Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 initial review: Master of refinements

I've been pretty pessimistic when it comes to Samsung's lineup of foldable phones, namely the Galaxy Z Fold series. Pessimistic is probably too nice of a word, because when looking at the rest of the market, it's abundantly clear that Samsung is no longer the market leader.

As the rumors and leaks made headlines, whatever excitement I had for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 quickly dissipated. And during Galaxy Unpacked, the larger foldable seemed like an afterthought, taking a back seat to the Galaxy Ring and even the Z Flip 6.

I understand that book-style foldable phones aren't as popular, likely due to their higher prices. Along with the fact that not everyone wants or cares about the benefits of having a mini tablet that fits in your pocket. So while many, including my colleague Derrek, prefer a flip phone, it's just not my cup of tea.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Price & availability

Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at its Unpacked event on July 10, alongside an array of additional Galaxy devices. The phone is currently available for pre-order ahead of its launch on July 24, with a starting price of $1,899 for the 256GB base model and maxing out at $2,259 for the 1TB version.

Additionally, there are a total of five colors to choose from: Pink, Navy, Silver Shadow, Crafted Black, and White. However, the latter two colors are only available if you purchase the Galaxy Z Fold 6 directly from Samsung's website.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Initial thoughts

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 was the first time that I wasn't actually excited about a new foldable phone. While watching Galaxy Unpacked, I scoffed at the idea that a boxier design would result in me replacing the OnePlus Open as part of my "daily carry." But, as I sit here having spent a little more than a week with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, my opinion is shifting. Slightly.

One thing is for certain, so far at least, as my opinion hasn't changed regarding Samsung needing to do something drastic. I mean like a complete overhaul of the design, whether it's to a tri-fold, adopting the shorter and wider screens of the Pixel Fold, or something. Save for a few things here and there, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Fold 5 are identical, which was the same as the Fold 4, etc.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Design and Cover Screen

If I'm so pessimistic, what could Samsung possibly have done to even change my mind in the slightest? Well, it actually starts with the boxier design. This move brings it more in line with what we saw with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, complete with the bottom left corner digging into the palm of my hand.

On paper, this design tweak brought with it a 1.05mm increase in the dimensions when closed, making for an ever-so-slightly larger cover screen. It really didn't seem like much, but I've noticed that my hands feel less cramped when typing out messages or jotting down some notes. Really, it's not much of a difference, but it's enough to be noticeable while still falling far short of the OnePlus Open or Pixel Fold.

Arguably even more important is that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is substantially lighter than its predecessor. In terms of numbers, Samsung managed to slim it down to 239 grams, a staggering drop from the 253 grams of the Fold 5. It's definitely noticeable, and welcome, especially when using the Fold 6 with one hand while the phone is closed.

I've made it this far without even talking about the inner display or AI, which is more than what some companies can say. That being said, let's dive into that now, starting with the inner screen.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Hinge

Something else Samsung changed with the design is that it's now much easier to actually unfold the Galaxy Z Fold 6. There's a little bit more of a gap between the two sides of the frame. This might sound like a bad thing, but the outer border of the inner screen still closes tightly so that dust and debris don't make it through.

I discovered this, as one does when using the Fold 6 as a fidget toy. I don't even know how I managed to do it, but I was able to slightly open the phone with just one hand. The only other book-style foldable I've been able to do that with is the OnePlus Open.

The reason why I'm pointing this out is because it's just much easier to unfold the Galaxy Z Fold 6 compared to the Fold 5. The hinge feels about as perfect as one can get, even smoother than the Pixel Fold and the Open. Not to mention that I don't feel much resistance (in a good way), and the screen/hinge doesn't make discomforting noises. I'm hoping the hinge will stay this way, but it's obviously too early to say with any certainty.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Inner screen

With the Fold 6 open, I'm now staring at a beautiful AMOLED display with a subtle crease down the middle. Seriously, Samsung does make some of the best screens. It's just a shame and quite frustrating that the company won't offer any reasons or remedies to those who suffer from PWM. One would think that if a company is trying to reach as many people as possible, it would do something or at least give a disclaimer that the screens might affect you negatively.

Nevertheless, let's talk about that crease. If I was just going into this thing blind, without having a Fold 5 to compare it to, I'd probably say that the crease is the same with the Fold 6. That's not the case, as I do notice a slight difference between the two. It's not much, but there is a difference. However, I'm not sure if that's because the Fold 5 is a year old, while the Fold 6 is less than a month old, or if Samsung actually did manage to improve the crease.

Even still, there is one thing that didn't take me long to notice, as all I had to do was use the inner screen while outside. This thing gets BRIGHT. No, it's not going to blind you or anything, but it's definitely brighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 5. That's because Samsung's display now reaches a peak brightness of 2,600 nits.

This is the same peak brightness level as Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, surpassing the 1,750 nits found in the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The one thing that the Fold 6s main display doesn't adopt from the S24 Ultra is the anti-reflective coating. It's not all that surprising since we're still working with ultra-thin glass and plastic, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Galaxy AI

Something else I'm planning on diving deeper into, but thought was worth mentioning are some of the Galaxy AI features. The "Sketch to Image" feature, to be more precise. Before going further, I invite you to enjoy a hearty laugh at my drawings. There's a reason why I take pictures and type on a keyboard for a living.

Okay, with that out of the way, I think this is arguably one of the coolest things that's possible with Galaxy AI. You can either draw something out in the Samsung Notes app or use AI to generate images. I know my "artistry" is on par with a 3rd grader, but c'mon, I expected results better than what I got.

Image 1 of 6

However, where this feature managed to impress was when making additions to pictures I've taken. For the first one, I tried to draw a sailboat with shark fins surrounding it. So while it didn't exactly get what I was going for, the end result was much better than expected, even adding reflections in the water.

Next up, was drawing a crown on my son's head of a picture I snapped while out at a local crab house. This one turned out just about perfect, and you can't even tell that it's AI-generated, except for the watermark in the bottom left corner. There's no way to avoid this, even when using Samsung's built-in wallpaper generator.

Last but not least, a bear made a surprise appearance while I was walking down to a local beach. Okay, but seriously, this is the fun stuff when it comes to the onslaught of AI generators and buzzwords. The only problem is that, at least with Sketch to Image, it's really just a parlor trick, albeit an impressive one.

Competition

Gone are the days when Samsung and its Galaxy Z Fold was the only game in town. In terms of book-style foldable phones, Samsung's stiffest competition comes from OnePlus and Google. The former burst onto the scene in late 2023 with the launch of the OnePlus Open, which is essentially the Oppo Find N3 with OnePlus branding. 

Meanwhile, Google has the Pixel Fold, which comes with its own list of benefits and pitfalls. However, that shouldn't be the case for too much longer as Google started teasing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is expected to arrive on August 13, offering a redesigned camera module, and will hopefully be powered by the same Tensor chip as the rest of the Pixel 9 series.

That's pretty much all we have if looking at Samsung's competition domestically. The story dramatically shifts when considering global markets as Honor, Vivo, and others have caught up and surpassed Samsung's offerings. Notably, Xiaomi recently unveiled the Mix Fold 4, with an initial launch in China ahead of a global launch at a later date. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Conclusion and more to come

There are a couple of things I'm going to save for the full review, such as the camera along with diving deeper into performance and battery life. With performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy performs just as well as you'd suspect. The Fold 6 is fast and snappy, as I have yet to run into any game-breaking slow-downs, save for when I'm trying to emulate Switch games. But again, more on that in the full review.

Although I talked about a lot here, there's still so much more that I want to cover, such as Samsung DeX, the cameras, and gaming. Even still, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has managed to surprise and impress, despite me having basically written it off before Samsung announced it. I don't know what else I'll find in my testing, but be sure to reach out if there's something specific you would like to see covered.