Well, hello there, my fellow foldable phone fans! Just about now, you’re probably curious about how the new Samsung Z Flip 6 and Z Fod 6 are faring after thei recent unpacking. That’s the new word for launch. Well, I am a flip fan and not so much a fold fan, but more about that later.
First, both the Z Flip 6 and Z Flip 5 feature a 426 ppi 6.7-inch main display 426 and a 306 ppi 3.4 inches front display. However, the the new Z Flip 6 is supposed to be over twice as bright with its displays. Under the hood, the Z Flip 6 is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, while the Z Flip 5 runs on the same chip’s Gen 2. The Z Flip 6 also gets a memory boost to 12GB of RAM compared to the Z Flip 5’s 8GB. The batter is slightly more powerful on the Z Flip 6, and coupled with the better processor, it should be, in theory, more efficient on power.
The Z Flip 6 comes with Android 14 out of the box, while the Z Flip 5 ships with Android 13 and One UI 5.1.1. Price-wise, the Z Flip 6 is slightly more expensive at $1,099 compared to the Z Flip 5’s $999, but the upgrades could be worth it. I say that but I wish they hadn’t changed the price. Progress should have meant a drop in price on the Z Flip 5 but you don’t get great deals on these devices, at least not from Samsung.
Now, let’s talk about the big boys—the Samsung Z Fold 6 versus the Z Fold 5. If you’re into foldable phones that transform into mini tablets, you are not me. Granted, there is something to be said for the Z Fold 6 7.6 inches of display but, while it makes sens to keep the form factor the same, Samsung may have wanted to go a little bigger an blur the phone/tablet line, give Apple a run for its money. Otherwise, it is just a really big phone, and not a tablet. Kind of feels awkward and slightly indecisive about where it should be.
Fortunately, the front display on the Z Fold 6 is slightly larger at 6.3 inches compared to the Z Fold 5’s 6.19 inches. If you never unfold it, it is a thick phone, but when you put a case around any phone, which one isn’t.
Similar to the Z Flip 6, the Z Fold 6 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, as well, but both the Z Fold 6 and Z Fold 5 come with only 12GB of RAM. Both phones have a 4400 mAh battery, but the Z Fold 6 is more efficient, providing longer usage times. The Z Fold 6 is also lighter and thinner. It has a folded thickness of 12.1mm compared to the Z Fold 5’s 13.4mm and weighs 239g versus 253g. To be honest, these are well within the parameters of a lot of Samsung’s other phones so, the saving grace here is that a foldable can come in at the weight and thinness of what was considered a top of the line phone a few years ago. That’s progress I guess, but still too big for me. The price for the Z Fold 6 is $1,899, the same bit higher than the Z Fold 5’s $1,799, as the Z Flip 6 compared to the Z Flip 5.
Getting flip phones at the quality of Samsung’s Z Flip 6 in the $700 range would be a game changer. That’s how you want to use display technology, shrink up the existing phone, and stop trying to make me pay for something that will just make me look like my grandfather if I pull it out to use. No one under sixty wants to open up their phone like a tablet. Make that forty. I don’t know what age the break is but the future should belong to flip devices.
So, maybe the display makers can focus on getting us to the point where a flip phone is the only choice and you can spread your display usage across the back the front, knowing that most of the time all we are going to do is check the front.
