Galaxy Z Fold6: a lifestyle of its own, in a long-term review

The Galaxy Z Fold6 is Samsung’s sixth generation of foldables. At first glance, the new features are limited, but you only think that until you hold the device in your hands. Samsung is certainly not at the end of the evolution with it, and there is still room for improvement. Even so, the Z Fold6 is one of the best foldables on the market, and anyone who chooses it is choosing a lifestyle of their own.

Smartphone and tablet in one

When you pull the Z Fold6 out of your pocket, you spark curiosity. You often only understand the benefit of a smartphone that you can unfold into a tablet once you have had it in your hand. I spent five days in New York with it. Folded, it was my normal smartphone for writing, calling and taking photos. Unfolded, it was an e-reader and entertainment device for the long trip and, above all, the best travel guide: Google Maps on the 7.6-inch inner display is a game changer for orientation and navigation.

Weight, form and keyboard

The Z Fold6 is 14 g lighter than its predecessor. That sounds like little, but you notice it the longer you hold it. You can see how often I had it in my hand from the outer display: I recommend a screen protector to everyone if you don’t want your device to quickly look like mine. Thanks to the flatter edges, it sits better in the hand and looks more modern and futuristic.

I would have liked a bigger upgrade in form factor. The device has only gotten a few millimeters wider. Typing on the outer keyboard is a bit more relaxed, but it remains extremely narrow, and with fat sausage fingers you quickly hit limits. On the inside, on the other hand, there is an extremely wide keyboard. Once you have gotten used to the narrow one, fast, routine typing on the wide one is out of the question, and vice versa. My brain has to switch gears every time I type, and I don’t want that.

Performance and Galaxy AI

This thrilled me enormously: the performance is clearly noticeably better. The Z Fold5 was already fast for its generation, but the Z Fold6 comes out a year later, with more powerful processors and software optimized for them. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy does a great job and, with a special NPU, is optimized above all for Galaxy AI.

The AI features are impressive. What I find really useful is the translator, which translates phone calls and in-person conversations in real time, sometimes more accurately, sometimes less. When traveling, that is more than handy in your pocket, especially when the person you’re talking to can read along on the outer display. The extended photo editing works surprisingly well, but for me the possible uses are rather limited.

Camera

In New York, the camera was in constant use, and it is really good. Day or night: even when you just point and shoot, the photos come out sharp. The triple camera with 50, 12 and 10 megapixels is responsible for that, along with the AI, which visibly post-processes the images, always for the better in my view.

Battery: the limit

If you take photos and videos all day and use the large inner display for navigation, you quickly hit a limit. With 4,400 mAh for two displays and the powerful processor, the battery isn’t big enough, even if it is supposed to be more energy efficient. To be fair, you have to distinguish:

• 12 hours in New York: on mobile data, with walking, Google Maps, videos and photos. After about 7 hours of constant use, the battery was at 10% and had to be topped up.
• At home or in the office: on Wi-Fi with a bit of email, WhatsApp, browsing and YouTube. I get through the whole day just fine and mostly through the next morning as well.

You still have to choose between a big battery and a light, slim smartphone. I wish for more battery, but without a thicker and heavier device there is no solution for that yet. I would also like to be able to store the S Pen directly in the body, but without a thicker frame that unfortunately isn’t possible.

The Samsung ecosystem

In my view, the Samsung ecosystem gives the Galaxy Z Fold6 something decisive over other foldables: a mature, reliable interface and devices ranging from robot vacuum cleaners to smart rings that communicate seamlessly with one another. You move between smartphone, tablet and TV as if you only had to turn around.

Verdict

This is how the Z Fold6 accompanies me in everyday life: unfold it in a café and keep working, fold it shut and take it along for sports, navigate to the restaurant on the big display, take photos and videos on the side that are easy to edit on the inside, chat with the waiter using the translator, check email and let it disappear into my pocket. That replaces an extra computer and a tablet. It is a lifestyle that adapts to us and not the other way around. Whether the Z Fold6 is better than the Z Fold5, the video leaves open.