What to expect: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 (and Z Flip FE)

Samsung is expected to hold its big Unpacked event in early July, the event that will bring the new foldables, the Galaxy Ring and possibly other new products. The timing is intended to line up with the Olympics (which start on July 26) as Samsung is a major sponsor and will want its shiny new gadgets to be front and center.

The next generation of Galaxy foldables has leaked numerous times and we wanted to summarize several months of leaks and rumors here, so that you know what to expect come July. This post will focus on the Galaxy Z Flip6, another one will cover the Galaxy Z Fold6.

Cheaper FE model incoming

Samsung was an early mover in the foldable field and the technology has been improving with every generation. One thing that has remained relatively constant is the price. It looks like the company is finally at a point where it is ready to offer a more affordable model alongside the regular flagship-grade Flip.

The phone is tentatively called Galaxy Z Flip FE, just like the Galaxy S FE series. It will measure 165.2 x 71.9 x 6.9mm unfolded, the same as the Z Flip5, while the Z Flip6 will be slightly thicker (more on that in a bit). This might suggest that this is really a Galaxy Z Flip5 FE with some or most of the hardware borrowed from the 2023 model.

An even bigger cover display

One of the major upgrades on the Galaxy Z Flip5 was the so-called Flex Window – the 3.4” cover display. Compared to the 1.9” line display of the previous model, this really changed how you used the phone. It could display more than simple widgets, indeed it could run full Android apps.

Samsung saw that it was good and apparently it wants to go even bigger – the Galaxy Z Flip6 is said have a 3.9” cover display. We don’t know that that means as a percentage-wise increase as the shape of the cover display is complex and flows around the cameras.

Cover displays: Galaxy Z Flip4 (left) and Galaxy Z Flip5 (right)

Gorilla Glass Armor, currently used on the S24 Ultra, might make an appearance. This new type of glass significantly cuts down on reflectivity, but it may be featured only on the cover display.

As for the main display inside, Samsung trademarked the term “Ironflex”

We haven’t seen any mention of LTPO, but the S24 trio switched over and now offers variable refresh rates (up to 120Hz), so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Dimensions

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 reportedly measures 165.0 x 71.7 x 7.4mm when unfolded. That’s half a millimeter thicker than the Z Flip5, which is 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9mm. As you can see, the bigger display won’t make the phone itself bigger, so this should mean slimmer bezels.

Here are speculative renders showing the Z Flip6, which show essentially the same design.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 (speculative renders)

Based on unofficial reports, the Galaxy Z Flip6 will come in the following colorways: Light Blue, Light Green, Silver and Yellow.

Bigger battery

As you might have guessed, the thicker design means a larger battery – the Z Flip6 is said to feature a 4,000mAh battery, which is 300mAh more than the Z Flip5. It will be split between two cells – 1,097mAh and 2,790mAh.

That is a total rated capacity of 3,887mAh, typical capacity should be advertised as the aforementioned 4,000mAh. For comparison, the Z Flip5 battery split is 971mAh + 2,620mAh for 3,591mAh rated and 3,700mAh typical capacity.

Exynos and/or Snapdragon

In March we saw reports that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 will be equipped with the new Exynos 2400, the same chip that is inside global Galaxy S24 variants. In our testing, the Exynos proved to be quite fast, but the small Galaxy S24 struggled to keep it cool. Samsung is reportedly improving the cooling on the new Flip, but it’s not clear whether that will be enough – the Z Flip5 was particularly bad under sustained load.

Earlier this month we saw a Galaxy Z Flip6 test result in Geekbench with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. We may be looking at yet another regional split with some Flips getting the Samsung chip and others the Qualcomm one.

Galaxy Z Flip6 (SM-F741U) on Geekbench (Vulkan and OpenCL)

As for the Galaxy Z Flip FE, that one will reportedly use the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2. There’s no mention of the Exynos 1480, but the 7s Gen 2 comes from the Samsung foundries, so there is some familial connection.

12GB of RAM, 8GB for the FE

Previous Flips were capped at 8GB of RAM, but this year the Z Flip6 should follow in the footsteps of the S24+ and get a 12GB RAM option. That said, the Geekbench test result above showed 8GB, so that will remain the base capacity.

The Galaxy Z Flip FE will remain at 8GB – it is the affordable version, after all.

Moving on to the storage, the FE is said to have 256GB and 512GB options. These match the Z Flip5 options and should be what the Z Flip6 offers as well (a 1TB version is not impossible, just unlikely).

50MP main camera

As you may have noticed, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 will have a dual camera. The Flips have featured 12+12MP dual cameras from the get go and they are not getting a dedicated tele camera anytime soon.

There will be an upgrade this year, the Z Flip6 will feature a 50MP primary camera, according to rumors. This should come with 2x in-sensor zoom. And, hopefully, higher quality daytime and nighttime shots at 1x too. The Z Flip5 camera was already quite good, but the competition hasn’t been standing still.

The ultra wide camera is expected to remain at 12MP, the selfie camera probably won’t be upgraded either.

What else?

It goes without saying that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 will feature the new Galaxy AI features. Software support (OS updates and security patches) will likely to be bumped up to 7 years like with the S24 series.

What about price? We don’t know yet, but we expect that the Galaxy Z Flip6 will be in the same price bracket as the Z Flip5, while the Z Flip FE will be a step lower.