Introduction:
It's that time of year again, and we have a new flip phone from Samsung—the Galaxy Z Flip 6. It again brings this sleek design and large cover screen like we saw in last year's model. So what's new here? I'm Will for GSM Arena, and let's find out in our full review. The Z Flip 6 is the latest entry in Samsung's lineup of clamshell flip phones.
Its flexible inner screen allows the phone to fold down from a standard smartphone size to a compact square shape, and while the phone is folded, you can still use it via the large secondary outer screen. The Z Flip 6 is not a day-and-night difference from the previous model, but there are some improvements here.
These include a larger battery, an upgraded chipset with vapor chamber cooling, and revamped cameras. The Z Flip 6 is the same size and weight as the previous model, which is impressive considering its larger battery. It looks very similar, but the rings around the cameras are more prominent now.
There's again sturdy Gorilla Glass Vitus 2 protection on the outside panels, and like last year, there's a reinforced Armor Aluminum hinge, and it again can stay open at all sorts of angles—useful for something like vlogging. What's new, though, is that now there is dust resistance on top of the waterproofing of last year for an IP rating of IP48.
While the phone is open, you reveal the main display. It's a 6.77-inch foldable OLED with a 1080p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It's all essentially unchanged from last year. Samsung has made an improvement in the screen's brightness, though.
We measured a maximum of around 750 nits with the manual slider, which could boost up to its highest 1500 nits in auto mode when needed. Just like last year, the fast 120Hz refresh rate smooths out movement on screen, and we saw it dial down to 24Hz when idling to save energy. Samsung claims it can go down to 1Hz, but we couldn't find such a use case.
The display is sharp and contrast, and it has HDR10+ support too. It looks good. The crease in the middle where the screen folds over is pretty minimal. You can't even really feel it, though it is noticeable from certain angles.
You can play videos on the cover screen as well if you don't mind them being tiny. The cover display is the same as the one on the Z Flip 5. It's a 3.4-inch OLED with a pixel density of 306 PPI and a 60Hz refresh rate. Unlike the Motorola Razr, which have almost a full-fledged Android home screen on the cover, the Flip's cover UI is still.
Basic:
Then being able to do everything the inner screen can do, the Flip's cover screen is there to let you get important info and access essential functions. You can get into your quick toggle settings, check your notifications, and respond to texts.
There's also widget support for things like a calendar, the weather, a compass, and more. You can download additional widgets, and there's third-party support as well. There's support for some Android apps on this display too, including YouTube, Google Maps, Netflix, Google Messages, and Samsung Messages. Let's talk a bit more about the UI in general
. It's Samsung's One UI 6.1.1 on top of Android 14. It's a special version of the interface that brings some extra foldable-specific functions on top of what you find on other Samsung phones. For example, the phone will allow certain apps to split their interface in two to make better use of the foldable screen, and one feature which has been modified for the foldable is the Live Interpreter.
You can speak face-to-face in two languages, with one person in the conversation seeing the translation on the main screen while the other one sees the cover screen. The Interpreter runs using Samsung's Galaxy AI, and there are other AI-based features here too, which we first saw debut on the Galaxy S24 series.
These include transcription of audio recordings, AI-powered photo editing, and the handy Circle to search. You get extensive software support from Samsung: seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security patches. You can find out more about the specific features of One UI 6 in our dedicated video. For audio, the Z Flip 6 has a pair of stereo speakers with the same good loudness as last year's model. The sound quality is generally nice too, with a bit.
Features:
Flagships, that doesn't mean the phone is underpowered, though. It's snappy, and there's plenty of power here for multitasking and gaming. The Z Flip 6 is the first of its series to have vapor chamber cooling, so you'd expect better thermal management here, but it still couldn't overcome the limitations of the form factor.
In our prolonged stress test, we observed heavy thermal throttling; in fact, it seemed a bit more pronounced than last year. The battery capacity has been increased this time around from, 3700 mAh to 4,000. The resulting battery life is better than last year's model, too. The Z Flip 6 earned an active use score of 10 hours and 35 minutes in our battery test.
The rated charging power is still just 25W, and there's no charger in the box. With a proper adapter, we were able to charge from 0 to 44% in half an hour, and a full charge took an hour and 41 minutes. That's even slower than last year because there's now a bigger battery to fill. There's still support for wireless charging, too. Finally, we're on to the cameras.
The main cam has been upgraded to a 50-megapixel one from the S24 series, and that's paired with the same 13-megapixel ultra-wide as last year. During the day, the Z Flip 6's main camera does a very good job. The photos are detailed and noise-free, and the detail has a fairly organic look.
The color rendition is pleasant, and the dynamic range is excellent. When capturing people, skin tones are quite likable, and exposures are well-tuned for your subject's face. The facial details could be sharper. Compared to the previous generation, the Z Flip 6 has a more natural detail presentation with less aggressive sharpening.
The new model's photos also come out a bit cleaner. In low light, the main camera takes pretty nice photos. The noise reduction is laid-back, leaving behind some graininess but also plenty of detail. Colors are well-saturated, and the dynamic range is good. The new model has a noticeable advantage over the Z Flip 5 at night, offering better detail and less.
Conclusion:
Sharpening and improved dynamic range. Now, the ultra-wide camera does a decent job. The detail is solid, though the sharpening is a bit high. There's also good dynamic range and likable colors. In low light, the ultra-wide camera's photos have good dynamic range, and the colors remain saturated. The detail is very good, even if it's accompanied by a little noise.
Now let's talk about selfies with the Z Flip 6. It's easy to shoot selfies with the main camera using the cover screen as a viewfinder. These come out great, with the same nice quality you'd otherwise get from the main camera. You can also take ultra-wide selfies for a group photo or just a different perspective, but you have to keep in mind the lack of autofocus here.
Of course, there's also a regular selfie camera embedded within the inner screen. These 10-megapixel shots are nice, but not as good as the main cam's. There's a bit too much sharpening here. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 can record 4K videos from all of its cameras. Those from the main and ultra-wide cams are solid, with likable colors and wide dynamic range.
The detail isn't as sharp as some competitors, though the electronic stabilization works quite well to smooth out movements like walking or pans. And in the dark, the main camera does a reasonably good job recording video. So there you have it: the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
It's a flagship flip phone that checks all the same boxes as last year, and on top of that, it brings some decent upgrades too: dust resistance, better battery life, a faster chipset, and a nicer main cam. Unlike the Z Fold 6, which has hardly changed from the previous generation, the Z Flip 6 feels like a more justifiable buy, and if you're after a flip foldable, it's worth looking into. Thanks for Reading, guys. Here are a couple of alternative flip phones on our Blog: last year's Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the recent Motor Razor 50 Ultra. Let us know what you think, and I'll see you on the next one.
