The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 has arrived to stake its claim as the best foldable you can get, with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 passing the torch. Inheriting many of its traits (now at a pricier $1,900), the Z Fold 6 looks to carry on Samsung’s winning foldable formula.
So, does all that mean “same-same, but slightly different?” Sort of, but small refinements can make one of the best even better. The Z Fold 6’s fundamentals — like its cameras, battery capacity, and memory — remain the same as its predecessor, but take a closer look and you’ll find a few enticing enhancements.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 was already perfecting the foldable form with its thinner and lighter design compared to its previous model, but the Z Fold 6 trims its form factor down even further for a more compact design.
Coming in at 153.5 x 132.6 x 5.6 mm unfolded and 153.5 x 68.1 x 12.1 mm folded, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is shorter, thinner, and wider than the Z Fold 5. That’s 1.4 mm shorter, 0.5 mm thinner, and 2.7 mm wider when unfolded, and 1.4 mm shorter, 1.3 mm thinner, and 1 mm wider when unfolded, to be exact.
The Z Fold 5 is already on the tall side, so it’s nice to see the Z Fold 6 take the cue and cut down the size. It makes for a sleeker, compact package that doesn’t make as much of a bulge in pockets. It’s noticeably lighter, too, weighing 239g — making it 14g lighter than its predecessor.
As for why Samsung decided to make the foldable ever-so-slightly wider? Well, it may have something to do with the secondary display.
A bigger display in a more compact form factor? That’s a win for the Galaxy Z Fold 6. While the inner display still boasts a 7.6-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, the outer display now stands at 6.3 inches.
That’s a small, but favorable 0.1-inch size up over the Z Fold 5, giving the front display more room for activity. That's not all, both screens can now reach a substantially higher 2,600 nits of max brightness compared to the Z Fold 5’s 1,750 nits. That’s the same as the Galaxy S24 Ultra (and well above the iPhone 15 Pro’s 2,000 nits).
When outdoors or in brighter environments, that’s an important feature to have. Having brightness at max can deplete the battery, though, so it’s a good thing Samsung claims the Z Fold 6 can last around one to two hours longer than the Z Fold 5 (even though it sports the same 4,400 mAh battery capacity).
Like the rest of Samsung’s smartphone lineup this year, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 comes equipped with the latest and greatest octa-core Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. If the Z Fold 5 is already a champion at multitasking, the Z Fold 6 is a master.
With enhanced processing power, improved power efficiency, and a boost in ray tracing, the chip offers plenty of extra juice to give the Z Fold 6 an edge over its predecessor. Plus, it brings over 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB for storage, making this foldable an effective mini-computer that fits in your pocket.
With the chip upgrade also comes a 1.6x larger vapor chamber compared to the Z Fold 5, meaning it stays cooler under the hood while playing games or using demanding apps.
Interestingly, Samsung gave the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s inner display a slight uptick in resolution. Instead of the Z Fold 5’s 2176 x 1812 (QXGA+) display resolution, the Z Fold 6 boasts a 2160 x 1856 (the same QXGA+) screen resolution.
While it's still a Dynamic AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate, the slight increase in pixel count can result in clearer, more detailed visuals — but not by much. However, with the handy S Pen, it translates to cleaner notes and scribbles compared to the Z Fold 5. At the end of the day, any slight improvements are welcome.
Even though the Galaxy Z Fold 6 comes with the same camera as the Z Fold 5 (50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto), you can still expect spruced-up pictures, thanks to the included ProVisual Engine.
Taking advantage of Galaxy AI and an improved NPU from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, you can expect more consistency in detail in each shot taken, along with clearer zoom resolution.
As with the Samsung Galaxy S24, there will also be more AI camera magic, such as Edit Suggestions, Generative Edit, Instant Slo-mo, and more.
Foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold series are made of tough stuff, including Gorilla Glass Victus 2, but they miss out on one mainstream flagship feature: dust resistance. The Z Fold 5 offers water resistance up to 1.5 meters in depth with its IPX8 rating, but nothing to fend off those annoying small particles.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6, however, finally brings an IP48 rating. That “4” means the foldable is protected from solid objects 1 mm in size, which is super beneficial for a smartphone that constantly opens and closes. Fortunately, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 also gets this rating.
For even more durability, the Z Fold 6 comes with an “improved Armor Aluminum frame,” as Samsung puts it. The Z Fold 5 already boasted this Armor Aluminum, but its successor toughens its form factor even further, which hopefully translates to fewer nicks and scratches.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is set to arrive on July 24 and is available from $1,900. Want to hear more about the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Galaxy Watch 7, or Galaxy Ring? Check out everything announced at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event.
