Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 is almost here, and it’s expected to be a modest upgrade over last year’s Z Flip 5. The tech giant recently announced its holding an Unpacked event on July 10 in Paris, where new foldable phones are expected to make their debut.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5’s larger cover screen made it a notable step forward from the Galaxy Z Flip 4. But this year, Galaxy AI is expected to be the star of the show. The company launched its AI smartphone features earlier this year, but now we’re expecting to get a closer look at Samsung’s vision for AI on foldable devices specifically.
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Samsung was one of the first companies to release a foldable phone, and it’s maintained a solid lead in the market. Samsung accounted for about 66% of foldable phone shipments in 2023, according to TrendForce. Rival Huawei overtook Samsung to grab the top spot in the first quarter of 2024, according to Counterpoint Research, further signaling that competition in the foldable phone market is heating up.
As I’ve written in the past, I hope to see new software features, a better camera and longer software support on the Z Flip 6. Here’s a closer look at what we’re expecting to see.
Read more: Considering a Foldable Phone? How to Decide If One Is Right for You
Watch this: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Review: Flip Phones Are Cool Again
Possible release date
Samsung’s next Unpacked event takes place on July 10.
Samsung usually launches new foldables in August, but it debuted the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 earlier than expected in July last year. Now, that’s once again the case in 2024. While Samsung never discusses future products before announcing them, the timing of this July 10 product launch suggests foldable phones and wearables will be the focus. Samsung also mentions the Galaxy Z series in a press release announcing the event, further indicating that we’ll see new foldables this month.
Galaxy AI
Generative Edit is one of Samsung’s Galaxy AI features.
Samsung launched Galaxy AI — its umbrella term for a variety of AI-powered software features — on the Galaxy S24 series in January. It’s since expanded compatibility to other Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5. At Unpacked, Samsung may discuss new AI software features tailored specifically for its foldable phones.
“The next frontier of Galaxy AI is coming,” Samsung said in its press release announcing Unpacked. “Prepare to discover the power of Galaxy AI, now infused into the latest Galaxy Z series and the entire Galaxy ecosystem.”
Current Galaxy AI features include Generative Edit, which lets you manipulate and move objects in photos, Live Translate for translating calls between two languages in real time and Chat Assist for rewriting text messages in a different tone, translating them into another language or checking for spelling and grammar errors.
Read more: AI Showdown: How Samsung’s Galaxy S24 AI Tools Compare to Google, Apple
What I’m really hoping to see are new software features that make special use of the Galaxy Z Flip’s bendable display and cover screen. A recent blog post from a Samsung executive hints the company could do just that.
“The introduction of Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S24 series was only the start,” wrote Won-Joon Choi, head of the mobile research and development office for Samsung’s mobile experience business. “To deliver a completely new and unique AI experience, we will further optimize the Galaxy AI experience for the upcoming foldable devices.”
Since Samsung extended its software upgrade cycle to seven years with the Galaxy S24 series, we can probably expect it to do the same with its next foldables.
A very similar design
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a gapless hinge.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is expected to look a lot like the Galaxy Z Flip 5. According to reportedly leaked renderings of the phone, published by gadget blog SmartPrix in collaboration with serial leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer, the new flip phone will be nearly identical to last year’s device, with just minor changes in physical dimensions. The leak also suggests the device could come in mint and lavender color options. A more recent image from prolific leaker Evan Blass claiming to show Samsung’s new foldables also suggests the Z Flip 6 will have a lot in common with its predecessor.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 was a leap forward in design over its predecessor, expanding its outer display to nearly the full top half of the back of the device, excepting a cutout for the cameras. The Motorola Razr Plus, released around the same time, had an outer display just as large. Given rumors don’t indicate any dramatic changes to the Z Flip 6’s design, we’ll wait to see if competing clamshell foldable phones offer anything more than Samsung’s upcoming device.
Maybe a new processor and a bigger battery
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is expected to power the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Samsung usually upgrades its foldable phones with new processors that match the ones in its latest flagship Galaxy S phones. We’re expecting that to be the case again this year, meaning the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will likely run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
One leak indicates surprisingly that may not be the case. According to SamMobile, two different variants of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 have been spotted in Geekbench’s database: One with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, and another powered by the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Geekbench is a benchmarking platform for testing device performance, the results of which are logged in a database.
We won’t know for sure until Samsung announces its next Galaxy Z Flip device. If Samsung is testing a version with last year’s chip, perhaps it’s looking into the possibility of launching a cheaper version of the Z Flip 6. This is just speculation at this point, but as my colleague David Lumb points out, putting last year’s chip in a new Z Flip could help Samsung keep the price down.
Battery life could also see an increase, with the blog Galaxy Club reporting that the new phone could have a 4,000-mAh battery. That’s slightly higher than the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s 3,700-mAh battery, which could translate to longer battery life or support for battery-draining features like location tracking or on-device generative AI.
A camera upgrade
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 (not pictured) is expected to get a camera upgrade.
Camera quality is one area in which the Galaxy Z Flip typically lags behind Samsung’s flagships. According to Galaxy Club, Samsung might take a step towards changing that with the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Samsung’s next flip phone will reportedly have a 50-megapixel camera, the report says, which would make it the same resolution as the main camera sensor on the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus.
We’ll know more when Samsung announces the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Based on the rumors so far, it sounds like it’ll be a modest improvement over the Z Flip 5 rather than a big leap forward.
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