The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, priced at NRP 154,999 for 12/256 GB variant may look similar to the previous model Z Flip 5, but it has important improvements in the processor, RAM, and camera. Samsung also offers seven years of software updates, making it great for long-term use. While the front screen isn’t as advanced, the Z Flip 6 excels in AI features and camera quality. Overall, it’s the best folding phone for most people who want a large screen in a compact design. Today will will explore the detailed Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Full Review.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Full Review: Detailed View, pros and cons
Design and Build
At first glance, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 doesn’t seem to deviate much from last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 design, retaining the same sleek and compact look. The phone still feels solid in hand, thanks to its sturdy Armor aluminum frame, and remains impressively portable when closed.
However, the flat edges of the Flip 6 detract from its overall ergonomics, making it less comfortable to hold. The most noticeable design update is the accent around the camera lenses, which now match the phone’s color, creating a striking contrast and enhancing its visual appeal. As for the colors, I’m particularly fond of the soft, pastel tones Samsung chose for the Galaxy Z Flip 6—like the blue review unit I received. The phone’s build quality has also improved, with a matte finish that resists fingerprints and smudges, keeping the device looking clean.
The FlexWindow display and its surrounding design, including the fin cutout near the cameras, seem identical to last year’s model. While this consistency helps maintain the phone’s design identity, I was hoping Samsung would take inspiration from Motorola and opt for a larger cover display. On the bright side, Samsung has boosted the Flip 6’s durability by introducing a new dual rail hinge, which provides a more responsive closing action. More importantly, the crease in the center of the display is less prominent than before, arguably less noticeable than the Razr Plus 2024’s crease.
One downside is that the phone can be difficult to open due to the flat edges and tight seam between the two halves. A small lip or groove along the edges would make opening the device much easier, especially for one-handed use.
On a more positive note, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers exciting customization options with the new FlipSuit cases, which pair interactive lock screens with the FlexWindow. Some cases even feature built-in LEDs powered by the phone’s wireless charging, adding a cool, attention-grabbing element to the device. These extras make the phone stand out.
Display
If you look at the specs alone, there’s not much new about the displays on the Galaxy Z Flip 6—both the inner and outer screens are mostly the same. The inner display is still a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, while the outer screen, called the FlexWindow, is a 3.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a 60Hz refresh rate. While these specs are fine, I wish Samsung had made the outer display bigger, especially after seeing Motorola’s larger screen on the Razr Plus 2024.
My main concern, though, is how these displays perform. Samsung claims the inner screen can reach 2,600 nits of brightness, but our testing showed a peak of 1,942 nits. Even though it’s lower than Samsung’s claim, it’s still better than the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s 1,504 nits, making the Z Flip 6 easier to use in bright sunlight. However, it doesn’t quite match the Motorola Razr Plus 2024’s brightness of 2,158 nits. When I compared the two phones side by side, it was clear that the Razr’s display was brighter, both inside and out, especially under the sun.
That said, I prefer the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s Super AMOLED display for its better contrast and punchier colors, which makes watching videos and playing games more enjoyable. The 3.4-inch FlexWindow also offers more customization now. You can swipe through different widgets and even combine several into one home screen layout, making it easier to check important info without having to open the phone. I also like the new interactive lock screens, such as one with a donut that moves around when you tilt or rotate the phone.
While these new FlexWindow features are cool, running full apps on it still requires downloading the Good Lock app. Although setting it up takes a few steps, I’m surprised Samsung hasn’t built this feature into FlexWindow, as it adds more functionality to it. For instance, it’s great for quickly scrolling through social media videos when you’re on the go, like on a train.
Performance
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip as Samsung’s Galaxy S24 flagship devices, giving it plenty of power. Right away, I noticed how smooth and fast everything felt when navigating through the software, with quick and responsive actions. This performance carries over to running apps and switching between them during daily use.
Benchmark tests confirmed my first impression: the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a top performer in the flip phone category. In GeekBench tests, it scored 1756 for single-core and 6366 for multi-core, slightly better than the Z Flip 5. The graphics performance is just as impressive, with the phone averaging 113.45 frames per second in the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited test. This improvement is noticeable when playing games like Modern Combat and Age of Origins, where the action stays smooth even during intense scenes, such as battles in crowded areas in Age of Origins.
On top of that, I was pleased to see that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 can handle running three apps at once without slowing down. Using multi-window mode to display two apps side by side and adding a third app in a pop-up window, the phone remained fast and responsive.
Camera
I’m excited about the cameras on the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The phone now comes with an upgraded 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide lens. The main camera is a big improvement over the Z Flip 5’s 12MP shooter, and it gets even better thanks to pixel binning, which allows for a 2x zoom that mimics optical quality. This clever setup offers a similar range to triple-camera systems but in a more compact dual-camera design.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 also introduces a camcorder mode, similar to the Razr Plus 2024, giving you that nostalgic feel when you fold the phone halfway and have easy access to zoom controls. Another cool feature is AI zoom, which automatically frames your shots, whether you’re taking a selfie or capturing a group photo.
Like Samsung’s Galaxy S flagship phones, the Z Flip 6 comes with a feature-packed camera app. It offers popular modes like hyper-lapse, dual recording, and portrait video, as well as a pro video mode with full manual controls—a rare find in phone cameras. You can even use the FlexWindow as a preview screen, which is perfect for vlogging and recording yourself. As someone who enjoys shooting videos, I find these tools incredibly helpful.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is built for creators with its wide range of features, but the true test will be its actual camera performance. Starting with the main camera, the Z Flip 6 delivers solid results across different scenes, which isn’t surprising given Samsung’s reputation for good camera performance. In side-by-side comparisons, like a scenic pond shot, the Z Flip 6 offers better-exposed images than the Razr Plus 2024, with more balanced lighting.
I’m glad Samsung kept the ultrawide camera in the Z Flip’s setup. It’s great for capturing more of a scene, especially for group shots. The wider field of view stands out in the photos from both the main and ultrawide cameras. As for the 12MP front-facing camera, it does a solid job. I think it performs better than the Razr Plus’ selfie camera, especially in terms of dynamic range and skin tone accuracy. However, Samsung tends to over-saturate portrait photos, making me look more tanned compared to the more balanced shot from the Razr Plus. While the Z Flip 6 captures good facial detail, the Razr Plus shot is sharper.
I’m impressed with the Z Flip 6’s zoom capabilities, even though it’s using digital zoom. While the Razr Plus 2024 has a 2x optical zoom, the Z Flip 6 still delivers impressive detail. It might not capture the fine textures as well as the Razr Plus, but the result is still quite good. Surprisingly, there’s no dedicated macro mode on the Z Flip 6, but it still manages to reveal incredible detail in close-up shots, especially with flowers, where you can see the sharp edges of petals and even the pollen. The Razr Plus does well here too, but Samsung’s performance is superior.
Samsung continues to excel in low-light photography, and the Z Flip 6 is no exception. It brightens up my backyard so much that it looks well-lit, even though there is no ambient light. In contrast, the Razr Plus produces a darker, underexposed shot in the same conditions.
Video recording on the Z Flip 6 maxes out at 4K 60fps and is enhanced by a robust set of recording tools like dual recording and portrait video. These options give content creators more flexibility, offering professional-level tools to create unique videos. The Z Flip 6 is one of the few foldables that offer full manual controls for video, which is a huge plus.
I’m also impressed with the stabilization while recording the video. In a clip I shot, the phone noticeably reduced jitter as I walked, and the video remained sharp. For instance, I could read parking signs in the background, while the same signs appeared blurry on the Razr Plus.
OS, UI, and AI
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 runs Samsung’s One UI 6.1.1 on top of Android 14, and its design will be familiar to anyone who has used a recent Galaxy phone. However, it comes with the new Galaxy AI features first seen in the S24 series, like Instant Slow-Mo, Generative Edit, Note Assist, and Transcript Assist. These features work just as they do on the S24, making daily tasks more efficient. The phone also includes Circle to Search and Google Gemini, although Circle to Search doesn’t work on the smaller FlexWindow display, while Google Gemini runs smoothly on it.
One frustration is that the Z Flip 6 still doesn’t allow users to run full apps on the FlexWindow natively, requiring a workaround through Samsung’s Good Lock app. Once set up, the outer screen gains more functionality, similar to the Razr Plus 2024, which offers this feature out of the box.
Samsung has also introduced some new AI features, like Photo Assist, which uses AI to turn selfies into drawings, sketches, or 3D models. While this feature can produce amusing results, it’s not always accurate, sometimes generating strange images. Another feature, Photo Ambient, transforms lock screen wallpapers based on real-time weather and lighting, working especially well with landscape photos. Auto Zoom is another helpful tool, automatically adjusting the camera’s zoom when it detects people to ensure everyone fits in the frame.
There’s also Interpreter Mode, which offers real-time translation between two people and displays the results on both screens when the phone is folded halfway, making it more practical. Suggested Replies, a feature exclusive to the Z Flip 6, generates AI-powered message replies on the FlexWindow display, though I haven’t been able to test it properly yet.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 handles multitasking well, allowing up to three apps to run at once, but more apps need to be optimized for Flex Mode. For instance, Google Photos doesn’t adjust to Flex Mode as expected. Aside from the AI features, the phone is set to receive seven years of software and security updates, just like the Galaxy S24, which adds long-term value.
Battery
Samsung managed to fit a larger 4,000 mAh battery into the Galaxy Z Flip 6, up from 3,700 mAh in the Z Flip 5, while keeping the phone just as slim. Thanks to the power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, the Z Flip 6 easily lasts a full workday on a single charge.
However, in the Tom’s Guide battery test, the improvement is small. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 lasted an average of 11 hours and 1 minute, which is a bit disappointing since I expected a much better result compared to the Z Flip 5’s 9 hours and 52 minutes. Considering the bigger improvements I saw with the S23 and S24, I was hoping for more, especially since the Razr Plus 2024, with the same battery size, lasted around 14 hours in the same test.
One frustrating aspect is that Samsung hasn’t upgraded the charging speeds for the Galaxy Z Flip 6. It still charges at 25W with a wired connection and 15W wirelessly. After 30 minutes, the Flip reaches 55% charge, which is decent, but it could be faster if Samsung had improved the charging speed.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Top-notch build with matte finish | Bad cover screen |
| IP48 dust and water resistance | Charging speed is slow |
| Fast, snappy performance | Not much varying with Flip 5 |
| 50MP camera is solid | |
| 7 years of OS updates |
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a big upgrade from the Z Flip 5, which was already one of the best folding phones. The brighter inner screen works great in sunlight, the upgraded parts make it faster, and the stronger design protects it from daily wear and tear. The crease in the screen is less noticeable now, so it looks more like a regular phone. We wish it had faster charging and a better cover screen (the Motorola Razr+ does both better and costs less), but the Z Flip 6 still stands out as the best small foldable phone with its premium look, fun Galaxy AI features, and excellent cameras.
