[Gadget Review] Galaxy Z Flip6, Fold6 bring AI tech to palm of your hand

People try out the new Galaxy ZFold6 phone during the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event held at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris on Wednesday. (Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics’ latest foldable phones -- the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 -- were unveiled at the summer edition of the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event in Paris on Wednesday, surprising the audience with slimmer and lighter designs.

The Korea Herald had a chance to try out the new foldable lineup the day after the unveiling event in Korea.

The tech giant’s first artificial intelligence-powered foldable phones are easy to hold and fun to play with, but the more you use them, the more their intelligent functions stand out.

Overall, the most significant features of the new foldable phones were related to AI-powered translation and customization.

Putting the Z Flip6 or Z Fold6 phone in Flex Mode and activating both internal and external screens allows real-time voice transcription and translation. The phone notes the original spoken language on the bottom of the internal screen, while the translated version appears in the top half, and on the external screen, allowing real-time conversations across the language barrier.

Another interesting new feature was the PDF Overlay Translation. No matter how long a document was, it allowed the entire text in a PDF document to be translated almost instantly.

Additionally, a special AI feature exclusive to the Z Flip6 phone allows for quick and simple responses to text messages. Using the external window feature, users can reply to KakaoTalk or regular text messages without using a keyboard or unfolding the device. Users can choose from suggested responses generated by the on-device Galaxy AI, which makes them by analyzing the conversation content and the user's conversation history.

The availability of multiple widgets on the cover screen to express my mood or show my personality each day also seemed quite intriguing.

The Galaxy Z Flip6 (Samsung Electronics)

The vertically folding Galaxy Z Flip6 weighs 187 grams and measures 14.9 millimeters thick when folded, making it slimmer than its predecessors. The Z Flip5 weighs the same but is 15.1 mm thick. The edges have been streamlined by changing them from the previous curved design to a straight design.

There were notable improvements to camera quality and battery life. Previously, there was some criticism that the photo quality of foldable phones was lower compared to photos taken by the company's flagship phones. But this series now features a new 50-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, which are on par with the latest flagship Galaxy S24.

The device is equipped with a 4,000-milliampere-hour battery, compared to its predecessor's 3,700 mAh.

The Galaxy Z Fold6 (Samsung Electronics)

A big improvement to the horizontally folding Galaxy Z Fold6 is its portability. When folded, it is only 12.1 millimeters thick, 1.3 millimeters slimmer than its predecessor. It weighs 253 grams, which is just 7 grams more than the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

The Galaxy Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 will be released in Korea on July 24, with preorders starting this Friday.

The price of the Z Flip6 ranges between 1.49 million won ($1,075) and 1.64 million won depending on the amount of storage, while the Z Fold6 is priced between 2.23 million won and 2.7 million won.

By Jie Ye-eun(yeeun@heraldcorp.com)