Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review: Refined Evolution Not Revolution

	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 - Available for $1,099.99 The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is an excellent flip phone, but there's renewed competition now.
	Compact foldable form factor Solid performance Bright, sharp foldable OLED screen Long update support Sharp, bright display with 120Hz refresh ×Fast 80W charging and included plug ×Excellent performance with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ×Alert slider is back	More expensive than Z Flip 5 External screen less useful than the competition Runs hot

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Samsung's move into foldables five years ago was a bold strategy. Device makers like LG, Google, and Motorola all tried and failed to shake up the traditional smartphone formula, only to see those ideas fall flat. Foldables aren't dominating the market, but Samsung has seen modest success and created some genuinely cool smartphones that fold in half and deliver more screen real estate. The biggest issue with Samsung foldables has long been that they're expensive, and the Z Fold 6 doesn't rectify that. In fact, it moves in the wrong direction. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has all the latest specs and display technology, but its price tag has increased $100 over last year's model. That said, the Galaxy Flip 6 is still a great smartphone with its nifty folding flip feature. However, Samsung's success has attracted competition. The latest Motorola foldables are just as exciting and cheaper than the Z Flip 6. Regardless, the this phone proves that Samsung has the foldable formula figured out, so let's dig in and see what differentiates Galaxy Z Flip 6 from the competition. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Features and Specs

Processor Platform	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Display	6.7-inch 2640 x 1080 OLED @120Hz 3.4-inch 720 x 748 OLED
Memory	12GB
Storage	256GB, 512GB
Rear-Facing Cameras	50MP primary w/OIS, 12MP ultrawide
Front-Facing Cameras	10MP
Video Recording	4k60
Battery	4000mAh, 25W wired and 15W wireless charging
OS	Android 14
Dimensions	Open: 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9 mm Closed: 85.1 x 71.9 x 14.9 mm
Weight	187g
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, 5G sub-6GHz and mmWave
Colors	Yellow, Mint, Silver, Blue, Black, Peach, White Titanium Green, Titanium Blue, and Titanium OrangeTitanium Green, Titanium Blue, and Titanium Orange
Pricing	Starts At $1099 But There Are Trade-In Offers

Samsung is not reinventing the wheel with the Galaxy Z Flip 6. This phone looks almost identical to last year's Samsung flip phone, save for a few small visual tweaks. Its frame is now flat, similar to the Galaxy S24 series and the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The edges of the aluminum frame are rolled just a tad to ensure it's not too sharp in your hand. The external Cover Display is still the same size and shape, but Samsung has added a larger lens cover to the main cameras directly adjacent to the display. However, Samsung didn't extend the Cover Display to encompass the cameras like Motorola and Xiaomi. Both the screen and the back of the phone employ the latest Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. 


When closed, the two halves of the Flip 6 are perfectly even, with no discernable gap in the middle. According to the specs, the Flip 6 is a fraction of a millimeter thinner, but you won't be able to tell that even when comparing the two phones side-by-side. The hinge has the same smooth, easily opening action. You can leave the phone at nearly any angle, and the phone will stay put. This feeds into some interesting but underutilized software experiences (more on that later). 

The right side of the phone is home to the volume rocker and a power button with integrated fingerprint scanner. It works as well as any other physical sensor we've used in recent years—it's quick, reliable, and accurate even compared to the best in-display sensors. 


On the outside of the phone, you have Samsung's 3.4-inch Cover Display, which hasn't changed since last year. 12 months ago, Samsung's external screen seemed plenty good enough, but it's been leapfrogged by Motorola, which offers larger and sharper displays on the outside of its Razr flip phones. Still, Samsung's display is good for the basics like reading notifications, checking the weather, and running a simple app here and there. The Z Flip 6 is such a cute little package when its closed. Being able to drop a phone in your pocket without it taking up all the available space is a nice departure from the norm. Snapping the phone closed to hang up a call is also very satisfying.

Flip the phone open, and you get the expansive 6.7-inch foldable OLED display. At 2640 x 1080, it matches Motorola's new Razrs. The 120Hz refresh rate is slightly lower than Moto, but it's still plenty smooth enough that you won't notice even side-by-side. Its brightness tops out at 2,600 nits, which is good enough for full sunlight visibility. Although, the plastic layers of a foldable OLED are more reflective than glass, which can complicate matters in very bright sunlight. Like all foldable screens, there's a built-in screen protector that's very soft and can be damaged if you're not careful. 


Samsung's foldables still have a noticeable crease across the hinge, which is something Motorola hides better. You do get used to it, and it won't be obvious on most backgrounds while using the phone. However, you can feel it, and the crease is pretty visible on light backgrounds. This isn't a dealbreaker, but it feels like something Samsung needs to tackle to remain competitive in foldables. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Software, AI Experience And Update Support

The Z Flip 6 ships with Android 14 under an increasingly thick layer of One UI 6.1.1 and Galaxy AI. Samsung's One UI software is a known quantity at this point, featuring all the core Android features you've come to expect, plus a few things connected to Samsung's ecosystem, like SmartThings and QuickShare. If you're coming from another version of Android, you'll have to get used to some of Samsung's idiosyncrasies. For instance, the app drawer scrolls left to right, and Samsung's custom keyboard is a bit cluttered. The software is also loaded with a fair number of pre-installed apps from Microsoft and other partners, but you can uninstall them if you like. 


Samsung has its multi-window features front and center on the Z Flip 6, and it's a nice option to have. However, it's not nearly as important or useful as it is on the company's tablet-style foldables. There simply isn't as much screen real estate on a flip phone. It's not about carrying more screen with you—it's just a matter of making the standard smartphone form factor more portable. The upshot is that you get the nifty external screen, which makes it easy to check notifications without getting drawn into anything time consuming. 

Unfortunately, Samsung's Cover Display doesn't do very much. There are only a handful of widgets you can add (weather, Spotify, calculator, stocks, etc.), and an even smaller number of apps have been enabled on the external screen. The options are very limited next to Motorola, which has gone above and beyond to make the external screens on the Razr and Razr+ useful. Samsung does have its GoodLock customization tool that can add some more functionality, but it's annoying to install, poorly translated, and buggy. 

A couple of apps have been optimized for Samsung's "Flex Mode," which is a fancy name for leaving the phone half closed. In general, there aren't enough of these tweaks to make it a selling point. The camera UI does change in a useful way, though, putting the shutter and options on the bottom half of the screen and the viewfinder o the top half. 

Samsung is all-in with generative AI, which is sprinkled throughout One UI as "Galaxy AI." This suite of features can rewrite your text messages, edit photos, summarize web pages, and more. None of these tricks are new or even particularly exciting, Like other generative AI tools, the results are often mediocre and slow. Despite the powerful hardware, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has to send data to the cloud to run it through a large language model. There's a toggle to force local processing only, but the quality of the results is even worse, and some features don't work at all. 

Despite the slow start for Galaxy AI, Samsung's update policy is beyond reproach and superior to most all of its competition. The company offers an impressive seven years of software updates for this phone, covering both OS updates and security patches. This isn't a cheap device, but it's good to know that you'd theoretically be able to use it for the better part of a decade, if you so choose. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Cameras

Samsung doesn't equip its foldables with the most capable camera sensors—those are reserved for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Due to the size of those sensors, the Z Flip and Z Fold have lesser cameras more akin to the S24 and S24+ phones. In the case of the Galaxy Z Flip 6, you get a 50MP primary shooter with optical stabilization and a 12MP ultrawide. Video tops out at 4k60 instead of 8k like on the latest Galaxy S phones. 


You won't get the best photos with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, but Samsung isn't scraping the bottom of the barrel with this hardware. The 50MP main camera collects good detail in its binned 12.5MP images, and Samsung's dynamic range is almost as good as Google's. The colors are also lovely and vibrant—almost unrealistically so at times. As long as you're outdoors during the day, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 takes sharp photos, even if the subject is moving around. Inside, the camera leans toward longer exposures to produce brighter images, but that means it's hard to capture movement without blurring.


The ultrawide sensor does its job, but it's nothing to write home about. Edge distortion is also minimal despite the wide 123-degree field of view. We appreciate that Samsung's image processing keeps the colors consistent across the lenses, but it would have been nice to get autofocus on this lens so it could capture macro images. 


While there is a 10MP selfie camera at the top of the internal foldable OLED, you shouldn't use it to take selfies. Just leave that one for video chats, and shoot photos of yourself with the main cameras. While they're not the best sensors on a phone, they're better than any dedicated selfie camera. The Galaxy Z Flip 6's distinctive folding form factor makes it a snap to use the Cover Display as a viewfinder. You can shoot with the 50MP wide or switch to the ultrawide for groups shots. It's a great option to have.

Similarly, you can partially unfold the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to use it like a built-in stand. That allows you to shoot video or photos without holding the phone, which is very handy if you want to be in the shot.

Let's look at performance, next...