The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 has significant upgrades over its predecessor to potentially make it one of the best foldable phones released this year. With upgraded cameras, a larger battery, and a huge focus on Galaxy AI features, it's exactly what Samsung needs to rebound after last year. In our Galaxy Z Flip 6 hands-on, we'll dive into everything that's cool and new with this flip style phone.
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00:00There's been some competition in the flip phone space and Samsung has to be worried
00:05because we just had the recent Motorola Razr Plus, great phone, but now Samsung is back
00:11with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, bigger upgrades, newer design, hopefully it's going to outdo
00:17everyone else.
00:18Let's talk about all the new upgrades and changes.
00:20Let me talk about the design first.
00:22It looks familiar, but it's actually very different.
00:24I like what Samsung is doing here.
00:26Not only does it feel really light, but it's also solidly constructed.
00:30A big change here is with the cameras.
00:31You have these accent colors over the camera humps, they match the color of the phone itself.
00:36And speaking of colors, I've got to give Samsung credit, they have a slew of new colors, a
00:40lot of pastel looking ones.
00:42I love this yellow here.
00:43And it's just a refreshing take, even though it has similarities to the previous models,
00:48it's a totally different phone for me.
00:50I really like how there's a more satisfying snap with the hinge mechanism and the crease
00:56itself is a lot more smooth, so it's not as visible.
01:00Not only is it more durable, but it feels a lot nicer to open and close.
01:04If you look here at the flex window, it's actually the same size and resolution as last
01:09year, so no big change.
01:10But the cool thing is that they've added a lot more personalization, including these
01:15interactive wallpapers.
01:16You can see as I'm moving around the phone, it moves in motion, it responds to touch,
01:21which is nice.
01:22And there's just a lot more personalization this time.
01:24So before, you could only have one widget on the cover display, but now you have the
01:29ability to do multiple widgets at the same time.
01:32So here are just some of the widgets, you have your standard ones from Samsung, Calendar,
01:37you got Alarm Clock, all that, Spotify.
01:40But you have here four widgets, which are customized.
01:44Of course you can edit them, you got to open up the phone to do that.
01:48And just gives you a little bit more convenience as far as accessing what's most important
01:52to you.
01:53For me, it's all about the information, what's available at a quick glance.
01:57So yes, the time is great, the alarm clock and also the calendar, and also music controls
02:02because I listen to a lot of music, especially YouTube music, sometimes Spotify.
02:07But just being able to access those controls through the cover display is a lot more convenient.
02:13Right now I have only three apps out of the box that I could actually run through the
02:17cover display.
02:18So that is Google Maps right there, you have Messages, OK.
02:22And then, of course, YouTube.
02:24So in order to run other apps, like I said, Instagram, Facebook, all my social media apps,
02:30I'd have to install the Good Lock app.
02:32It's more work, but it gives you more utility.
02:35One cool feature here with the Z Flip 6 is the ability to create AI wallpapers.
02:40So we're going to do that right here, show you how to do that.
02:43Now you have a bunch of different options.
02:45You have Generative, which is nice because now you just choose what kind of image you
02:48want to make.
02:49And then from here, it's going to give you a preset suggestions here.
02:53I just select which one I want.
02:54So, for example, instead of Jungle, let's do Glacier.
02:57Instead of Avant-Garde style, let's do Expressionist, let's Generate.
03:01And from what I saw, it does a pretty good job.
03:03I like it.
03:04They're colorful, they're different, and you have a bunch of different options as well.
03:08Another really cool feature is called Photo Assist.
03:11So basically, you go to your gallery, and I kind of made a bunch of them already.
03:15So I took a photo of myself earlier, I'm going to select this here.
03:19And what I can do here is Portrait Studio.
03:22Now you have different options here.
03:23You have Comic, 3D, Cartoons, Watercolor, Sketch.
03:27So I'm just going to do Comic.
03:28Let's have AI generate these wallpapers, or these new custom images, which I can turn
03:33into a wallpaper afterwards.
03:36Kind of funny, but it's just a little bit different.
03:40So check me out.
03:41I'll do that.
03:42Powering all these AI features is the Snapdragon 8th Gen 3, the same chip in the flagship line,
03:48the Galaxy S24.
03:49So I know it's going to be equipped to handling a lot of these AI-intensive applications and
03:54processes.
03:55I'm pretty confident it's going to run fine.
03:58And as you saw, it loads up all these AI sketches really quick.
04:03And the overall feel of the phone, with that 120Hz refresh rate, makes it look extra smooth.
04:08New to this year is a big upgrade to the cameras.
04:11You have now a 50MP main and a 12MP ultrawide.
04:15So last year with the Z Flip 5, the main camera was only a 12MP camera.
04:20So now it's been upgraded to a 50MP.
04:22They're doing some really neat things, especially when it comes to zooming, which kind of gives
04:27you almost that triple camera setup that you find in a lot of flagships.
04:31You have the standard camera, you have the wide angle.
04:34So with that 50MP camera, you have some zoom range that's pretty usable.
04:39Again, making it more convenient for the user, there's this new AI zooming feature where
04:44it'll automatically reframe the shot for you.
04:47So if you have one person, it'll zoom in.
04:49And of course, there's more people, like group shots, it'll automatically zoom out.
04:53They'll give you the perfect composition each and every time.
04:56I'm really glad about the zoom here, even though technically it's not a dedicated telephoto
05:00camera.
05:01But with that pixel binning, using the 50MP camera, it's effectively a triple camera setup,
05:07which has an advantage over the Razer Plus.
05:10If you just saw my Razer Plus video, this next feature is going to look very familiar.
05:14So just like that phone, if you put the phone halfway like that, it gets you into camcorder
05:19mode, gives you that nostalgic feel.
05:22And when you start recording, you have the zoom controls at your disposal right here.
05:27So kind of reminds me of the old school feeling of just using a camcorder.
05:32Another big upgrade for the phone is that it has a larger 4000mAh battery that's up
05:37from last year's 3800mAh battery.
05:39When you pair that with the power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8th Gen 3 chip, I can bet
05:45this phone's going to last a lot longer.
05:46The Razer Plus right now has the longest time I've tested, at over 14 hours.
05:51So I suspect that the Z Flip 6 is going to beat that.
05:54Unchanged last year is the wired charging speed of 25W, while wireless charging is still
05:5915W.
06:00Well, that's everything with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
06:04Again, the price point, it is $1100.
06:08I just hope that its performance, its new features, and all the upgrades make it worth
06:13it.
06:14On another note, I really hope that they come out with a lower cost version of this phone,
06:19like maybe a Galaxy Z Flip Fan Edition or something, because $1100, that's kind of expensive.
06:25I know, that's expensive for me.
06:27So hopefully they do come out with that and just make it more appealing to a broader audience.
06:31What do you guys think?
06:33Let me know in the comments below.
06:34Don't forget to read my full hands-on article on Tom's Guide.
06:38Follow us on social at Tom's Guide.
06:40I'm John B. and I'll see you in my next video.