Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 - Exclusive Stories

With the rapid pace of technological adoption and the evolution of mobile phones, it’s clear that smartphone manufacturers are always seeking the next innovation that will set them apart. Whether it’s incorporating the fastest processor available – something most flagship phones now offer – creating the best-looking screen, or enhancing camera capabilities, all these have largely been achieved. Manufacturers have even ventured into foldable screens, which, while novel, are no longer entirely unique. So, what’s left now is to focus on refining the overall formula to deliver the best user experience. That’s exactly what Samsung aims to do with the Galaxy Z Flip6. But have these refinements made it worth its starting price of ₹1.10 lakh? Let’s find out!

Looking good

The new Galaxy Z Flip6 undeniably looks cool and premium. Our review unit was finished in a blue shade, adding a touch of understated elegance – not too loud, yet far from dull. The frosted back and smooth matte frame contribute to a sleek aesthetic. And of course, there’s the undeniable charm of flipping the phone open in front of friends, watching as their eyes widen and jaws drop in awe. I’d have thought the novelty of a flip phone might have worn off by now, but it seems the fascination with this hinged marvel persists.

The main 6.7-inch screen maintains the same size and resolution as the Flip5, but this time it comes with a higher peak brightness of 2,600 nits and a variable refresh rate. As expected from Samsung, the HDR10+ display is stunning, offering deep blacks, vivid colours, and excellent outdoor visibility. Even under bright sunlight, I had no issues using the phone. The seam in the middle has also become less noticeable – you can still see it if you look for it, but it’s definitely more subtle. However, the tactile bump when swiping across it remains an issue. My other gripe is with the hinge mechanism along the edges of the frame. I often find myself sliding my finger along the frame while using the phone, and the hinge protrusions tend to catch on my thumb or finger, which can be irritating.

Moving on to the cover display, it retains the same 3.4-inch size and 720x748 resolution. The touch response is excellent, and the ability to quickly access certain apps and features without unfolding the phone is both convenient and, depending on your usage, quite addictive. It’s also great for taking selfies. If you don’t mind the smaller size, you can even play a YouTube video on the cover screen while the phone is half-open, serving as both a display and a stand. There’s a dedicated sub-menu in the settings for the cover screen, allowing you to customise wallpapers, apps, widgets, and more.

The phone's in-hand feel is also surprisingly good. It takes some time to adjust to the very tall display, but its narrow width makes it easy to hold one-handed. Even when folded, the phone doesn’t feel overly bulky and fits comfortably in a pocket. Despite the new Flip featuring a larger battery, its weight remains the same as last year’s model.

Fast out the block

In terms of performance, the Z Flip6 is simply brilliant. Equipped with the latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 12GB of RAM, it handles everyday tasks with ease, delivering a smooth user experience and effortlessly switching between apps. I played Real Racing 3 on the highest settings without noticing any frame drops, and the phone remained comfortably cool even after several (not-so-well-driven) races. The taller screen also provides a wider field of view, which becomes apparent if you immediately switch back to a more conventional device. The Flip6 is available with either 256GB or 512GB of storage, which should be more than sufficient for app data and personal files.

As for performance benchmarks, the phone scored 1,495 in the Geekbench 6 single-core test and 6,411 in the multi-core test. The GPU scored 12,026 in Geekbench 6 and 4,574 in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test.

Samsung has also integrated several AI features into the Flip6, adding a playful aspect to the device. You can use AI to remove unwanted objects from photos, add elements, or slow down videos that weren’t initially recorded at a high frame rate. The live translation feature is particularly interesting, taking advantage of both the cover and main screens – one person can see the translated text in their language on the main screen while the other sees it in their language on the cover screen.

The Z Flip6 retains a dual-speaker setup, which is adequately loud, though compared to my S23, it falls a bit short in clarity. The highs on the Flip6 seem a bit more scattered and distorted. Still, it's more than sufficient for general use. The battery capacity has been increased to 4,000mAh, an 8% increase over the previous model – a modest increase but a welcome one nonetheless. I managed to get through to late evening on a single charge, even with fairly heavy usage. However, wired charging is capped at 25W, which might be a problem for some power users.

And smile!

Cameras are a major consideration for smartphone buyers these days, and in this regard, the Flip6 comes with a 50MP primary camera alongside a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s also a 10MP front camera. While the ultrawide and front cameras remain unchanged, the primary camera has received a significant resolution boost from 12MP to 50MP. It performs impressively well, especially outdoors in bright conditions, offering a good dynamic range and plenty of detail. However, low-light performance – particularly indoors –does suffer, with noticeable grain despite acceptable sharpness levels.

The larger sensor also allows for 2x zoom shots, which, while not quite as good as having a dedicated telephoto lens, is an improvement over the previous model. You can capture clear shots of somewhat distant objects, and they turn out quite well. As for the front-facing camera, it now supports video recording at 60fps, which is a nice upgrade. However, I did find that the selfie camera tends to over-tint the image depending on the dominant colours in the frame. In terms of video quality, you get good clarity, and colours don’t appear unnaturally saturated. There are also numerous video modes to choose from, and the image stabilization is commendable. Overall, if you are looking for social media ready photos and videos, the Flip6 can deliver them without any trouble.

Impressive and better?

Let's be clear, the premium you pay for the Flip6 is largely for its unique flip mechanism. If you're after pure value for money, the S series is where you should look. Does the Flip6 look cool, turn heads, and spark conversations when you pull it out of your pocket? Absolutely! And it delivers strong everyday performance, too. However, the two areas I'd like to see improved are the seam across the screen and the camera's performance in varied lighting conditions. Overall, it still feels like Samsung has taken meaningful steps to refine the flip concept, elevating it to the point where the hardware experience genuinely competes with other premium devices on the market.  

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The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 brings a refined experience inside a familiar and funky package.

Equipped with the latest flagship SoC, it handles everyday tasks with ease