The benefits of a foldable phone: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a high-end smartphone loaded with Samsung’s latest AI features, but it comes at a high price.

When people noticed me using Samsung’s book-style foldable Galaxy Fold 6, they usually had one of the following questions: does the phone close completely when folded? And is the crease where the two parts of the screen merge visible?

The first models of Samsung’s foldables couldn’t fully close due to the hinge design. However, this has already been solved with the fifth generation of the device.

The crease is still visible, but it didn’t bother me for the nearly two weeks I tested the phone. It was the first time I had a chance to review a foldable, and I found it to be more useful and practical than I expected, mainly because the large screen provided time-saving benefits and comfort.

For example, it is easier to write messages on the unfolded screen with both hands and multitask by loading a few apps. Meanwhile, watching videos and gaming are much more immersive than on a standard smartphone.

These benefits, though, aren’t exclusive to the Z Fold 6. You could probably get a similar experience using some older Samsung Fold models and possibly those from other manufacturers.

Samsung was one of the first companies to launch a foldable, but the competition has increased rapidly, with Chinese vendors now offering cheaper alternatives. Yet despite growing competition, this category of devices isn't yet mainstream, as sales account only for 1-2% of the global smartphone shipments.

The Fold 6 is the most expensive foldable and offers quite incremental upgrades compared to the previous year’s model. These include new processor and improved cover screen brightness.

The bright cover screen

The phone weighs 239 grams and is heavier than standard-screen smartphones. I noticed the extra weight at first, but soon I got used to it, and it didn’t burden my pocket.

The phone’s Super AMOLED cover display, which measures 6.3-inch (968 x 2376) 410 ppi, can now reach 2600 nits peak brightness, compared to the previous version’s 1750. The supporting HDR content on the display looks great, making colors vivid and vibrant.

However, when you have a foldable, you’d probably rather watch HDR content on the main screen. I used the cover display only when I had to check messages, write a quick reply, and when I couldn’t hold the phone with both hands.

For other things, I mostly went with the 7.6-inch main screen, which has a resolution of 1856 x 2160 pixels (~374 ppi density) and, like the cover display, supports an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz.

This makes the device good for gaming. It now comes with Ray Tracing technology, which Samsung says provides more realistic lighting, shadows, and an overall gaming experience. I can’t say I noticed all the small details, but playing a few games, including Diablo Immortal, on the unfolded smartphone felt great.

The same camera

On the back side of the phone, there are three cameras aligned vertically. Compared to the previous Fold, two sensors – a 50MP main shooter and a 10MP telephoto – are the same, and only the ultrawide is new, measuring the same 12MP.

While the camera doesn't pack 200MP like that of Samsung’s Galaxy S24, you can take decent pictures with the smartphone.

Shots with the front 10MP camera didn’t seem that good, though, especially in lower light. Luckily, the foldable design allows you to take selfies with the main 50MP camera, which I mostly did.

The phone has a few handy AI features, such as deleting pictures after you take them and digital zooming. It also has a new Portrait Studio Tool that allows you to transform selfies into cartoons by choosing various modes, such as Cartoon or Sketch.

The latest Sketch to Image tool, which transforms drawings into more sophisticated ones with AI, can be used when editing pictures. When I first heard of the feature, I labeled it a tool for kids to play with, but soon after I got the device, I found myself using it far more often than I expected.

As for the recording upgrades, the Fold 6 camera now comes with slow-motion recording capabilities. Super slow-motion mode allows you to play videos 32 times slower than normal, which Samsung claims may be useful for those wanting to evaluate sports performance.

Galaxy AI features

The Galaxy Fold 6, which runs on the Android 14 modification One UI 6, is packed with other AI features that are more practical and suitable for everyday life. These will be run locally on device with Samsung’s large language models as well as on the cloud. In the phone settings, users can choose Galaxy AI to be processed only on the device, but this will limit its functionality.

Handling AI on a device requires decent processing speed. The Fold 6's computations will be handled by Qualcoom’s 8 3rd Gen System on a chip, along with the same 12GB of RAM as in last year’s model.

I found the most useful Galaxy AI features to be those within the Notes and Recorder apps. With a tap or two, you can translate, transcribe, and summarize meetings or lectures. Transcribing longer meetings takes time, while summaries can miss relevant details, but overall, it gives you quite a good understanding of the meeting's content.

Similarly, you can summarize and translate content and articles using Galaxy AI with a tap of a button. But to do that, you will have to use Samsung’s internet browser.

A few of Samsung’s AI tools include real-time translation, which now supports 16 languages.

The Interpreter mode enables one to see translation on the screen, and with the Fold 6, translations can be shown on the cover screen.

There is also a tool Call Assist that can translate calls in real-time.

In my experience, both of these features are far from perfect. The phone often picks up random noises and interprets them as certain words, and sometimes, it gives you inaccurate translation. However, these tools are a good starting point for future improvements.

With the Fold 6 you can also use the phone to write messages, emails, and posts via prompts. And there’s is a handy tool from Google: the Fold 6 supports Circle to Search and has Gemini integration which can be invoked by swiping inward from your left screen to process your queries.

Battery life and the verdict

While the Fold 6's large screen typically consumes significant amounts of energy, the phone’s battery life is solid. When I tested it, I easily got through the day with Samsung’s 4400 mAh battery, watching videos or playing games for a few hours. Even with this fairly heavy usage, I usually had more than half of the battery left at the end of the day.

Charging the smartphone takes over an hour with the 25W wired option, and there’s also a 15W wireless charging option—both of which are the same as in the previous model.. Considering that there are companies offering more than double the wattage, it would be nice to see these in the priciest foldable on the market.

This year, the base model with 256GB of storage (512GB and 1TB are also available) will cost $1900, an increase of $100.

Even though the Fold 6 is a quality device with no significant drawbacks, which allows you to experience benefits of a smartphone and a tablet in one, it is a little disappointing to see a price increase with quite modest upgrades.

Growing competition and cheaper foldable alternatives from other vendors are something Samsung should keep in mind before deciding to further hike prices in the future.