Still as Limited as its Predecessor

The $1,100 Galaxy Z Flip 6 bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor, the $1,000 Galaxy Z Flip 5. The camera bumps are bigger with larger frames, and the hinge is slightly more pronounced, but its still the same silhouette. As Samsung dropped the details on its latest phones earlier this week, it became apparent this would be a relatively minor update from last year’s device. Samsung continues to constrain what you can do on the cover screen. Accessing apps or useful settings in the clamshell’s smaller form factor is still a pain.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 still has the same 3.4-inch AMOLED “FlexWindow” exterior display as the Z Flip 5. When you first boot up the Flip 6, you don’t have any options for apps on the exterior screen. Instead, you’re presented with a wider selection of widgets from last year. Some of these are useful, especially if you’re into fitness tracking through Samsung Health. As a journalist, I think the exterior screen voice recorder is handy without opening the phone. There’s another Spotify widget to control your music, but if you’re like me and prefer Apple Music or Tidal, sorry, there’s no option. 

Samsung still requires users to go into their phone settings, look under Advanced Features, and then Labs to get the option to use a paltry few apps from the exterior screen. As of now, it’s the same selection as last time. You have options for Messages, Samsung Messages, Google Maps, Netflix, WhatsApp, and YouTube. That’s it. 

You need to download the Good Lock app from the Samsung app store to access any other apps on the cover screen. Then, you must download MultiStar and select the “I [heart] Galaxy Foldable” to launch different apps from their Good Lock widget on the exterior screen. 

Because the screen size hasn’t improved from the last go around, you’re still not getting the best app experience you could be. The keyboard still takes up most of the display when you type anything. Watching videos on such a small display isn’t great for folks who hate straining at tiny text. Most apps still aren’t directly designed for such a small UI, so accessing your playlists on apps like Apple Music can take more scrolling than usual.

That’s to be expected, but it’s unclear why Samsung doesn’t just put the option to use all apps on the exterior screen in the phone’s settings. The limited exterior screen apps are still categorized under “Labs” even though we’ve had a whole year to take these options out of the “experimental” phase. Compare this to the latest $700 Motorola Razr and $1,000 Razr+. Both let you access any of your apps and most of your device settings from the get-go from either a 3.6-inch or 4-inch exterior screen, depending on whether you opt for the less or more expensive foldable. On the other hand, Samsung has a more varied selection of widgets and panels. 

Not All of Your Samsung AI Features Will Work on the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s Exterior Screen

Google made a big deal out of its Circle to Search and other Gemini AI features coming to the latest Galaxy foldables. Samsung promised users that they would have “AI-assisted functions without needing to open the device.” This includes some of the Galaxy AI text generation for messages, even though you cannot access those texts by default without enabling them in settings. However, Samsung included a note in the fine print of its original press materials that reads, “Circle to Search is not available via the FlexWindow.” 

Typically, you access Circle to Search with a gesture or by holding down on the gesture bar. There’s no such bar on the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s cover screen UI. Just as before, the only two controls on the exterior screen are the back and home buttons.

I can already hear folks arguing that it’s such a small screen that none of these apps or touted features would be handy. I go for the opposite. Their limited capabilities are a benefit for the phone. Clamshell foldables have the added benefit of keeping me from getting sucked into a black hole of social media or my bottomless pit of emails. I can check Slack or Discord without needing to reply to every message.

We need to clarify that this is a different phone from last year, just not a drastically different one. It’s got a new CPU with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and a bigger battery at 4,000 mAh versus 3,700 mAh on the Z Flip 5. There’s a new 50 MP camera and automatic zoom for using the foldable as a faux camcorder. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 also has a redesigned hinge and a better dust resistance rating than its predecessor, which, on paper, should help keep the new one working for longer. There are more widgets and wallpaper options now than before, but without a more open UI, this latest clamshell doesn’t feel any different than the one from last year, even when it’s growing more expensive.