ZDNET’s key findings

• The $1,099 Galaxy Z Flip 6 is Samsung’s latest version of a modernized clamshell phone.
• It has several improvements, such as a more robust design, better performance, a new main camera and a larger battery.

• However, given its similarities to the Z Flip 5, it’s anything but exciting, and it costs $200 more than Motorola’s Razr Plus.

Samsung is already on the sixth iteration of its Galaxy Z Flip, and by now we are all familiar with foldable phones, what they can do and what their unusual form factors entail. Z Flip 6 is the most sophisticated clamshell device we’ve seen yet. Compared to the Z Flip 5, Samsung has made few changes and only offers a handful of features to market the new model.

Also: I replaced my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with the Z Fold 6 for a week – and can’t go back

The starting price has also increased by $100 to $1,099. After using the Z Flip 6 for a little over a week, the big question for me is whether the new price is justified, especially when Motorola’s Razr Plusthe Z Flip’s biggest competitor, hasn’t gone up in price. Here’s my answer.

View on Samsung

Samsung doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel every time it launches a new foldable phone, but the Z Flip’s design has had room for improvement for a while. With the Z Flip 6, Samsung went back to matte aluminum sides instead of glossy ones like the Z Flip 5, which I really appreciate.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Z Flip 5: Important differences you should know before buying

The new Z Flip also has an IP48 rating, making it the company’s first folding phone to offer a certified form of dust protection. The hinge has also been reinforced, resulting in a flatter crease in the middle of the display.

These improvements are nice to see, but by no means monumental. I would have liked to have seen a larger cover display; Samsung upped the ante last year when it swapped out the Flip 4’s 1.9-inch cover display for a 3.4-inch panel on the Flip 5. The Flip 6 has the same larger screen on the outside, but is dwarfed by the much cooler-looking 4-inch panel on the 2024 Razr Plus.

Also: I tested Motorola’s new Razr Plus (2024) and it made the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip seem outdated

Not only does Motorola’s display extend to every edge and behind the cameras, it also allows you to run any app you want, so you rarely have to open the phone to do quick things like reply to a text message. On the Z Flip 6, you’re limited to the panels and widgets Samsung gives you access to, making the experience far less useful than Motorola’s.

Of course, I found myself opening the Z Flip 6’s display a lot, but that’s not a bad thing. The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X is stunning, with a sharp Full HD+ resolution and excellent color reproduction. There’s a 120Hz refresh rate that keeps everything silky smooth, and Samsung even included a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, which is much brighter than the 1,750-nit panel on the Z Flip 5.

I also love the performance of this phone. Inside is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. It’s fast. Whether you’re scrolling through Instagram, switching between your calendar and to-do list, gaming, or snapping pictures like a madman, the Z Flip 6 will easily keep up.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr+ (2024): I tested both, and the winner is not so obvious

I wish Samsung would work on thermal management. Companies have very little leeway to build in the same ventilation and cooling systems as regular phones, so most foldables suffer from excess heat even when doing normal things like checking TikTok or emails. The Z Flip 6 is no exception; I’ve noticed that it gets very warm quite often, both in the summer heat and in my 16-degree bedroom. It can get even hotter when gaming.

The cameras are an improvement over the Z Flip 5, but still fall short of what regular flagships can do. I like most of the photos I took with the Z Flip 6; the new 50MP main camera captures more detail and sharpness than the old 12MP sensor on the Z Flip 5, and you can take full-resolution 50MP photos if you want to crop them or print them. The 12MP 123-degree ultra-wide lens works well during the day, but gets pretty dark and muddy at night with lots of artificial light.

If you value camera quality and want a flip phone, the Z Flip 6 is for you. I compared some of the photos I took with photos I took with the Razr Plus and the difference is almost like night and day. Colors are more true to life on the Samsung phone, lighting is often better, and you can take photos at night without every one of them being unusable. Video quality is also better on the Z Flip 6 than the Razr Plus.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 hands-on: The foldable device most people should buy gets a major upgrade

Of course, the shooting experience remains unmatched with the Z Flip’s flexible form factor. Like other foldable phones, you can prop it up like a stand to take hands-free photos, use the lid screen as a second viewfinder, record video in classic handheld camcorder style, and more.

The whole experience is driven by the software, which is solid on the Z Flip 6. The overarching story is that it’s still pure Samsung, with One UI 6.1 and its smorgasbord of features stacked on top of Android 14. There are edge panels, split-screen modes, a range of customizable UI options, performance and battery optimization settings, and more, along with all the features that make foldables so unique. Samsung is also promising up to seven years of software updates for the Z Flip 6, meaning it’s in line with the direction the industry is heading.

Also: The Galaxy Watch Ultra convinced me to replace my Apple Watch in less than a week. Here’s why

Samsung is also offering a number of AI features on the Flip 6, like on its other 2024 flagships, including contextual responses to messages on the cover screen, live translations, call recordings, and automatic transcriptions. None of these features were groundbreaking, but they are nice to have and add a little flair to the experience. It’s only a matter of time before Samsung goes as hard on AI as Apple did in iOS 18, so let’s all enjoy it while it’s still free.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6’s battery can last a full day as long as you’re careful. Samsung has increased the size of the battery from 3,700mAh to 4,000mAh, which allows it to last into the later hours of the day, but it’s by no means a two-day phone.

Buying advice from ZDNET

At $1,100, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is easily perceived as “boring” or “overpriced,” especially when the Z Flip 5 was so similar and cost $100 less. But chances are, no one who owns a Z Flip 5 is going to buy a Z Flip 6, and Samsung is banking on older Flip customers or people who aren’t at all familiar with foldables to opt for its latest flip phone, and those who do are getting a pretty decent phone in return.

This means that the Motorola Razr Plus stands above the Z Flip 6 with its superior cover display, vegan leather design, and lower price. If you don’t mind giving up your ultra-wide camera (and don’t need seven years of software updates), you might want to consider the Razr Plus instead.