Samsung finally has some serious competition in the foldable flip phone space. After years of treading water, last year’s Motorola Razr Plus came out on top in our face-off against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.
Will Samsung wrestle the crown back this year? Here are the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6’s biggest rumored upgrades so far…
1. The power of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in every region
A new phone generation means a new chipset, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is set to embrace the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. While 2024’s Galaxy S family had different chips for different regions, that reportedly won’t be the case with the latest Z Flip for efficiency reasons.
We have a pretty good idea of what this upgrade will mean in terms of performance, because we’ve compared this year’s S24 Ultra vs last year’s S23 Ultra — two phones that use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Gen 2 respectively. Here’s how they did:
It’s generally quite a big improvement — and should be especially handy for the Galaxy AI features that the new model will no doubt support at launch (some Galaxy AI features have already been patched into last year’s model, after all).
2. A possible RAM boost
Since the very first release, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series has shipped with just 8GB RAM. That could be set to change this generation, according to X leaker Kro and @TheGalox.
Apparently, buyers could get the choice between 8GB and 12GB hardware — though this may only be for select regions. Either way, we’d imagine that models with more RAM would be bundled with more built-in storage, so the price bump may be significant.
3. An even bigger cover display with double the refresh rate
Last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 saw the cover screen growing significantly. It went from a barely usable 1.9-inch strip to a comparatively massive 3.6-inch square.
This year it could grow again, albeit by a smaller amount. According to both TheGalox and the display analyst Ross Young, we're looking at a cover screen that's 3.9 inches across the diagonal.
More excitingly, Samsung could sub in a 120Hz panel to match the internal screen, according to another leaker. Kro does say that this feature is only “in development” which suggests it could miss out on this year’s release, but it appears that’s the direction of travel in the long run.
4. A more rugged build
Despite big improvements to their durability over the years, foldables still feel pretty fragile. With the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Samsung looks set to make further improvements in this area.
Back in January, Samsung Display patented the term Ironflex which was linked to a “foldable OLED display panel”. The name certainly suggests durability, and it’s perhaps not coincidental that Samsung’sTM Roh has said that foldable dust resistance is something the company is edging closer towards. Perhaps this will be the year.
In his leak back in March, @TheGalox suggested that the Z Flip 6 would also get Gorilla Glass Armor — something used on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. That would make it more resistant to scratches, though that doesn’t mean you can drop it without consequences…
5. A big camera upgrade
The Z Flip series’ camera has historically been a touch underwhelming, but it’s set to get a substantial upgrade with the sixth generation, which could improve things significantly.
While the Z Flip 5 featured a dual camera array comprised of a 12-megapixel main sensor and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, rumors of a 50MP sensor for the latest version first surfaced last August and were recently confirmed via a listing in the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Megapixel count isn’t everything, of course, but hopefully this is a sign that Samsung is taking the Z Flip’s photographic performance more seriously this time around.
6. A (marginally) larger battery
Battery life has been steadily improving in the Galaxy Z Flip series over the past few years, thanks to to a mix of greater cell capacity and improved chip energy efficiency.
Sadly, talk of a big jump to a 4,000mAh battery appears to be wide of the mark, as an FCC listing for the phone has it pegged at 3,790mAh. That’s just a 90mAh advance on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 — an increase that's around a third of the total capacity of the Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch, so not very much.
Still, any size increase is welcome, and combined with the efficiency improvements from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, we’ll hopefully see a phone that will eclipse the 9 hours and 53 minutes that the Z Flip 5 managed in last year’s test.
