Samsung Galaxy Fold 6 hands-on review: bigger screens and lighter design for $100 more
Samsung listened to our review feedback – the screens are now wider. But you still won't be able to slot the S Pen inside the Fold 6.
Pros
✅ 📐 Bigger, brighter and more comfortable-to-use screens
✅ 🪶 Noticeably lighter by 6%, yet feels stronger than ever
✅ 🤖 AI features like Live Translate work with 3rd-party apps
✅ 🎨 Great new colors, from Pink to a carbon-black-like color
✅ ⚙️ Fast Qualcomm chipset and some dust resistance
Cons
❌ 💰 It’s $100 more than last year’s Galaxy Fold 5
❌ 🖋️ You still can’t insert the S Pen inside the phone
❌ 📸 Cameras haven’t changed
❌ 🆚 Samsung has new foldable rivals like the OnePlus Open
Why trust my hands-on review
I’ve spent nearly two hours with the new Galaxy Fold 6, Flip 6, Samsung Galaxy Ring, and Buds 3 Pro, and I have reviewed and tested every foldable smartphone, either on The Shortcut or previously on TechRadar.
A year before I got to test the new Samsung Galaxy Fold 6, I was invited to see some of Samsung’s foldable prototypes at its labs in South Korea. They had experimented with wider screens, something I’ve wanted since my Fold 1 review on TechRadar. I’ve enjoyed owning a smaller, more grippable phone again, but the folded front “Cover Display” was almost too thin to use comfortably.
Well, the Samsung Galaxy Fold 6 is here to fulfill that promise with slightly larger and brighter screens. The displays are not as wide as the Passport-sized Google Pixel Fold, which went to an extreme. It’s closer in shape to the OnePlus Open – a bit less skinny and, therefore, easier to use, especially with the wider Cover Display. Samsung listened to our feedback.
The Fold 6 is also noticeably lighter by 14g. That perk, combined with the zero-gap hinge that launched with the Fold 5, makes the idea of foldable phones feel so much more realistic. We’ve come so far since the Fold 1 oopsie launch and relaunch.
Samsung still has a way to go, though. While Samsung did put the Fold 6 on a diet, it didn’t find a way to slot the S Pen inside the phone body, as seen in my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review. You’ll still need to opt for that Slim S Pen case.
The camera specs haven’t changed year-over-year, but in my full review I’ll see if software tweaks have improved or having Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset makes a difference. I did get to test out new AI features like a fun sketch mode that uses generative AI.
Here’s the kicker: both the Samsung Galaxy Fold 6 and Flip 6 are $100 more than the launch price of their predecessors. It’s likely the most convenient time for Samsung to change its pricing: the Fold screens did get bigger and everything is going up in price (maybe even the iPhone 16). But you’ll want to take advantage of Samsung’s trade-in offers and $50 instant credit – and maybe wait for my full review next week.
📐 Bigger is better. The screens – 7.6-inch (same as before) and 6.3-inch (up from 6.2) – haven’t changed much, but the shape has made them wider. This makes both the inside tablet-like display and the outside folded Cover Display much easier to use. Is it worth $100 more than the Fold 5 launch price YoY? Well, I don’t think I ever want to go back to the higher Fold 5, let’s just say that.
🛡️ Strong hinge returns. In my nearly two hours with the new Fold 6, I tested out the dual-rail hinge design (which made its debut on the Fold 5). We’ve really come a long way since the Fold 1 and, outside of dust (with a rating of IP48), I feel more confident than ever buying a foldable in 2024.
🤏 Gapless design. This is Samsung at its peak. It fixed the weird gap that was in Folds 1 through 4, and now it is closed flat. If you’re on the Fold 3 or older, you’ll really enjoy the design of the Fold 6.
🚫 No, there’s no microSD card slot. Please stop asking me this! I get 50 people asking me this every six months about Samsung phones. Sadly, microSD card slots – a feature of the Note phones – are no longer a thing in flagship phones.
💡 Brighter screen bump. I was able to max out the Fold 6's peak brightness, which matters on hot sunny days in NYC. This phone can reach 2,600 nits (up from 1,750 nits on the Fold 5)
🙅♂️ Still no S Pen slot. The most frequent question I get from subscribers right before a Fold launch is, “Will Samsung allow me to insert an S Pen.” The answer is still no for now. With the Fold 5 and now Fold 6, Samsung went for thinness over stylus functionality. Luckily, the Slim S Pen case is a likable solution to the matter.
🤖 Great AI features. Samsung’s Galaxy AI features are actually worth writing about (unlike those in my Rabbit R1 review). The ability to voice record, live transcribe and summarize and translate is a godsend. Of course, these features are now available on the Fold 5 and other Samsung phones, so that may not be new to you unless you’re upgrading from much older phones.
🧑🎨 AI Sketch Mode. There’s a new sketch mode that transforms images. I was able to add objects like a hat to a selfie using generative and an awful simple sketch. After a couple of tries (having the S Pen helped), Galaxy AI turned my sketch into a well-rendered cowboy hat. Microsoft’s CoPilot+ PCs can do something similar.
🎨 Big fan of the colors this year. I often complain when ‘Pro’ phones have only drab or muted colors. Boring! Both Apple and Samsung are usually guilty of this. This year, Samsung gave us a pale pink and navy color “Silver Shadow.”
😮 Two Samsung exclusive colors. White and Crafted Black may be my favorites in the end. Crafted Black as a pattern that makes the phone look like it’s outfitted in Carbon Fiber (it’s still glass for technical reasons). Very cool.
📸 Same 50MP camera, new look. The rear camera specs haven’t changed – still 50MP main, 10MP telephoto, 12MP ultra-wide. But I dig the textured outline of the almost-flush camera housing and I’m willing to bet AI and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip will offer better photo post-processing in the Fold 6. Full review soon.
🤳 Selfie samesies. The 10MP selfie camera on the Cover Display and the 4MP under-display camera also haven’t changed in terms of specs. Again, this is something I’ll need more time to test in full to see if there are any YoY differences. However, I still dig being “selfies” with the rear-facing cameras or preview the framing of shots on the Cover Display when someone else is snapping a picture.
🤕 Lots of cases – which you’ll need. At almost $2,000 for the phone, your Galaxy Z Fold 6 deserves a case. There are a lot of options here. My favorite is the Slim S Pen case that can hold a thin S Pen (the first four options in the above photo).