Enter a whole new Galaxy

• 

  Our pick

  Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

  The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is Samsung’s most evolved take yet on the flip-style foldable form factor. Its 3.4-inch AMOLED cover screen supports Galaxy AI features without opening the device, along with upgraded widgets and suggested replies, but its gorgeous 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED folding display will still have you flipping the phone open quite a bit.

  Pros

  • More useful Cover Display
  • Guaranteed 7 years of updates
  • Excellent hardware
  • Slimmer and thinner

• 

  The cheap pick

  Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

  $315 $330 Save $15

  While phones may never be as small as the height of the flip phone era ever again, being about to put a 6.7-inch 1080p screen fully into the front pockets of even the slim pockets of women’s jeans is as close to the miracle as most of us need to come. The battery life may not quite match its slab cousins, but it’s a wonderfully complete foldable that’s both pocket-friendly and reasonably priced.

  Cons

  • Not guaranteed as many updates
  • Smaller cover display is not as useful

To understand a phone, you often need to consider the ones that came before it. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a marginal upgrade over last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 , but a significant upgrade over the Flip 4.

In two years, Samsung has made the Flip slimmer, lighter, and thinner; it revamped the front display experience, upgraded the cameras, and improved battery life. The result is a great smartphone that is an excellent upgrade from the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

If you’re not sure whether to upgrade or have a choice between the two — even though the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is no longer on sale — let’s examine the differences between them.

Price, availability, and specifications

A sizable upgrade

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 started at $999 with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of minimum storage. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 starts $100 higher at $1,099 and comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor, 12GB of RAM, and either 256GB or 512GB of storage.

There’s not a huge price difference between the two, and if you choose to trade in your Galaxy Z Flip 4 for the latest and greatest, Samsung is currently offering up to $550 in trade-in value, bringing the Galaxy Z Flip 6 down to $550.

• 	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
  SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
  Display type	AMOLED (internal and external)	AMOLED, 120Hz (main); AMOLED (cover)
  Display dimensions	6.7″ (main), 3.4″ (cover)	6.7″ (main); 1.9″ (cover)
  Display resolution	2640 x 1080 (main), 720 x 748 (cover)	2640 x 1080 (main); 260 x 512 (cover)
  RAM	12GB	8GB
  Storage	256GB or 512GB	128GB, 256GB, or 512GB
  Battery	4,000mAh	3,700mAh
  Charge speed	25W wired, 15W wireless	25W wired, 10W wireless
  Charge options	Wired or wireless	Wired or wireless
  Operating System	Android 14 with One UI 6.1.1	Android 14 with One UI 6.1.1
  Front camera	10MP, f/2.2	10MP, f/2.4
  Rear camera	50MP, f/1.8 main; 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide	12MP, f/1.8 main; 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide
  Dimensions	85.1 x 71.9 x 14.9mm (folded), 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9mm (unfolded)	84.9 x 71.9 x 17.1mm (folded), 165.2 x 71.9 x 6.9mm (unfolded)
  Weight	187g	187g
  IP Rating	IP48	IPX8
  Colors	Silver Shadow, Blue, Mint, Yellow	Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold, Blue
  Stylus	No	No
  Price	$1,100	Starting at $1,000

Design

Vastly improved in just two years

With each iteration of its foldables, Samsung tweaks its hinge to make its phones slightly thinner, lighter, and more compact. As a result, there is a noticeable difference between the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, with the former having a hinge that folds completely flat with no gap.

While the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is much lighter than its predecessors, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 weighs exactly the same as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, albeit it feels more premium as there’s no gap when folded. Samsung achieved this with a redesigned hinge that anchors the two sides together, and a by-product of this is that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is 2mm thinner than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 in the folded state.

As part of its Z Flip redesign, Samsung flattened out the sides, resulting in a boxier and more premium feel. If you’re upgrading from the Galaxy Z Flip 4, this change will be noticeable, and it does take some getting used to.

One of the biggest criticisms of foldable phones is durability, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 represents a significant improvement over the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Samsung’s latest has an IP48 dust and water resistance rating, whereas the Flip 4 offers IPX8, which is water resistance, but no resistance to dust or fine particles.

IP48 means that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is tested against solid particles larger than 1mm in diameter; there’s still a chance of finer particulars getting stuck in the display, but this offers a major improvement to the durability of your new folding phone. It’s a marked improvement, although it doesn’t offer as much protection as phones rated IP68.

Many of the design changes are fairly subtle, and you won’t notice them if you’re looking at images from afar. The only thing you will notice is the display, which is where the Galaxy Z Flip 6 outshines the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Display

Covering the competition

Similar to the design, the Galaxy Z Flip display only has slight improvements, at least on the inside. The main display on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the same 6.7-inch Full HD+ display as the Z Flip 4, although Samsung has boosted the brightness to 2600 nits of peak HDR brightness. This represents a big improvement over the 1200 nits brightness on the Z Flip 4 and means the Z Flip 6 will be much more visible outdoors under bright conditions.

The real standout feature is the cover display. Last year saw the launch of the Motorola Razr Plus, the first real challenger to Samsung’s Flip foldable. The big selling point of the Razr was the 3.5-inch cover display, and a few months later, Samsung unveiled its new cover display on the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers the same 3.4-inch cover display as last year, versus the paltry 1.7-inch Cover Display on the Z Flip 4. The larger cover display makes this change alone worth the upgrade, as it’s also significantly more functional. The limited cover display on the Galaxy Z Flip 4 acts like a slightly larger color pager display. There are certain things it can show you and highlight, but it won’t actively replace the main display.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 cover display can be used for many tasks, though, as Samsung lets you easily run fullscreen apps on the cover display after a few steps. There are also much better fullscreen panels, a widget screen where you can add your favorite phone widgets, and customizable wallpapers, including the new Flipsuit LED case.

All of these features require the larger cover display, and while it’s not as impressive as the 4-inch display on the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, it’s significantly better than the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s.

Camera

Refinements for an all-around better camera

While foldable phones have improved in many areas, cameras are often where they lag behind their non-folding cousins. Samsung sought to change that with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and the two new cameras on offer bring parity with the Galaxy S24 Plus. As we covered earlier this year, it’s a very capable camera, and while it’s not as good as the camera-centric S24 Ultra, it’s definitely a stellar all-around camera.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 gains the same camera system, to an extent. There’s the new 50 MP primary camera, which is also used in the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus and is a significant improvement over the 12MP main sensor on the Galaxy Z Flip 4. The ultra-wide-angle camera is the same — on paper, at least — in both phones, but the Galaxy Z Flip 6 takes advantage of an improved sensor that yields better low-light performance.

The only thing the Galaxy Z Flip 6 doesn’t have, like the S24 or S24 Plus do, is the telephoto lens. Instead, Samsung stuck with the ultra-wide-angle, but also included a telephoto lens, of sorts. The much larger main sensor means Samsung can achieve a 2x telephoto lens by cropping the main sensor, thereby providing the benefit of all three cameras on the S24 series without needing a third physical sensor.

If you’re upgrading from the Galaxy Z Flip 4, there’s a strong chance that you’ll find the camera on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 a welcome improvement. In addition to the upgrades to the physical hardware, the ring around the camera lens now also color-matches your phone, resulting in a distinct overall finish and style.

Performance

The best of their times

Each of these phones comes with the best Qualcomm Snapdragon processor at the time, but the newer and much more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset in the Galaxy Z Flip 6 outperforms the Galaxy Z Flip 4 by a significant amount.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers an array of improvements over the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip in the Galaxy Z Flip 4. These include significantly more power, better efficiency for better battery life, and the ability to run on-device AI applications. While some of Samsung’s Galaxy AI features are expected to eventually launch on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 makes the Flip 6 the better choice if you want to use those AI features.

The chipset is just one part of the story. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 also comes with 12GB of RAM as standard, whereas the Flip 4 only has 8GB of RAM. This reduces the chances of the phone becoming sluggish under performative loads and is far more futureproof. The minimum storage has been doubled to 256GB, and now uses the faster UFS 4.0 standard, which results in faster loading times and all-around improvements when using many apps.

Opting for the best processor you can get means the potential for overheating, but the Galaxy Z Flip 6 finally solves this thanks to the new vapor chamber that’s nearly identical in size to the one found in the Galaxy S24 series. It’s designed to improve the dissipation of heat during intensive tasks like extended video recording, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is noticeably cooler running these tasks than any Z Flip before it.

Updates

Longer and longer we go

The Galaxy Z Flip launched with Android 12, and was guaranteed at least four software updates and five security updates. You can upgrade to Android 14, but Samsung could theoretically end support for the Z Flip 4 once it rolls out Android 16.

In comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 matches the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and will receive seven years of security and software updates. It’s launching with Android 14, which means it will be supported until Android 21, which represents a significantly longer life cycle than the Z Flip 4.

If you change your phone every two years, this is less likely to affect you, but if you plan to keep it longer, keep in mind that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a significantly shorter lifespan. If you want to hold onto it for four years, you may only get two more software updates even if you buy it today. If you want to ensure your phone lasts for years to come, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a much better buy.

Battery life

Improvements thanks to hardware and capacity

One of the biggest challenges with folding phones is achieving excellent battery life while not making the phone too thick. Early foldable phones definitely struggled to last a full day on a single charge, but thankfully, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 improves on battery life.

These improvements come from a larger capacity, as well as optimizations and efficiency provided by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor.

At 4,000mAh, the battery inside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is about 8% larger than the one inside the Galaxy Z Flip 4. At the same time, the processor is much more efficient, and the net result is battery life that will comfortably last a full day for most people.

Of course, battery life is highly subjective and largely depends on what you do with your phone — if you plan to use it at full brightness on the main display in bright sunlight, it will drain much quicker. Regardless of your usage, though, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 battery life should be a welcome improvement over the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Which should you buy?

A surprisingly easy choice

Unlike our Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Fold 5 comparison, where the differences are minute, this is an easier recommendation: buy the Galaxy Z Flip 6. If you have a Galaxy Z Flip 4, it’s worth considering trading it in and upgrading, as the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers a fundamentally better experience.

That’s not to say the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a bad experience. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor is still more than capable, but the lack of a longer update schedule, the thicker design, and the much inferior front display makes it hard to recommend over the Galaxy Z Flip 6.

If you don’t want the larger display, don’t mind fewer cameras, and don’t need the latest and greatest, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is still a great phone to buy. However, it’s only worth considering if your budget doesn’t stretch to a Galaxy Z Flip 6 or any of the other best foldable phones.

Nirave is a creator, evangelist, and founder of House of Tech. A heart attack at the age of 33 inspired him to publish the Impact of Tech newsletter , which covers the best technology and its impact on mental, physical, and emotional health. For more, follow him on Instagram , Twitter , and LinkedIn.