but among the most useful I have found are the option to draw sketches on top of photographs so that the AI can incorporate new elements — although it is a slow function and the result is far from perfect — and an interpreter mode that allows you to use the external screen to have a conversation in another language.
And continuing with image generation, I loved the possibility of asking Samsung’s AI to create new versions of my photos as if they were 3D animation, comics or watercolors, with several options from which you can choose what you want to save. It’s a very original way of creating a realistic avatar and I found it very creative.
Added to this are the features that were already present from the first half of 2024, such as Surround to search or the possibility of playing any video in slow motion just by holding down when you are watching it (with surprisingly good results).
Samsung’s AI is growing at a good pace and is already starting to look like a truly useful ecosystem that other brands will surely soon begin to imitate in their phones, foldable or not.
Cameras: at last a Flip has a camera that lives up to its price
Until now, clamshell-type folding phones had a big problem compared to normal high-end phones: their camera was far below par.
For the first time, in this Galaxy Z Flip 6, I feel that a clamshell-type folding phone has a camera that stands up to comparison with current high-end phones, perhaps not the most premium, but models that are around or exceed 1,000 euros, such as the standard iPhone 15, the base S24 or the standard Xiaomi 14.
A large part of the responsibility for this lies with the major change in the main sensor, which from last year’s 12 megapixels is now 50 megapixels and also has a much more versatile result, with good shots in almost all situations.
This is something that happens both in the main lens and in the ultra-wide angle, which has a good aesthetic coherence, although also the skies are dark blue and electric, even on sunny days. There is also some excessive distortion at the edges.
Portrait mode is usually one of Samsung’s strong points and in this folding phone the result obtained when taking portraits with the main camera is also very good.
The hair cut-out is not perfect and fails in some loose strands, but the blur and the light it adds to the face to compensate for the sun and shadow at that moment is very remarkable because they achieve a good result in complex conditions.
The 10-megapixel selfie camera on its internal screen cannot be compared in quality, so I do not recommend that you use it for self-portraits but only for video calls.
Samsung has done particularly well in terms of video stabilization. Although its main OIS sensor has improved a lot in normal mode and thanks to this I have had fewer focusing problems, Samsung has also included a super-stable mode that reduces camera shake to the maximum.
The video above was recorded on a boat sailing in waves, but with the result so stable you’d never know it, to be honest.
Battery life: it’s enough to get through the day, but just about
Because of the hinge, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a capacity of 4,000 mAh, an improvement of 300 mAh over last year’s model, which is appreciated, but it is still 1,000 less than traditional format phones. And it is below the ZTE Nubia Flip 5G and the Motorola Razr 50.
This lower capacity in day-to-day use is noticeable. With a day of moderate or even heavy use, you can get through to the evening with a margin, and in that respect the improvement over the Flip 5 is noticeable.
But this handset suffers a lot if you use it intensively, such as recording lots of videos and playing online video games, and on more than one occasion I have ended up with less than 20% at the end of the day.
Furthermore, fast charging is an area in which Samsung is lagging far behind the competition, and in this Flip 6 that can be seen in two things.
The first is that it is limited to around 25W, which is very short in 2024, as it takes more than an hour and a half to charge a mobile phone from 0 to 100% when it already has less capacity than traditional ones.
The second is that, as has been the case with Samsung for years and will become mandatory in 2025, the charging adapter is not included in the box, so you will have to buy it separately if you don’t already have one with Power Delivery at home.
Versions, offers and price of the Galaxy Z Flip 6
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 can be purchased in seven different colors, making it one of the most colorful I can remember, in line with its commitment to design.
Of the seven colors, three of them (black, white and peach) are only sold through the Samsung website and include a free branded case. The other four (blue, yellow, green and gray) are also sold through other channels.
There are two internal configurations available in Spain, which have improved RAM compared to last year but maintain the same prices according to internal storage:
12+256 GB, for 1,209 euros.
12+512 GB, for 1,329 euros.
Buying the Galaxy Z Flip 6 A Good Idea?
For the first time, Samsung has managed to make you think that a clamshell-type foldable is on a par with the current high-end with this Galaxy Z Fold 6.
With a starting price of 1,209 euros it is a significant investment, yes, but only 200 euros more for a mobile that has the same power as a standard iPhone 15 seems to me an affordable price for being able to have an improved experience with this foldable.
It is a phone that I recommend without a doubt if you are interested in the clamshell format, due to its internal power on a par with the best and its camera, which has taken a huge leap in quality this year, and only small things like the limited usability of its external screen could improve a phone that Samsung has made almost perfect.
