I occasionally catch myself glancing at mySamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review unitwith a strange kind of envy.
I use it every day.
I like looking at itsbold lines and perfect color palette,but I do not feela sense of attachment.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the best version of the Flip yet, but it’s still not nearly as good as it could be.Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
Its such a striking phone, and its flat, uniform body makes it easy to handle.
Its a shame its so limited; I couldnt imagine it becoming my daily machine.
Part of this is the way the Korean tech giants thinks of its latest phone.
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
Both Samsung andMotorolaare marketing their flip-style foldable phones as accessories.
The latest Razrs are being offered alongside handbag-style cases.
Pros
Cons
This design shrinks your phones footprint in your pocket.
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
More importantly, the minimized screen size helps decrease the time you spend on your phone.
When closed, I use it to quickly check emails, Slack, or Google Maps.
You have to turn on the paltry few apps on the exterior screen through the phones prefs.
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
The Z Fold 6s battery will still last you about a day, but not much more.
Its a good phone and gets close to the promise of clamshells.
But its not there yet.
Left, photo with the Z Flip 5; right, photo with a Z Flip 6. Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
This new phone looks both similar and different than before.
It is a better-feeling phone and better-looking, too.
However, if you go by specs alone, theres very little to distinguish the two.
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
The only display change to come to the latest in the Galaxy Z Flip series is the increased brightness.
Now, the internal display offers 2,600 nits of stated peak brightness compared to the Flip 5s 1750 nits.
The new clamshells crease on the internal screen is far better than that of the Z Flip 5.
Rather than a ravine, it feels more like a short gully.
This is also the first flip foldable with a vapor chamber to keep the equipment cool under pressure.
I could play games, but the crease would still distract me too much to feel worth the hassle.
Nothings changed in the year since.
The big difference now is that this phone shouts AI from every app and service.
I wouldnt say its a snappier phone.
Some pretty important AI features work well.
These kinds of flip phones are a great option for trying out live translation features like Interpreter.
In the opposite direction, it can be spotty.
My French conversation partner needs to speak rather slowly for the phone to pick everything up.
Its a good thing that it still lasts a little longer than the previous Flip.
The new clamshell has a 4,000 mAh battery compared to the 3,7000 mAh of last years.
In our streaming battery tests, the Flip 6 perished after just a little bit over 16 hours.
The Flip 5 lasted about 14 and a half.
In practice, theres not much of a difference between the two.
It now has a 2X optical zoom in addition to last years 10X digital zoom function.
The thing is, Auto Zoom doesnt really work that way.
Its better to take still photos with you and your friends staring at the camera from across the room.
Its a fun diversion, but as with any AI art generator, its not accomplishing more than that.
They are good pictures, though, and I wouldnt feel bad posting any of them on Instagram.
The Flip 6 with 50 MP wont make that much of a difference in your selfies, either.
It also makes the 10 MP selfie camera on the inside of the phone that much more awkward.
The main problem with foldables remains their high price.
Im not complaining that this phone looks as good as it does.
LetApples eventual clamshell foldablebe the big, expensive rig that will raise the age-old complaints about Cupertinos high costs.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
We still need to see it to believe it.
