Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: Minor upgrades, major impact

Keep calm and carry on. That has been Samsung's mantra for its foldable phones. It keeps chugging along and releasing new iterations every year, unburdened by what the competition is doing in the foldable space. The latest representation of this attitude is the Galaxy Z Fold 6, unveiled today at Samsung's Unpacked event in Paris, France.

This is the 6th generation of Samsung's flagship foldable phone. Things have settled down a bit, Samsung appears to have found a winning formula that it refines every year, and that's what it has done this year as well. There are a few notable changes that stood out during our Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on at Unpacked, and some welcome design improvements, that make it an undeniably well-rounded foldable phone.

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Refinements galore for Samsung's top-of-the-line foldable

It's great to see that Samsung has incorporated feedback regarding the cover display, making it 1.4mm shorter and 1mm wider compared to the outgoing model. This should help with some of the finger acrobatics involved when using the device. The design also looks a bit more sharper and the Armor Aluminum frame compliments it very well. Some of the new color options really make the design pop and that's great to see.

The weight reduction is another welcome change as the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 14g lighter compared to the previous model. Samsung has also used a new hinge system that feels more rigid, only added to our confidence in this device's durability. On the subject of durability, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 now has an IP48 rating, meaning that it has dust resistance capability as well.

Expect top-notch stuff in all departments including the display, which now peaks out at 2,600 nits brightness for the outer panel, and the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy under the hood paired with 12GB of RAM with up to 1TB of storage. This is a bona fide flagship phone with the performance to match. It runs Android 14 out of the box with One UI 6.1.1 and boasts a handful of improved Galaxy AI features.

Wait for our full Galaxy Z Fold 6 review to learn more about its camera capabilities, but our initial assessment of the setup is that it's good enough. It's worth nothing that the ultra-wide camera can finally shoot in 4K 60fps, but we dislike the fact that it's still not possible to switch between the rear cameras when shooting continuously in 4K 60fps.

The detailed Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on video below provides more insights from our first look at the flagship foldable. You can pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 6 starting today with the release slated for July 24. Prices start at $1,899.