The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is missing 5 major features

After being the first company to make great folding phones mainstream, Samsung is facing true competition in the market for the first time. Asian brands like Huawei and Honor trounce Samsung’s current offerings in terms of specs, and OnePlus has the Open as a stateside rival. Put simply, Samsung has a real challenge on its hands, and the company hasn’t been up to snuff so far.

I might have been able to give Samsung a pass if its foldables were best-in-class, but that simply isn’t the case. There was plenty of room for improvements, and Samsung had a real chance to make the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 much more complete offerings. Instead, we’re left with a Galaxy Z Fold 6 that feels like it’s missing these five key features.

1 Faster charging

25W wired charging simply isn’t enough in 2024

I can’t quite figure out how Apple, Google, and Samsung keep getting away with offering extremely slow charging on their most expensive phones. Samsung didn’t improve the charging situation at all on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Wired charging is still limited to just 25W over USB-C, and wireless charging is even slower at 15W.

Meanwhile, OnePlus has offered significantly faster charging for years; for example, the OnePlus Open supports 67W wired fast charging. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 simply can’t keep up by comparison, and it’s past time Samsung gave users truly fast charging on its $1,900 foldable.

2 Powerful multitasking features

Open Canvas is still the best way to multitask on a foldable

You’ll notice a theme here, and it’s that the 2023 OnePlus Open is still a superior foldable to the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Samsung had plenty of time to try and replicate — or beat — the Open’s top features, like Open Canvas, a clever way of multitasking that lets you use open apps at the same time. You can swipe between them to change which apps are on the Open’s main screen, while the other apps are slightly hidden off the screen.

By comparison, multitasking on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is more restricted, and definitely not as fluid. Open Canvas is clearly the industry standard in mobile multitasking, and yet Samsung didn’t even try to compete with it. That’s a real shame.

3 Anti-glare screens

Samsung should’ve taken inspiration from its own Galaxy S24 Ultra

One of my favorite Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra features is its anti-reflective Gorilla Armor display. It makes the display much easier to see outdoors, especially in tough lighting conditions. The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s cover screen should have anti-glare Gorilla Armor, but it doesn’t; it’s unfortunate that Samsung’s most expensive phone still doesn’t get all the company’s newest features.

While we’re at it, Samsung could’ve taken some more inspiration from the OnePlus Open and added an anti-glare layer to the main screen. It doesn’t matter how good the Galaxy Z Fold 6 screen looks if you can’t see it when the sun’s out.

4 Qi2 wireless charging support

This is the phone that should’ve ushered in Qi2 on Android

Samsung already supports 15W wireless charging on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which is the exact same as the new Qi2 specification. However, the bigger deal with Qi2 is the bundling of the Magnetic Power Profile. Essentially, it’s the official MagSafe for Android.

Adding Qi2 support to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 would’ve opened the door to a vast MagSafe accessory ecosystem, including things like stands, cases, wallets, chargers, and more. This is more egregious due to the fact that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a nearly $2,000 smartphone that won’t be upgraded as often as a typical flagship. People who buy the Galaxy Z Fold 6 may be without Qi2 for years.

5 Better cameras

There’s no justification for the lack of upgrades here

Samsung refuses to make the Galaxy Z Fold 6 on par with its traditional flagships, and this is evident in the folding phone’s camera system.

The main 50MP sensor on the back is completely unchanged from the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and that phone had the same main camera as the Galaxy Z Fold 4. In fact, the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s camera system wasn’t even Samsung’s best when it first launched years ago. The only hardware difference between the Galaxy Z Fold 6 camera and the Galaxy Z Fold 5 camera is a new ultrawide sensor, although both of those are 12MP.

Even though Galaxy Z Fold 6 buyers are spending quite a bit on the new phone, they’re getting the same main camera as the $800 Galaxy S24. The lack of camera updates here may be the worst omission, and it’s why I refuse to upgrade from my Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 worth buying without these improvements?

If you’re a fan of Samsung’s One UI software and its growing device ecosystem, it might still be worth picking up a Galaxy Z Fold 6.

However, those that want the absolute best foldable experience should look elsewhere. The OnePlus Open is still better than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in many ways, and it remains the most well-rounded foldable you can buy in North America. While the Pixel Fold was a raw first-generation device, it still has an appealing passport-style aspect ratio — and the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold could be even more competitive.

By comparison, especially without these 5 basic improvements, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 makes for another disappointing generation of Samsung foldables.