It can be flipped again: With the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 presented in July, the flip phone enters its sixth round. The new model scores points with better hardware, a camera update and new Galaxy AI functions, among other things. Our test reveals more.
Technical data
| The product | Z Flip6 |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy) |
| CPU |
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| Operating system | Android 14; OneUI 6.1.1 |
| Display |
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| Camera |
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| Memory | 12 GB RAM; 256 GB flash memory |
| Network | SIM card slot (nano-SIM / eSIM); 5G |
| Connectivity | USB-C 3.2 Gen. 1, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Dimensions and weight |
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| Battery capacity | 4,000 mAh; 25W charging (cable); 15W charging (wireless) |
| Colors | Silver Shadow, Yellow, Blue, Mint, Crafted Black, White, Peach |
| Special features | Galaxy AI; IP48 certification |
| Prices (RRP) | € 1,199.00 * |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Review: Noble and… long
- Flat, elongated design
- quite thick when folded, but very handy
- impeccable workmanship
I have to be honest: I was very excited about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 test, because this is the first time I’ve held a foldable phone like this in my hands. I was therefore very excited to see what I could expect. Both technically and haptically.
Visually, the flip phone, which the manufacturer provided us with on loan in the color yellow, makes an excellent impression. When unfolded, it is 165.1 mm high and, despite the 6.7-inch display, is slightly longer than most normal smartphones with this screen diagonal – an Honor 200 Pro (our test), for example, is only 163.3 mm. On the other hand, the Z Flip6 is noticeably narrower (71.9 mm instead of 75.2 mm) and flatter (6.9 mm instead of 8.2 mm) – when unfolded, of course.
This compact width makes it comfortable to hold and surprisingly easy to operate with one hand. Although the volume rocker and the power button, including the fingerprint sensor, are positioned too high up on the right-hand side to be reached with one hand without having to reach around.
What has always fascinated me about the Z Flip devices and similar foldables is the handy design when you fold them up. Then the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is quite thick at 14.9 mm, but with its length of 85.1 mm it fits comfortably in your trouser or even shirt pocket. Something that longer smartphones in particular often have problems with.
The design and finish look absolutely elegant and high-quality. In my opinion, the flattened frame with its anodized finish in particular makes for a pleasant feeling in the hand.
High-quality OLED displays – and what about the Hinge?
- Bright and colorful OLED displays
- External display only with 60 Hz and few apps
- Hinge significantly less noticeable
We know that Samsung can do displays. Accordingly, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 also scores with a high-quality inner display that relies on Dynamic AMOLED 2X technology and has a resolution of 6.7 inches with 2,640 x 1,080 pixels. It has a maximum speed of 120 Hertz and an unusual 22:9 aspect ratio. It is around 2,000 nits bright and scores with rich colors, excellent contrasts and a generally convincing image quality with a smooth display.
The outer display is now almost square and takes up almost the entire outer area. Samsung has also installed an OLED panel here, but it only has a resolution of 748 x 720 pixels and a brightness of around 1,500 nits. Unfortunately, it only offers a frame rate of 60 Hz.
But that’s not too bad, because unfortunately the cover display isn’t as useful as I had hoped. A swipe to the left shows the notifications, a swipe to the right lets you use several widgets. These include a weather app, calendar, alarm clock, calculator or voice recorder. It is also possible to reply to messages or create new calendar entries directly via the external display using a keyboard.
However, other manufacturers, such as Motorola with the Razr series, offer far more options when it comes to customization or the apps available.
The hinge, i.e. the crease in the middle of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, is fortunately much less pronounced than in the predecessor, but you can still feel and see it – especially with an active display and depending on the angle – more or less clearly. However, this is never annoying.
Impressive performance and features
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 also takes a step forward in terms of features. Under the hood is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3, the manufacturer’s latest chip, which is backed up by 12 GB of RAM. The system memory is large enough at 256 GB and scores with an impressive speed.
The Flip also supports dual SIM, albeit only with a dedicated nano SIM and eSIM. Wi-Fi 6E with fast transfer speeds is also on board, as are Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC, for example for mobile payments.
The built-in speakers are also impressive and deliver a strong maximum volume and good, clear sound. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is also protected against the ingress of water and coarse dirt in accordance with IP48. So nothing is left to be desired here.
As far as performance is concerned, the performance is very good across the board and on a par with other smartphones that use the same chip. In a direct comparison with the OnePlus 12 (our test) and Xiaomi 14 Ultra (our test), the Samsung foldable is slightly behind, especially in the graphics tests – but really only minimally.
However, the stress test shows that the performance is then throttled quite heavily and stability also suffers in the long term. This time Samsung relies on a new vapor chamber cooling system that causes this throttling. It’s a shame, because otherwise the performance is really impressive under good conditions.
| Benchmark | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 16,905 pts. |
| GeekBench 6 (Single Core) | 2,249 pts. |
| GeekBench 6 (Multi Core) | 6,747 pts. |
| GeekBench 6 (GPU) | 11,640 pts. |
| Geekbench AI | 2,054 / 2,019 / 2,904 pts. |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme | 4,735 pts; 28.36 FPS |
| 3DMark Solar Bay | 7,878 pts; 29.96 FPS |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light | 1,348 pts; 9.99 FPS |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light stress test | 62 percent |
| 3DMark Solar Bay stress test | 45.8 percent |
However, you will only notice this in intensive endurance tests. Otherwise, the foldable smartphone masters everyday multitasking or modern games wonderfully.
Software and Galaxy AI
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 comes with Android 14 and the latest OneUI interface, currently in version 6.1.1 including a current security patch. The look and feel of the operating system should be familiar to anyone who has used a Samsung smartphone in recent years.
The colorful launcher with its unconventional icons is certainly a matter of taste, but the manufacturer’s seven-year update guarantee is really excellent. In addition, the new Flip comes with the Galaxy AI functions that are also familiar from the Galaxy S24 series, for example.
These include some practical features such as an interpreter, Circle to Search, a transcription function for audio messages or some image options with which objects can be removed or moved and resized within an image, for example.
Some of the functions are a nice gimmick, while others offer significant added value. With the transcription function of the dictation machine, I noticed that it does not always recognize the German language perfectly – especially when it comes to spoken content for test reports with specifications and the like. On the whole, however, everything works well.
Battery life and charging time
- 4,000 mAh battery
- Greatly improved runtime of up to 13 hours
- Charging with 25 watts; 15 watts wireless
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 also has a larger battery, which now has a capacity of 4,000 mAh. Of course, this is still quite small for a 6.7-inch smartphone, but it is still 300 mAh more than the Z Flip4 and Z Flip5.
The runtimes achieved with this are significantly better than initially assumed, but the battery is still the Achilles’ heel of the folding smartphone. In PCMark Work 3.0, we measured a runtime of 13 hours and 8 minutes – that is more than five hours less than the OnePlus 12, but still more than the Honor 200 Pro.
This shows that the combination of an efficient chip and a larger battery is undoubtedly bearing fruit. In practice, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 gets you through the day well. And if you don’t have the display open all the time and call up a lot of notifications via the external display, the battery lasts all the longer.
However, the smartphone is rather slow to charge. It charges with a maximum of 25 watts – however, a power adapter is not included in the scope of delivery. This means that a full charge takes around 80 minutes. Wireless charging is possible with a maximum of 15 watts.
The cameras of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6
- 50 MP main camera with good image quality, but somewhat soft
- 12 MP ultra wide-angle camera tends to produce image noise quickly
- 10 MP selfie camera with average results
The camera setup of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is an area in which the device makes the clearest leap forward. At least on paper. This is because the device now uses a 50 megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization instead of a 12 MP lens. In fact, it is the same main camera that is also used in the Samsung Galaxy S24.
It comes with an open aperture of f/1.8 and is complemented by a 12 MP ultra wide-angle camera (f/2.2). However, a telephoto zoom camera is still conspicuous by its absence.
The selfie camera still has a meagre 10 megapixel resolution – but there are no real reasons to use it anyway. The folding design makes it quick and easy to take selfies with the rear camera. A simple “high five” gesture is enough to start the self-timer.
The image quality of the main camera is at a good level, especially in good lighting conditions and on sunny days. In backlit situations and in poor light, however, some problems quickly become apparent that other smartphones with comparable camera equipment solve much better.
The main camera can take good pictures, but the Z Flip6 won’t win any awards for the best camera. It is also noticeable that Samsung has reduced the sharpness somewhat compared to its predecessor.
This is also shown by the direct comparison of the main camera of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 with the iPhone 15 Pro. The images are both cropped to 100 percent, the iPhone (on the right) delivers a significantly sharper image in focus and away from the focused flower.
The ultra-wide-angle camera drops sharply in comparison and is much softer. It also tends to produce image noise more quickly, even when there is actually enough light.
Digitally, the Z Flip6 can zoom in up to 10x. Up to a threefold magnification, the image quality is still okay, but after that the quality drops noticeably.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 test: Conclusion
With the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, the Korean manufacturer has taken another step in the right direction. Not only has the performance and workmanship improved noticeably, but the new model has also made significant gains in battery life in particular and is almost on a par with normal smartphones in this size range.
The sixth edition also delivers significantly better results with the (main) camera, which is mainly due to the 50 MP sensor. The performance is also excellent and even modern games are no problem – although the cooling system quickly reaches its limits here and noticeably throttles the performance.
For me, it was the first Flip smartphone that I was able to use for a longer period of time for a test and, although the Z Flip6 is really well positioned, the experience leaves me somewhat disillusioned.
One reason for this is that Samsung only offers limited options for the cover display and the selection of apps and widgets is very limited. However, I find it practical that I can reply to messages on the external display or type messages using the keyboard.
Features such as the interpreter function on both displays are a nice gimmick. The option to take selfies with the external cameras, on the other hand, is much more practical, especially as I can always see the preview image thanks to the display and can start the self-timer with a gesture.
Galaxy AI also has some practical functions that prove to be very useful in everyday life. So the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 does a lot right and yet you have to want the advantages of the foldable design to justify the price of over 1,000 euros. After all, you can get a similarly powerful overall package with better cameras and longer battery life for significantly less money – but not in foldable form.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6
Workmanship
Hardware
Multimedia
Performance
Battery Life
Value For Money
87/100
With the Z Flip6, Samsung delivers significantly better performance, much longer battery life and a better camera in a stylish and robust casing. However, classic smartphones offer more for less money - just not foldable.
