Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review: Nightography Features Impress

For many years now Samsung has been one of the few – if not only – leading players in the foldable smartphone game. Since introducing their first concepts, to finally releasing their very first iterations of the Fold and Z Flip about 5 years ago, one could say they have paved the way for many others in this unique segment.

Locally, the flip game in particular has changed drastically. All of a sudden, customers are spoilt for choice with 3 contenders to choose from. But only Samsung has remained consistent and committed in its race to providing the best experience and it shows in the Galaxy Z Flip 6 that we’re currently spending much needed time with. From the attention to detail and dedicated refinement we’re experiencing, its clear Samsung is not holding back on anything.

Frankly, if you were to place the Galaxy Z Flip 5 from yesteryear, and this year’s brand new Galaxy Z Flip 6 next to each other, it would be hard to tell the difference. It’s all in the (finer) details. There is a set of new cameras, hardware has been refined and the software has been given an update to match todays standards, but a lot can still be found in the outgoing Galaxy Z Flip 5 – which isn’t a bad thing at all.

First Impressions Count

On the looks side of things, you can look forward to a splash of new colours on the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Even the camera was left untouched with accents on its rings. Colours to choose from include Mint (which you see here), Blue, Yellow and Silver Shadow. Speaking of which, the cameras a completely new, sporting a 50-megapixel main sensor with f/1.8 aperture and a 12-megapixel ultra wide sensor with f/2.2 aperture and 123-degree field of view. The cameras are similar to those found on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 which means you get the same quality as you would on a bigger foldable. I quite like this.

The cover screen has sadly remained unchanged, coming in at 3.4-inches but the biggest and most notable upgrade has to be addition of new widgets to customise your cover screen. You can add and launch a host of apps here too, as long as enable this through an app called GoodLock. Alternatively, only Maps, Messages, Netflix, and YouTube can be used natively.

More on the camera and Nightography

Which brings us to what we’re mainly here for, to check out the what has improved on the camers and in particular its improved night mode and ultrawide sensor. During our tests outside, both cameras performed exceedingly well in good lighting. The difference between the two sensors – besides that fisheye effect when you’re shooting using the ultrawide – is really not much. In my experience with using other smartphones, the difference between the two would typically include loss of sharpness and colours that take a knock, but not here. Shooting videos during the day, with good light, is also generally good with both cover screen cameras and the selfie camera inside. The latter leaves quite a bit to be desired though. The footage itself is clean, clear and stability surprised me – in a good way.

When it turns night, the cover screen cameras continue to impress, even videos are commendable. This is by far the best looking nighttime footage I’ve seen from a smartphone. A foldable one at that. The processing powers and whatever else Samsung does here is surely for the books. Just ensure that you have Night mode turned on and some sort of light source to help bring out the finer details in what you’re capturing. These images I captured of West Street in Sandton at night came alive vibrantly.

Powerful Inside

Once you open up the Galaxy Z Flip 6, you’re greeted by a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 120 Hz refresh rate and 16M colour depth. All of this is powered by a 4000 mAh battery which is slightly larger than last years size but the same as in the Galaxy S24. During hard tests of the battery, I discovered when I use the cover screen to access my go-to apps during the day it can last me an entire day. When I flipped it open more, I’d end my day at just under 15% battery life. A great balance of the two would certainly go a long way. In terms of performance, the phone is backed by the Snapdragron 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor and the performance is great. Gaming truly is a breeze and it holds its weight with all the AI features baked in. Whenever giving its AI features a go, it was able to generate outputs incredibly fast.

Of course, there’s AI too

You were expecting it, so here we are. The Galalxy Z Flip 6 comes baked with AI inside. In particular, I really like the generative AI features that you can spend hours fiddling around with. Like drawing on a photo and leaving it to the AI to turn the doodle into a real life thing. Its quite cool and entertaining. Elsewhere theres useful features like AI transcription where if you record using the voice recorder, the AI can generate a transcription of the recording. Its not the most accurate at times, but there’s room for you to fine tune and edit words that might not be properly recognised by the service. Teaching it new tricks in return as it learns from you too.

Final Say

I know exactly whats on your mind right now, should you buy the Galaxy Z Flip 6? That’s not so easy.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an incredible phone with incredible features and it finally has the price tag (R25 999) to match. It would be really hard for me to point out one thing that I dislike, except for, well, that I think it should have been priced at its current price point all along. Last year the Galaxy Z Flip launched at R29 999! I guess what I’m really trying to tell you is that yes, its worth buying, even if you already have the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

See our YouTube review of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 here

Post Views: 0

#Samsung #Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Posted By

Papi Mabele

Papi Mabele has a marketing background, he is a digital marketing expert with extensive experience in launching and building global brands in the emerging markets. Papi is also an avid tech writer, enthusiast and all round tech junkie. As a freelance writer and analyst he has been numerously published in Popular Mechanics (SA), GQ South Africa, Premier Magazine, Driven Magazine, Bloem News, Courant, The Weekly, Enthooze Magazine and PiE magazine amongst others.