Samsung Z Flip 6: Still beautiful, more usable

Samsung’s flippable phone, the Z Flip, has been the quintessential compact little beauty. With its vibrant colours, now even better in matte finishes, and trendy cases, it’s been an option for those who dislike carting around enormous smartphones. That said, if one is a power user and involved in that device at all waking hours, the Z Flip is probably better as a second phone or making away for the larger Z Fold. This trend-setting take on a clamshell phone, in version 6 is nevertheless evolving into a more useful, powerful and enjoyable gadget.

Z Flip 6 doesn’t look different from the Flip 5 that still happens to be around for over ₹1 lakh. The Z Flip 6 costs ₹109,999 for the 256GB storage model, or ₹121,999 for the 512GB. There are schemes to explore as well.

The Z Flip 6 comes in a simple slim box - with no charger. That’s an extra. It sets up like any Samsung phone except the user must get into the settings to select and use the widgets that will be accessible on the cover screen as well as explore the special and advanced features available. This is also one of Samsung’s AI centric phones, so get into the Galaxy AI settings and enable the ones you want to use - such as Circle to Search. One can also run a few apps including video games on the cover screen.

The 3.4-inch cover screen now allows more widgets, set small or large, and one can swipe though them to get to something quickly without opening up or unfolding the device. There are also more wallpapers to make the already gorgeous device look even better and more personal. The cover screen is also brighter (2300 nits) than before but this smaller screen will always be limited by the fact that it can’t have a full keyboard, opening it up to just any app, which also has to be optimised for the screen size as well.

Unfolding the Z Flip 6 barely shows a crease between the two halves on a 6.7-inch screen. In this mode, the phone is supposed to be like an ordinary Android phone. The keyboard on this screen is less cramped, though it doesn’t match up to a regular phone. One can make things easier by choosing and using the swipe method of inputting text.

Needless to say, the Qualcomm chip on this and the Z Fold 6 have been moved up to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with either 256GB or 512GB storage on board. The upgraded chip is meant to tackle all the AI tasks that Samsung is pushing. Software is Samsung’s OneUI 6 on top of Android 14 with a startling 7 years of updates promised. The battery is now a larger capacity 4,000mAh which gives about a day of usage.

The device is now IP48 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min) and has an enhanced armour aluminium frame with tougher drop and scratch resistance.

The Z Flip 6’s main camera is now improved to be on a par with the Galaxy S24 Plus. The device has a 50-megapixel main camera and a 12MP wide-angle camera, a big upgrade over the Z Flip 5’s cameras. There’s optical image stabilisation and a 2x zoom. Images are much more natural and less deliberately sharpened although sometimes they do look overly sharp. Colours are more true to life with a better dynamic range and handling of shadows and highlights. The cameras can record at 4K. The real fun part of Flip 6’s camera set up is the creative angles and shooting methods possible because of the folding screen when it is in ‘flex’ mode.

The Z Flip 6 is an option to consider for users who want the convenience of a full screen for certain tasks but also want a device that’s compact and easy to hold.