Initial verdict: Samsung managed to incorporate a few quality-of-life upgrades on the Galaxy Z Flip6 while retaining the same looks as its predecessor. However, its high asking price might turn off people who are looking for the latest stylish flip foldable.
Pros
- Bigger battery
- Better main camera (at last)
Cons
- More expensive than the Galaxy Z Flip5
It’s that time of the year, and Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its Galaxy Z Flip series. While it is a typical iterative upgrade to last year’s Galaxy Z Flip5, Samsung gave meaningful upgrades (and subtle tweaks) to the Galaxy Z Flip6 to make it a compelling flip foldable despite the higher price tag.
We’re covering Galaxy Unpacked in Paris, France and we got our hands on the Galaxy Z Flip6 for our first impressions:
Galaxy Z Flip6 Hands-On: Design
Before you’d dismiss the Galaxy Z Flip6 as looking similar to the Z Flip5, Samsung made a few subtle changes to it. The most noticeable ones are the camera nodules (Samsung’s words, not ours), which are color-matched to the colorway of the Z Flip6–if the phone is in blue, then you have the camera nodules in blue as well.
The cover display is the same 3.4-inch Super AMOLED panel that has a folder design–considering other brands are going for wraparound cover displays, it remains to be seen when will Samsung adopt the same with the Galaxy Z Flip series.
Despite the similar looks, Samsung added a vapor cooling chamber on the Galaxy Z Flip6 on top of a bigger battery. This should improve thermal management on the Z Flip6 compared to its predecessor.
The aluminum frame retains the matte finish, and the “Floating Design” has a black strip surrounding the inner display to protect it against the elements. As for IP ratings, you are now getting an IP48 rating on the Galaxy Z Flip6, making it one of the first foldables to have dust resistance.
Galaxy Z Flip6 Hands-On: Display
Like the outer display, the inner display is the same 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel that Samsung has been using with previous Z Flip phones. Despite being the same display, Samsung made improvements to the Galaxy Z Flip6’s mechanism to make the display crease less noticeable. The display itself also has a new layer that should help protect it from creases over time.
As for the cover display, Samsung added a few new tricks to it. One of the new features is Auto Zoom, where the Galaxy Z Flip6 determines the best framing for your shot by zooming in and out before you make any adjustments. This further enhances the hands-free capture of the Z Flip6, making it great for taking timed selfies.
Galaxy Z Flip6 Hands-On: Cameras
Samsung has finally updated the main camera on the Galaxy Z Flip6, which is now a 50-megapixel sensor that’s the same as the one used on the Galaxy S24. This should translate to significantly better imaging on the Galaxy Z Flip6, but we will need to test that once we have more time with the phone.
The new main camera gives you 2x optical zoom and AI zoom at up to 10x, along with Samsung’s Nightography feature that can now be used in-app on Instagram. As for the ultra-wide camera, it’s the same 12-megapixel shooter, so we’re not expecting any major changes in its performance as compared to the Galaxy Z Flip5.
Galaxy Z Flip6 Hands-On: Internals and Battery
As expected, you’re getting updated internals with the Galaxy Z Flip6 with its use of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. You’re no longer limited to 8GB RAM, as the Galaxy Z Flip6 comes with 12GB RAM by default, with options for either 256GB or 512GB storage. We’re familiar with what the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is capable of, so we expect the usual flagship-caliber performance with it.
A big improvement on the Galaxy Z Flip6 is with software updates, as Samsung matches Google’s update commitment with the Pixel 8 series with 7 major Android updates and 7 years of security updates. Considering the rather big jump in price for the Galaxy Z Flip6, this might be justifiable since potential users can enjoy updates to the phone for the next 7 years.
Going to the battery, you’re getting a 4000mAh cell inside. That’s a welcome upgrade to the Galaxy Z Flip6 especially with the competition offering similar (or bigger) batteries on their flip foldable phones. Charging speeds remain the same: 25w for wired, and 15w for wireless.
Galaxy Z Flip6 Hands-On: Wrap-up and Initial Conclusion
Samsung gave several meaningful quality-of-life upgrades to the Galaxy Z Flip6 to make it a solid flip foldable despite the higher price tag. We’re not just talking about a bigger battery and better camera–the Galaxy Z Flip6 finally gets dust resistance, more onboard RAM, and even a vapor chamber for better thermal management.
Galaxy Z Flip6 Hands-On: Price
The Galaxy Z Flip6 is priced at Php 70,990 for the 256GB model and Php 78,990 for the 512GB model, making it more expensive than the Z Flip5 at launch.