Introduction
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is finally here! After getting some early hands-on time with it, I’m excited to compare it to last year’s Z Fold 5. We’ll see what’s new and help you decide if it’s worth the upgrade. Also, stay tuned for a full rundown of all the new AI features. Let’s dive in!
Design and Build
The first thing you’ll notice about the Fold 6 is its design. It’s shorter but wider, with more squared-off corners, making it more compact overall. It’s also thinner and about 14 grams lighter than the Fold 5, bringing its weight to around 239 grams. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra weighs about 232 grams, so the Fold 6 is just a little heavier.
The Fold 6 also boasts an IP48 water and
dust resistance rating. This is an upgrade from the Fold 5’s IPX8 rating, which didn’t offer any dust resistance. The "4" in IP48 means it protects against objects larger than one millimeter. So, while it’s not completely dustproof, it’s more dust-resistant than the Fold 5.
In terms of color options, the Fold 5 came in Icy Blue, Phantom Black, and Cream, with two exclusive colors available on Samsung’s website. The Fold 6, on the other hand, comes in Silver Shadow, Pink, and Navy, with Crafted Black and White as exclusive online colors. If you’re interested in picking one up, check out my exclusive affiliate link in the description below. For a limited time, you can get double the storage and $100 in Samsung credit!
The build materials have also seen a slight upgrade. While we don’t have titanium on the Fold 6, we do have enhanced Armor Aluminum for the frame and hinge, which is about 10% stronger than the standard Armor Aluminum used in the Fold 5. The front and back still feature Gorilla Glass Victus 2, but the Fold 6 now includes a new folding thin glass with a protective layer that improves shock absorption.
Display
In terms of size, I prefer the wider aspect ratio of the Fold 6. When unfolded, the display is still 7.6 inches, but the aspect ratio is now 20.9:18 compared to the Fold 5’s 21.6:18. More importantly, the cover display is now 6.3 inches with a 22.1:9 aspect ratio, making it more usable. While it’s still not as wide as devices like the OnePlus Open or Honor Magic V2, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
The Fold 6’s cover display feels more usable compared to the Fold 5, especially when compared to the Fold 3. Both the cover and main displays feature a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, but the Fold 6’s displays are now brighter, with a peak brightness of up to 2,600 nits, compared to the Fold 5’s 1,750 nits. Samsung didn’t go for a drastic redesign, citing consumer feedback, but I’m glad they made it a bit wider.
Cameras
The cameras on the Fold 6 are relatively unchanged. The front camera is a 10-megapixel selfie punch-out on the cover screen, and there’s a 4-megapixel under-display camera, which still isn’t the best in quality. It’s intended for quick conference calls, but I would have liked to see an improvement.
The rear cameras include a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 50-megapixel primary camera, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The ultra-wide camera on the Fold 6 has been updated with a new image signal processor, thanks to the new chipset, which should improve images and videos compared to the Fold 5. However, this isn’t a significant jump.
Performance
The Fold 6 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, an upgrade from the Fold 5’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This means the Fold 6 has around 41% faster NPU performance, 25% faster GPU performance, and 14% faster CPU performance. It also features a 1.6 times larger vapor chamber for better sustained gaming performance and increased efficiency by about 10%.
car battery works life remains the same, with both devices sporting a 4,400mAh battery. Samsung claims the Fold 6 offers around two more hours of video playback compared to the Fold 5. However, other foldable devices feature larger batteries, so I would have liked to see a bigger battery on the Fold 6.
Charging capabilities remain the same, with 25W wired charging, providing a 50% charge in 30 minutes (charger not included). The Fold 6 also supports 15W fast wireless charging and Wireless Powershare at 4.5W, allowing you to charge other devices on the back of the Fold 5 and Fold 6. While other foldables offer faster charging, it would have been nice to see an improvement in this area.
S Pen Support
One unique feature of the Fold 5 and Fold 6 is support for the S Pen. While it’s still limited to the main display, the Fold 6 comes with a slimmer case compared to the Fold 5. Though we don’t have an embedded S Pen, which I would have preferred, it’s nice to have a more compact case. Depending on the deal, this may come free. If you have an S Pen from the Fold 5, it will still work on the Fold 6, but the case won’t fit.
Software and AI Features
The Fold 6 comes with Android 14 out of the box, featuring One UI 6.1.1. Samsung has promised seven generations of OS updates and seven years of security updates. The Fold 5 came with Android 13 but is upgradable to Android 14 with One UI 6.1. Samsung had promised four generations of OS updates for the Fold 5, with security updates valid until August 31, 2028. The Fold 6 will be supported for around three more years than the Fold 5.
The Z Fold 6 introduces a range of Galaxy AI features, now in their second generation. These were first seen on the S24 series. Here are some highlights:
Call Assist: Real-time translation during voice calls, now with new AI noise suppression, and works with third-party apps like WhatsApp.
Chat Assist: Helps rewrite emails and messages by changing the tone.
Interpreter: Live translation of spoken conversations, available in both voice and text. In Flex mode, it uses both the cover and inside screen for conversation mode.
Note Assist: Formats, summarizes, spell-checks, and
best apps translates notes.
Transcript Assist: Within Notes, it transforms recordings into transcripts and summarizes them.
Browsing Assist:
Summarizes webpages.
Photo Assist: Offers features like removing people or objects and filling in gaps when rotating an image. New features include transforming portraits into different styles and Sketch to Image, which turns doodles into photorealistic results.
Drawing Assist: Transforms simple drawings into art with various styles.
Some of these features are already available on the Fold 5, but the generative image features of the Fold 6 may be exclusive for now. Samsung has stated that the Galaxy AI solutions will be free until the end of 2025. Beyond that, they haven’t announced any plans for charging but will update users in the future.
Pricing and Value
The Fold 6 starts at a higher price compared to the Fold 5, with an increase of around £50 in the UK or $100 in the US. It’s priced at approximately £1,800 in the UK and $1,900 in the US, making it one of the more expensive foldable devices on the market. While the competition might offer better hardware, the Fold 6 has the advantage of Samsung’s extensive experience with foldable software.
Should You Upgrade?
The Fold 5 is still a solid device, featuring many of the AI capabilities introduced in the S24 series. However, Samsung is offering up to $1,200 in trade-in credit for the Fold 5, along with storage upgrades and $100 in Samsung credit through my affiliate link in the description.