Samsung seemed to have cracked the form factor and hinge mechanisms for their last series of foldable devices. And, seemingly knowing to not fix what isn’t broken, the company has iterated on that proven design for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 and Z Fold6.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 review – Safe Choice Foldable
Built upon that winning form factor, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 feels solid, offers plenty that non-foldable can’t do, and is an all-round improvement over its predecessor. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 comes in three configurations: a 256GB model (reviewed) at €2,059, a 512GB at €2,169, and a 1TB model at €2,409.
Most Pocketable, Most Protected
The build quality of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is outstanding. Galaxy Z Fold6 is, impressively, 1.3mm thinner when folded than Z Fold5. The chassis is is now just 12.1mm thick when folded and just 5.6mm thick when unfolded, but it feels solid and robust.
The device has zero flex in any direction when open, and doesn’t creek or rattle when closed. Samsung Galaxy is also 14 grams lighter device than its predecessor, now just 239 grams. The device’s lighter weight and slimmer form bring it closer to a non-foldable device in terms of manipulability.
Read more: Samsung Galaxy S24+ long-term review – AI Companion Settles In
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 offers the same splash and dunk protection as Galaxy Z Fold5. The device can survive in 1.5 metres of water for up to 30 minutes. However, Galaxy Z Fold6 has added dust resistance for a rating IP48 for extra peace of mind.
Visual Intrigue
Our Silver Shadow Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 wears its frosted aluminium frame and glass rear well. A solitary Samsung logo in gloss amongst the frosted expanse of the hinge’s spine is the only micro detail on the device.
The boxy design and minimal detail allows the natural ‘cool’ of the intricate machining and novel form factor to take centre stage. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 knows its inherently interesting and doesn’t need much adornment to stand out.
Outer Beauty
The device offers a near-full-sized smartphone display on the outside. The Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X outer display is bright and sharp. The 968 x 2376 pixel outer screen features a 120Hz refresh rate, as well as a sunlight-busting 1,600nits of peak brightness.
For all intents and purposes, you get the full non-foldable premium smartphone experience with the excellent outer display. The device is all the closer to a regular phone when closed with its trimming down to 12.1mm in this configuration.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy Buds FE review – Ultra Light, Ultra Value
The 22:9 display does present a minor compromise. Videos and images meant for 21:9 displays can feature some ‘black bar’ cropping.
Premium Foldable Display
The showstopper of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, the inner foldable display, has seen quite a jump in quality and durability. The 7.6-inch QXGA+ AMOLED panel features wide viewing angles with a practically invisible seam.
The inner ‘Infinity Flex’ display of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is a marvel. The 2160 x 1856 pixel resolution places so much detail in the palm of your hands. The adaptive refresh rate, from 1 to 120Hz, offers smoothness balanced with efficiency.
Read More: Samsung S90C OLED (2023) 65-inch review – Contrast King
The inner display is supremely bright, topping out at 2,600nits, allow for use on the sunniest of days, even in direct sunlight. The 20.9:18 aspect ratio works well in both landscape and portrait modes, with many apps offering different layouts to take advantage of each.
Many of the most popular apps can be used in split-screen mode to allow for seamless multitasking. Some of the most popular apps, like WhatsApp, Gmail and YouTube offer a suite of split-screen and aspect ratio modifications to further enhance the big screen experience.
Users can keep a quick menu at the bottom of the screen while in fullscreen mode. These apps can be quickly dragged onto whichever half of the display you want it displayed on. It’s very intuitive, and encourages the habit of split-screening when getting work done.
There is also a quick menu that offers shortcuts in split-screen multitasking mode and in laptop dual-screen mode. This allows for changing window sizes, screenshots, bringing up AI features like translations or image-to-text. Samsung have added more and more utility to the formats, and have incorporated the array of functions into the various interfaces wells.
Under-Display Lens
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 features the first under-display camera available in the west. The 4MP sensor is hard to spot, even with the display showing bright and even colour. On images with lots of fine detail, it’s next to impossible to find.
The first-time execution is indeed impressive. The under-display lens lets you have the full 7.6-inch, 20.9:18 screen for your media or productivity tasks.
Laptop Mode
One of the handiest benefits to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6’s novel book-style foldable form is its laptop mode. Folded like an open laptop, Galaxy Z Fold6 offers several bottom-half interfaces. Some are specific to the app, some are general.
The lower half can be used a media controls, touchpad, for taking and editing screenshots, chopping images of text for translation and a whole lot more.
Some of you might have reservations about leaving the device with its outer screen on the table, but the Corning Gorilla Glass 2 coating on our review device is spotless after a few weeks of using as Samsung intended.
Camera Options
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 features three camera setups with three different levels of quality. The most advanced of the three is the rear mounted triple-lens camera arrangement. The triple-lens rear camera setup offers an excellent 50MP main wide sensor, bolstered by a solid 10MP ultrawide lens.
The third sensor features a 3x optical zoom lens. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 uses AI to wring excellent hybrid zoom shots out to 10x. Up to about 15x hybrid will be wholly adequate for social media. The device tops out at 30x, but the images are a bit noisy and you’ll need a bright scene and a steady hand to yield a decent result.
The outer display’s selfie cam is a 10MP wide lens that can take excellent singular selfies or groufies. The lens comes in handy when you need to the outer display as a viewfinder to make sure everyone or everything is in frame. It must be noted that the three lenses on the back can make propping the device up to take a viewfinder selfie a little tricky at times.
Stamina and Charging
Another area in which Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 has converged with conventional non-foldable smartphones is in its power performance. A 4,400mAh battery keeps the device running for about as long as premium non-foldables, a fine achievement given how difficult it must be to find the space for a suitably large power pack.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 will last all of the working for all but the most powerful of power users. Our moderate workload allowed us to skip charging till day two. And like regular non-foldable premium devices, Galaxy Z Fold6 features fast charging, wired and wireless.
Read more: Compare Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Plus – The Right Device for You
At 25W, one can bring their device from 0-50% in just 30 minutes using a suitable wired charger. 15W wireless charging is competitive.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Specifications
| Chipset: | Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm) CPU – Octa-core; 1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520 GPU – Adreno 750 |
| RAM: | 12GB |
| Storage: | 256GB (Reviewed), 512GB,1 TB |
| Display: | Main: 7.6-inch QXGA+, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, ‘Infinity Flex’ Display (2160 x 1856, 20.9:18), 120Hz adaptive refresh rate (1~120Hz) Outer: Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, 1600 nits (peak), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, 6.3 inch diagonal, 968 x 2376 pixels |
| Camera: | – 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS – 10 MP, f/2.4, 66mm (telephoto), 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom – 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 12mm (ultrawide), 1.12µm Video: 8K@30fps, 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@960fps (gyro-EIS) |
| Selfie Cam: | Photo: 4 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 2.0µm, under display, Cover: 10 MP, f/2.2, 24mm (wide), 1/3″, 1.22µm |
| OS: | Android 14, One UI 6.1.1 |
| Battery: | Li-Po 4,400 mAh |
| Charging: | – 25W wired – 15W wireless – 4.5W reverse wireless |
| Connectivity: | – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct – Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE, aptX HD – GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| Dimensions: | Unfolded: 153.5 x 132.6 x 5.6 mm Folded: 153.5 x 68.1 x 12.1 mm |
| Weight: | 239 grams |
| Colours: | Navy, Silver Shadow, Pink, Black, White |
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is available in Ireland priced for a 256GB model (reviewed) at €2,059, a 512GB at €2,169, and a 1TB model at €2,409.
