If you had any remaining hopes, despite leak upon leak, that Samsung’s foldables would get a major update this year, then I hate to be the bearer of bad news. They’re a little more durable, a little lighter, and come with a handful of tiny upgrades. Even so, both models got a boost of a certain kind: higher prices, with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 now starting at $1,899 and the Z Flip 6 at $1,099.
Both phones use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset specially tuned for Samsung, and like the S24 series, they both include seven years of OS and security update support. They’re both a little bit sturdier, claiming better resistance to drops thanks to improvements to the hinge design and materials. The inner flexible glass is also more durable, and both phones are now rated IP48. That definitely looks better on paper than the previous IPX8 rating — the X indicating a lack of dust resistance — but the “4” only means the devices are officially protected from foreign objects of 1mm and greater, not against dust.
The Z Fold 6’s outer screen gains a couple of millimeters in extra width, addressing complaints (including my own) that the phone’s narrow dimensions when it’s closed feel awkward. That takes it from a 6.2-inch display on the Fold 5 to 6.3 inches, with a 2376 x 968 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate — though the inner display still measures 7.6 inches when it’s unfolded. The phone is lighter overall, now 239 grams instead of the 253 grams in the Z Fold 5. All (tiny) moves in the right direction.
The Fold 6’s camera hardware is much the same as last year, too, with a 50-megapixel main rear camera and a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto. However, there’s an updated 12-megapixel ultrawide this year, which claims better low-light performance.
The Z Flip 6’s cover screen measures 3.4 inches, same as the Z Flip 5, and it’s now significantly smaller than the 4.0-inch screen on this year’s Motorola Razr Plus. Samsung hasn’t focused a lot of energy on outer screen software improvements, either — there are new smart reply suggestions when responding to messages from the cover screen, more options for widgets on the cover panel, and some new interactive wallpapers that respond to the movements of your phone.
Still, there are a few updates that could make a meaningful difference — particularly on the Flip 6. It will come with a bigger 4,000mAh battery and a vapor cooling chamber, a first for the Flip series. The phone gets the same 50-megapixel main camera sensor as the Fold and base-model S24 devices and comes with the new ultrawide camera, too. There’s 12GB of RAM instead of 8GB, which, if you’re going to raise prices, kind of seems like the least you can do.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be a phone launch in 2024 without AI. The full suite of AI features introduced with the S24 series are present on the Z Fold 6 and Flip 6, but Samsung would very much like you to know that the Z Fold’s big inner screen is great for using all of its AI features. There’s also a new “sketch to image” feature that uses AI to turn S Pen doodles into images, and interpreter mode gets an update to take advantage of the foldable form factor to display translations on the cover and inner screens.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are available today for preorder. The Z Fold 6 starts at 256GB of storage and costs $1,899; the Z Flip 6 also starts at 256GB and costs $1,099. Samsung is offering a new Z Assurance program included for Fold 6 and Flip 6 buyers, providing one free replacement of the factory-installed screen protector and one discounted screen replacement. Both devices will be available for general sale on July 24th.