Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 review: Refined folds

Even though the Fold6 has a slightly larger 4,400-mAh battery cell, it has a lot more screen to power, so my battery experience has been pretty similar. A full day with average use (maybe a little more) or heavy use (i.e. watching a lot of Instagram reels) will probably see the battery needing a recharge by the evening, especially if you use the 7.6-inch screen a lot. I’ve been able to get it to last two days with minimal use. Having the option to extend your screen to the extent you want is also great.

I’ve multitasked with split-screen apps and enjoyed the larger view in some apps that take advantage of the larger screen. There’s still a crease in the middle, but it’s never caused me any problems. It does It annoys me that I have to rotate the phone to landscape view to get the really nice two-pane view in Gmail (where I can see my email list on the left and email content on the right). I know this isn’t Samsung’s fault, but there’s a lot of collaboration between the two companies and I wish this would have been resolved by now.

Other annoyances? I don’t like the side-mounted fingerprint sensor on these phones anymore. I’m used to having an in-display sensor that’s easy to reach with either hand holding the phone, but the capacitive sensor on the side often requires me to switch grips or use my other hand to unlock it. (It’s a minor thing, but hey, we’ve been here for six years!)

The cameras are now very similar to the ones on the Galaxy S24 series and they are pretty great. I rarely had any complaints with the resulting photos, though I wish Samsung offered a longer telephoto zoom camera here like the one on the Galaxy S24 Ultra with 5X optical zoom. Having said that, I to do Like the addition of a camcorder mode on the Flip6 – launch the camera, switch to video mode, and hold the Fold at a 90-degree angle and sideways in your hand as if you were holding a camcorder. I find it easier to film with one hand and access the onscreen controls and get steady footage.

Photo: Julian Chokkattu

Photo: Julian Chokkattu

The number-one camera feature is the same as before: You can see your preview on an external screen on any of these phones, allowing you to take photos of your trip hands-free in front of a subject without handing your phone to a stranger. When I was setting up the Flip6 to snap a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower, a fellow tourist asked if I wanted him to take the photo. I said no thanks; he looked at the Flip6 angled toward me and said, “Wow, is that a flip phone? That’s pretty smart.” Indeed.

It’s a great travel companion, especially with Samsung’s new update to Interpreter Mode. Turn this mode on and you can translate your words into text on the external screen by folding the screen so the other person can see. They can press a button on the external display to start talking, and their translated words will pop up on the internal screen. This works well enough when you’re in optimal noise conditions and people speak relatively clearly, though you still have to go through the awkwardness of explaining how the whole process works.

AI Tax

What’s new in the Fold6 and Flip6 is largely new. Galaxy AISamsung first introduced a wave of artificial intelligence features in the Galaxy S24 series. I rarely needed to use most of them, but some are useful, such as the Voice Recorder app, which does a good job of transcribing audio recordings (though not as quickly as other apps). Google Recorder on Pixel phones) What’s more impressive is that it can also translate those notes into another language.

Photograph: Julian Chokattu via Portrait Studio app