Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Overview: A Sensible Flip Cellphone

Look, enjoyable is enjoyable, however typically it is higher to be bored.

A nostalgia-infused flip telephone that is available in vivid colours and allows you to run apps on the outer display? With engaging wallpapers and playful UI touches? It is enjoyable. It is also no Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. However whereas I actually loved utilizing it, Motorola Razr Plus — enjoyable flip telephone – reliability wins in the long run.

Samsung’s newest flip-style foldable telephone is a slight improve from final 12 months’s mannequin. It prices $1,099, which is 100 {dollars} greater than final 12 months, but in addition proper round what flagship telephones price as of late. The internal and outer screens get just a little brighter in direct daylight, there is a barely bigger battery, and there is an improved predominant digital camera, plus Qualcomm’s newest chipset, naturally.

That paragraph may describe any variety of new Android telephones this 12 months. And within the case of the Z Flip 6, it’s truly a superb indicator of how far Samsung’s flip telephone has come. Final 12 months’s improve from a small outer display to the present 3.4-inch OLED took the Flip collection from “properly, that’s cool” to “okay, that’s okay.” It’s a far cry from Samsung’s earliest efforts.

However the Z Flip 6 would not fairly obtain parity with flat telephones; it is actually not probably the most enjoyable flip telephone. Positive, it is the most effective Samsung flip telephone – I want it could borrow a number of concepts from its opponents.

If I’d by no means picked up a Motorola Razr Plus, I’d assume the Z Flip 6’s outer display was fairly rattling good. However the Razr’s bigger, higher-resolution display fully covers the cutouts for the lenses and flash. The Flip 6’s cowl display, which sits far-off from all that space, feels heavy and cramped by comparability.

And do not get too hung up on it. wallpaper, however Samsung’s greatest concept for a brand new wallpaper for the outer display is… a donut that bounces when your telephone strikes? There’s a lot extra you are able to do with that! The Moto wallpaper is colourful and crowd pleasing, there is a cute participant that spins once you play audio, and I swear one of many background choices is blurp. The Z Flip 6 comes with a real always-on show this time round, nevertheless it lacks the sense of enjoyable I might count on from a flip telephone. Motorola has a mode that turns the complete telephone right into a retro flip telephoneFor Pete’s sake, let’s stay just a little.

Flip 6’s cowl display is a bit more customizable than final 12 months’s, which restricted you to swiping by way of a bunch of full-screen widgets. It now appears extra like a conventional dwelling display. You possibly can nonetheless select a full-screen widget, or add a number of smaller widgets to the identical panel. The end result feels rather more streamlined; I don’t must dedicate a complete panel to a timer; I can simply add it as a smaller widget to a display with climate data and my calendar.

And as a lot as I prefer it Motorola’s playful display designSamsung’s widgets are extra dependable. Specifically, the Spotify panel on the Razr Plus cowl display typically wants refreshing earlier than it really works. The Spotify controls on the Z Flip 6 work flawlessly. The enjoyable would not go too far.

Nevertheless, Motorola’s technique for approving apps to run on the duvet display is significantly better than Samsung’s. Out of the field, Samsung will solely allow you to run a number of full apps on the small display. So as to add any others, you need to undergo a sophisticated course of: obtain Good Lock and one other module from the Galaxy Retailer, then add the launcher as a canopy display widget. Motorola doesn’t require any of that problem.

It’s value complaining about as a result of I nonetheless assume the power to run a full app on the outer display is without doubt one of the greatest issues a couple of foldable telephone. Is it an ideal expertise to have Strava open on just a little sq.? No! However I can faucet two issues to start out recording a motorbike trip, for instance, with out having to face all the things else on my telephone. It’s nice.

Typing messages on a small-screen keyboard nonetheless feels just a little awkward, nevertheless it’s one other function I respect a couple of flip telephone, even when it’s objectively the worst consumer expertise. It’s excellent for after I’m in the midst of one thing and wish to ship a fast reply to a textual content. As an alternative choice to tapping these tiny keys, Samsung makes use of AI to recommend some replies primarily based on earlier messages in your thread. Like many generative AIs, the replies appear nearly regular, however by no means fully right.

That is the a part of the evaluation the place I often speak about plenty of different issues, like efficiency and show high quality, however what? It’s all good. It’s 2024, and it’s onerous to purchase a foul flagship-level telephone. The inner display? Nice. The crease remains to be there, however you may’t actually see it once you have a look at the telephone straight on, and it’s by no means bothered me. Processing velocity? Connectivity? Mouth really feel? Simply kidding about that final one. However they’re all good.

Even the battery life is sweet, which is an enchancment over flip telephones from only a few years in the past. The Z Flip 6 will final a full day of heavy use, however by the point you go to mattress, you will be right down to single digits. There are many different $1,000 telephones with higher battery life, beginning with the Samsung Galaxy S24 PlusIf most battery life is your precedence, a flip telephone might not be for you.

Getting sand within the fold will actually break your day – and the identical goes for a foldable telephone. The Flip 6 has an IP48 ranking, which suggests it’s fully waterproof, however God forbid you get a grain of sand in that hinge. That “4” sounds rather a lot higher than the Razr Plus’s nonexistent mud ranking, nevertheless it simply means the telephone is protected against overseas objects bigger than 1mm. That mentioned, I used to be fairly tough with my Z Flip 6 evaluation unit final week. It survived being dropped within the backside of some dusty luggage, however I can’t say how properly it’ll maintain as much as years of that form of abuse.

Flip-phone cameras are nonetheless catching up with flip telephones, too. Samsung addressed that difficulty this 12 months by upgrading the Z Flip 6 to a 50-megapixel predominant digital camera sensor. Picture high quality appears about pretty much as good as any flagship telephone, although there’s no telephoto lens if you wish to get near your topic — simply digital zoom and a secondary ultra-wide digital camera. Motorola went in the wrong way with the Razr Plus, buying and selling its ultra-wide lens for a 2x telephoto lens. That’s a superb transfer in principle in case you’re extra into portraits than sweeping landscapes, however Motorola’s total picture processing isn’t pretty much as good as Samsung’s. Samsung telephones do take higher portrait images, and the Z Flip 6 isn’t any exception.

Samsung is working onerous to promote the concept flip telephones work simply in addition to some other telephone, and Have not you seen these Olympians taking footage with one in all them?? Don’t you need the identical factor? However whereas I just like the Z Flip 6, it’s nonetheless not a telephone I’d advocate to anybody. On a regular basis sturdiness is sweet, however the way it holds as much as mud in the long term is unclear. The Z Flip 6 comes with a 12-month guarantee when bought from Samsung within the U.S., nevertheless it doesn’t cowl injury attributable to mud.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is sensible in case you Actually need the advantages of an exterior display — much less so in case you simply discover the novelty interesting. You possibly can simply discover higher battery life and digital camera efficiency in a daily flat telephone. The Moto Razr Plus is extra enjoyable. However in case you imagine within the concept of ​​a flip telephone, Samsung’s gradual and regular strategy is your greatest wager.

I discover that exterior display extremely helpful, and whereas Samsung lacks a little bit of creativeness with the UI, it really works reliably, in contrast to Moto. Likewise, Samsung’s observe file for software program assist is superb: flagship telephones get well timed updates, and the Z Flip 6 will proceed to obtain OS updates for seven years. Motorola makes a captivating flip telephone, nevertheless it solely comes with 4 years of software program assist, and new OS updates may be gradual to reach.

Software program updates, reliability, and digital camera processing: not probably the most enjoyable issues. However on this case, boring may be higher.

Picture by Allison Johnson/The Verge