Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review – IGN

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Remember when flip phones were a thing? Back in the 2000s, I used to love my little Motorola Razr, and after using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 for a couple of weeks, it feels like I’ve gone back in time a little bit. I’ve grown so used to phones taking up so much space in my purse that having this little brick that unfolds into a phone has been extremely refreshing.

But while the form factor is nostalgic to any millennial worth their salt, these foldable phones have been around for a few years now. There have been some problems that have plagued this kind of phone for a while, but the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 goes a long way to being the most usable foldable phone yet.

The changes over the Galaxy Z Flip 5 are minor, but minor changes do add up over time. And now we have a device that feels both premium and durable, along with an extremely responsive front screen and long battery life. If you’ve been waiting for the right foldable to make the leap, this might be the one, especially if you spend a lot of time on social media.

Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 – Design and Features

Now that the iPhone 15 Pro has gone back to more of a squared-off design, it seems like Samsung got the memo. Rather than the rounded edges of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Z Flip 6 has rigid aluminum edges that instantly remind me of the last couple of iPhones. That’s not a bad thing, though. It results in much less accidental touches, and is a bit more comfortable to hold in my hand.

That being said, when I flip the phone horizontally to play some games, I can’t help but feel like the edges are digging into my hands a little bit – an issue I have with the latest iPhones, too. The Z Flip 6 also looks thicker than the original, even though it isn’t. In fact, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 measures 14.9mm thick when folded up, which is down from the 15.1mm Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. It’s barely a difference, but the squared-off edges on the new phone makes it feel thicker.

The Z Flip 6 is also the same weight as its predecessor, weighing in at 0.41 pounds, despite its more rigid chassis. The phone has been reinforced with ‘Armor Aluminum’ and Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Samsung claims this will make the phone much more durable and withstand up to 10% more scratches. In my two weeks using the device as my main phone, there’s nary a scratch on it, though I wouldn’t expect there to be. Honestly, the ‘Armor Aluminum’ on the back of the device just feels like any other aluminum chassis, and will probably hold up just as well as any modern iPhone. It’s better than having an all-glass back, at least.

That said, there is a bit of glass on the back of the phone, at least when it’s unfolded. When you open the device, the bottom half of the device is occupied by that Armor Aluminum, in a variety of colorways. Samsung sent me the Blue version, and it’s pretty, but muted. Above the aluminum half is glass, as it’s the outer display that you interact with when the phone is closed. It’s a 3.4-inch AMOLED touch display with a resolution of 720 x 748, and it’s absolutely gorgeous, even if all you’ll be doing with it is checking notifications or taking a quick look at the time.

Samsung does have a number of widgets that the display can use, and I typically have Spotify, the Weather, and a Calendar that I swipe between. That said, functionality on the front display is still relatively limited – think more smartwatch and less smartphone. There are apps to open up the display to use any Android app, but on a screen that small and with that aspect ratio, why would you?

Instead, the action is on the main display. When the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is unfolded, you get access to the 6.6-inch 2640 x 1080 AMOLED display. And yeah, it’s ‘just’ a 1080p display, but it’s gorgeous, thanks to the AMOLED technology. You get extremely dark blacks and vibrant colors that make any content look so good. The display is also fast, with a 120Hz refresh rate, making navigating Android feel smooth. Now that 120Hz refresh rates are commonplace in flagship phones, though, I couldn’t really imagine the Z Flip 6 at 60Hz.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Samples

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 – Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a 50MP rear camera, and it might be the biggest update over the Z Flip 5, which had a 12MP shooter, making for a massive 4X improvement over the last generation. The 50MP camera is on a f1.8 aperture, which is just as fast as the Z Flip 5. It’s an incredible camera, able to capture extremely detailed pictures, and a massive improvement over the last generation.

It’s the kind of camera that had me walking around my neighborhood and taking pictures of random junk just to see how the photo would turn out. And, well, the photos turned out awesome. The front-facing camera saw absolutely no improvement, as it’s still a 10MP shooter on a f2.2 aperture. Selfies don’t look bad, but they’re not quite as detailed as on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 – Specs and Performance

Because every tech company on the planet seems obligated to shove AI into all of its products right now, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is packed with some serious hardware. This tiny phone is running the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip that powered the Galaxy S24 Ultra, making it ready to run Gemini or other LLMs (large language models) locally on the phone.

In my benchmarks, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is overwhelmingly faster than its predecessor. The new device scores 56 fps in the GFXBench Aztec Ruins (High Tier) run, which tests OpenGL gaming performance. That’s a 75% improvement over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the same test.

In Geekbench 6, a pure CPU test, the Z Flip 6 scores 6,215 points in the multi-core test, and 2,170 points in the single-core test. Compared to the Z Flip 5, which scored 5,291 and 2,045, respectively, I saw a 17% improvement in multi-core performance. There’s not much of an improvement in single-core performance, but given the heavy AI focus for this SoC (System on a Chip), I wouldn’t expect any different.

The Z Flip 6 is now strapped with 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB in last year’s model. That increased RAM spec is going to help if you’re playing with LLMs a lot, as they’re often extremely RAM-dependent.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is also more energy efficient than its predecessor, which means the Z Flip 6 should have better battery life by default. Samsung took it a step further, though, increasing the battery capacity to 4,000mAh, up from 3,400mAh on its predecessor. I frequently go two and a half days without needing to plug the Z Flip 6 in, unless I’m doing some heavy gaming.

A Fold in Time

Using a foldable phone is a story of compromises. No matter how awesome the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is – and it is awesome – you have to be sure it’s the right phone for you. The Z Flip 6 is a powerful little smartphone that folds into a tiny little block that’ll fit in almost any pocket or purse. However, when it’s unfolded into its 2640 x 1080 display, you get a weird 22:9 aspect ratio.

For most people a 22:9 aspect ratio won’t even be noticeable, but if you’re using your phone to play mobile games, you’ll quickly realize that some things don’t translate super well. For instance, I was playing Marvel Snap and realized that some of the cards in my hand had one of the corners cut off as they interacted with the edge of the display. It didn’t make the game unplayable by any means, but it was annoying.

And by the virtue of having a folding device, there are some thermal issues that I wasn’t expecting. After playing Zenless Zone Zero for about an hour, the mini outer display got extremely hot, while the aluminum-backed bottom half was still cool to the touch. Phones getting hot after heavy workloads is nothing new, of course, but it was especially noticeable here.

Luckily, the odd shape of the phone doesn’t prevent you from using phone controllers like the Backbone. I was constantly breaking out my Razer Kishi to play Zenless Zone Zero after feeling how hot the phone can get.

Samsung did put some work into improving thermals over the Z Flip 5 by adding a new vapor chamber cooler. The Z Flip 6 does have less of a heat problem than its predecessor, but finding a way to spread out the heat a bit in the future might go a long way to making the Z Flip 6 stand up with the likes of the Z Fold 6 or iPhone 15 Pro as a gaming phone.