The foldable era for Samsung has reached a crucial point, now that the competition is slowly making its strides and showing people how the form factor can become popular. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 feels a big step for the company as it looks to keep its lead in the segment and give buyers all the reasons to continue their growth in this trajectory with the brand that started it all.
Samsung has made the right improvements this time around, offered its latest AI features to push the envelope but the rising price tag of Rs 1,64,999 might need more solid reasons for an upgrade. Having said that, Samsung knows who is the buyer for the Fold and it needs to show enough to tempt them into writing the cheque once again.
A Fold That Has The Right Size
Samsung has trimmed the size of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 which was around 253 grams on the Fold 5 and now it weighs 239 grams. You might see the difference isn’t much but holding both the foldables tell you a different story and that’s where the finesse comes into play.
The cover display is now slightly taller at 6.3-inches and the resulting changes gives you a comfortable grip in the hand which I didn’t see with its predecessor.
The enhanced armour aluminium on the frame, the IP48 rating (IPX8 on the Fold 5) and the claimed straightening of the hinge gives us a lot more assurance about the device and its longevity, which could be easily questioned for the previous Fold models.
Make no mistake, the folded state thickness is still at an uncomfortable 12.1mm but the design tweaks seem to work in its favour for once.
Displays That Work Inside And Outside Now
The main display is still the same 7.6-inch LTPO 2X AMOLED display with 2600 nits peak brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. Samsung displays generally are its strong point and we can have no complaints about the main unit here as well. The hinge improvements have somehow allowed the crease on the screen to be less visible but we would prefer to see a no-crease panel soon from the brand.
The cover display has seen a slight bump from 6.2-inches on the Fold 5 to 6.3-inch LTPO AMOLED 2X panel that feels a lot more functional and allows you to do more without opening the main screen.
Having the Corning Glass Victus 2 protection again gives you the peace of mind that the screen won’t easily get scratches or dents. The taller screen profile on the cover is an understated change that makes it easy to use the Fold 6 with one hand.
Flagship Power In Tow
Samsung is offering the Galaxy Z Fold 6 with up to 12GB RAM and 1TB storage this year in the market. You have it powered by the reliable Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset which gives it the upper hand when it comes to the overall performance. We barely saw the device heat up abnormally and that’s where the cooling vapors do their job effectively.
The foldable ecosystem needs functional software and the One UI has been slowly adapting to these changes giving you more features. Samsung’s promise of 7 years of OS updates is another strong point that competition has found it hard to match so far.
Galaxy AI And Other Features
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 supports the S Pen once again, and unlike the Galaxy Ultra series, the company wants people to spend extra on the accessory. We have found it hard to understand the reasoning for a flagship product to miss out on the S Pen out of the box, especially when you pay big money to buy one. The debut of Galaxy AI allows Samsung to show off what it plans for the foldables in the near future.
You have the AI-powered translate, live calls, and image editing tools. You need to sign up with Samsung to use these AI features and most of them bring a fun factor to the foldable, more so compared to its value on the Flip.
The fingerprint sensor is still on the power button even though you have an AMOLED panel. The stereo speakers offer rich sound but they are not loud enough from certain angles.
Upgrades That Didn’t Happen
Samsung feels happy to continue with the same camera setup on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 as you get the 50MP + 10MP telephoto and the 12MP ultrawide sensors once again. The photos that you get are not bad at all but for a new foldable upgrade, hardware and sensor improvements are warranted when you jack up the prices.
Whilst we don’t have much to complain about them, we don’t have anything exciting to share either.
Similarly, the battery on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the same 4400mAh unit as you had on the Fold 5. The device still supports 25W wired charging speed along with 15W wireless charging.
The overall battery life is adequate in most cases but the speeds at which you charge the device are archaic now, and it is high time we see a speed bump to let you use the device without a long break.
Samsung is making the right noises with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and has made it more usable and stronger than the previous versions. But the price seems to be going up with every generation, which means the premium device will continue to have its niche audience which needs a rethink for the future of the foldable segment.
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