Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Review – Flipping Great Again with more Improvements

The time has come again and Samsung is back with the obvious, but somewhat improved flip phone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 on our hands for a full review, for those who had not watch our unboxing video, click on the below video to find out. Click here too to read on our first impression.

As a recap, the Galaxy Z Flip6 comes in Blue, Yellow, Mint, Silver Shadow colors and also Crafted Black, White, and Peach colors over their online exclusive channel at Samsung.com . Also the colors on the phone matches the camera ring protection area along with the new floating design.

Design & Aesthetics

While some of the competitors trying to slim down their devices, Samsung took the approach of a more boxy look, with good curve angles in all sides that is smooth to the touch without leaving any fingerprints. The material used this time is Enhanced Armor aluminium frame with tougher drop and it is also scratch resistance, able to withstand several minor low drops without much impacting the phone. Despite that, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is IP48 certified, able to submerge in water up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.

While from the looks in general that it does look similar to the previous Galaxy Z Flip5, the weight still remains similar at 187 grams and slimness stands at 6.9mm when unfolded. But if you plan to use accessories from the Z Flip5 such as casings, it will not fit as the dimensions and height is slightly different so you will have to get new accessories for this phone.

The hinge certainly gets some improvement when it comes to folding and unfolding, the hinge looks slightly sleekier with good operations of opening and closing smoothly without any hinge sound or squeaks. With that said, it is also fairly easy to flip it open with one hand and the same time able to hold well displayed like a mini laptop.

The rest remains standard, with two speakers, a SIM card slot located on the side, and finally a USB port located below for charging and data transfers.

Talking about accessories, you can also check it out here ranging from casings, adaptors, cables and flipsuit that can be a good fashion companion and addon to spark conversations around you and the phone.

Display & Audio

In terms of displays, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 features dual screens. Beginning at the Cover Screen, it contains a 3.4 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 720 x 748 pixels and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The Cover Screen offers increased customization and interaction options like swiping, tapping, editing, replying to messages (SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat), viewing information, alarms, music player controls, time, calendar, calls, SmartThings, utilizing it as an interpreter window display, watching streaming videos and events. This feature allows you to personalize your cover screen on your phone by customizing emojis, backgrounds, interactive wallpapers and clock styles. Naturally, you can utilize the cover screen as a viewfinder for capturing photos with the rear camera, which boasts a higher resolution compared to the front camera on the unfolded display. For those who are worried about the glass type being used, it uses the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection that is able to resist light drops and light scratches.

When completely opened, you will see a spacious 6.7-inch foldable dynamic AMOLED display with 2X resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The screen can reach a brightness of 2600 nits, securing its position as a top contender in foldable display quality. This device excels in AMOLED quality, color accuracy, and maintains strong overall contrast, ensuring it can be easily used at any time of day or night. The Dynamic AMOLED display is able to reduce its refresh rate to 10Hz when not in use, providing a significant benefit in terms of power efficiency and prolonging battery life. The fold in the center of the display remains slightly noticeable but almost invisible when viewed head-on, although it can still be felt when using the screen. Despite this being expected by most foldable device users, there have been enhancements, making the overall display more seamless and responsive for tapping or reading.

Discussing the audio capabilities, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 offers a superior and more vibrant audio performance through its dual speaker system when compared to its previous model. The Dolby Atmos feature allows for further customization through equalizer adjustments or preset selections. Additionally, the adapt sound function can be used to personalize the audio based on individual hearing preferences, making it particularly beneficial for users looking to optimize their phone’s audio experience.

Cameras

Samsung has now aligned the camera specifications of the Galaxy Z Flip6 with those of the flagship Galaxy S24 series. Currently, there is a 50MP rear camera equipped with OIS, as well as a 12MP wide angle camera, whereas the front-facing camera is a 10MP wide angle shooter. With the default photo mode, you can enlarge images by up to 10 times and access features like portrait, panorama, wide mode, hyper lapse, and night mode, dual recording, among others.

With the newly acquired combination camera set, the camera on the device is now comparable to the top models available. The camera stands out thanks to Samsung’s focus on software and AI technology included in the camera app as part of the Galaxy AI features in OneUI 6.1. The obvious benefit is also connected to the processor in use, and the Flex Window serves as both a preview window for capturing images. This feature is well-utilized whether you are capturing a selfie or another person’s image, as both the user and the subject can preview before the photo is taken. At the end, you will receive a helpful camera with enhanced image processing, performing well in daytime and indoor conditions and showing significant improvement in nighttime capture. The camera now detects the environment better, with improved dynamic range and contrast in slightly darker areas, along with faster post processing, resulting in high-quality images from its 50MP sensors. I prefer taking photos and selfies with the rear camera because that’s what it’s meant for.

Shown above is a demonstration video recorded with the rear camera at 4k 60FPS, featuring clear audio capture in the recording setting. Although there may be slight jitter when moving quickly, the stabilization provided by OIS ensures overall stability. As is customary, these could be enhanced even more with patches and updates by Samsung in the future. Zooming in allows for viewing a significant level of detail, particularly on alphabet characters and signs. Overall, it is a strong contender for vlogging due to its front and rear camera configuration. If you wish to take it to the next level, you have the option to achieve QHD/FHD at 30FPS with Super Steady.

Performance & Software

This time, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 receives significant upgrades to its internal components. The top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor designed specifically for Galaxy devices is now available, featuring a customized SOC variant with adjusted processing clockspeed. You can choose between 256GB or 512GB internal storage options, with a boosted 12GB of LPDDR5x RAM for all your multitasking requirements. If necessary, you have the option to increase your virtual memory by an extra 8GB, allowing for a total of 20GB. From the performance standpoint, there is a slight improvement that can be noticed and experienced due to the enhanced 4000mAH battery, lasting about a day with various activities such as calls, social media, emails, and gaming, with about extra 2 hours extra of use time when compared with last year’s Z Flip5. This enhancement is necessary for running the sizable Flex Window smoothly. Recharging will only require approximately 30 minutes to go from zero to 50% of the battery capacity when using a 25w PD charger or higher, which remains unchanged.

This phone, equipped with a vapor chamber, can now easily handle demanding games like Genshin Impact without any issues. It can maintain a steady frame rate of around 55FPS for at least half an hour, showcasing significant advancements in heat management and cooling on a foldable device, in addition to the new SOC upgrades. After 35 minutes of gaming or heavy multitasking, the device may become warm, but it is not a major issue.

OneUI 6.1.1 with Android 14 brings a number of features and improvements. Among the notable highlights is some minor overhauls, but global changes in the Labs menu give users more flexibility, such as allowing all apps to open in pop-up views and the Mode panel. Flex Panel allows 2 apps to work at the same time although some apps have not been tested by Samsung but compared from last year, there is some increased number of apps that are compatible with it. but supported. In addition, Android 14 has matured to be a friendly device with large screens and can be folded to run as optimally as possible. Flex Window can now do more with better support for adding clock emoji animations, customizing backgrounds, interactive wallpapers, replying to messages, adding calendar events, third party app support such as WhatsApp, Netflix and organizing and expand more Samsung apps added with drop-down menus to turn on and off some features such as Bluetooth, Sound Profiles or WiFi.  

Probably the main topic when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is the improved support of Galaxy AI. Among the notables ones are the dual screen live interpreter mode in multiple languages, live call translation, Chat assist, suggested replies, Circle to search and Drawing assist, just to name a few and these features may be included towards previous Samsung Galaxy S and Z series phones as well. Overall the improved new Galaxy AI features will just make this phone more fun to use and enjoy.

Benchmarks

Technical Specifications

Verdict & Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is a result of countless step up, innovations and improvement that Samsung has been focusing not just on the design and hardware, but with the rise of AI, the phone has definitely reap some of the useful features as a benefit towards users that can be utilized on a daily basis. This perhaps is one of the best approach that is finally allowing more interactions and a great use case for a Flip Phone and AI combined along with the latest hardware embedded together. The Galaxy Z Flip6 is now selling from RM4999 and pre-order/purchase can be done by clicking here.