Nobody has been making foldable telephones longer than Samsung. And for the primary few years, the sheer variety of enhancements we bought on the Galaxy Z Fold line meant it didn’t actually have any competitors. However extra not too long ago, the tempo of innovation has slowed whereas new challengers just like the OnePlus Open and Pixel Fold have arrived. Now for 2024, Samsung has bolstered the Galaxy Z Fold 6 with a stronger however considerably lighter body, a brand new ultra-wide-angle digital camera and a bunch of AI-powered instruments. Sadly, not a lot else has modified, leaving us with a really iterative improve. So whereas the Galaxy Z Fold 6 stays the perfect all-around huge foldable available on the market, it appears like complacency is eroding Samsung’s lead amongst flagship versatile telephones.
Picture by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Even and not using a new principal digital camera, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold’s sleeker design, brighter screens and native stylus assist are sufficient to take care of its rank as the perfect huge foldable cellphone available on the market.
- Tremendous shiny and colourful show
- Even lighter chassis
- Nice battery life
- Native stylus assist
- Much more costly than earlier than
- Similar principal digital camera because the earlier two Z Folds
- S Pen not included
- Charging speeds may very well be quicker
$1,900 at Samsung
Design and shows: Tweaked dimensions with even brighter screens
After eliminating the hole between the display (when closed) on final 12 months’s cellphone, Samsung has adjusted the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s dimensions once more for 2024. However the modifications are so small it’s important to measure them in millimeters. When closed, the cellphone is simply over one millimeter thinner and if you open it up (in portrait), the principle display is 2.7mm wider however one millimeter shorter. It’s not a ton, however you do get a bit of extra room for actions. And naturally this additionally impacts the outside Cowl Show, which is about 1mm wider as nicely — simply sufficient to make utilizing its on-screen keyboard extra forgiving.
Elsewhere, your entire cellphone is sharper, from its boxier edges to the extra squared-off corners on each screens. Samsung additionally says the Enhanced Armor Aluminium used within the Z Fold 6’s chassis is about 10 % stronger than earlier than, however I hope you’ll forgive me for not dropping it on function simply to search out out. Holding every little thing collectively is a brand new dual-rail hinge. And this time, I believe Samsung has nailed the right steadiness between one thing that’s straightforward to open but in addition holds its place if you need it to. However the largest design improve is a 14-gram weight discount in comparison with the earlier mannequin. Granted, that may not sound like a lot, however now the Z Fold 6 solely weighs round 4 grams greater than its non-foldable cousin, the S24 Extremely. And on an already heavy cellphone, this modification makes an enormous distinction.
As for the shows, as somebody who’s been utilizing the Pixel Fold so much not too long ago — which has a strong display in its personal proper — can I simply say, Samsung’s panels are so selection. Not solely has peak brightness improved to 2,600 nits for each shows identical to on the usual S24 household, Samsung has subtly shrunk and flattened the bezels, so the cellphone seems much more like {a magazine} come to life. And till I see one thing higher, that is merely the perfect display on an enormous foldable proper now.
Efficiency: Expectedly speedy
The Z Fold line has by no means been gradual and this 12 months we bought the identical improve to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip as we noticed on the S24, whereas base RAM is staying pat at 12GB. And as you’d count on, the Z Fold 6’s efficiency is quick and responsive. There’s no lag when doing just about something and because of the addition of a bigger vapor chamber on the within, the cellphone stays cooler throughout longer periods, which is a pleasant bonus to all of the avid gamers on the market who like enjoying on a really big-screen machine.
Cameras: Largely unchanged
On the subject of images, I’m a bit disillusioned with the Z Fold 6, not as a result of it could’t take an honest pic, however as a result of I do know Samsung can do higher. For this go round, Samsung has caught with a trio of rear cameras, choosing a brand new 12-MP sensor for the ultra-wide lens — and it’s fairly good. However on the similar time, the ultra-wide lens is the one I take advantage of the least in day by day use, and it isn’t shut.
The opposite two cameras – the 50-MP principal and 12-MP telephoto with a 3x optical zoom — are strong, however they’re the identical ones Samsung used on at the least the earlier two generations. In a photograph of some strawberries, the Z Fold 6 produced a scrumptious pic with deep saturated hues and nice particulars. On the similar time, although, you may also see the marginally exaggerated heat tones you typically get from Samsung cameras. And at night time, the Z Fold produced a wonderful pic of a flower in a really tough backlit atmosphere.
The problem is that after Google launched the Pixel Fold, Samsung doesn’t actually have an excuse for saddling the Z Fold 6 with downgraded images when in comparison with the S24 Extremely. The Pixel Fold has an extended 5x optical zoom and an edge in general picture high quality. Simply check out two zoom photographs taken by the Z Fold 6 and the Pixel Fold. In a vacuum, Samsung’s picture doesn’t look unhealthy. However then check out the Pixel’s picture. It is noticeably sharper and extra detailed.
And it is the identical factor in actually low-light conditions, just like the one I took of some Bluey collectible figurines, the place the Pixel Fold captured a much less grainy, sharper and extra well-exposed pic. And after being pleasantly stunned with the cameras on the S24 Extremely, it’s a disgrace Samsung’s most costly cellphone sits in second place on the subject of images.
AI options: Enjoyable and infrequently helpful, however not important
As we noticed again at first of the 12 months, Samsung has introduced the Galaxy AI suite it launched on the S24 to the Z Fold 6. And by and enormous, lots of the options are the identical together with issues like Chat Help which you need to use to generate social posts or emails whereas deciding on quite a lot of tones. There’s additionally assist for Google’s Circle to Search together with translation and summarization instruments. A pair new tweaks for the Fold is that now the cellphone can translate textual content in place as an alternative of spitting it out into an enormous unformatted blob, which is sweet however type of situational. And I ought to point out, Google Lens already affords related performance. Maybe the extra necessary one is the flexibility to do dual-screen translations, so every particular person can see textual content of their language in real-time, relying on what aspect of the cellphone they’re taking a look at.
Some new additions are the Portrait Studio software that may create an AI-generated drawing of somebody based mostly on a photograph and a variety of kinds like comedian or watercolor. It’s enjoyable and it’s good for fun or two, however I’m undecided how helpful it will likely be frequently. There’s additionally the Sketch to Picture characteristic that permits you to add a easy drawing to an current picture after which have the cellphone generate a extra sensible rendition of it in your ultimate picture. I nonetheless assume Samsung’s primary AI picture modifying instruments are probably the most helpful of the bunch, as they make it straightforward to delete distracting objects or do easy contact ups. However as soon as once more, all of this feels extra like bonus content material moderately than core necessities.
Battery life: Nice longevity however might use some quicker charging tech
Whereas Samsung didn’t enhance the dimensions of the 4,400 mAh cell within the Z Fold 6, the cellphone does have barely higher battery life as a consequence of improved vitality effectivity from its new chip. On our video rundown check, it lasted 20 hours and 7 minutes when utilizing its massive principal display and 25 hours and 19 minutes when utilizing its exterior cowl show. That first quantity is even higher than we noticed from the Pixel Fold (15:22) and OnePlus Open (19:19), so for those who want a big-screen cellphone with ample longevity, the Z Fold 6 is the simple choose.
Sadly, its charging hasn’t modified a lot. You continue to get 25-watt wired charging and 15-watt wi-fi charging, that are each fairly mediocre figures in 2024. And whereas I wasn’t anticipating to see assist for Qi2 magnetic charging on the Z Fold 6 after Samsung opted to not add it to the principle S24 line, I’m nonetheless a bit miffed {that a} cellphone this costly is slicing necessary options off the spec sheet.
Wrap-up
It wasn’t way back when virtually each part on the Z Fold line was unmatched by its opponents. However now telephones just like the Pixel Fold exist, which affords higher general images. Then there’s the OnePlus Open, which weighs the identical because the Z Fold 6 even after its latest food plan. And let’s not overlook, each of these rivals are 2023 fashions. Plus there are Chinese language opponents just like the Honor Magic V3 and the upcoming Xiaomi Combine Fold 4, that are each thinner and lighter than Samsung’s champion.
Don’t get me fallacious, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 remains to be a very good foldable, an awesome one even. It’s bought glorious efficiency, sturdy battery life and helpful options like native stylus assist. Nevertheless it appears like in spite of everything this time sitting fats and completely satisfied on its throne, Samsung has a diminished starvation for whole domination. As an alternative of long-awaited options like a built-in S Pen or an improved under-display digital camera, we bought a bunch of AI-powered instruments and methods, that are enjoyable however not true spotlight sights. And at $1,900 — which is $100 greater than final 12 months — the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the costliest it has been because the Z Fold 3. However I assume that is the value you pay Samsung for having such an extended reign on prime.
