Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 Gets the Upgrade We Wanted
Hardware
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While it may be the most attractive device in Samsung’s catalog, the Galaxy Z Flip’s camera quality has always fallen short of expectations. That’s set to change with the new Galaxy Z Flip 6, which is now available for pre-order.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 was revealed at Samsung’s Unpacked event on July 9th, 2024. Several other products, including the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the Galaxy Ring, and the Galaxy Watch 7, were also announced at this event.
The Most Substantial Z Flip Upgrade to Date
If you’ve been waiting for a “big” Galaxy Z Flip upgrade, this might be the one. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 features an all-new wide camera, more memory, and an industry-leading processor.
Camera quality was our biggest complaint when reviewing the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Its 12MP wide camera just wasn’t up to scuff, especially when compared to Samsung phones of a similar (or lesser) price. So, Samsung replaced the old 12MP shooter with a beefy 50MP camera. It features 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, plus night photography with support for HDR video (and Instagram app compatibility, oddly). This camera still falls short of the Galaxy S Ultra’s 200MP sensor, but it’s sure to provide a massive improvement in photo quality over the Z Flip 5.
Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 rocks a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and 12GB of RAM (up from 8GB in the Z Flip 5). This will provide all the improvements that we expect from a nominal chipset and memory upgrade, though I assume that the biggest benefit (and the purpose for the RAM upgrade) is to accommodate local AI tasks.
Battery life also gets an upgrade, at least on paper. Samsung has replaced the old 3700mAh battery with a 4000mAh cell—I suggest that you hold your applause, as the larger battery may be a necessary compensation for increased power consumption. We don’t know if battery life has actually increased.
We may also see an improvement in device durability, as Samsung actually managed to secure an IP48 rating this time around. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was rated IPX8, meaning that it wasn’t certified for dust or sand resistance. (That said, Samsung regularly beats the crap out of its foldables to showcase durability, and the company let me rub a Galaxy Z Flip 5 into a bucket of sand at CES 2024.)
I’d like to point out that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 received far fewer upgrades than the Galaxy Z Flip 6. I’m not sure why this is the case, though.
The Same Design As Last Year’s Model
Samsung has always positioned the Galaxy Z Flip as a trendy device for a younger demographic. This is reflected in several aspects of the phone, including its ad campaigns and cutesy accessories, though it’s also evident in the phone’s physical design. While the Galaxy Z Fold looks like a futuristic business tablet, the Galaxy Z Flip just gives off a cool vibe.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was an incredibly attractive device. So, visually speaking, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is just mostly a rehash of what we got last time around. It uses the same 3.4-inch cover display and 6.7-inch internal display as its predecessor, its cameras haven’t moved around, and so on.
Some people will point out that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is slightly slimmer than its predecessor. Well, according to the spec sheet, it’s 0.2mm thinner than the Z Flip 5 when folded. This is practically a rounding error and will be imperceptible to anyone who doesn’t have digital calipers for hands.
All design changes for this phone are based in software, rather than hardware. Samsung is introducing a new “AI-powered” Photo Ambient wallpaper that cycles through images based on the time of day and weather. There is also a new selection of widgets that you can pin to the cover display. It’s all very run-of-the-mill stuff, and that’s fine by me.
Predictable AI Integrations
The year is 2024, and a product cannot launch without some kind of AI functionality. Thankfully, Samsung isn’t dropping any bombshells today. It’s simply announcing some unique Galaxy Z Flip 6 integrations for existing AI technologies.
Most of these integrations revolve around the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s cover display. If you glance at an incoming message on the cover display, you’ll have the option to send an AI-generated Chat Assist response.
More notably, Samsung’s AI interpreter feature can utilize the cover screen and internal display simultaneously. So, if you find yourself in a conversation with someone who doesn’t speak your native language, you don’t need to pass your phone back and forth. You can simply set the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in the middle of a table. The person you’re speaking to will see translated text on the phone’s cover display. Meanwhile, you will see a translation of what they say on the internal screen.
You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 starting at $1,099, which is actually $100 more than the starting price of last year’s model. Pre-orders start today, and the phone will begin shipping on July 24th.
Source: Samsung
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