Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Review – The Best Flip Yet

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6

Kicking off our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 review with the unboxing, the packaging is your standard Samsung affair, with it being a black box on the thinner side. For this year, the box cover has a picture of the device, folded, with the cover screen facing outwards while the model name is listed on the bottom. Inside the box, we found the following items:

• Documentations
• SIM ejector pin
• USB-C cable
• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 itself

Specifications

CPU:	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, 4nm
GPU:	Adreno 750
RAM:	12GB
Display:	Main Screen 6.7″ FHD+ (2640 x 1080), Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display, 16M colors, HDR10+, Adaptive 120Hz Cover Display 3.4″ (748 x 720) IPS display, 60Hz, 306ppi, 16M colors, Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Storage:	256GB / 512GB UFS 4.0 (not expandable)
Camera:	Main Camera(s) 50MP f/1.8 wide angle camera with Dual Pixel AF, OIS, 83° 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera, 123° Front Camera 10MP f/2.2 wide-angle camera, 85°
OS:	Android 14, One UI 6
Audio:	Stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos
Connectivity:	Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz, HE160, MIMO, 1024-QAM Bluetooth 5.3 5G Band: SA/NSA/Sub6 LTE-A (7CA) Cat20 2000/200 Mbps
SIM:	Hybrid Sim (2 x NanoSIM and 1 x eSIM)
Battery:	Li-Po 4000 mAh (non-removable) dual battery 25W Fast Charging, 15W Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Dimensions:	Unfolded 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9 mm Folded 85.1 x 71.9 x 14.9 mm
Weight:	187g
Ingress protection:	IP48
Colors:	Blue, Mint, Silver Shadow, Yellow, Crafted Black, White

Performance

Starting off our benchmark suite with Antutu v10, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 performed a little below our expectations. It seems to be more on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 rather than current Gen 3, which I found odd at first. After holding it however, I knew instantly why; it’s the heat. It’s nothing to do with the chip being intentionally downclocked but I’m certain thermal throttling occurred.

In Geekbench 6, scores look more promising as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 performed at the level we expected it to be. In this case, the S24 Ultra presents itself as its true potential as it could perform up to that level if the thermals were further refined, but even then, the difference wouldn’t be worlds apart.

Then in 3DMark, it had a similar pattern as Antutu v10 with the scores on Wild Life, Wild Life Extreme, and Solar Bay being in between a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Gen 3. It’s still a great score but it could certainly be a lot better as the stability rating was listed as 46.9%, proving my earlier observation that thermal throttling occurs. This is interesting as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 was touted to be the first of its kind to have vapor chamber cooling, but perhaps there isn’t enough surface area for the heat to really dissipate efficiently.

Lastly on PCMark’s Work 3.0 benchmark, things to look more promising as it took the 3rd spot of the top Android smartphones we’ve benchmarked thus far. It’s only beaten by its non-folding siblings, the S24 and S24 Ultra, meaning that it has more than enough firepower to be a competent daily driver. While I’m surprised it ended up being lower than the Exynos 2400, it still did beat other Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 devices.

For those of you wondering about battery life, this is one area that I have excellent news on. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 lasted 11 hours and 1 minute (661 minutes) in PCMark’s Work 3.0 endurance test. In comparison to its predecessor, the Z Flip5, it lasted 147 minutes (2 hours and 27 minutes) longer, which is a 28.6% improvement. That is a commendable upgrade, and no doubt the 300mAh increase in capacity played a big role. I no longer have worries about using the Flip on a full day out even if I’m using it rather actively.

As for charging speed, this is what I managed to get with a 100W GaN charger from 2% battery life:

• 15 minutes = 33%
• 30 minutes = 64%
• 45 minutes = 79%
• 60 minutes = 95%
• 67 minutes = 100%

Do note that it only supports up to 25W charging speed at most.

Camera

The dual camera system in the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is great. It can capture excellent details with rich colors, though the saturation might be overkill at times. It also performs well in low light, though you may have to snap a couple of times to make sure you don’t get blurry shots. The ultrawide camera is almost on par, albeit details are typically on the softer side. Given the nature of this device, I would only use the front camera for video calls and the quality isn’t great, especially when you can use the 50MP camera for selfies.

For those of you who are wondering, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 doesn’t have a telephoto camera. Instead, it uses Galaxy AI and the main camera for zooming, which worked a lot better than I expected, especially since the main camera is shared with the flagship Galaxy S24, a 50MP f/1.8 wide angle shooter. It’s also said to give 2x optical quality zoom via sensor cropping. The other camera is a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide shooter.

If it isn’t obvious enough at this point, the foldable nature of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 unlocks new ways to take photos with ease. You can fold it to an angle of your preference to frame the shot exactly how you’d like, making certain types of shots like flat lays a lot less stressful to pull off. It’s also easier to vlog with as you can simply record yourself while it’s completely folded and rely on the cover screen, which would be easier to hold.

The Good

There are a number of good reasons to consider getting the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6. For starters, it’s quite a stylish yet practical device. Sure, it hasn’t changed much in appearance compared to its predecessor but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s eye-catching and compact. There’s practically no gap when folded, takes up so little space compared to other smartphones, and the new matte finish makes it less susceptible to smudges.

Samsung has successfully made it more durable without adding any extra heft or weight, and they’ve managed to do it without a change in feel. The most important one here is the move from IPX8 to IP48, marking the first time it has any form of dust resistance, which has been a major challenge in the world of foldables thus far.

The cover screen also comes in handy as it’s not just a matter of checking the time or your notifications. There’s an increase of widgets to boost its functionality, with my most used one being to check the Samsung Health app for steps, calculator, weather, and even start recording audio directly on it. It’s also convenient to take high-quality selfies using it. If you want to do even more, you can make use of the Good Lock app to run apps directly on the cover screen itself, making its potential practically limitless.

The main display itself is a pleasure to use as it’s rather tall 6.7-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with adaptive 120Hz display. It’s brighter than before and while the crease is still there, it’s definitely less pronounced this time around. For the most part, you won’t even notice it being there when the display is active unless you’re using it in some form of Flex mode (semi-folded) for apps.

Lastly, Galaxy AI has brought in a slew of features designed to make your life easier at no additional cost (for now). Some of my favorites include real-time translations (both in written and auditory form), generative editing for pictures, and Circle to Search. You can even make it take phone calls for you, where a virtual voice will be responding to the caller, and it can note down what the person says in audio and text form so you can decide to proceed further. A lot of these features may require a bit of time to setup properly, like learning what to do exactly or downloading language packs, but it’s all worth it at the end. Just take your time with it.

The Bad

Of course, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 does have its share of drawbacks. For starters, thermal throttling is certainly an issue. It’s clear that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip runs quite hot, and it’s great that Samsung has included a vapor chamber cooling system, but it’s still struggling to manage the heat, as seen in our benchmarks. It’s worth noting that for the most part, it runs rather cool and heat is only an issue when you’re playing mobile games, using the camera extensively, or running any apps that really push the systems but if you’re just using it for social media and typical communications, this won’t be an issue for you.

Lastly, and this shouldn’t be a surprise as it’s the same case with last year’s model, is that there’s no Samsung DeX support. If you’re thinking about getting a really compact device that can be connected to a display for a PC-like experience, you will have to look elsewhere unfortunately. With that being said, it’s far from a dealbreaker as DeX only caters to a niche audience. When you consider the overall package, this is a drawback that can be easily swallowed by consumers, with most users likely not ever having it cross their minds.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is a solid foldable smartphone that brought quite a number of improvements over its predecessor. The battery life improvement alone makes it a worthwhile consideration but on an overall level, I feel like it makes more sense to get this over the S24 or S24+, especially since its retail price starts at RM4,999, unless you really want a standalone telephoto camera, play a lot of mobile games, or prefer a standard smartphone experience.

At the end of our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 review, I award this smartphone with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Samsung Malaysia for sending us this foldable smartphone for the purpose of this review.