Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 vs Galaxy Z Flip5

So, you are available in the market for a Samsung-made flip-style foldable and are naturally questioning whether or not it is best to save a couple of bucks and go for final 12 months’s Z Flip5 or pony up the premium for the shiny new Z Flip6.

Straight off the bat, the 2 units are very related. Samsung went for refinement greater than any main innovation this 12 months; therefore, both cellphone will ship the same total expertise.

Nonetheless, because the saying goes, the satan is within the particulars, and we’re more than pleased to go over an important ones with you on this article.

Desk of Contents:

For starters, you possibly can evaluate the entire specs sheets or straight proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the following textual content.

Measurement comparability

Let’s begin easy with a {hardware} overview of kinds. Of their unfolded state, the 2 telephones are virtually equivalent in measurement. Virtually shockingly so, actually. When folded, the brand new Z Flip6 is simply barely thinner at 14.9 mm in comparison with 15.1 mm. Samsung appears to have shaved off the girth from the chassis itself for the reason that hinge appears borrowed from the older technology to the brand new.

Talking of the hinge, final 12 months’s Z Flip5 is the machine that introduced in regards to the extra significant hinge innovation with the gapless closing. Issues are largely unchanged this 12 months, so it’s truthful to say that you simply get Samsung’s newest and best hinge know-how on both cellphone.

In one other very stunning improvement, it’s also true that the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 are equivalent in weight at 187 grams. That is significantly intriguing given the elevated battery capability from 3,700 mAh to 4,000 mAh from technology to technology.

So, we talked about fairly just a few issues that have not actually modified. What has modified, then? The aluminum body within the Z Flip6 has gotten flatter, and it is now matte as a substitute of shiny. The colour panel on the again is now matte, too, making a nicer, trendy look. The 2 cameras have gotten thicker accent rings. And that is about it the design adjustments.

For what it is value, Samsung says the armor aluminum body used on the Z Flip6 is by some means “enhanced” in comparison with the “common” one on the Z Flip5.

And whereas the Z Flip5 has an IPX8 ingress safety ranking, the Z Flip6 now has IP48. The added quantity ‘4’ means mud particles bigger than 1mm cannot get in there, that means there’s much less probability of mud or sand getting contained in the hinge.

That apart, the quilt shows on each telephones are protected by the identical Gorilla Glass Victus 2 materials.

Show comparability

The Galaxy Z Flip6’s show setup is just about unchanged, coming from the earlier technology. On the within, there is a 6.7-inch panel that bends in half, and on the quilt, you will discover a notched 3.4-inch display for easier duties. Each are OLEDs, after all.

The primary panels inside have a 1,080×2,640px decision in a 22:9 facet ratio. That is fairly tall and slender and since it is also a really skinny machine when unfolded, each Flips really feel simpler to function than every other 6.7-incher with a extra typical facet ratio.

The crease on the folding display and its perceived prominence is identical between the 2 telephones.

There are nonetheless some generational enhancements right here. One is using LTPO tech within the newer mannequin, which suggests it is a extra energy environment friendly display.

Then, there’s the utmost brightness. The Z Flip6 most important display will get notably brighter (1,475 nits) in comparison with the Z Flip5 (1,101 nits).

The duvet show is principally unchanged in its funky form and performance. Each the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 solely get a 60Hz refresh charge on their cowl screens.

We’ve got not examined the max brightness of the quilt show because of technical limitations, however Samsung claims that the brand new one on the Z Flip6 maxes out at 1,600 nits.

Battery life

One of many adjustments to this 12 months’s Flip that may cross for ‘main’ is the rise in battery capability. The Z Flip6 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery – 8% increased than earlier than. This improve in capability additionally interprets right into a tangible improve in on-screen endurance, as measured by our standardized testing, which is nice to see.

In fact, the extra power-efficient LTPO display may assist issues within the screen-on assessments, too.

The one space the place the brand new Z Flip6 does a bit worse than its predecessor is Name time endurance. We additionally noticed this pattern with the Z Fold6 and Z Fold5, so the newer chipset and its modem may be guilty. Even so, the Z Flip6 has a greater battery life as a complete.

Charging pace

Samsung is not precisely maintaining with the occasions in the case of quick charging. Then once more, you can too select to view this as a higher emphasis on battery well being and longevity over quicker top-ups. We cannot be making any excuses for Samsung, although. Each telephones cost at an official most of 25W wired and 15W wi-fi and that is not terribly excessive, comparatively talking. >

Samsung claims that the 25W wired ranking ought to lead to the identical charging charge between the 2 telephones – 50% in half-hour.

In our assessments, nevertheless, the marginally bigger battery on the Z Flip6 could not even attain the marketed charging charge and is barely slower than the Z Flip5’s. A small victory, of kinds, for the outgoing mannequin.

Each telephones additionally help 4.5W reverse wi-fi charging.

Speaker check

The Z Flip5 and Z Flip 6 have a really related speaker system. There’s one speaker on the underside and one other up prime overlaying earpiece duties in voice calls.

In portrait orientation, the highest one will get the left channel, whereas in panorama, the cellphone will assign the channels dynamically to correspond to the handset’s orientation in area – that is when the Flip is unflipped, after all.

The 2 telephones are very shut when it comes to loudness and total high quality. Maybe the Z Flip6 has a really small edge right here with barely higher loudness and ever-so-slightly-better frequency response. It’s hardly substantial, although; for all intents and sensible functions, the 2 telephones sound the identical.

Efficiency

In line with custom, Samsung is placing the newest and best Qualcomm chip inside its Flip fashions on the respective time of launch. That signifies that the Z Flip5 will get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 whereas the Z Flip6 will get the present Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Each telephones have the AC model of their respective chipsets, often known as the “for Galaxy cellular platform”. The AC is actually an overclocked variant of the common AB chip. So you might be getting the perfect of the perfect.

Each the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 will be had with both 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Nevertheless, the Z Flip6 has the benefit of 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM as a substitute of the 8GB of RAM contained in the Z Flip5. That may be a fairly substantial improve proper there.

Benchmark efficiency

The precise distinction in efficiency between the Z Flip 5 and Z Flip6 is not all that substantial, to be trustworthy. Our Z Flip5 unit by some means managed to get a better AnTuTu 10 rating. We would not actually let efficiency dictate this shopping for choice someway.

What’s doubtlessly extra vital is the software program help window Samsung affords for every cellphone. With the Z Flip5 launched a 12 months in the past, it already has left solely three years of OS updates and 4 years of safety patches.

In distinction, the Z Flip6 will get a whopping seven years of OS updates. We aren’t positive the cellphone’s efficiency will stay usable after that a few years, however the longer the help, the higher.

There’s additionally the matter of the brand new Galaxy AI software program options, which Samsung launched on the S24 collection. We cannot be contemplating these intimately on this comparability as a result of Samsung delivered most, if not all, of those options to the Flip5 with an replace in April 2024.

Digital camera comparability

The Z Flip6 brings a moderately substantial digicam improve to the desk over its Z Flip5 predecessor. This technology will get a Tetracell/Quad-Bayer most important digicam, the identical one as within the Fold6 and a number of other different ‘common’ Galaxy S telephones from years previous (and current too). The 50MP sensor major module combines 4 pixels into one to offer higher dynamic vary and noise efficiency. Whereas the know-how itself is now not groundbreaking, this improve is an enormous deal for Flip because it permits the cellphone to zoom a minimum of just a little digitally with out sacrificing high quality an excessive amount of.

There are some variations within the ultrawide cameras of each telephones, however these are hardly substantial in comparison with the key transfer up in the primary digicam division.

Picture high quality

Evaluating Flip6’s images in opposition to these of the earlier technology, we see a extra pure, detailed presentation with much less aggressive sharpening. The brand new mannequin’s digicam images are additionally cleaner, subsequent to an usually grainy Flip5.

Daylight comparability, most important digicam (1x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

On to some zoom photographs, then. Each telephones seize competent 2x photographs, however these from the newer mannequin include finer element and are rendered much more naturally, even when that generally means a bit softer presentation.

Daylight comparability, most important digicam (2x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

The distinction in ultrawide high quality is hardly large. Samsung has eased off on the sharpening, and there is in all probability even much less grain within the skies and different areas of uniform shade.

Daylight comparability, ultrawide digicam (0.6x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

In low mild, the brand new mannequin has a pronounced benefit over the Flip5, providing higher element, much less sharpening and improved dynamic vary.

Low-light comparability, most important digicam (1x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

The low mild benefits aren’t as large at 2x zoom. The Z Flip5 fares higher than we anticipated in low mild zooming. The Z Flip’s images are additionally fairly noisy.

Low-light comparability, most important digicam (2x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

Lastly, we’ve the 2 ultrawides at night time. Despite the fact that the {hardware} must be almost equivalent right here, the Z Flip6 typically takes sharper ultrawide photographs.

Low-light comparability, ultrawide digicam (0.6x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

Video high quality

There’s principally no distinction between the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 in the case of video seize capabilities and choices. The Z Flip6 can do 1080p@120fps, which was not a function of the older mannequin, a minimum of not initially, and the newer cellphone has 4K@60fps on the selfie digicam. We would take into account each of those area of interest options however they’re there.

High quality-wise, we might say that the 2 most important cameras are a toss-up. The Z Flip6 appears to have a bit extra laid-back processing with much less sharpening being utilized, which could make the Flip5’s video extra engaging at first look.

The picture high quality hole grows larger for 2x movies. The Z Flip6 has a a lot gentler method, and but, the 2x video out of it’s rather more detailed.

The reverse appears to carry true for the ultra-wide digicam, the place the extra aggressive rendition of the Flip5 makes the video look a bit higher.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

The Z Flip6 has a bit extra of a noticeable edge with low-light movies from the primary digicam. Its publicity seems extra pure, and the movies seize extra element.

Whereas the observations above maintain true for 2x zoom movies as properly, the inky shadows and extra contrasty look from the Flip5 add for nicer 2x footage. Low-light video from the 2 ultrawides is kind of a toss-up.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 low-light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 low-light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Verdict

All issues thought of, the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 are remarkably related units. Nonetheless, Samsung has managed to enhance the newest Flip throughout the board (albeit, in small, incremental refinements moderately than any main adjustments).

The Z Flip6 has brighter shows for higher daylight legibility. The additional battery capability together with the extra power-efficient display have translated into higher battery life. The most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 comes with extra RAM besides. There’s the promise of a whopping seven years of software program help versus merely three left within the Z Flip5. And final however not least, the brand new 50MP most important digicam brings about higher photograph picture high quality.

The Galaxy Z Flip5 shouldn’t be that cheaper than the Flip6 and until you discover a actually killer deal on that one, going with the Z Flip6 would be the higher deal.