The King of Foldables might lose its crown

Samsung has done it again and released a reliably great folding phone experience, but “reliably great” may not be enough when the foldable landscape is slowly getting more crowded. I liked Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the changes might be too slight for me to tell people to drop their handsets and pick up Samsung’s new foldable. Don’t get me wrong; the design shifts are going in the right direction, but other companies are taking leaps while the South Korean tech giant is taking small steps.

In my hands-on with the device, I went on and on about the wider Cover Screen, but after more than two weeks of consistently using Samsung’s new tablet-to-phone experience, I’m a lot less enthused about the Cover Screen, and I think the company could’ve taken it another step further.

Still, after my time with the handset, the Z Fold 6 is an upgrade from its predecessor and worth considering if you’re in the market for a foldable.

So about that Cover Screen

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 features a 6.3-inch Cover Screen with a 968 x 2376-pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is good, and the images and videos look pleasing. Still, the best use case for the Cover Screen is taking selfies, and I use primary shooters for selfies a lot. I purposefully tried only to take selfies with the main shooters and didn’t even touch the Cover Screen or Under Display cameras.

Most people probably won’t notice the subtle change to the Cover Screen, and while I was happy for the update as it improved the smartphone’s usability and experience, I thought it would be more impactful. If you’re not aware, when folded, the Z Fold 6 is marginally wider but shorter than the Z Fold 5 (1mm wider and 1.5mm shorter), which makes the front screen easier to type on and use. However, the change wasn’t enough, and I still often use the inner screen when texting my friends. The Fold 6 Cover Screen measures 132mm, superior to the 129.9mm on the Fold 5 Cover Screen, but the OnePlus’ 143.1mm, the Pixel Fold’s 158.7mm, and even the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s rumoured 145mm front screen are all wider, improving usability and allowing people to use these foldables as I believe they should be used.

How should you be using a foldable

I’m a foldable fanboy, and my favourite type of folding handset is the phone-to-tablet sort like the Z Fold 6. These handsets are great because they are supposed to give you the best of both worlds: a smartphone and a tablet. While the Z Fold 6 is an excellent small tablet, smartphone-wise, it’s not as good as other foldables. The Cover Screen isn’t wide enough to use normally like a regular handset. You should be able to text entire conversations and watch videos on your front screen. Of course, you can always open up your larger display, but you shouldn’t have to. I think the larger screen is if you’re writing something in long-form — like an article — or planning on watching a YouTube video, reading a book, or things you’d use a tablet for. There shouldn’t be any point where I’m using the Cover Screen to perform a regular smartphone task and think, “Oh, this would be easier on the larger display,” and not, “I’m happy that I have a Cover Screen, so that I can do this.” The issue is that when I’m using the Z Fold 6, I think about both equally when I should be thinking of the latter.

Good thing it has a larger display

On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s other screen is everything I need it to be. When I’m watching videos, it shows high dynamic range with great contrast between lights and darks, colours are accurate, and with a 120Hz refresh rate, scrolling and gaming move at a smooth pace. Strangely, I had an issue with brightness during an incredibly sunny day. Considering the large display has a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, it was weird that I had this concern, but no matter what settings I messed around with, the screen wasn’t bright enough. This only happened on a very sunny day walking around the streets of Paris, but it was a tad annoying.

As for the rest of the design, the Z Fold 6 has a matte back, and the handset feels quite durable and well-built. Many are worried about whether their foldable can break easily, but it was not once a concern with the Z Fold 6. I didn’t even use a case the whole time I was reviewing the device — and I’m one who typically buys cases for review units because I’m very clumsy. The handset has flat sides, but I think it helps make it feel great to hold.

The Z Fold 6 is lighter than its predecessor, weighing 13g less. This year’s ‘hero’ colour is ‘Silver Shadow,’ which offers a carbon silver look. There’s also ‘Pink,’ which provides a pale rosey colour. Lastly, there’s the ‘Navy,’ which looks dull compared to the other two colour options. I’ve been reviewing the ‘hero’ colour, and it’s nice, but the ‘Pink’ is definitely the more fun option of the bunch.

Reliable

The Z Fold 6 is much more than its two displays and awesome build; it has a trio of cameras. Unfortunately, not a lot has changed here from its predecessor. It still has the same 50-megapixel primary shooter with an f/1.8 aperture and a 23mm lens, the same 10-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom, an f/2.4 aperture and a 66mm lens and a 12-megapixel ultrawide that’s upgraded from last year’s sensor, which Samsung says can capture more light. Still, it also sports the same 12mm lens, f/2.2 aperture and 123-degree focal as its predecessor.

Samsung really said, “Well, if it ain’t broke,” and provided the same reliable cameras. Unfortunately, I have to note that the primary and telephoto cameras have been the same since the Z Fold 4—three phones in a row is a bit too much.

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Pictures are sharp, bright and vivid, and in true Samsung fashion, there’s a bit of oversaturation, but it’s not the worst thing. The sky is slightly bluer, and the grass is a bit greener; still, it’s pleasing to the eye, and turning off the scene optimizer helps a bit. Oversaturation, notwithstanding the primary shooter, also has a great high dynamic range, showcasing the difference between bright whites and darker shadows. Low-light images are pleasing but a bit noisy. The S24 Ultra still has the Z Fold 6 beat here.

The ultrawide camera’s lowlight performance has definitely improved. Unfortunately, it’s still quite noisy, and if you were to compare it with a flagship, you’d be left a bit disappointed. However, it’s definitely better than last year’s, which was pretty unusable in lowlight.

Selfies taken with the primary shooter (using the Cover display as the viewfinder) show details in facial hair, brickwork isn’t too sharp, and even foliage looks pretty good as long as you’re not zooming in to inspect the digitally sharpened edges.

The telephoto works fine, I just wish Samsung would bring its 5x or 10x zoom from its S series and smack it on the back of the Z Fold 6’s camera bump.

Very reliable

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is great at multitasking, but that’s not too shocking. The handset features 12GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. The Z Fold 6 has an impressive single-core score of 2,171 and a multi-core score of 6,560, which is the highest I’ve seen yet on a smartphone. I always say that benchmarks don’t necessarily indicate real-world performance, but it really explains why the handset is capable of multi-tasking so well.

Throughout my experience with the Z Fold 6 I didn’t get it slowing down at all. I would use a lot of different apps at the same time, and go back and forth between certain apps as well. When I received the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in Paris, I immediately popped my SIM card into the device and started loading up my apps. While this was happening in the background, I was still taking pictures and using Google Maps as I explored the city. My phone didn’t get too warm, and I didn’t experience any sort of slowdowns. I really liked that the handset was capable of chugging through that day without having any concerns.

Battery-wise, you can expect the Z Fold 6 to last a day, but anything longer is pushing it. And days where you’re taking a lot of pictures and videos, you’re going to want to bring a portable charger with you. Unfortunately, the Z Fold 6 still only offers 25W wired charging, which means I often feel like I’m waiting forever for the handset to fully charge. This is one area where Samsung can definitely improve — for example, the OnePlus Open offers 67W wired charging and charges much quicker.

AI isn’t everything

While Samsung boasts a lot of Galaxy AI features for its handsets, I didn’t really find much use for them. This isn’t necessarily an unusual occurrence, and a similar case with other handsets. However, with Apple Intelligence, Moto AI, and Gemini Live on the horizon, Samsung’s AI features pale in comparison.

There were a couple I used, such as Chat Assist, which allows users to change the tone of their writing with AI, such as making it sound more professional. Another use case is translation, which I used while I was messaging with guys in Italy. One of the new features that Samsung hyped was Drawing Assist, but I didn’t find it all that useful. I can see how it can be useful, considering I can’t draw very well, and it can definitely assist if I need to illustrate something. I’m working on a book, and using this could potentially help visualize some of the items or locations in my story. Or if I ever wanted to draw a comic, it could also help me with that. It’s not perfect and not always on the mark, but sometimes I’m barely drawing something, and it gets it right, and I’m impressed. However, I mostly used this for shits and giggles, and it isn’t a reason to purchase this handset.

Circle to Search also made its way to the Z Fold 6. Google introduced the feature with the Pixel 8 series, but Samsung quickly adopted it for the S24 series. This AI functionality isn’t unique to the Z Fold 6, but it is helpful nonetheless. When I was in Europe, if I saw an exciting statue, I could use Circle to Search to learn about the statue quickly. I also used its new translation feature to help me understand menus, street signs and more. Unfortunately, in Milan, they use a dialect called Milanese, which would confuse the AI. But it was helpful, and I was happy to have the Z Fold 6 and Circle to Search in Europe.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an awesome phone, but its price isn’t attractive. This year, Samsung’s foldable starts at $2,564, which is way too expensive for any smartphone, folding or not. I’m not sure people are ready to spend so much on a device that they may upgrade in two or three years. Of course, the Z Fold 6 will get seven years of security updates, so you won’t need to upgrade so quickly, but the point remains — this phone is too expensive. I understand there are some upgrades between this and its predecessor, priced at $2,399, but arguably, that handset was too expensive.

Foldables will be expensive. They have two displays, flagship specs, durable hinges, etc., but $2,549 is a lot. The OnePlus Open costs $2,399, but that handset is often on sale for $1,899. I’m not sure what the right price is for a foldable, but perhaps this is too much even for people to pay monthly.

Wait and See

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an awesome handset, especially if you’re a power user who likes to use their smartphone for business. Or if you’re a commuter who doesn’t want to bring a tablet and a smartphone and you’ll be using the larger screen a lot. Essentially, you’ll benefit from having this phablet by your side, but it’s going to put a dent in your wallet.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an expensive phone, and while it’s good, it might not be worth that price. It’s hard to put a number on how much you believe something should cost if it lacks competition. Which is also one of the reasons why the company can make Z Fold 6 cost whatever they’d like. However, more foldables will arrive on the market sooner than later. And Compared to the current foldable available, the Z Fold 5 and the OnePlus Open, the Z Fold 6 isn’t that much better.

If you’re not in need for a foldable right at this moment, I’d honestly just wait. Potentially OnePlus will have a successor to the Open, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is rumoured to be impressive. Foldables are here to stay, and they can be incredibly useful. And don’t get me wrong, the Z Fold 6 is great, and if you’re a power user who wants and needs to buy a foldable today (like you just broke your phone), you won’t be disappointed with the Fold 6. But otherwise, just wait. And I’m really saying this to anyone in the market for a new device. Google, Apple, even Motorola are expected to show off new handsets before the end of the year, and the S25 series isn’t even that far off. If you want to buy a device before end of the year, then wait a couple more months before spending over $2,500 on a phone. Who knows, another more affordable phone may catch your eye.

The Fold 6 is a great device, with a solid build and a wider Cover Screen slightly. But this device isn’t different enough from last year’s model to warrant an upgrade. And the people deserve an updated camera system and a wider Cover Screen, especially if they’re paying more than any other handset on the market.

If you’ve read this review but are still interested in learning more about how the Z Fold 6 compares to other handsets coming to the market, keep an eye out on MobileSyrup for a comprehensive best phones of the year post.