Every phone maker is implementing AI in one way or another, and Galaxy AI is featured front and centre with the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. While the flip-style foldable phone has some neat hardware upgrades here and there, its AI features are the highlights of the new phone.

There are plenty of things to love about the Z Flip 6: it is faster, it has a more capable camera now, the battery life sees notable improvement, and some of the Galaxy AI features are genuinely useful. But these upgrades also increase the starting price of the foldable phone quite a bit, which does affect the appeal of the Z Flip 6.

What It Is

As expected, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, so it is without a doubt as fast as it gets for a 2024 flagship smartphone. It also comes with a new 50MP primary camera instead of a 12MP shooter along with a larger 4,000mAh cell; that’s a notable 300mAh increase. Of course, there’s also the addition of Galaxy AI.

Naturally, these upgrades do meaningfully change the user experience of the Z Flip 6. That being said, it’s worth noting that the overall design and hardware of the foldable phone really don’t see much change; that’s why I regard this phone as a refinement exercise. Actually, there is one thing that changed quite a bit with the Z Flip 6, which is the higher asking price. I’ll get back to this further down the review.

The Good Stuff

Let’s get to the big feature of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 first: Galaxy AI. Compared to the Galaxy S24 series, the Z Flip 6 – and the Z Fold 6, of course – gets a more elaborate version of Galaxy AI. Some new features include Composer to generate text based on simple prompts; a new conversation mode in the Interpreter app; and Sketch to Image, which can generate AI images from…well, sketches.

Of those features, the one that I use the most is Sketch to Image, which is actually really fun to experiment with. Sure, the results are a bit hit-and-miss – and I don’t love the fact that it changed the physical appearance of my cats – but there’s no denying that I had fun with the generative AI feature.

Another Galaxy AI feature that I find quite useful is reply suggestion, which uses AI to analyse incoming messages and suggest replies that are more relevant than Android’s default Smart Reply feature. It works on the cover screen of the Z Flip 6, and as you can see below, Galaxy AI’s suggested replies are certainly more nuanced and contextual.

Since I’m already talking about the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s cover screen, let me elaborate on it. Compared to last year’s Z Flip 5, the “FlexWindow” cover screen is a touch more functional. It gets more variety of widgets now with the addition of rather cute wallpapers.

That being said, I still wish Samsung did more to make the cover screen more useful. Despite featuring more widgets now, I still find myself folding open the phone to do…well, more. It’s not like there’s not enough screen real estate either; I can even type comfortably on the compact 3.4-inch screen.

Anyway, let’s move on to the performance of the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which is great! After all, it’s powered by the fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. Whether I’m multitasking and juggling between different apps or playing demanding games like the new Zenless Zone Zero, the phone can do it all without fuss.

However, there is no caveat: it gets quite toasty in longer gaming sessions. I’ll circle back to this in the next section.

Not surprisingly, the display quality of the Z Flip 6 remains as good as ever. While I’m not particularly fond of the taller than usual aspect ratio, there’s no denying that the 6.7-inch 1080p Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is a looker with bright colours, deep blacks, and wide viewing angles. While the screen crease is still very much present, I don’t think it’s a huge issue by any means.

I also really like the subtle changes to the overall design of the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Compared to its predecessor, it has flatter sides for a more angular look, improving the ergonomics of the phone. The hinge and display bezel are also different; folding and unfolding the phone has a nice, consistent pressure, and it closes with a satisfying thud too. Oh, it is also IP48-rated now.

In terms of battery life, the Z Flip 6’s larger 4,000mAh can certainly return better battery life. On average, I can get between five to six hours of screen on time, which is about an hour more than what I got with the Z Flip 5. Do note that I got this level of battery life even with a number of gaming sessions thrown throughout the day.

Last but not least is the camera performance of the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which is much improved. Although I’m not thrilled at the absence of a telephoto sensor, I’m happy that the 50MP main shooter and 12MP ultra-wide lens can take some great-looking shots now. Yes, even more so than the Z Flip 5.

Regardless of lighting situation, the Z Flip 6’s dual camera system continues to deliver with a responsive camera interface. Detail preservation is great, dynamic range is good, and while the 12MP ultra-wide camera does struggle a tad under more challenging lighting, it can still capture some good-looking shots.

All in all, there are plenty of things to love about the Galaxy Z Flip 6, but it does have its fair share of shortcomings – let’s talk about them in the next section.

The Bad Stuff

Compared to last year’s model, the RM4,999 starting price of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 for the base 12GB + 256GB variant is effectively a RM500 price increase. If you want the 12GB + 512GB configuration instead, it will set you back RM5,599; that is RM600 more compared to the 8GB + 512GB variant of the Z Flip 5 at launch.

Granted, you do get more RAM with the Z Flip 6 along with the slew of upgrades I’ve mentioned above. But I think the RM500 price hike – let alone the RM600 one for the 512GB model – is a tad too much for a phone that…well, isn’t remarkably different than its predecessor.

And then there’s the thermal performance of the Z Flip 6. While I don’t notice any drastic throttling during longer gaming sessions, the top half of the phone does get uncomfortably hot. This is despite the fact that the phone now features a vapour chamber, and while I can easily slap on a case to solve this issue, I do think it’s a point worth mentioning.

Is It Worth It?

Even though the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is more costly than ever, it is still one of the most refined flip-style foldable smartphones in the market now. It has a much better camera system now; it is faster; and it has improved battery life as well. Oh, there’s also the slew of Galaxy AI features that some folks may find particularly useful.

And to be fair, RM4,999 for a flagship smartphone isn’t an unreasonably amount of money; it’s just that the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s price hike is a bit too drastic. Nonetheless, it is still a very polished flip phone, and what makes it that much more compelling is the fact that Samsung promises seven years of software and security updates for the Z Flip 6 – this is one area the competition are lagging far behind.