Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: Folding Phone with AI Magic

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review: TechLekh Verdict

The Samsung Z Fold 6 is an iterative update over the Samsung Z Fold 5. It is an evolution, not a revolution. It brings updates in most departments, especially durability and AI.

Though it provides one of the best folding phone experiences with unmatched durability, it does not feel exciting.

Overall, the Z Fold 6 is a safe update from Samsung with upgraded durability and AI goodness.

The Z Fold 6 is the successor of the Z Fold 5, the most expensive flagship offering from Samsung. Even though it looks the same as the Z Fold 5, Samsung has introduced AI features to enhance its functionality.

The price of the Samsung Z Fold 6 is Rs. 2,34,999 for the 256GB variant and Rs. 2,49,999 for the 512GB variant. It is the most expensive flagship from Samsung but is it better than the Fold 5? Also, how does it stack against Samsung’s own Samsung S24 Ultra? Let’s find out!

I’m Anmol Shrestha, and this is my Samsung Z Fold 6 review.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review

Same Design

• 153.50 x 132.60 x 5.60 mm
• 53.50 x 68.10 x 12.10 mm
• 253 g
• Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• IP48 dust/water resistant

The design of the Z Fold 6 largely remains the same as the Z Fold 5 but introduces subtle yet meaningful improvements.

One of the most noticeable changes is the phone’s boxier shape, featuring flat side frames and a slimmer profile. When unfolded, the Z Fold 6 measures 5.6mm in thickness and 12.1mm when folded, compared to the Z Fold 5’s 6.1mm and 13.4mm respectively. Additionally, the Fold 6 is lighter, weighing in at 239g, a reduction from the Fold 5’s 253g.

Fold 6 improves the same design with lighter and thinner profile.

The Z Fold 6 has a sharper look thanks to the complete matte finish. Previously, the Fold 5 used a combo of matte and gloss finish. In addition, it also has Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the rear panel.

While Samsung’s foldable devices have long boasted an IPX8 water resistance rating, the Fold 6 steps up its protection game with an IP4X rating for dust resistance, ensuring that no particles larger than 1mm can penetrate the device. Though not fully dust-proof, it provides a layer of protection that its predecessors lacked.

Ports and buttons remain unchanged from the Fold 5 but the Fold 6 adopts the updated speaker cutout seen on the S24 Ultra.

Samsung claims that the crease on the display has been improved, but in practice, the difference is minimal and doesn’t leave a strong positive impression. However, the hinge design is notably solid, maintaining stability at various angles. Moreover, the gap between the two halves is almost non-existent, providing a more seamless folding experience.

Improved Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm)
• 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)
• Adreno 750
• 512GB 12GB RAM

The Samsung Z Fold 6 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a flagship chipset from Qualcomm. With 12GB RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage, the Z Fold 6 is ready to handle anything.

In terms of everyday performance, the Z Fold 6 is impressive. It smoothly navigates the user interface, handles app launches, and switches between apps with speed and efficiency. However, when it comes to benchmark performance, the Fold 6 doesn’t top the charts.

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Despite sharing the same chipset as the Samsung S24 Ultra, the Z Fold 6 consistently falls short in benchmark tests. This performance gap might be due to Samsung intentionally throttling the Fold 6’s power output to manage heat more effectively.

As a foldable device, the Z Fold 6 contains a vast number of intricate components, which limit the space available for adequate cooling. This could explain the slightly underclocked performance during heavy tasks. It’s worth noting, however, that the Fold 6 features a larger vapor chamber compared to the Fold 5, which should help mitigate overheating.

Gaming

The gaming performance of Z Fold 6 is good but not impressive.

To test its gaming prowess, we ran Genshin Impact. With the graphics set to the Highest and a frame limit of 60fps, Z Fold 6 delivered an average FPS of 51.06. In the same test, S24 Ultra averages an impressive 58fps.

Z Fold 6 has good performance but not on par with the top tier flagships.

Interms of thermals, Z Fold 6 reached a peak temperature of 41 degrees Celsius after an hour of gaming. So, we can conclude that Z Fold 6 has been tuned to stay cool at the expense of peak performance.

Satisfactory Flagship Cameras

• Rear Camera: 50MP, f/1.8, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
  • 10MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
  • 12MP, f/2.2, 12mm (ultrawide)

• Front Camera: 4MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), under display
  • Cover Display Camera: 10MP, f/2.2, 24mm (wide)

The Samsung Z Fold 6 retains the same camera setup as its predecessor, the Fold 5, featuring a 50MP main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide sensor, and a 10MP telephoto lens. The only notable upgrade is the new ultrawide sensor, while the rest of the hardware remains unchanged.

Likewise, both the under-display and cover-display cameras are carried over from the previous model, with a 4MP sensor under the display and a 10MP sensor on the cover.

Good Main Camera

The main camera of the Z Fold 6 delivers flagship-grade image quality with impressive details. The color saturation is similar to that of the S24 Ultra and it has flagship-level white balance, exposure balance, and wide dynamic range. However, it is not as good as the S24 Ultra.

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The Fold 6 produces good skin tones and properly exposes the subject’s face even in challenging conditions. However, it doesn’t produce sharp facial detail.

Ultrawide Camera

The ultrawide camera does a good job in most scenarios. The noise is almost non-existent, the dynamic range is good and color reproduction is pleasing as well. But, I did notice that the sharpening is on the higher side.

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Although the ultrawide camera offers a wide dynamic range, images with subjects closer than roughly 40cm will appear soft as it lacks autofocus.

Telephoto Camera

The 3x telephoto lens of the Z Fold 6 captures good images with vibrant colors. While the level of detail may not match that of the main camera, the images appear clean and pleasing. However, the images appeared hazy and soft sometimes.

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Also, the subjects appear shaky with a bit more gain in flatter out-of-focus areas. This is not a big issue as it has great colors and excellent dynamic range.

Portraits

The Z Fold 6 captures portraits with both the main and the telephoto camera. But you do not get the portrait feel with the main camera. The 3x telephoto lens gives you a proper portrait look but the results are not consistent.

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In ideal conditions, the images are sharp with good background blur and the face also has a decent amount of fine details. On the other hand, the images look hazy and shaky with less than ideal-fine details on the face.

Front Camera

Moving on to selfies, there are a lot of ways to take selfies on the Z Fold 6. The cover camera is the most straightforward option. Its photos are decent but slighlty on the sharper side.

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The in-display camera is poor for selfies. It is more of a non-negotiable option for video calls on the large screen. The best selfies you can get on the Fold 6 are via the rear camera.  With the cover screen acting as a viewfinder you can easily take some of the best selfies with the main camera. Moreover, you can also fit more subjects with the ultrawide selfies.

Videos

• 4k@60fps
• 8K@30fps

The Z Fold 6 supports video recording up to 4K at 60fps from all camera sensors, excluding the in-display camera. Additionally, it can shoot 8K videos using the main camera.

In terms of video quality, the Fold 6 delivers good videos from all the rear cameras. The color rendition is nice. It looks vibrant without looking oversaturated. The dynamic range is nice and the 4k videos are sharp but not as sharp as the S24 Ultra’s. This is the only drawback you’d find across all of the rear cameras of Fold 6.

Even in low-light conditions, videos taken with the main camera are decent, with good stabilization.

The stabilization is flawless though- EIS is available across all the cameras and it works great. The footage comes out stabilized when walking and panning.

I even liked low-light videos from the main camera and the telephoto camera. The videos from the telephoto camera might look a bit soft but it has nice colors and the exposure balance is nice.

Improved Displays

• Main Display: 7.6 inches LTPO AMOLED 2X
  • 1856 x 2160 pixels
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • 2600 nits (peak)
• Cover Display: 6.3 inches Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X
  • 968 x 2376 pixels
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • 1600 nits (peak)
  • Gorilla Glass Victus 2

The Z Fold 6 hasn’t introduced major changes to the displays. The internal screen remains nearly identical in size, while the cover display is now slightly wider.

The internal display still measures 7.6 inches, but there’s a minor tweak in both resolution and aspect ratio—1856x2160px with a 10.5:9 ratio, compared to the previous model’s 1812x2176px and 10.8:9 ratio. While this difference is barely noticeable in everyday use, the reduction in bezels is more apparent and contributes to a sleeker look.

Samsung touts the Z Fold 6’s peak brightness of 2600 nits, making it one of the brightest foldable displays on the market. It delivers more than enough brightness for any situation. The 120Hz refresh rate offers buttery-smooth scrolling and adapts down to 24Hz when necessary, ensuring optimal battery efficiency—no complaints in this area.

The crease is as noticeable as the last generation.

The cover display on the Z Fold 6 has been slightly increased to 6.3 inches, up from the 6.2 inches on the Z Fold 5. Additionally, the Fold 6’s cover display has a 22.1:9 aspect ratio, making it noticeably wider than the Fold 5’s 23:9 ratio. It also benefits from the added durability of Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

This wider cover display feels more practical and less cramped compared to the narrower Fold 5, offering a more comfortable user experience. Like the internal display, the cover display supports a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+, ensuring smooth performance and vibrant visuals.

Battery and Speaker

• 4400mAh
• 25W wired charging

The Z Fold 6 sees no upgrades in the battery department, maintaining the same 4400mAh capacity and 25W fast charging as its predecessor. As a result, its endurance remains similar to the Fold 5, delivering a decent 5 hours of screen-on-time.

Z Fold 6 doesn’t come with a charging adapter in the box and it doesn’t offer 45W charging like the S24 Ultra.

The phone charged from 0 percent to 100 percent in 1 hour and 26 minutes, one of the slowest in the segment.

The dual speaker of Fold 6 is louder and better than the Fold 5. But it is not as good as the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Software

• Android 14
• One UI 6.1

Samsung has introduced AI features to the Fold series for the first time, building on the technology seen in the S24 Ultra. While many AI functionalities are similar, some have been specifically tailored for the Z Fold 6 to enhance its unique foldable experience.

Z Fold 6 comes with Android 14 out of the box along with One UI 6.1. Moreover, Samsung promises 7 years of major OS upgrades and 7 years of security updates.

The Z Fold 6 introduces several new AI features that enhance its functionality. The Call Assist feature, for instance, offers live translation during calls, which is incredibly useful for communicating with people who speak different languages. Additionally, the Note Assist feature is tailored specifically for the Fold 6, providing automatic formatting and organization of notes, as well as transcribing voice recordings.

The browsing assist from the S24 series is also available on the Fold 6. Moreover, the Generative Fill feature makes a return, along with a new addition called Drawing Assist. This tool helps you create detailed art from your sketches, even if you’re not an experienced artist—the AI handles the heavy lifting.

Another exciting addition is the Portrait Studio feature in the Gallery. This tool takes your photo and generates an AI-based portrait in one of four styles: Comic, 3D Cartoon, Watercolor, or Sketch. Additionally, if you draw on an existing image, it can accurately render the object with impressive accuracy. For example, I added a drawing of a cat to my shoulder in a selfie, and the result is so realistic that it’s hard to believe it’s not real!

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So, this is my Samsung Z Fold 6 review. What do you think about the phone? If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments!