Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Vs Z Fold 5: What are the Differences?
Jul. 10, 2024It’s that time of the year when Samsung launches new foldable devices. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 launched last year brought design improvements such as screen folding completely shut leaving no gap and better performance, while most of the other things remained the same compared to the Z Fold 4.Samsung has launched the Z Fold 6and if you’re wondering if it brings any improvements, here’s how the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs Z Fold 5: Key Specifications
The build and design of the Z Fold 6 are almost similar to that of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 with the only differences being amore flatandsharperdesign language on the new foldable. Its chassis is made out of aluminum, which Samsung claims has been improved significantly.
The Z Fold 6’s dimensions are153.5 x 132.6 x 5.6 mmwhen unfolded and153.5 x 68.1 x 12.1 mmwhen folded. This makes it 1.4mm shorter, 2.7mm wider, and 0.5mm thinner when unfolded. Similarly, the device is 1.4mm shorter, 1mm wider, and 1.3mm thinner when folded compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The slightly shorter size and thinness, combined with14 grams lightermeans users should get a better grip when holding the device.Left: Z Fold 5 | Right: Z Fold 6
Despite the phone being 2.7mm wider when unfolded, the display size remains the same, i.e.,7.6 inches. What doesn’t remain the same is the display resolution. The new Z Fold 6 has a2150 x 1856 pixelsresolution compared to Z Fold 5’s 2176 x 1812 pixels.
Its display is much brighter now at around2,600 nitspeak brightness from last year’s 1,750 nits. The secondary screen is now 0.1-inch taller. Both are120Hz Super AMOLEDpanels with the cover display protected by CorningGorilla Glass Victus 2.
With the Armored Aluminum frame, the Z Fold 6 now has anIP48rating for protection against dust and water. In contrast, the Z Fold 5’s IPX8 rating did not offer dust resistance at all. Overall, Samsung continues the trend of making marginal improvements in the Z Fold series.
No surprises here either. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest and greatest, theSnapdragon 8 Gen 3. The SoC is around50% betterthan the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the Z Fold 5 thanks to its newer cores and a revised core architecture and setup of 1+3+2+2 compared to 1+2+2+3 on the 8 Gen 2.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4nm)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm)
While both SoCs are based on TSMC’s4nm process, Qualcomm claims the 8 Gen 3 is a tad more efficient, thus, resulting in abetter batterylife than its predecessor. Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 brings solid performance and efficiency improvements, making the Z Fold 6 the better-performing device between the two.
Unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 6 which received a primary camera upgrade, things remain stagnant at the Fold’s end. The Z Fold 6 features thesame camera setupas the Z Fold 5. The setup consists of a 50 MP f/1.8 Wide, 10 MP f/2.4 Telephoto, and a third 12 MP f/2.2 Ultrawide snapper. There’s the same 4 MP under-display camera unit inside and a 10 MP f/2.2 selfie unit on the cover screen.
We would’ve loved to see at least some improvements in the camera department, given that Samsung has been using the same setup since the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Maybe the addition of a 50 MP Telephoto or Ultrawide camera for better zoom or field of view could’ve been better, but it is what it is.
The battery remains the same as well, i.e., a4,400 mAhcell, but the overall battery backup should be a tad better than Z Fold 5 thanks to 8 Gen 3 being more efficient. Unfortunately, the charging speed remains unimproved and is still only25W.
No surprises here as both the Storage and RAM remain the same. The base variant has 256 GB ofUFS 4.0storage coupled with12 GB LPDDR5 RAM. However, there are 512GB and 1TB variants that you can buy, but with the same 12GB RAM. We hoped Samsung had bumped it to 16GB across all variants but alas.
The Z Fold 6 runs One UI 6.1 based on Android 14 out of the box whereas the Fold 5 launched with Android 13 and has received an update to Android 14. However, one major difference is that the Z Fold 5 only has three more updates remaining, whereas the Z Fold 6 will receive major Android updates for 7 years just like the S24 series!
With a price increase of $100 for the base variant, the answer should be pretty clear. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a minor upgrade over the Z Fold 5 with the only differences being the slightly improved form factor and better performance due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. In conclusion, we don’t see enough of a reason to upgrade to the Z Fold 6 if you already own a Z Fold 5.
What are your thoughts on Samsung’s measly specification improvements in the Fold series? Let us know in the comments below
