The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is one of the best foldable phones money can buy, and the best clamshell foldable phone Samsung has yet made, so we have high hopes for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
That said, Samsung might have to make some major changes to fully meet our hopes for the phone, and to find out what those are, head to the second half of this article, where you’ll find a wish list for the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Before that though, we’ve taken a look at when the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 might launch, what it might cost, and what the early leaks and rumors say about it. We’ll be adding leaks to this article whenever they emerge, so make sure to check back here soon if you want to stay up to date.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next clamshell foldable from Samsung
- When is it out? Possibly July
- How much will it cost? Likely at least $999.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,649,
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: release date and price
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will probably launch around a year after the Galaxy Z Flip 5, which itself was announced in late July and shipped in mid-august.
So the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will probably be announced in July or August of 2024, and given that the last few models have all actually gone on sale in August, we’d expect the same again from the Z Flip 6.
The announcement looks more likely to be in July though, as a leaker has specifically claimed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be announced in July. Since then, SamMobile has more specifically said to expect it in early July, with the site suggesting July 10 is the most likely announcement date.
There's also evidence that it's likely to launch before too long, as batteries for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 have been spotted in a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) database. Typically, that would happen within around a few months of release, and while we don't expect the phone before July, this does suggest a July launch is likely.
There's also a good chance it will cost at least as much as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, which would mean a starting price of at least $999.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,649. One Galaxy Z Flip 6 price leak has specifically said to expect a similar price, so you might not need to pay more than that.
In fact, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 might actually be slightly cheaper, as Samsung is reportedly considering a new method of crafting the bezels on its foldable screen, which would be cheaper to do.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: design and display
The biggest design leak so far comes in the form of leaked Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 renders, showing the phone in full.
These show a handset that looks much like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and it's shown in both Lavender and Mint shades (though other colors will probably be offered too).
You can see below that it has a dual-lens rear camera, a punch-hole selfie camera, and the same arrangement of ports and buttons as the Z Flip 5.
It also apparently has the same screen sizes, meaning 6.7 inches for the foldable display and 3.4 inches for the cover screen, and the same screen brightness.
However, according to this source, the crease will be smaller on the Z Flip 6's foldable display, and the hinge may be more durable. They also claim the dimensions differ slightly, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 apparently being 165.0 x 71.7 x 7.4mm when unfolded.
That's compared to 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9mm for the Z Flip 5, so this would make the Galaxy Z Flip 6 slightly thicker, though that's apparently so there's space for a bigger battery (more on which further down).
Beyond that, Samsung itself has said it’s working on making a dust-proof foldable phone, so there’s a chance the Z Flip 6 will be that phone. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 already has significant water resistance, but no official dust resistance rating.
We've also previously heard that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 might have a cover screen of around 3.9 inches. That's up from 3.4 inches on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, which should make it much easier to interact with.
Another source has also mentioned an increase in cover display size, which makes it more likely that this will come to pass. That said, this is at odds with a leak above, so we're not sure who is right.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: cameras and battery
Leaker @Tech_Reve (who has accurately leaked things in the past), claims that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will have a 50MP camera. They don’t specify which camera will get this upgrade, but since then GalaxyClub has echoed the claim of a 50MP camera on the Z Flip 6, saying that it will be the main camera, and that a 50MP sensor is currently being tested for it.
That said, a more recent leak says the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will have a pair of 12MP cameras, just like its predecessor. So we're not sure who to believe here.
For reference, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a 12MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP selfie snapper, while launch partner the Z Fold 5 leads with a 50MP sensor of its own, so switching out any of those on the Flip for a 50MP sensor could make for a sizable upgrade.
Current Upcoming RoadmapMaintain form factor through Fold 5Form factor changes starting with Fold6Flip6 adopt 50MPFoldable Lite model in developmentExpected to launch next yearApril 16, 2023
As for the battery, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 could be equipped with a 4,000mAh battery according to one leak, which would make for a 300mAh increase on the Z Flip 5's.
That battery claim has been echoed by another source, which also suggests the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be a bit thicker than the current model to accommodate the larger battery.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: specs and features
We haven't heard much about the core specs of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 yet, but one source claims the Z Flip 6 will have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which is a top-end chipset also found in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
That was always expected though, as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
The same source says it will start at 256GB of storage, which is a match for the current model. There's no word on what it will top out at, but there's also a 512GB Z Flip 5, so we'd expect at least that much.
On the software front, this source says the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will unsurprisingly run Android 14 with Samsung's One UI 6.0 overlay. It's also said to come with the promise of seven years of software updates (matching the Samsung Galaxy S24 line), and some Galaxy AI features – possibly including some that are designed specifically for the foldable form factor.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: what we want to see
Our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review awarded the phone 4.5 stars, so it’s a superb handset, but that doesn’t mean the next model can’t be significantly better. We want to see the following five things from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, to make it the best clamshell foldable possible.
1. Dust resistance
Given how expensive foldable phones are you’d hope they’d be able to withstand a little dust, but most actually have no official dust resistance, and that includes all of Samsung’s foldables. So we’d really like to see this added to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Thankfully, there’s hope, as Samsung itself has said it’s working on bringing dust resistance to future foldable phones, but it hasn’t named the Z Flip 6, specifically.
2. Better battery life
We noted in our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review that while its battery life was usable, and better than before, it still wasn’t as good as we’d like; no doubt because the phone relies on a fairly small 3,700mAh battery. So for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 we’d like better battery life, whether that’s through a larger battery or optimizations.
We’d also like it to charge faster, as the 25W of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is fairly slow by 2023 standards.
3. A telephoto camera
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 isn’t the phone to buy if photography is your priority, and especially not if you’re into telephoto photography, because it doesn’t have a zoom lens.
So we’d love to see one added to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, to go alongside the main and ultra-wide lenses. We’re not even going to insist on a 10x zoom like the one we raved about in our Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review – a standard 3x would be absolutely fine.
4. A lower price
The price of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the US is actually quite attractive, coming in at just under $1,000, and being the same price as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 was at launch – despite coming with double the storage. But the picture isn’t quite so bright elsewhere.
In the UK, the starting price is £50 higher (albeit still marginally cheaper for an equivalent amount of storage, as you’re getting 256GB, rather than 128GB), and in Australia the starting price is substantially higher (with a 256GB version of both the Z Flip 4 and the Z Flip 5 having the same price, but there not being a cheaper 128GB option available in the latter’s case).
This is a trend that we definitely don’t want to see continue, so at the very least we hope prices remain the same for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, but ideally we’d like them to drop in regions outside the US.
5. A bigger cover screen
With the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung massively increased the size of the cover screen, to 3.4 inches, up from 1.9 inches on the previous model. That makes it far more usable, but it’s still quite cramped, and there’s space to make it at least a little bigger.
Samsung could even follow Motorola’s lead and put big camera cut-outs in the cover screen like on the Motorola Razr Plus / Razr 40 Ultra; thereby allowing it to take up the whole top half of the phone. But one way or another, we’d like it to be a little bit bigger on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
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