Smartphone reviewIs the Galaxy Fold 6 worth the investment?
Smartphone review
Is the Galaxy Fold 6 worth the investment?
Samsung’s latest foldable offers notable upgrades, but the price might make you think twice.
Top Line
It's a bit difficult to decide how to treat the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: when it's folded into phone mode, it's heavy, and you have to make do with a screen that's narrower than usual on the market. Even in this mode, it is absolutely sufficient for phone calls, surfing the Internet, using WhatsApp, and much more – but the display really feels a bit too small. In games, this display already seems like too big a concession.
When it's open, the Fold is a relatively small tablet, but the display is very comfortable, and the screen is excellent. In this state, it is also thin, feels lighter (because the weight is distributed over a larger area), and is comfortable to hold.
The combination between the two modes is what makes the Fold a unique device and eliminates confusion – very quickly, you find which mode is more convenient to use in which situation, and you can enjoy both worlds.
The problem is that this combination is expensive. With the same amount, you can buy a flagship series smartphone and a larger tablet separately (but then you have to carry both, and it's less convenient), or you can save money and choose an even cheaper smartphone.
The price burdens the Fold and leaves it as an expensive product and a bit difficult to obtain, which is a shame because in terms of design, weight, and size, Samsung actually took significant steps to turn the Fold into a convenient device for everyday use.
Details
I'm a little sympathetic to Samsung employees. They work, test, and make calculations to reduce the thickness of a new foldable device, improve another component, and when the device is launched, the reactions and headlines often dismiss the changes, saying it looks the same.
In the case of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the smartphone that opens into a small tablet, the difference is actually quite noticeable. At first glance, it looks thinner. When folded into a phone configuration, it is indeed thicker than a normal smartphone, but you can really see how the two parts have shrunk. And when you open it to tablet mode, it already feels very thin.
Structure and design: The device has shrunk, the screen has grown
Changes sometimes come in small steps. On the one hand, the Fold 6 doesn't look much different from its predecessor, and the Fold 5 was not much different from the Fold 4. On the other hand, last year Samsung managed to reduce the thickness of the device a bit and reduced its weight by about 10 grams. This year, they managed to shave a little more off the thickness and reduce the weight by 14 grams, making the device thinner and less heavy. It still weighs about 240 grams, more than large models like the S24 Ultra or the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and this is noticeable when you move around with it, especially when folded into phone mode.
As part of the changes in the dimensions of the device, the external screen has grown a bit to 6.3 inches. However, like previous generations, it is still narrow and tall, creating a feeling that the content is a little compressed. This affects the decision of how to use the device. Theoretically, you can leave it folded and use the external screen like a regular phone, but practically, because of the narrow structure, it feels like you're missing the full image or getting it on a smaller display. So when I walked around with it, for example, it stayed folded. When sitting at a table or on a couch, it's more convenient to open and enjoy a large and comfortable display. The internal screen, by the way, was not affected by the changes and remained at 7.6 inches.
The fold line in the middle of the tablet screen feels a little more present, especially when switching between folding modes. In regular use, this line does not interfere with watching movies, playing games, or surfing the Internet, but when you open the phone, it stands out more than in the Flip 6, its sibling launched together with it.
Because the device is so thin, there is no place to store the Samsung stylus, which fits into the protective cover, not included in the testing kit. The glasses remained the same as the previous model, Gorilla Glass Victus 2, but the protection was slightly upgraded to the IP48 standard. This means that, like its predecessor, the device should survive immersion for up to 30 minutes and a depth of up to 1.5 meters in fresh water. This time, there is also a declaration of protection against dust but not sand. Upon the first activation of the Fold 6, a warning appeared advising against bringing it close to sand. Additionally, because of the glass, the back of the device feels very slippery without a cover, so you have to be careful to keep it from slipping.
Hardware: Minor changes
The upgrade in specifications comes down to the processor of the Fold 6, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 generation 3. Beyond that, the memory remains at 12 gigabytes, and the storage volume starts at 256 gigabytes and reaches up to 1 terabyte. This is enough to create a strong and fast phone (or mini-tablet), capable of handling any task and running games almost without getting warm – in some cases, there was very slight warmth and nothing more.
A look at last year's review reveals that the screen was excellent, so what do we say about this year's screen? The maximum brightness jumped from 1,750 nits to 2,600, and the display is truly wonderful and excellent. Even in the direct and scorching sun of July in Israel, the display is completely clear, and you can continue to use the device as usual, on any screen you choose.
The other areas remained unchanged – the speakers are good and powerful but not at a high level. The battery stayed at a capacity of 4,400 mAh, enough for a working day, and the device supports charging with a power of 25 watts. It took about 20 minutes to fill the battery from 15% to 50% and about an hour for a full charge.
Samsung has retained the same cameras from previous models – a 50-megapixel wide camera, a telephoto camera with a 10-megapixel sensor and 3x zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. There are two selfie cameras – one on the tablet screen with a 4-megapixel sensor, and the other on the external screen with a 10-megapixel sensor. As in previous models, the camera provides very good photos, both in good lighting conditions during the day and in less optimal conditions at night.
Software: Time to update the defaults
The Fold 6 comes with Android 14 and Samsung's familiar ONE UI interface, with some innovations and adjustments to the capabilities offered by the device's different format.
Some content automatically switches between the screens: you open an email message, for example, on the external screen, in phone mode, and when you switch to tablet mode, the same message is displayed on a larger screen. It can also work the other way around, but for some reason, Samsung's default is that it won't work automatically in all apps that support this transition, and you have to change the setting in the settings screen. It also depends on the apps: in one game, it was no problem to switch during the game from the external screen to the tablet screen, but in another game, I had to restart it after every screen transition.
The Galaxy AI service, with the artificial intelligence capabilities that Samsung introduced earlier this year in the S24 series, was integrated into the Fold 6, as in its sibling, the Flip 6. The device offers transcription of recordings, summary of texts in the browser, automatic formatting of notes, summary of notes, and more. And again, as in the Flip 6, new capabilities have been added, with two notable ones: one that will turn any sketch into a clearer and more professional drawing, and the other that allows you to add details to photos.
The second ability is surprising and a bit disturbing: you can draw freely on a photo, and the system translates the drawing and creates a realistic image from it that blends into the original photo. You don't need to explain in text what you want to add, and you don't need to be a skilled artist. A very basic drawing of an airplane turned into a real airplane integrated into the picture. I was able to add both a giraffe to the grass in the garden and a UFO, all with very basic natural drawing talent, and even without a special pen for a touch screen. This capability is also available on the Flip, and it is more convenient to use on a larger screen.
This is how to add a plane to the picture: It could just be a cute gimmick, and the system doesn't always manage to recognize the drawing, but there's something unsettling about the ease with which you can produce and invent images. Consider what other capabilities Samsung might introduce in the near future.
