Samsung’s latest foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold6, has hit the market, and it’s unfolding a new chapter for foldables. This is the sixth generation of Samsung foldable, and a lot has changed in these six years. Until last year, Samsung virtually had a honeymoon period as there was almost no competition.
But things are changing quickly now. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 now has some competition in the market, from the OnePlus Open (review) to the Vivo X Fold3 Pro. Xiaomi is also gearing up to launch its MIX 4 foldable.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 comes with several improvements over its predecessor. The Z Fold6 has a cover screen, a more durable body, and a lower weight. There are also a few cool new Galaxy AI features added this year.
Overall, the package feels top-notch, but Samsung has also bumped up the price. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 price in India starts at Rs 1,64,990 and goes up to Rs 2,09,990 for the max-out version. So, the million-dollar (or rather, lakh-rupee) question is: Is it worth shelling out this much for a foldable phone? Let’s dive into the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 review and find out:
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Pros and Cons
Pros
- Enhanced productivity
- Improved AI Features
- Solid performance
- Vibrant displays
- Excellent stabilization
- Durable design
- Improved battery performance
- 7-years Software updates promised
Cons
- Not the best camera setup on foldables
- Expensive
- No expandable storage
- Slower charging
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Review: Design and Build
Samsung has made a lot of subtle design refinements in the Z Fold6, and each of those changes seems meaningful. The Z Fold6 weighs 239 grams, about 14 grams lighter than its predecessor and a gram heavier than the OnePlus Open.
It has a fantastic weight balance, evident from the fact that despite being heavier than the Vivo X Fold3 Pro by 3 grams, it feels lighter in hand. Vivo’s chunkier camera module makes it top-heavy and feel heavier than the Z Fold6.
Samsung worked hard to make the Z Fold6 slimmer than the Fold5. It is 0.5 mm slimmer overall and 1.3 mm slimmer when folded. The new sharper corners also make the Z Fold6 look cleaner and more streamlined when opened. The phone has an all-matte finish around the frame, making everything feel more premium, as do the sharper corners and new speaker grills.
Samsung used armored aluminum to create a new hinge and design for the phone. The new double rail hinge mechanism has fewer parts, making it stronger, lighter, slimmer, and better at absorbing shock.
When folded, it closes without gaps; when opened, it can stay open at any angle. The new hinge also allows Samsung to fit a wider cover screen while keeping the same size. This new boxy form factor improves the overall grip of the phone compared to the last generation.
The only other changes to the design are the thicker, darker camera lens surrounds, which are more subtle than last year’s silver trim. However, the camera bump does cause the phone to wobble when placed on a table.
Samsung has also added an IP48 rating for dust protection, upgraded from an IPX8 water resistance rating. The rear panel and outer display are layered with Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The Z Fold6 has a fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button; I’m a bit bummed to see Samsung not joining by offering an in-display sensor like the Vivo X Fold3 Pro (review). Since I switched from the Vivo X Fold3 Pro to the Galaxy Z Fold6, I can’t express how convenient the Vivo X Fold3 Pro’s in-display fingerprint sensor is. I hope Samsung changes this with the next iteration.
We have the Silver Shadow variant, which looks good, although it is a fingerprint magnet. However, there are multiple color options and some special edition options.
Samsung Galaxy Fold6 Review: Display
Samsung is known for its display prowess, so it’s understandable that expectations always skyrocket when it launches a new flagship. When Samsung showcased the Galaxy Z Fold6 at Unpacked, I was eager to see what they had done with the new displays. Like other Z Folds, this one has an outer and an inner display.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 has a slightly bigger 6.3-inch LTPO Dynamic AMOLED outer display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 968 x 2376 pixels (2K) resolution. The folding display is also an LTPO Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with an 1856 x 2160 pixels resolution, making for a rather square-ish aspect ratio. Here, we are also getting a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
The Fold6 display can get super bright, with a peak brightness rating of 2,600 nits—a significant bump from the Z Fold5’s 1,750 nits under the same conditions. Where the Fold6 display truly shines is in color accuracy. The display achieves an average DeltaE of 0.9 in display color checker analysis, suggesting that Samsung is right at the top among the best in terms of color accuracy. The Z Fold6 covers almost 97 percent of the DCI-P3 color space, which is better than some of the competition.
That was for the nit-nerds, but an ordinary person like you will want to know if the Galaxy Z Fold6 supports HDR streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, and other streaming services.
Well, yes, the Galaxy Z Fold6 does come with Widevine L1 certification and supports content playback in HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG formats at 10 Hz, 24 Hz, 48 Hz, 60 Hz, 80 Hz, and 120 Hz. Samsung continues with its stance on Dolby Vision and does not support it.
The Galaxy Z Fold6’s haptic feedback maintains an exceptional tactile experience. The speakers offer notable improvements over the previous version. The stereo setup delivers a balanced audio profile with reduced emphasis on high frequencies and enhanced mid and low frequencies. Even at high volume levels, the audio output remains exceptional without distortion.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Review: Cameras
Samsung seems to have reserved its best cameras for the S-series. But you should get the best if you’re paying this much money. The Galaxy Z Fold6 packs a 50 MP wide (OIS, f/1.8), an upgraded 12 MP ultrawide, and a 10 MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom on the back. Inside, there’s a 4 MP under-display camera, and on the cover screen, there’s a 10 MP selfie camera.
The camera performance is similar to that of its predecessor. The primary 50 MP camera remains the star of the show. The image quality is quite good. The main sensor takes detailed and colorful photos, some of which are better than those from the competition. Auto white balance is spot on, and the colors pop without being too much. The primary camera also does a much better job with dynamic range.
However, it doesn’t capture fine facial details very sharply, although it works decently and is probably beneficial. The portrait mode also works well.
In low light, the main camera captures good detail, and the added grain isn’t a big issue. Colors remain vibrant, and auto white balance is consistent. The dynamic range in Photo mode is good, with a slightly more contrasty look than in Night mode.
The telephoto camera also captures detailed shots with moderate noise; that’s not a big problem. Daytime photos are great, but night scenes show a slight drop in detail. Colors remain nice, though slightly muted in the shadows. The dynamic range is generally good, but more contrasty scenes benefit from Night mode.
When it comes to video recording, the Galaxy Z Fold6 is well-equipped for most scenarios, but it won’t help you stand out if you’re heavily into video recording or super active on social media. On the plus side, the stabilization is excellent. Whether dealing with walking shakes, panning, or just pointing the phone steadily, the results are impressive across the board.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Review: Software
The Galaxy Z Fold6 runs on Android 14-based One UI 6, which is packed with multitasking features, Samsung-specific apps, SmartThings, multimedia controls, S Pen features, and more. When Android 15 drops in late 2024, the Z Fold6 is expected to be one of the first phones to receive Google’s new software, including the new One UI 7 user interface. Samsung promises to offer 7 years of support for the Z Fold6.
Samsung kicked off its AI journey with the Galaxy S24 lineup, and now they’ve brought out the Galaxy Z Fold6 with some cool upgrades. Samsung’s Messages app is getting its share of AI, as it can now offer suggestions for replies generated by AI to match the tone of your recent chats, making your messages feel more personal.
One thing that stands out is the Circle to Search feature, which does much more now—it can translate text, create QR code link previews, and even solve math problems.
Samsung also introduced a new feature called Sketch to Image. You can doodle on your photos and watch the AI turn them into realistic images. It’s a mix of art and tech. The brand also decided to mark these images with a watermark to indicate that they were AI-generated.
The Interpreter feature for live translation has been optimized for the foldables—the Z Fold6 and Z Flip6. A new conversation mode has been added where one participant sees the translation on the main screen while the other views it on the cover screen. The best part? This feature works offline, so you can use it on an airplane or anywhere.
The new foldable recorder app also includes automatic transcription, translation, and summarization for voice recordings. One UI 6.0 can also summarize and translate your long PDFs in Note Assist.
Overall, One UI is the best Android skin available (at least for foldables), and its suite of Galaxy AI features gives it a distinct advantage over competitors.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Review: Performance
Samsung’s partnership with Qualcomm means the Z Fold6 has a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset under the hood, which we’ve already seen powerlifting on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s paired with 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256 GB of UFS 4.0 storage, so it has the expected power.
In our benchmark tests, the Fold6 could have been more impressive for its hardware if not for the need to manage system heat. Samsung has optimized its system to keep heat in check to protect against burnout.
First up, we ran the CPU throttle test, where the CPU throttled to 67 percent of all-out performance. On the 3DMark Wildlife stress test, it scored 15,154 in the first loop test and 6,546 in the 20th loop test. On AnTuTu, it scored 1,693,651, which is not record-shattering but a good score considering the form factor.
In terms of daily usage, I have yet to experience any lag, stutter, or slowdown. I consider myself a heavy user who multitasks with multiple apps, streams content, and scrolls through web pages. In the last 10 days, I have not faced any performance-related issues that I can point out in this review.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Review: Battery and Charging
The Galaxy Z Fold6 keeps the same 4,400 mAh battery as before, but the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and improved thermal management are making a noticeable difference. In our testing, the battery life has definitely improved. The Z Fold6 lasted an impressive 16 hours and 5 minutes on the PCMark Battery Test, which is quite good considering the battery size hasn’t changed.
The 25W charging speed might seem slow compared to other foldables that exceed 100W. Wireless charging is similar, supporting only 15W compared to 50W from the fastest rivals. It’s not surprising that Qi2 charging didn’t make the cut.
Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6?
Smartprix Rating: 8.2/10
Design:
Display:
Cameras:
Performance:
Software
Battery and Charging:
8/10
8.5/10
8/10
8/10
8.5/10
8/10
The Galaxy Z Fold6 has its perks, especially if you’re all about One UI and the long software support. It’s got that S Pen support and some neat AI features. But let’s be real—Samsung didn’t exactly knock it out of the park with this one. It’s lighter and slimmer than the last gen, but the upgrades are pretty incremental.
When you stack it up against other options, the Fold6 doesn’t really impress in areas like slimness, battery life, charging speed, and even camera quality, which are better in some non-folding flagships. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for top-notch cameras and fast charging, you might want to check out the Vivo X Fold3 Pro or even the OnePlus Open. Just know you’ll be missing out on One UI and those Galaxy AI features, which are still the best in the business.
First reviewed in July 2024.
