Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review

Samsung is often the first brand that springs to mind when you think about folding phones. It dominates the market, offering two styles of folding devices, from the bookstyle Z Fold 6 to the clamshellstyle Z Flip 6.

I’ve tested all of Samsung’s folding phones over the past few years and enjoyed using them. Being able to fold your phone gives you something a little different.

There’s a definite retro appeal to the flip style, while this is a phone that never fails to attract attention. The question is: should this be your next phone?

The design of Samsung’s folding phone has been evolving since it first launched. For the Z Flip 6, Samsung has moved to a frame that’s squarer over the Z Flip 5 of 2023, using stronger materials for the hinge, the exterior glass and the folding display in the middle. You might think that the Z Flip 6 is inherently fragile, but it’s not as delicate as you might think.

What might surprise you is that Samsung has managed to make this phone water resistant, so it will survive a dunk in water or getting splashed in the rain. What it’s less good at is dealing with dust. It offers some protection, but if you’re taking it to the beach be very careful or you’ll get sand in the hinge.

One of the novelties of this phone design is that it gets smaller when you fold it in half and there’s a satisfyingly retro feeling when you open it to use it, or close it to end a call.

Nostalgia is a big part of the appeal here — and it’s what people are instantly interested in.

The big screen in the centre of this phone is the star of the show. There’s naturally a crease across the centre where it folds. It is visible and you can feel it, but when you’re actually viewing content you don’t notice it. Certainly, the existence of a crease shouldn’t put you off buying this phone.

The screen is bright and vibrant and the quality is as good as you’ll find on other Samsung phones. There’s a factoryfitted screen protector which Samsung says should be left in place. There’s also a oneoff free screen replacement available in the first year of owning the device if you’re worried about its durability.

It’s true that this display is more fragile than regular phones and that’s one of the reasons it’s not great for highintensity uses like gaming but, otherwise, it’s a pleasure to use.

The cover display fills most of the exterior and is useful for notifications. You can place widgets on it so you can glance at information like the weather, your camera, or a shopping list.

You can also use it for messaging, but I’d like it to do more — I think it’s slightly underutilised at the moment.

With a phone that folds you have more choices for cameras. There’s a regular selfie camera on the front of the phone, but the advantage of a folding design is that you can fold this phone up so the camera is nicely supported. That makes it really easy to take selfies.

The same applies to the main cameras. There’s now a 50megapixel main camera that has the advantage of being able to offer 2x zoom without losing too much detail, supported by an ultrawide camera. The results are great, but it’s not as capable as Samsung’s flagship phones.

What’s best of all is that you can angle the phone to take selfies with the main camera, using the external display as a preview window. It can even be triggered by holding up your palm, which is really clever.

Samsung has split the battery into two pieces to fit it into the design, but it’s still a little smaller than other flagship phones.

The battery will last most of the day, so dawn to dusk is no problem, although if I was heading out for a busy night out, I’d recommend charging the phone quickly before leaving the house. That leaves the battery life as average rather than exceptional – you may want to stash a power bank in your bag, just in case.

Samsung talks about Galaxy AI a lot and it’s true that there are some AI features on this phone. It can summarise information in your notes, suggest replies to messages, as well as let you edit photos really well. But I found the suggested replies are a little robotic, so they don’t end up giving you any advantage.

Away from AI features, this is an Android phone that offers the same Samsung experience as all other Samsung phones, including loads of customisation. If you’re moving from a Galaxy S phone, you’ll feel right at home, while there’s also the promise of seven years of software and security updates.

There’s plenty of power too. This phone is as powerful as Samsung’s flagship phones, so everything is slick and smooth and that means there’s no compromise on the experience.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 has more appeal than Samsung’s larger folding phone, the Z Fold 6. The fact you can fold it smaller to slip into a pocket or bag – without any compromise on the power or performance – is attractive.

When it comes to the camera, you have additional options because you can fold it for easy group photos or selfies. The Z Flip 6 offers a great experience, doing everything that your regular phone does, while offering something a little different. Even though these phones have been around for five years, folding your phone in half is still a talking point and that’s half the fun of a smartphone like the Z Flip 6.