Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Review: Software, Performance

GSMArena Team,
July 17, 2024.

Android 14, One UI 6.1.1 and Galaxy AI

The Galaxy Z Fold6 runs Android 14 with Samsung’s One UI layered on top, here at version 6.1.1 — the latest .1 version that separates the foldable models from the regular models. The S24 series kicked off the company’s seven-year software support policy, and the Fold6 should see up to seven OS releases and the same number of years of regular software patches.

The question remains: who will be around to criticize them for it if they don’t deliver, but let’s leave that to ourselves (or, more realistically, Reddit) for the future. Another questionable element is how well the device will perform after 7 OS updates — no manufacturer can promise a smooth user experience with 7-year-old hardware.

In terms of the One UI basics, the Fold is very similar to any other high-end Galaxy, so returning users will be in a familiar place. It’s a fully-featured and polished overlay on Android, and overall a very pleasant experience.

One UI Basics on the Home Screen

On the other hand, the large screen offers some of the best productivity features you can get in a foldable phone that turns into a tablet. We especially like how intuitive the multi-window implementation is, and you don’t have to to learn How it’s done – it just works the way you’d expect it to. The transition from inside to case can take a bit of setup – by default, the phone goes into standby mode when you close it, but you can choose the behavior for each app and make it work the way you like.

Large screen user interface

AI has taken over tech marketing, with Samsung doing what it can to get ahead of the competition with the Galaxy, and Google doing its part too. Under the Galaxy AI umbrella, the Fold6 is packed with features that will make your life easier or more colorful (or so we’re led to believe).

This time, Samsung has added automatic transcription, translation, and summary of voice recordings, as well as translation of PDF overlays, to the already available Note Assist functionality.

The Sketch to image feature aims to extend the usability of the (optional) S Pen on the Z Fold 6 by offering the ability to sketch objects on images in the Gallery or Notes app, and then have those drawings replaced by AI into real-world works of art.

The Interpreter live translation feature now has a special conversation mode designed specifically to take advantage of the foldable form factor of the Z Fold6 and Z Flip6. In this mode, one party in the conversation sees the translation on the home screen, while the other sees the home screen. In the same vein, Live Translate is now expanding beyond the default Samsung phone app to a selection of popular third-party apps.

Photo Assist has improved AI-powered photo editing capabilities that complement existing features to adjust image angles, fill in gaps around edges, and select and move, resize, or delete objects in the frame. Portrait Studio creates different portrait styles, such as 3D cartoon or watercolor.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of new features, and they’re in addition to other existing features we’ve already seen introduced with the Galaxy S24 family. For example, Composer, built into Samsung Keyboard, can generate text based on simple keywords, Circle to Search is a system-wide feature for highlighting things on your screen to select an object to search the web for, and Google’s Gemini app is fully integrated into the new Galaxy Z series.

Reference points

The Galaxy Z Fold6 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, specifically the SM8650-AC version of Qualcomm’s 2024 flagship chip. The AC part (also known as the “for Galaxy” part, but no longer exclusive to Samsung) entails minor differences in clock speeds for this or that part of the chip, but it’s more or less what every high-end Android phone has this year, just a little more unique.

For now, we know of three storage options — the base 256GB, our review unit a 512GB variety, and a 1TB option. Storage speeds for our sample were UFS 4.0, as expected. All versions come with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

The Fold6 wasn’t particularly impressive in terms of hardware in our benchmarks, generally scoring slightly lower than its flat screen, and the S24 Ultra itself isn’t a particularly high-scoring example of the platform. These numbers aren’t anything to complain about; they simply show that Samsung isn’t keen on prioritizing absolute, raw synthetic performance.