Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review: the practical flip phone

Look, amusive is amusive and all, but sometimes boring is better.

A flip telephone dripping with nostalgia that comes successful bold colors and lets you tally apps each willy-nilly connected the screen screen? With inviting wallpapers and playful UI touches? That’s fun. It’s besides not the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. But portion I thoroughly enjoyed utilizing the Motorola Razr Plus — the fun flip telephone — reliability wins retired successful the end. 

Samsung’s newest clamshell-style foldable is simply a airy update connected past year’s model. It costs $1,099, which is simply a 100 dollars much than past twelvemonth but besides conscionable what flagship phones outgo these days. The interior and outer screens get a small brighter successful nonstop sunlight, there’s a somewhat bigger battery, and there’s an upgraded main camera, positive the latest Qualcomm chipset, naturally.

That paragraph could picture immoderate fig of caller Android phones this year. And successful the lawsuit of the Z Flip 6, that’s really a bully denotation of however acold Samsung’s flip telephone has come. Last year’s update from a tiny screen surface to the existent 3.4-inch OLED took the Flip bid from “eh, it’s kinda cool” to “okay this is something.” It’s a acold outcry from Samsung’s earliest attempts.

But the Z Flip 6 hasn’t wholly reached parity with slab phones; it’s surely not the astir amusive flip phone. Sure, it’s the champion Samsung flip telephone — I conscionable privation it would get a fewer ideas from immoderate of the competition. 

If I’d ne'er picked up the Motorola Razr Plus, I’d deliberation the Z Flip 6’s outer surface was beauteous darn good. But the Razr’s bigger, higher-res surface wraps each the mode astir the punchouts for the lenses and flash. It makes the Flip 6’s screen screen, which keeps good distant from that full area, look stodgy and cramped by comparison.

And not to get excessively caught up astir wallpapers, but Samsung’s champion thought astir caller wallpapers for the outer surface is… a donut that bounces astir erstwhile your telephone moves? There’s truthful overmuch much amusive worldly you could bash with this! Moto’s wallpapers are colorful and inviting, there’s an adorable turntable that spins erstwhile you’re playing audio, and I curse 1 of the inheritance options is blurple. The Z Flip 6 comes with a due always-on show this clip around, but it lacks the consciousness of amusive that I’d expect from a flip phone. Motorola has a mode that turns the full telephone into a retro flip phone, for Pete’s sake. Let’s unrecorded a little.

The Flip 6’s screen surface is simply a small much customizable than past year’s, which constricted you to swiping done a clump of full-screen widgets. Now, it’s much similar a accepted location screen. You tin inactive opt for a full-screen widget oregon adhd aggregate smaller widgets to the aforesaid panel. The effect feels overmuch much streamlined; I don’t person to dedicate a full sheet to a timer; I tin conscionable adhd it arsenic a smaller widget connected a surface with upwind info and my calendar.

And arsenic overmuch arsenic I loved the playfulness of Motorola’s screen surface treatment, Samsung’s widgets are much reliable. Specifically, the Spotify sheet connected the Razr Plus screen surface often needs to refresh earlier it’ll really work. The Spotify controls connected the Z Flip 6 enactment flawlessly. Fun lone goes truthful far.

Still, Motorola’s method for approving apps to tally connected the screen surface is overmuch amended than Samsung’s. Out of the box, Samsung volition lone let you to tally a fistful of afloat apps connected the tiny screen. To adhd immoderate others, you request to spell done a convoluted process: downloading Good Lock and different module from the Galaxy Store and past adding a launcher arsenic a screen surface widget. Motorola doesn’t necessitate immoderate of that futzing about.

This is worthy complaining astir due to the fact that I inactive deliberation that being capable to tally a afloat app connected the outer surface is 1 of the champion things astir a folding phone. Is it an perfect acquisition opening Strava connected a tiny square? No! But I tin tap, like, 2 things to commencement signaling a motorcycle thrust without having to travel face-to-face with everything other connected my phone. It’s glorious.

Typing retired messages connected the tiny screen’s keyboard is inactive a small ridiculous, but it’s different diagnostic I admit astir a flip telephone adjacent if it is an objectively worse idiosyncratic experience. It’s cleanable for erstwhile I’m successful the mediate of thing and privation to nonstop a abbreviated effect to a text. As an alternate to tapping connected those tiny keys, Samsung uses AI to suggest immoderate responses based connected erstwhile messages successful your thread. Like a batch of generative AI, the responses look almost mean but are ne'er rather right.

This is the portion of the reappraisal wherever I’d usually archer you astir a batch of different stuff, similar show and show quality, but you cognize what? It’s each fine. It’s 2024, and it’s hard to bargain a atrocious telephone astatine the flagship level. The interior screen? Fine. The crease is inactive there, but you don’t truly spot it erstwhile you’re looking astatine the telephone straight-on, and it ne'er bothered maine much. Processing speed? Connectivity? Mouthfeel? Kidding astir that past one. But they’re each fine. 

Even artillery beingness is fine, which is an accomplishment compared to the flip phones of conscionable a fewer years ago. The Z Flip 6 volition negociate a afloat time of dense use, but you’ll beryllium cruising down to the azygous digits by bedtime. There are tons of different $1,000 phones with amended artillery life, starting with Samsung’s ain Galaxy S24 Plus. If top-notch artillery beingness is simply a priority, past a flip telephone whitethorn not beryllium for you.

Getting soil successful your crease volition truly ruin your time — and the aforesaid goes for a folding phone. The Flip 6 comes with an IP48 rating, meaning it’s afloat h2o resistant but lord assistance you if that hinge sucks up a atom of sand. That “4” looks a batch amended than the Razr Plus’ nonexistent particulate rating, but it conscionable means the telephone is protected against overseas objects bigger than 1mm. That said, I’ve been beauteous unsmooth with my Z Flip 6 reappraisal portion implicit the past week. It’s survived being thrown into the bottommost of immoderate dusty bags, but I can’t accidental however good it would basal up to years of that benignant of abuse.

Flip telephone cameras are inactive catching up to slab phones, too. This year, Samsung has addressed that by upgrading the Z Flip 6 to a 50-megapixel main camera sensor. Image prime looks astir arsenic bully arsenic immoderate flagship phone, though there’s nary telephoto lens if you privation to get person to your taxable — conscionable integer zoom and a secondary ultrawide camera. Motorola went the other absorption with the Razr Plus, trading its ultrawide for a 2x tele lens. That’s a bully determination successful mentation if you similar shooting portraits much than sweeping landscapes, but Motorola’s wide representation processing isn’t arsenic bully arsenic Samsung’s. Samsung phones truly bash instrumentality the champion representation photos, and the Z Flip 6 is nary exception.

Samsung is moving hard to merchantability the thought that flip phones enactment conscionable arsenic good arsenic immoderate different phone, and didn’t you spot those Olympians taking pictures with one? Don’t you privation that, too? But portion determination are things I emotion astir the Z Flip 6, it’s inactive not a telephone I would urge to conscionable anyone. Day-to-day durability is fine, but however it holds up against particulate successful the agelong tally is inactive unclear. There’s a 12-month warranty connected the Z Flip 6 erstwhile you bargain it from Samsung successful the US, but that doesn’t screen harm caused by particulate exposure.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 makes consciousness if you really privation the benefits of the screen surface — little truthful if you conscionable find the novelty appealing. You tin easy find amended artillery beingness and cameras from a garden-variety slab phone. The Moto Razr Plus is much fun. But if you are sold connected the thought of the flip phone, Samsung’s dilatory and dependable attack is your champion bet.

I find that outer surface incredibly useful, and portion Samsung’s instrumentality connected the UI lacks a small imagination, it works consistently, dissimilar Moto’s. Likewise, Samsung’s way grounds for bundle enactment is excellent: flagship phones get timely updates, and the Z Flip 6 volition support getting OS upgrades for 7 years. Motorola makes a charming flip phone, but it comes with conscionable 4 years of bundle support, and caller OS updates tin beryllium dilatory to arrive. 

Software updates, reliability, and camera processing: not the astir amusive stuff. But successful this case, boring mightiness conscionable beryllium better.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge