It’s another year, and Samsung has released another generation of the foldable phone. The Galaxy Z Fold6 is here, and it looks absolutely different from before. We’ve spent the past week gathering way too much data about this new fold phone, and we’re here to share all of it with you today.
Design
Okay, let’s now talk about the design of the phone first. We have to talk about the colors first since they’re way bolder than the previous generations. It comes in Navy, Silver Shadow, and Pink. That pink color is quite pale, but I’m surprised that Samsung released such a color for the Fold.
There are two more online exclusive colors – crafted black, and white colors.
The Z Fold6 got a major revamp and it now looks way boxier than before, to the point that it really does remind me of the S24 Ultra. In a way, this boxy design works well for the Fold6 as it is not as wide as the S24 Ultra. Holding the phone with one hand doesn’t dig into my palm as well, which is good.
The boxy design means all corners of the phone are pointy but slightly rounded. It does look more like a book now.
Its dimensions have been slightly tweaked, but it really doesn’t bring any significant changes as it still feels the same before when I hold it in my hands. For those who are hoping that the Z Fold6 will be wider like the OnePlus Open or the OPPO Find N3 Fold, then I’m sorry – this is not it. But personally speaking, I love this form factor way more than the other wider foldables.
Many people will say that this cover display is unusable because of its narrowness but one comment piqued my curiosity. One of the beloved Xperia phones had 21:9 aspect ratio – but the Z Fold6’s cover display is around 22:9 in aspect ratio. It’s not that much different in terms of the aspect ratio, but the only thing that drastically changed is the width. Practically, if the Z Fold is proportionally bigger, then I guess people would be happy with it but that totally eliminates the possibility of using the cover display with one hand.
Another thing I realized is that the hinge cover doesn’t protrude out from the phone as much as before, making it look more… compact, in a way. And we now have to talk about the screen.
Screen
Previously on the Z Fold5, there was some gap between the frame and the cover display, making it look like a big capital D alphabet. Since the gap is now shrunken and the bezels around the cover display are also smaller, it looks more equal on all sides.
The screen resolution is slightly different from before, measuring 6.3 inches with 2376×968 pixels in resolution, and can go up to 120Hz refresh rate. Not a huge change, but there is a slight difference.
We’ll quickly talk about the unfolded display now. Once again, there is a slight difference in the dimension and resolution – measuring at 7.6-inch with a resolution of 2160×1856, and has 120Hz refresh rate like before.
Both of these screens have amazing color accuracy – and they also have the vividness slider just like the S24 series – so that will also change the DCI-P3 color gamut coverage.
The brightness of the cover and unfolded displays have been upgraded – so if you want the full details, then watch our other video where we only talk about the screens on the Z Fold6 and Z Flip6.
I’m sure many people will point fingers at the crease and say that “it’s still there”. Come on guys, there is a crease on all foldable devices. If you’re going to look at the phone at this angle with harsh lighting, then that crease is going to be highlighted. In truth, no one uses their phones like this.
Samsung did claim the Z Fold6’s crease is “improved”, but I’ll be the judge of that. I used the Z Fold4 and then switched to the Z Fold5, and those two phones had pretty flat crease when I first got it, but the crease did get deeper after some time. Not sure if this will happen to the Fold5, so I’ll keep an eye out on that.
Performance
Another thing that piqued my curiosity was the rendering resolution of this phone. You see, on Samsung phones, we can change the render resolution of the games by using the Game Booster Plus option within the Game Plugins. We’re seeing games like Genshin Impact rendering at 1920×1650 and COD Mobile at 2160×1856 pixels.
This is the highest render resolution I’ve seen on any phone ever, but that will also stress the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to its maximum. COD Mobile isn’t exactly a problem, so we can get 120Hz most of the time.
However, Genshin Impact at the highest graphical settings is so demanding to the point that the Z Fold6 thermal throttles around 5 minutes into the game. Again, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is not efficient when we push it to its limits, and it heats up a lot. The bigger vapor chamber that Samsung placed inside the Z Fold6 wouldn’t help much because of the 8 Gen 3’s inefficiency while playing high-end games, and that vapor chamber wouldn’t be bigger than half of the phone anyway.
Once again, we can’t cheat physics. Unless we place some sort of fan inside the phone, we won’t be able to maintain the performance at all since it’ll just thermal throttle when we play demanding games like Genshin Impact. Maybe something like the Frore AirJet?
Battery life
When we’re not gaming, the 8 Gen 3 is actually more efficient than the 8 Gen 2. Even with the same 4,400mAh battery in the Z Fold6, we’re going to get around 1.5 hours more on the cover display. That’s quite a big improvement.
As for the big, unfolded display – we’re getting around an hour extra compared to before, and that’s also a good improvement.
Charging speed
What’s not improved is the charging speed. It still only maxes out at 25W via USB-PD PPS, and it takes around 70 minutes, just like before. I know many people are angry about the charging speed but honestly, I never had to charge my phone in an emergency before and needed fast charging. My phone also never reaches below 10% battery at the end of the day.
I also limit my charging speed to 10W only via this option in the settings menu. I mean, fast charging is a good feature to have, but not necessary for me. Do let me know.
We can also use the battery bypass feature, and this is especially good if you’re gaming with the charger attached to the phone.
Software
Now, the software. The Galaxy Z Fold6 is using the new One UI 6.1.1 and it comes with more or less the same feature as before, but we do have more Galaxy AI features.
For example, this sketch-to-image feature is now built into the gallery app. Just edit the photo, tap on this button, then tap on this button, and start sketching. Of course, it’ll be better if I have the S Pen but its doable with our fingers. This feature is also available on the Z Flip6, by the way.
We do need internet for this feature to work – and once we’re done, just tap on this button and it’ll generate the image. The result is surprisingly good too.
Other beloved features are still here, like the Edge Panel for quick access to many of the useful features, Samsung Wallet to make my payments, Modes and Routines for automation and it actually has some special conditions on the Z Fold6 like folded or unfolded, or even halfway folded in the Flex Mode.
The taskbar is still here just like before, and I still think Samsung’s implementation of this taskbar feature is the best amongst all the other foldables I’ve used. It’s intuitive and takes multitasking to the next level. This is the one reason why I love the Fold so much.
Oh – Samsung also upgraded the software update policy of the Z Fold6 to be 7 generations of OS upgrades and 7 years of security patches. Just like what I said about the Z Flip6, I’m not sure if the foldable screen can last that long.
Camera
What I’m not particularly happy about, is the cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold6. Samsung has been reusing the same cameras for a few generations now. I know the camera sensor isn’t the full story and the post-processing does a lot of the work as well – but the sensors will eventually hit a limit.
To have a look at all the pictures and videos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, watch our video at the top of this review.
A few more things to mention
Alright, few more things to mention. The Galaxy Z Fold6 does come with a USB 3 port at the bottom, and transfer speeds are amazingly quick.
There is also display output via USB-C, so we can use Samsung DeX with this phone. Unfortunately, we cannot trigger Samsung DeX without attaching it to an external display.
There is a dual SIM card sort for our region in particular, but there is no microSD card and no audio jack like before.
The S Pen is still not included in the phone and Samsung didn’t even bother releasing another version of it. It’s still the same old S Pen Fold Edition from 2-3 years ago.
Should you buy the Galaxy Z Fold6?
As for the question of should you buy the Galaxy Z Fold6 or not, this depends on your personal preference. I personally still think that this form factor is unique. We can use the cover display to do quick replies and whatnot with just one hand, and the unfold it into a bigger display to do more serious things or just watch videos.
Samsung’s One UI complements and synergizes with the form factor, making it a very holistic experience. Yes, it’s not perfect as many apps still do not scale properly for the Z Fold6, but there are many other apps that are adapting to this interface.
I still think that the Z Fold6’s new boxy design is a plus point, but everything under the hood is pretty incremental compared to the previous generation. I hope the next generation gets a big improvement, but this is what we have for this generation.
If you’re interested in getting the Z Fold6, I’ll have links down in the description so that you can get the best deals possible. You don’t even have to pay the full retail price for the latest and greatest foldable phone.
Where to buy? (Affiliate links)
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