Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review: Tastefully boring

So today I’ve got the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 in for review. And this is probably the most important foldable phones Samsung has ever shipped — besides the first gen Galaxy Fold of course — ’cause take a look at this.

For the first time ever, Samsung is no longer the world’s largest foldable phone maker. I can’t say I’m at all surprised, to be honest. Because for the past couple of years, Samsung has practically been playing the “foldable” game in easy mode. With little to no competition to worry about.

But as Chinese brands continue to step up and also bring their foldables outside of China — that’s the more important part — Samsung has been feeling the heat. Clearly. So yeah, there’s a lot riding on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 this year. Which is why I’ve been daily driving it for a month now to figure out if Samsung has done enough to go back to its winning ways.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: Specifications

• Display:
  • Folded: 6.3-inch AMOLED screen, HD+, 120Hz refresh rate
  • Unfolded: 7.6-inch AMOLED screen, QXGA+, 120Hz refresh rate
• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (4nm mobile platform)
• Memory: 12GB RAM, Up to 1TB storage (non-expandable)
• Software & UI: Android 14 with One UI 6.1.1 on top
• Rear Camera: Triple (50MP primary, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto)
• Front Camera: Dual (4MP under-display, 10MP cover display)
• Security: Fingerprint sensor (side-mounted)
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, NFC, 5G
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
• Battery: 4400 mAh with 25W fast charging (power adapter not provided)
• Price in Nepal: NPR 234,999 (12/256GB) | NPR 249,999 (12/512GB)
• Check the full specifications of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 here
• Buy Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 here

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review:

Design and Build

• IP48 dust/splash resistant, 239 grams
  • Folded: 68.1 x 153.5 x 12.1 mm
  • Unfolded: 132.6 x 153.5 x 5.6 mm
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (back/front)
• Enhanced Armor Aluminum frames

Alright. As always, I wanna kick it off with the design side of things. And as always, Samsung has tried to make its latest foldable just a little more durable, a little more robust, and a little more “normal” compared to its last one.

So the Fold 6 now has a much boxier, angular design like Samsung’s “Ultra” flagships, which has grown on me a lot quicker than I originally thought it would. I’ve been a big fan of that curvier look of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 (and older Samsung foldables) but the Fold 6 definitely stands out in its own way. This thing still has a gapless hinge design that I love but the bigger highlight this time is that it’s also shorter, wider, and lighter than the Fold 5.

In fact, it weighs almost the same as the Galaxy S24 Ultra (review). So as far as usability, hands-on feel, and all that goes, this is Samsung’s best foldable yet. By a long shot.

But looking at all the competition, I can’t help but worry if the Fold 6 does enough on the design front.

Especially in terms of its thickness and that somewhat weird aspect ratio for the cover display. ‘Cause I’ve used a couple of other book-shaped foldables like the OnePlus Open (review) and the Honor Magic V2 (review). And let me tell you that those things do a much better job at convincing me that I’m using a regular smartphone that just… happen to unfold into a mini tablet of sorts.

Be it with a wider outer display that feels like any other phone I’ve ever used or a slim design that doesn’t look like I’m smuggling a gold bar in my pocket.

The first foldable with a dust protection rating

Despite all this, I absolutely love how Samsung has continued to make its foldable more and more sturdy over the years. I don’t know about you but durability is always my biggest concern when using a foldable phone and I’ve pretty much never had to worry about that on a Galaxy Fold. And the Z Fold 6 goes on to put a cherry on top of Samsung’s record with a couple of really interesting durability upgrades this year.

It’s got a tougher, redesigned hinge and tougher frames made of new “enhanced armor aluminum” material, while the hinge itself has been tested for better shock absorption against external impacts.

But more importantly, the Fold 6 also has an IP48 rating. Making it the first foldable ever to feature at least some form of dust ingress protection. That “4” in IP48 means this guy is not completely dust-sealed or anything — and a lot of carefulness is still required on your part against dust and small particles — but yeah, this is a much welcome upgrade.

Displays

• Folded: 6.3-inch HD+ AMOLED panel, 120Hz refresh rate
• Unfolded: 7.6-inch QXGA+ AMOLED panel, 120Hz refresh rate

And just like the design, the Fold 6’s display is also just a little more impressive than the one on its predecessor. But I guess that’s not a bad thing at all since Samsung has always been at the top of the game when it comes to the display. And the Fold 6 has a few incredibly obvious, (almost) instantly noticeable upgrades, whereas there are a couple of improvements that you might not even notice.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 - Displays

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Like the crease on the main display that’s supposed to be not as apparent as what we saw on the Fold 5 but who am I kidding? Samsung’s probably at the bottom of the table if we’re comparing the crease on a foldable phone.

It’s totally not a big deal by the way ‘cause you’ll never have to brush your fingers across the middle of the display most of the time with the way One UI is designed for foldables. Unless when you’re taking notes or maybe sketching something with a stylus, but let me assure you that even then the crease didn’t bother me all that much. I’d definitely like Samsung to improve on this on the Fold 7 (maybe get it to the OnePlus Open’s level) but there you go.

We’re still only getting there with the cover display

On the other hand, I’m sure you’re gonna notice this “normal”-looking cover display. Samsung has essentially been taking baby steps to make the outer display a little less narrow year after year and I think the Fold 6 finally represents Samsung’s true vision for a bookstyle foldable.

I know this 22:9 aspect ratio has its disadvantages but the way it’s so dang easy to use with one hand — without being too narrow to type on or being too awkward for watching videos — is quite something.

And both the front and the main display on the Fold 6 are visibly brighter this time as well. Samsung claims “2,600 nits” of max brightness, which only applies when you’re watching HDR photos or videos, but this is still a very bright phone no matter what. And of course, the actual display quality, including the colors, the contrast, the viewing angles… everything is as good as it gets on the Fold 6.

Just like its stereo speakers that add so much to the experience whenever I’m listening to some music or watching my favorite shows on its massive display.

Performance

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (4nm)
• 12GB RAM, Up to 1TB storage (non-expandable)
• Android 14 with One UI 6.1.1 on top
• 7 years of OS and security upgrades

Okay.

So apart from all the usual year-on-year upgrades like the faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a larger vapor chamber cooling, and all that, Samsung really, really, really wants to impress you with all the “Galaxy AI” features on the Z Fold 6.

So much so that it was literally all that they talked about during the launch event.

But you know what? There are some genuinely useful AI features on this thing that I can see myself using every now and then. Whereas Samsung clearly deserves a pat on its back with just how well designed, how user-friendly, and also how transparent it is in the way it handles user data.

• Like the “Interpreter” thing that lets me effortlessly carry a conversation with someone who doesn’t speak my language.
• The “Browsing assist” feature that can summarize or translate an article for me.
• The pretty self-explanatory “Sketch to image” thing.
• … and so. much. more.

I can even have all the AI processing happen on-device itself — with no need for an active internet connection — although you should know that most of the Galaxy AI stuff won’t work that way. And as much as I love a few of these AI features, I don’t think they deserve to be the highlight of a foldable phone in the first place.

I mean… none of them actually make use of the Fold 6’s unique hardware in any way for Samsung to be putting so much effort into “Galaxy AI” to sell its latest foldables.

Except for the “Interpreter” mode maybe that uses both displays to assist in conversation but that’s about it. In fact, I can almost guarantee you that all of these “Galaxy AI” features will eventually arrive on Samsung’s other, non-folding phones too. The flagship ones, at least.

Does One UI really need Galaxy AI?

But looking beyond all layers of AI, the Fold 6 still has the best software experience out of any foldable I’ve ever used. Also the best set of features for all the multitasking possibilities, whereas that sense of stability and dependability I have with One UI is second to none on a foldable.

I was secretly hoping Samsung would copy that “Open Canvas” thing I saw on the OnePlus Open, but instead… I got Galaxy AI’d.

Anyway, with the latest Snapdragon chip inside, I didn’t have any trouble with the performance of this thing. That’s kinda obvious. Samsung is also committing to 7 years of OS and security updates for the Fold 6 so it’s pretty much set as far as the software experience is concerned. And besides general everyday use, this guy is a literal game-changer for gaming too.

Thanks to that gigantic 7.6” main display.

It does get warm around the camera module and throttle a bit when playing something like Genshin Impact at the highest settings — even though Samsung says it has used a 60% larger vapor chamber system this time — but that’s so not the end of the world for the Fold 6. And I’ve actually been playing a lot of emulator games instead on this guy.

‘Cause with regular smartphones, running emulator-based games is always somewhat of a struggle since you don’t have a lot of screen space to work with in the first place. For the on-screen controls and the actual game screen itself. But that’s so not a problem for foldables.

Battery

• 4400 mAh battery (25W charging)
• 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless charging

Then again, I’m sad to say that the Fold 6’s battery life is still not that impressive.

At least not by my standard. Samsung is still sticking with a 4400 mAh battery that we’ve seen since the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (review) days, and it manages to last me like 6 hours on average at best. That too if I try and use the main display as little as I can. The charging situation hasn’t gotten any better either as it only supports a maximum 25W of power, which takes around an hour and a half for a complete refill… so yeah.

Cameras

• Triple camera setup at the back
• 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto
• 10MP selfie (cover display), 4MP (main display)

Finally, it’s time to talk about the cameras.

And you see… I don’t even feel like boring you with all the itty-bitty details ‘cause the Fold 6’s cameras are nothing exciting in the first place. I’m definitely not saying that its cameras are terrible or anything but the constant mental reminder that I’m not getting Samsung’s best cameras on Samsung’s most expensive phone absolutely sucks.

So the Fold 6 has the exact same camera setup that we first saw on 2022’s Galaxy Z Fold 4. Which includes a 50MP primary, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto lens capable of 3x zoom shots. Then there’s a 10MP selfie camera on the cover screen and a 4MP one hiding behind the main display.

A lot of room for improvement still

And for what it’s worth, the Fold 6’s photos don’t look all that bad. You’ve got that classic “Samsung” processing with plenty of vibrance and details in the images, although I realized just how much I’ve been missing here when I compared it with the S24 Ultra.

Daytime images

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Not just because the S24 Ultra brags a superior set of camera hardware but it’s clear that Samsung is also saving its best optimization for its flagship phone that doesn’t fold.

Portrait, Selfie images

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The Fold 6 does try to keep up with the Ultra the best it can, but time and again, I noticed how it fails to deliver that consistent camera experience that I’ve come to expect from a Samsung phone.

Lowlight images

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Sometimes its images look a little too contrasty — sometimes a little too flat — and the Fold 6 especially struggles to maintain details and handle noise when you’re indoors or in lowlight conditions. And while it shoots quite nice-looking videos with good stabilization, good colors, good dynamic range, and everything, it doesn’t let me switch between the lenses if I choose to record 4K 60 fps videos. Like I can so easily on the S24 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: Conclusion

Alright.

So that’s all for my full review of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. And if I had to summarize everything I feel about this phone in two words, I’d say it’s “tastefully boring”. Like… I see its appeal and I would never take it away from anyone, but I would also never stand in line for it. The Fold 6 is a perfectly fine foldable, a perfectly sophisticated and well-engineered machine that’s unfortunately just not that memorable.

Or as the kids these days would say, “it’s got L rizz”.

There’s so much Samsung could’ve done, there’s so much the competition has shown what’s capable of this form factor. But it’s a little sad to see how Samsung is still playing it safe and relying on its brand power more than anything. And at this point, I’m just waiting for Samsung to go all out on its foldable phones I guess.

To top it all off, the Fold 6 is also needlessly expensive now. I think that price jump is a direct result of all those “Galaxy AI” features since Samsung needs to find some way to pay for the cloud storage fees to run its AI models but yeah. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a safe choice for most folks looking to get in on the foldable fun. Although there are mu…ch better options out there if want to see what’s truly capable on a foldable phone.

• Our video review of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is coming up pretty soon

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: Pros and Cons