Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review: New phone, same mistakes

As Android Central's resident flip phone guy, I was initially quite excited about the prospect of two flip phones launching so close together. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 was unveiled just weeks after the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 launched, so it was hard not to make comparisons between the two. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly play out in favor of the Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Compared to the Razr Plus 2024, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is very much an iterative update over its predecessor. That doesn't mean there aren't upgrades to be found, and some of them are the kind of upgrades we hoped to see on last year's model. And, of course, there's plenty of new software to play around with, as Galaxy AI is pretty much running the show.

So, is the Galaxy Z Flip 6 worth buying with the $100 price increase? I've spent roughly a month testing the phone and comparing it with other flip phones. Comparatively, this is probably the most powerful flip phone you can buy right now. However, the experience still misses some key elements, and I wish Samsung would stop being so stubborn and change them already.

And knowing there are cheaper options makes it a little difficult to fully recommend. However, that doesn't make the Galaxy Z Flip 6 a bad buy by any means, so long as you're willing to fiddle around with it a bit.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Price & availability

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip 6 on July 10 during the Galaxy Unpacked July 2024 event. The phone went on sale on July 24 and retails for $1099.

You can choose either 256GB or 512GB of storage, although the latter option will cost $1219. Fortunately, Samsung's preorder deal is still live, meaning you can get a free upgrade to the higher storage option, which will cost the same as the 256GB version. It's unclear how long this and other Galaxy Z Flip 6 deals are going to last, so you should jump on it while you can.

There are several available Galaxy Z Flip 6 colors to choose from, including Yellow, Mint, Silver Shadow, and Blue. If you order from Samsung.com, you can purchase exclusive colors such as Crafted Black, White, and Peach.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Design

• Overall design is nearly identical to predecessor.
• Sharp corners can make the phone painful to hold.
• Matte glass looks and feels better than previous models.
• Official dust rating makes it more durable.

As far as design goes, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 made few changes from the Galaxy Z Flip 5. It now has a completely flat Aluminum Armor frame with a matte finish instead of a glossy one, a change reminiscent of the Galaxy S24 series.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is also a hair thinner when folded; otherwise, it's the same size and weight as its predecessor. It's a bit impressive, given some of the spec bumps the phone has received, which I'll talk about later. And speaking of fold, the hinge is very stiff and sturdy, just like the rest of the phone.

One big upgrade we see this year is the inclusion of an official dust resistance rating, bringing the phone to IP48. This ensures it's protected against particles larger than 1mm in size, so it's not foolproof, but it's a major improvement nonetheless.

Even with the impressive durability, I recommend adding a case. Fortunately, we have a collection of Galaxy Z Flip 6 cases for you to check out. I personally like this one from Thinborne.

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One interesting design choice Samsung made is the bumper around the display. On the Galaxy Z Flip 5, there was a seamless transition from the bumper to the frame, which had a slight inward curve to it. Now that the phone is completely flat on the sides, the bumper stops short of connecting to the frame and creates a small divot when the phone is closed, which should make it easier to open the phone with one hand. This does mean that there's a small opening toward the hinge where the bumper doesn't quite reach, but it's nothing quite like the older Z Flip models that wouldn't completely close shut.

Just like the frame, the back glass also has a soft matte finish, which I like much more than the glossy one on the Z Flip 5. That means you won't have to worry about fingerprints as much, except for on the main cover panel.

Speaking of, the two cameras on the front now have a colored ring around the sensors to match the color of the phone, which is a small but nice touch. Unfortunately, with this type of camera protrusion, you will have to worry about dust accumulating around them.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Displays

• The main display is very bright, even outdoors.
• The display crease has been significantly minimized.
• The cover screen specs are mostly the same, with a relatively low resolution and refresh rate.
• The PWM rate is still lower than that of the competition.

The internal 6.7-inch OLED display retains the 2640 x 1080 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, although the brightness has been jacked up to 2600 nits. The result is a display that is quite bright and vibrant, even with the screen mode set to Natural (my usual preference). I often find that the built-in screen protector can hinder the view a bit on foldables, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the Galaxy Z Flip 6. It's also very visible outdoors, which is a huge plus.

Another win is the crease, which Samsung has drastically minimized thanks to "enhanced layers" on the main screen. Now, when I run my finger across the display, the crease is hardly noticeable, although not completely nonexistent. There's still much more crease than you'll find on the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, for instance, but it doesn't bother me nearly as much when compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

The cover screen doesn't have the highest specs on the block, falling behind its closest competitors with a 720 x 748 resolution (306ppi) and 60Hz refresh rate at 1600 nits of peak brightness. For a flagship flip phone, that's quite low, even when compared to the mid-range Motorola Razr 2024, which has a higher 1056 x 1066 resolution (413ppi) and a 90Hz refresh rate with a 1700 nit peak brightness.

The lower resolution can be a little jarring, especially when compared to the main FHD+ panel.

Unfortunately, Samsung continues to ship phones with low PWM frequencies. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a PWM frequency of 240Hz, which is quite low and bound to negatively affect those who suffer from PWM sensitivity. I won't have a problem with it myself, but I know others who do, and it's unclear why Samsung continues to ship phones with displays like this even though many other manufacturers either provide higher PWM frequencies or include flicker reduction techniques (like Motorola).

As you can see, both displays also have very high levels of modulation depth, which is the perceived difference between a display's on state and its off state. Screens with high modulation depth feel more like a strobe light to your brain. They are perceived as being clearly off (and therefore completely dark) before turning back on again, typically at full brightness. Users who are sensitive to flickering lights will have the most problems with these types of displays since the difference is so drastic.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Hardware & specs

• The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 performs exceptionally well.
• The 12GB of RAM ensure multitasking an AI features are handles well.
• Good audio and haptics.
• Plenty of storage despite only two storage options.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy brings a welcome performance bump (although the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was plenty powerful) along with 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB. It appears the main difference between this version and the normal Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a slight bump in CPU clock speed, which is usually the case for these "Samsung-exclusive" chips. How much it helps is unclear, but the chip is plenty powerful regardless.

This phone breezes through everything you throw at it. I've played a few games like Honkai: Star Rail and Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, and the gameplay is incredibly smooth, even at the highest settings. It probably won't blow any of the best gaming phones out of the park, but you shouldn't be disappointed in the performance by any means.

And while the phone occasionally gets warm, I haven't noticed it get uncomfortably hot, which tends to happen to the top half of flip phones such as this.

Unlike some more standard flagships like the base Galaxy S24 or the Google Pixel 9, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes with 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage to start with. You can also choose the 512GB option, although there is still no 1TB option, nor will you find expandable storage. Still, for most people, these two storage options should be enough (I myself am fine with just 256GB), but if you want more, you'd have to opt for another phone like the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which has a 1TB option.

Of course, you won't find a 3.5mm headphone jack, but you will find a decent set of stereo speakers with plenty of depth and clarity when listening to music. There's also a dialogue booster that does exactly as it states and works surprisingly well.

I also really like the haptics on the Z Flip 6, and doing things like typing, swiping back, or opening the sidebar gives a very nice and subtle vibration.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Battery life & charging

• Battery lasts all day on a single charge.
• Wired charging still falls behind at just 25W and is quite slow.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 manages to impress me with its battery life. This is thanks to the fact that it has a larger 4,000mAh battery, which does well when combined with the more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. On regular use, I find that I get between six and eight hours of battery life with a single charge. After unplugging at 8 a.m., the phone will be on its last leg by 8 p.m., and considering how often I'm on my phone, I consider this a win. Of course, battery life will depend on how you're using it, and I imagine some Galaxy Z Flip 6 owners may be able to get through little more than a day, although you'll probably want to charge before bed or when you wake up, depending on your habits.

The only downside is that despite the bump in battery capacity, the charging speed remains at 25W, while other flip phones have surpassed that speed. As a result, it will take well over an hour to get from empty to 100%. Even after charging to 60%, the phone would tell me I had roughly 50 minutes to fill up the battery. Wireless charging is no better at just 15W, so unless you have time to spare, you'll want to stick to wired charging.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Cover screen

• Software upgrades on the cover screen are minimal.
• You can now fit multiple widgets on a single panel.
• Apps only accessible via Labs or Good Lock extension.
• Cover screen adds dual-screen Interpreter mode and Smart Replies.

As expected, my experience with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 cover screen has been mixed. Samsung continues to hinder the cover screen experience in the same ways that it did with the Galaxy Z Flip 5, so I won't really rehash that too much. The focus is on panels, or "widgets," and less on using full apps, and the experience as intended works, for the most part.

Widgets like Weather are well-designed and mostly do what's expected of them, providing glanceable information, so you're hopefully opening your phone less for certain things. Unfortunately, you can't really interact with them much aside from scrolling through details or selecting different days to view.

Interestingly, Samsung now lets you fit multiple widgets onto a single panel. This is somewhat limited, too, as you'll have to select from preset dimensions. Some options will take up a full panel, while others will fit into 2x2 or 2x4 spaces, but it depends on the app, and you can't resize them like you can on the Razr Plus 2024 cover screen.

Otherwise, the cover screen experience isn't much different from the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Everything is largely handled on the main display, and many actions will prompt you to open the phone. You actually have very little way of managing the cover screen from the actual cover screen, a weird limitation that I find highlights the disconnect Samsung has with how it handles the external display. The most you can do from the display is change your wallpaper and add/remove widgets.

There are some fun new interactive wallpapers, and you can add AI wallpapers to the cover screen. As always, you'll have to dig into Labs or the Good Lock app if you want to set up and use full apps on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 cover screen, but once set up, the experience is decent. Just know that you're going to spend some extra time setting up your Galaxy Z Flip 6 since you have two displays to configure and yet another app to download.

Given the relatively small cover screen display size (compared to the Razr series), apps feel even more condensed, which can make navigating UIs a little awkward. There's still no multitasking, so exiting an app does just that without letting you switch to another you have open.

Samsung does take advantage of the cover screen in other ways that are useful. The Interpreter app has been updated to include translations on the cover screen, giving both people a potentially more comfortable view when speaking. I find that this works quite well, even if it takes some getting used to at first. In my limited experience, you're able to have a somewhat natural conversation and the phone keeps up relatively well.

The cover screen also has AOD, which is always handy, especially on a smaller display. I just wish the quick settings menu was a little more robust, as you only get eight options and a brightness slider, and you can't seem to edit the buttons. I also don't really find the Galaxy AI Smart Replies very useful, which is only compounded by the fact that you can't even use them and have apps enabled on the cover screen at the same time.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Cameras

• Camera improvements fairly minimal over predecessor.
• Phone seems marginally better at capturing movement.
• Selfies don't handle darker skin tones well.
• Useful features when folding the phone at a 90-degree angle.

I was happy to learn Samsung upgraded the primary camera to a 50MP sensor. While I can't say now whether it's significantly better than its predecessor, I'm quite pleased with the result. Images have plenty of contrast, depth, and vibrancy. The camera can struggle a bit with dynamic range, and the sky will often appear blown out. However, I haven't run into this very often.

Samsung still struggles with movement, so images can come out a little blurry and lacking in detail if your subject isn't completely still, and there is sometimes some distortion toward the edges of the image. That said, I do think Samsung has improved a bit on this front, and the phone has been able to capture things like a moving car and a cat without completely failing.

Fortunately, zooming and low light are also handled well, making for a well-rounded camera experience. However, so far, I'm not a fan of how selfies make my darker skin look, showing that Samsung still has some work in this regard.

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Motorola isn't known for having the best cameras, but I think the Razr Plus 2024 has had a bit of a glow-up in that department, so I naturally pit the two phones against each other. Overall, I think Motorola has been able to hold its own against the Galaxy Z Flip 6, although Samsung handles low-light and nighttime images much better. There tends to be a bit more contrast at times in Samsung's images, which may make the photos more appealing, although the Razr Plus 2024 images are a bit closer to real life in terms of color, at least most of the time.

And despite the benefit of a 2x optical telephoto lens on the Razr Plus 2024, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 still manages to keep up pretty well at various zoom levels, thanks to some AI enhancements.

The video quality is pretty good, and my only complaint here so far is that recording is limited to 4K 60, although who is really recording in 8K resolution?

There is a new feature in the video mode that effectively turns the phone into a camcorder when you fold it 90 degrees. The UI adjusts to fit the viewfinder on the top half of the screen and gives you a zoom slider on the bottom half when you begin recording. It also presents a preview on the cover screen while you're recording, making it a neat way to take advantage of the form factor.

Another interesting way the phone takes advantage of the cover screen is with Auto Zoom, which you can enable when opening the camera on the cover screen and setting the phone down at a 90-degree angle. The camera will automatically adjust lenses depending on how close or far you are away from it, which is a handy way to take individual or group selfies without having to do much work yourself.

But as usual, I would highly recommend downloading the Camera Assistant app, which adds more useful features to your camera, such as a 2x button for faster zooming, auto HDR, a faster shutter button, and more.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Software and Galaxy AI

• Galaxy Z Flip 6 runs Android 14 out of the box with One UI 6.1.1.
• New Galaxy AI drawing features can be fun.
• Some previous features receive useful upgrades.
• The Galaxy Z Flip 6 will receive seven years of software updates.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 runs One UI 6.1.1 out of the box, which comes with some new Galaxy AI features. I'm both impressed and perplexed by some of the image-generation features, like Drawing Assist, which is truly fascinating and will not only add some fairly realistic and amusing images to your photos via Sketch to Image but will also turn your doodles into entertaining "works of art" that only a mother could love.

There are a few ways to access Sketch to Image, including the Samsung Notes app and the sidebar. It's also accessible via the Gallery app, where you can sketch things onto existing images to give them an extra bit of flair. The results can range from realistic to pretty outlandish, but I think it's a fun way to edit images, even as a gag.

I'm a bit less impressed with Portrait Studio in Photo Assist, where the phone attempts to generate artistic versions of faces out of a selection of different styles. My colleague Nick Sutrich and I wanted to like this feature in our hands-on with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the images it generated looked nothing like us, instead churning out generic-looking faces with at least the same skin tone. Essentially, it's almost like a caricature of me, but even caricature artists do a better job of capturing my likeness.

The experience on my Galaxy Z Flip 6 is no different, leaving me mostly disappointed, although maybe you'll get lucky and find one that somewhat resembles you if you squint. I know it's meant to be a fun feature that you shouldn't take seriously, but I would be more impressed if it actually created images that look like me.

The Live Effect feature is cool, turning transforming 2D photos into cinematic videos, similar to Cinematic Wallpapers on a Pixel phone. It appears to be based on Samsung's excellent Image Clipper feature, which separates the subject from the background and then creates a video that can be used as your wallpaper. I do wish the effect was actually based on motion instead of just looping a video when set on your lock or cover screens, but the effect is still pretty cool.

Other interesting Galaxy AI features that I've enjoyed include Instant Slow-Mo, which now lets you save clips; Composer, which helps you write comments, emails, and more on various apps based on past conversations and prompts that you provide it; and the Recorder app, which I find particularly useful as it will transcribe/translate and summarize recordings for you—something also possible in the Samsung Notes app.

Aside from the new Galaxy AI features, you also get Google AI features like the Gemini app and Circle to Search, which I love.

Samsung is extending its Galaxy S24 software update promise to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, meaning users can expect at least seven years of updates and OS upgrades. Whether or not a foldable like the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will last that long is another thing.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Competition

Foldables are still a growing segment, particularly flip phones, but there are still some good phones that will give the Galaxy Z Flip 6 a run for its money. The most obvious is the new Motorola Razr Plus 2024, which also just launched and will be available for purchase at the same time as the Z Flip 6. OPPO's Find N3 Flip is also a phone worth considering, particularly if you live outside North America.

The Razr Plus 2024 features very similar specs to the Z Flip 6, with a flagship Snapdragon chip, 12GB of RAM, and a 4,000mAh battery. The Razr is $100 cheaper and has a larger, more functional cover screen, which makes it a tempting buy over the Flip. That said, the Flip has a more powerful chipset and better software support (based on Samsung's track record). Additionally, some may prefer to have an ultrawide camera over a telephoto sensor.

You could go with the cheaper Motorola Razr 2024, which also has an ultrawide camera and is nearly half the cost. However, the picture quality is noticeably worse, and overall performance may not stack up

The OPPO Find N3 Flip has a great display, a sleek design, and a fantastic camera system. The battery capacity is also larger then most other flip phones, but the phone isn't really available in North America, so there may be some incompatibilities, and ColorOS is definitely an acquired taste.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if...

• You're interested in a new flip phone.
• You want access to the latest AI features from Samsung and Google.
• You're already ingrained in Samsung's ecosystem.

You shouldn't buy this if...

• You're tempted by the cheaper Motorola Razr Plus 2024.
• You want a useful cover screen experience.
• You don't want to spend more than $1000 on a phone.

Samsung is clearly playing it safe with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which is more evident by Motorola's Razr Plus 2024 launch a week prior, offering upgraded specs, a larger cover screen with a refined experience, and a cheaper price tag. That's not to say this is a bad phone because it's not. I would normally have no problem recommending this phone because it's quite a fine phone, but with a $100 price bump, I'm not sure I can recommend this over last year's just-as-fine Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Samsung is essentially falling into the same trap as Google, where it's hard to justify spending much more than previous models when those phones are just as good and will likely receive a handful of the newer features anyway.

If you can find some deals and you're rocking the older Galaxy Z Flip 4, then I'd say go ahead and buy the Galaxy Z Flip 6. But even then, I would almost recommend the Razr Plus 2024 instead, which has already had some intriguing deals since it's gone on sale.