The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a great phone that’s out of ideas

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is similar staying successful a truly fancy Airbnb.

It’s objectively luxurious: spacious and with each amenity you could deliberation of. But it’s a small impractical, and you ne'er consciousness rather arsenic astatine easiness arsenic you bash successful your ain home. Not to mention, determination mightiness beryllium existent consequences to tracking ungraded successful the incorrect places. Home isn’t arsenic good appointed, but it’s comfortable, and by the clip you cheque out, you’re acceptable for that suspiration of relief.

With overmuch higher prices than a slab telephone and delicate moving parts to protect, book-style foldables similar the Fold 6 are much oregon little luxury items. A telephone that folds successful fractional is simply a small technological marvel that cipher perfectly needs. But adjacent successful this rarified space, Samsung’s doesn’t consciousness arsenic casual to cozy up to arsenic the competition’s. With past year’s instauration of the Google Pixel Fold and OnePlus Open, fans of foldables (in the US, astatine least, wherever we person less options) got a glimpse of a much acquainted format, with a wider outer surface — the 1 you usage a 100 times a day.

Samsung is genuinely coasting connected its four-year pb here. The Z Fold 6 offers specified insignificant upgrades implicit the 5 that the differences are measured successful millimeters: a somewhat wider screen surface and a somewhat slimmer profile. The phone’s flatness has been improved. There’s a caller ultrawide camera. And of course, each the AI you tin shingle an S Pen at, to the tune of $1,899 — $100 much than the Z Fold 5. 

I don’t deliberation we tin support waiting for the Z Fold to germinate into thing meaningfully different; Samsung seems to deliberation this is its last signifier and volition conscionable support polishing the edges each year. And the Fold 6 is an awesome gadget indeed, but I can’t rather get comfy with it.

The Z Fold 6’s outer surface measures 6.3 inches connected the diagonal, up from 6.2 inches connected past year’s exemplary acknowledgment to a fewer much millimeters successful width. I tin admit the quality looking astatine the 2 phones broadside by side, but successful practice, the quality is truthful tiny that it doesn’t bash overmuch to alteration the acquisition of utilizing the screen screen. This is inactive a tall, skinny surface compared to your garden-variety slab-style telephone oregon adjacent the outer surface connected the Pixel and OnePlus foldables. I deliberation plentifulness of radical tin get utilized to the outer screen’s antithetic dimensions without a problem, but adjacent aft a week of use, the keyboard inactive feels a small excessively squished each clip I usage it. Your mileage whitethorn vary, etc. etc.

The Z Fold 6 besides shaves disconnected a small value compared to the Fold 5 — down to 239 grams from 253. It’s a hairsbreadth thinner, too, measuring 12.1mm heavy erstwhile folded compared to 13.4mm. That’s each good and good, but the world is that the Z Fold 6 is inactive a chunk erstwhile it’s folded successful half. It’s lone 7 grams heavier than Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the mode that value is distributed makes the Z Fold 6 little comfy to usage successful 1 hand, and it definitely makes the telephone look anserine arsenic hellhole successful the broadside pouch of my yoga pants.

The edges closest to the hinge are besides much squared disconnected than the ones connected the Z Fold 5. They’re pointy capable to jab maine successful the ribs if the telephone is successful the pouch of my joggers and I crouch down. This truly isn’t a telephone you privation to transportation successful immoderate sound pockets, arsenic I’ve learned. Oh, and that improved flatness? The Fold does unfold to laic astir flush erstwhile it’s screen-side down connected a level surface. But it inactive rocks backmost and distant connected the camera bump erstwhile you usage it afloat unfastened connected a table, which you’re overmuch much apt to do.

The Z Fold 6’s main attraction, the 7.6-inch interior screen, is conscionable arsenic awesome arsenic ever. The crease looks astir the aforesaid — it disappears erstwhile looking astatine the show straight-on, but you’ll spot it from an angle. In agleam light, it volition scope up to 2,600 nits, which makes it comfy to usage outside, but that’s besides erstwhile I noticed the crease more.

Still, I’ll ne'er not beryllium amazed that I tin unfastened this telephone up and easy tally 2 apps broadside by side. This was highly adjuvant portion readying a motorcycle thrust successful Komoot portion cross-referencing Strava’s vigor representation since I americium excessively inexpensive to wage for a premium relationship connected either service.

I privation it was amended suited for video conferencing. The laptop-style, partially unfolded configuration lends itself to hands-free video calls, which is nice. But the interior selfie camera is lone positioned astir halfway up the near broadside of the surface erstwhile you usage it similar this. It’s an awkward and profoundly unflattering angle. Plus the constrictive dimensions of the surface marque for a cramped acquisition erstwhile it’s folded similar that. 

For much originative pursuits, the interior surface serves arsenic a ample canvas for Samsung’s astir chaotic caller AI feature: sketch to image. There’s nary prompting required — each you request to bash is gully a unsmooth sketch (and my sketches are very rough) of thing you privation to adhd to a photo, and AI volition crook it into a photorealistic summation to your image. The results are often ridiculous and sometimes amazingly believable. I situation you to effort it retired astatine Best Buy oregon immoderate and not person astatine slightest a little fun with it. 

The remainder of Samsung’s AI features — some connected the Z Fold 6 and the remainder of Samsung’s flagship devices — stay a mixed container of enactment tricks. Like Apple, Samsung promises that the precise champion stuff, similar context-aware assistance from its virtual assistant, is coming later. (Are you there, Bixby? It’s me, Allison.) Galaxy AI, similar each AI connected phones, remains unproven. But the Z Fold 6 comes with thing amended than AI gimmicks: a precise generous 7 years of OS and information updates. 

Samsung likes to stress the ways that foldables person reached parity with slab phones. That’s fundamentally existent of the Fold’s camera system, which is astatine its champion taking photos of people. And portion I don’t hold that the screen surface feels arsenic casual to usage arsenic a accepted smartphone, it does look that the Fold 6’s artillery beingness is conscionable arsenic beardown arsenic the champion slab phones. I tested the telephone with the always-on show enabled afloat clip and enactment it done the wringer connected a mates of agelong motorcycle rides utilizing GPS and streaming music. Even so, I usually had astatine slightest 50 percent near astatine the extremity of the day. 

But the Z Fold 6 inactive falls abbreviated of slab phones successful 1 important way: durability. Samsung made immoderate tweaks to the materials and the hinge mechanics to amended extortion against drops, and it remains afloat h2o resistant, but particulate is inactive the force of a folding phone. For a constricted time, customers who bargain the telephone straight from Samsung volition get 1 escaped surface repair and 1 surface protector replacement wrong 2 years of purchase, but that doesn’t animate large assurance successful semipermanent durability. 

Don’t get maine wrong. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an astonishing gadget. The Fold has won a faithful pursuing — and rightfully so. Multitasking connected the large surface is effortless, physique prime is arsenic bully arsenic foldables get, and the artillery reliably lasts a time oregon more. Heck, you tin plug the full dang happening into a display and usage it similar a computer.

Samsung pioneered the foldable phone, but present it’s stubbornly iterating connected that archetypal conception — and it feels similar the clip for iteration is over. The institution seems committed to its existent agelong and constrictive template alternatively than adopting a wider format. Personally, I deliberation the OnePlus Open is the perfect foldable design, and it’s astir halfway betwixt the gangly and skinny Z Fold 6 and the wide and abbreviated Google Pixel Fold. 

Not to mention, this telephone costs astir 2 1000 US dollars! Can’t we inquire for a small much than “improved flatness”? I privation an S Pen included, similar it is for the little costly Galaxy S24 Ultra, and immoderate mode to store it without having to bargain a peculiar lawsuit with a pen slot. Or however about, I dunno, cool modular accessories! A amended video conferencing experience! Free surface protector replacements for everyone! Let’s imagination big, people!

The Z Fold 6 is 1 hellhole of a bully spot to stay, but to maine astatine least, it doesn’t rather consciousness similar home.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge