After the Galaxy S24 at the beginning of the year and the Galaxy A in the spring, Samsung unveils its new folding smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6. A beautiful technological showcase but without taking risks or major innovations.
The wow effect has faded. For five years now, Samsung has been offering folding models among its slew of smartphones. The Fold, in book (or notebook) format, opened the show in 2019, joined a year later by the Z Flip, with a clamshell opening. Models that were spectacular at the time due to the technological advances they were full of and the new uses they introduced.
But here’s the thing. Time has passed and the competition has seized these technologies in turn. Samsung is no longer alone in this field. Motorola, Honor, Oppo, Google and a few Chinese brands that are more confidential in our countries such as Nubia or Hero have also embarked on the adventure. Xiaomi remains behind, at least on the European continent since the firm also has foldable models but still reserved for China. Yet a pioneer of folding (with Huawei at the time), Samsung has let itself be caught up and sometimes even overtaken.
At the Galaxy Unpacked event on July 10, the Korean company lifted the rest of the veil (many leaks had already revealed almost everything beforehand) on its new folding flagships, the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6. And while we expected little from this new generation, we are still left wanting more. Samsung seems to be stuck at a technological but also creative level. However, we can see that this year, development efforts have focused more on the more compact of the two folding models, the Z Flip, and that the time has not yet come for the Korean company to open up folding smartphone technology to a wider audience.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6: an assumed continuity
Have you fallen under the spell of the very rectilinear aspect of the Galaxy S24 ultra released at the beginning of the year? That’s good, the Z Fold6 takes up the style. Samsung’s large format foldable smartphone follows the new trend with rather tapered and very flat edges.
Apart from this slight change, the overall design of the device has changed surprisingly little. The imposing size remains almost identical. Samsung has therefore made no particular effort to make its giant smartphone thinner. Closed, the device still displays a nice thickness of 12.1 mm. Enough to make Honor smile, which has been breaking thinness records since last year with its Magic V2 (9.9 mm) and is preparing to repeat the feat and perhaps even surpass it with its Magic V3 which should arrive a little later in the year. In terms of weight, there has been a slight improvement since the Z Fold6 weighs “only” 239 g compared to 253 g for its predecessor. It also has an IP48 certification, which is resistant to immersion in water but also, this is new, moderate resistance to dust.
The external screen 0.1 inch diagonal to go from 6.2 to 6.3 inches. It also aims to be brighter according to the manufacturer by displaying a peak at 2500 nits (it was 1750 on the previous version). The internal screen retains its size of 7.6 inches and also benefits from an improvement in its brightness.
On the photo side, there are also few changes since the device relies on a triple rear sensor as before, composed of a 50 Mpx wide-angle module (f/1.8) or the same module as on its S24 and S24+, a 3x optical telephoto lens of 10 Mpx (f/2.4) and an ultra wide-angle of 12 Mpx (f/2.2).
Finally, under the hood, we of course find the flagship SoC of the year, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from Qualcomm, helped in its task by 12 GB of RAM and a storage space that varies from 256 GB to 1 TB depending on the configuration. The battery, for its part, does not evolve. The device retains a 4400 mAh battery. A new vapor chamber helps to better dissipate heat.
If there is one thing that does not change, however, it is the price list, which is still as high at Samsung. Count 1999 euros for the 256 GB model, 2119 euros for the 512 GB model and 2359 euros for the version equipped with 1 TB of storage space.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6: great new features… on the software side
It is undeniably on foldable smartphones in the clamshell format that the competition is the fiercest. No reason to worry Samsung, however, which is sticking to its position with its new Z Flip6. The device more or less retains the design of its predecessor. Samsung has of course made a small makeover to bring it back to the look inaugurated with its S24 released at the beginning of the year. The device also benefits from very flat edges with more pronounced angles. Like the Z Flod6, it benefits from IP48 certification for resistance to immersion in water and a little dust.
On the other hand, the size of the external screen does not vary one iota compared to last year. It remains fixed at 3.6 inches. Samsung has therefore not aligned itself with the competition, in particular that of Motorola which has just equipped its new Razr 50 Ultra with a very comfortable 4-inch screen. Too bad. Samsung makes up for it with increased brightness, increased to 2600 nits peak, as on the Z Fold6. It is an Oled LTPO panel (offering a refresh rate of 1 to 120 Hz). The internal screen, which is also brighter, does not change size with its 6.7-inch diagonal.
Under the hood, there are two welcome developments. On the one hand, like its big brother the Z Fold6, the Z Flip6 also features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, supported by 12 GB of RAM (a first in a Z Flip) and 256 or 512 GB of storage space. Enough to allow the small smartphone to run demanding apps and in particular many functions related to artificial intelligence. Then, the battery sees its capacity increase. It goes from 3750 mAh in the Z Flip5 to now 4000 mAh. Remember that autonomy was one of the weak points of the Galaxy Z Flip since their debut. And for it too, the vapor chamber has been modified to improve cooling.
On the photo side, things are also moving. The Z Flip6 has the same main sensor as the Z Fold6, a 50 Mpx module (f/1.8). A nice progression compared to last year when you had to make do with a 12 Mpx sensor. No optical telephoto lens on the other hand. You will have to make do with a x2 zoom by cropping but we are making progress. For the second sensor, however, Samsung is sticking with the classic with a 12 Mpx ultra wide-angle (f/2.2).
While hardware developments remain fairly tenuous, Samsung has redoubled its efforts on the software side, particularly for its Z Flip6, in order to make the most of this folding clamshell format. And of course, its Galaxy AI artificial intelligence is heavily used. This starts with an automatic zoom function when the device is folded at 90°. Depending on the number of people in the frame, the device will be able to switch between the ultra wide angle and the x3 zoom on its own to determine the ideal framing.
Suggested replies (proposed by the Samsung virtual keyboard) are also coming to the Z Flip6 and only to it for the moment. Within a message conversation, the AI will analyze the last seven exchanges and suggest, on the external screen, replies to send to your interlocutor.
It is also possible to get AI-generated wallpapers with a simple prompt. Similarly, you can also turn an image into an interactive version (its atmosphere varies depending on the weather conditions and the time of day).
Then there are the prices, where, once again, it’s a cold shower. Count 1199 euros for the 256 GB version and 1319 euros for the 512 GB version. In comparison, Motorola’s Razr 50 Ultra costs 1199 euros… for the 512 GB version (with charger and protective case).