Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 vs Galaxy Z Flip5

So, you’re in the market for a Samsung-made flip-style foldable and are naturally wondering whether you should save a few bucks and go for last year’s Z Flip5 or pony up the premium for the shiny new Z Flip6.

Straight off the bat, the two devices are very similar. Samsung went for refinement more than any major innovation this year; hence, either phone will deliver a similar overall experience.

Still, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, and we are more than happy to go over the most important ones with you in this article.

Table of Contents:

For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the following text.

Size comparison

Let’s start simple with a hardware overview of sorts. In their unfolded state, the two phones are practically identical in size. Almost shockingly so, in fact. When folded, the new Z Flip6 is just slightly thinner at 14.9 mm compared to 15.1 mm. Samsung seems to have shaved off the girth from the chassis itself since the hinge seems borrowed from the older generation to the new.

Speaking of the hinge, last year’s Z Flip5 is the device that brought about the more meaningful hinge innovation with the gapless closing. Things are mostly unchanged this year, so it is fair to say that you get Samsung’s latest and greatest hinge technology on either phone.

In another very surprising development, it is also true that the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 are identical in weight at 187 grams. This is particularly intriguing given the increased battery capacity from 3,700 mAh to 4,000 mAh from generation to generation.

So, we mentioned quite a few things that haven’t really changed. What has changed, then? The aluminum frame in the Z Flip6 has gotten flatter, and it’s now matte instead of glossy. The color panel on the back is now matte, too, creating a nicer, modern look. The two cameras have gotten thicker accent rings. And that’s about it the design changes.

For what it’s worth, Samsung says the armor aluminum frame used on the Z Flip6 is somehow “enhanced” compared to the “regular” one on the Z Flip5.

And while the Z Flip5 has an IPX8 ingress protection rating, the Z Flip6 now has IP48. The added number ‘4’ means dust particles larger than 1mm can’t get in there, meaning there’s less chance of dust or sand getting inside the hinge.

That aside, the cover displays on both phones are protected by the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 material.

Display comparison

The Galaxy Z Flip6’s display setup is pretty much unchanged, coming from the previous generation. On the inside, there’s a 6.7-inch panel that bends in half, and on the cover, you’ll find a notched 3.4-inch screen for simpler tasks. Both are OLEDs, of course.

The main panels inside have a 1,080×2,640px resolution in a 22:9 aspect ratio. That’s pretty tall and narrow and since it’s also a very thin device when unfolded, both Flips feel easier to operate than any other 6.7-incher with a more conventional aspect ratio.

The crease on the folding screen and its perceived prominence is the same between the two phones.

There are still some generational improvements here. One is the use of LTPO tech in the newer model, which means it’s a more power efficient screen.

Then, there is the maximum brightness. The Z Flip6 main screen gets notably brighter (1,475 nits) compared to the Z Flip5 (1,101 nits).

The cover display is basically unchanged in its funky shape and functionality. Both the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 only get a 60Hz refresh rate on their cover screens.

We have not tested the max brightness of the cover display due to technical limitations, but Samsung claims that the new one on the Z Flip6 maxes out at 1,600 nits.

Battery life

One of the changes to this year’s Flip that can pass for ‘major’ is the increase in battery capacity. The Z Flip6 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery – 8% higher than before. This increase in capacity also translates into a tangible increase in on-screen endurance, as measured by our standardized testing, which is great to see.

Of course, the more power-efficient LTPO screen might help things in the screen-on tests, too.

The only area where the new Z Flip6 does a bit worse than its predecessor is Call time endurance. We also observed this trend with the Z Fold6 and Z Fold5, so the newer chipset and its modem might be to blame. Even so, the Z Flip6 has a better battery life as a whole.

Charging speed

Samsung isn’t exactly keeping up with the times when it comes to fast charging. Then again, you can also choose to view this as a greater emphasis on battery health and longevity over faster top-ups. We won’t be making any excuses for Samsung, though. Both phones charge at an official maximum of 25W wired and 15W wireless and that’s not terribly high, comparatively speaking. >

Samsung claims that the 25W wired rating should result in the same charging rate between the two phones – 50% in 30 minutes.

In our tests, however, the slightly larger battery on the Z Flip6 couldn’t even reach the advertised charging rate and is slightly slower than the Z Flip5’s. A small victory, of sorts, for the outgoing model.

Both phones also support 4.5W reverse wireless charging.

Speaker test

The Z Flip5 and Z Flip 6 have a very similar speaker system. There is one speaker on the bottom and another up top covering earpiece duties in voice calls.

In portrait orientation, the top one gets the left channel, while in landscape, the phone will assign the channels dynamically to correspond to the handset’s orientation in space – that’s when the Flip is unflipped, of course.

The two phones are very close in terms of loudness and overall quality. Perhaps the Z Flip6 has a very small edge here with slightly better loudness and ever-so-slightly-better frequency response. It is hardly substantial, though; for all intents and practical purposes, the two phones sound the same.

Performance

In keeping with tradition, Samsung is putting the latest and greatest Qualcomm chip inside its Flip models at the respective time of release. That means that the Z Flip5 gets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 while the Z Flip6 gets the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Both phones have the AC version of their respective chipsets, also known as the “for Galaxy mobile platform”. The AC is essentially an overclocked variant of the regular AB chip. So you are getting the best of the best.

Both the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 can be had with either 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. However, the Z Flip6 has the advantage of 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM instead of the 8GB of RAM inside the Z Flip5. That is a pretty substantial upgrade right there.

Benchmark performance

The actual difference in performance between the Z Flip 5 and Z Flip6 isn’t all that substantial, to be honest. Our Z Flip5 unit somehow managed to get a higher AnTuTu 10 score. We wouldn’t really let performance dictate this buying decision one way or the other.

What is potentially more important is the software support window Samsung offers for each phone. With the Z Flip5 launched a year ago, it already has left only three years of OS updates and four years of security patches.

In contrast, the Z Flip6 gets a whopping seven years of OS updates. We aren’t sure the phone’s performance will remain usable after that many years, but the longer the support, the better.

There is also the matter of the new Galaxy AI software features, which Samsung introduced on the S24 series. We won’t be considering those in detail in this comparison because Samsung delivered most, if not all, of these features to the Flip5 with an update in April 2024.

Camera comparison

The Z Flip6 brings a rather substantial camera upgrade to the table over its Z Flip5 predecessor. This generation gets a Tetracell/Quad-Bayer main camera, the same one as in the Fold6 and several other ‘regular’ Galaxy S phones from years past (and present too). The 50MP sensor primary module combines four pixels into one to provide better dynamic range and noise performance. While the technology itself is no longer groundbreaking, this upgrade is a big deal for Flip as it allows the phone to zoom at least a little digitally without sacrificing quality too much.

There are some differences in the ultrawide cameras of both phones, but these are hardly substantial compared to the major move up in the main camera department.

Image quality

Comparing Flip6’s photos against those of the previous generation, we see a more natural, detailed presentation with less aggressive sharpening. The new model’s camera photos are also cleaner, next to an often grainy Flip5.

Daylight comparison, main camera (1x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

On to some zoom shots, then. Both phones capture competent 2x shots, but those from the newer model contain finer detail and are rendered a lot more naturally, even if that sometimes means a bit softer presentation.

Daylight comparison, main camera (2x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

The difference in ultrawide quality is hardly huge. Samsung has eased off on the sharpening, and there’s probably even less grain in the skies and other areas of uniform color.

Daylight comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

In low light, the new model has a pronounced advantage over the Flip5, offering better detail, less sharpening and improved dynamic range.

Low-light comparison, main camera (1x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

The low light advantages aren’t as huge at 2x zoom. The Z Flip5 fares better than we anticipated in low light zooming. The Z Flip’s photos are also quite noisy.

Low-light comparison, main camera (2x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

Finally, we have the two ultrawides at night. Even though the hardware should be nearly identical here, the Z Flip6 generally takes sharper ultrawide shots.

Low-light comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x): Galaxy Z Flip6 • Galaxy Z Flip5

Video quality

There is basically no difference between the Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 when it comes to video capture capabilities and options. The Z Flip6 can do 1080p@120fps, which was not a feature of the older model, at least not originally, and the newer phone has 4K@60fps on the selfie camera. We’d consider both of these niche features but they are there.

Quality-wise, we would say that the two main cameras are a toss-up. The Z Flip6 seems to have a bit more laid-back processing with less sharpening being applied, which might make the Flip5’s video more attractive at first glance.

The image quality gap grows bigger for 2x videos. The Z Flip6 has a much gentler approach, and yet, the 2x video out of it is much more detailed.

The reverse seems to hold true for the ultra-wide camera, where the more aggressive rendition of the Flip5 makes the video look a bit better.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

The Z Flip6 has a bit more of a noticeable edge with low-light videos from the main camera. Its exposure looks more natural, and the videos capture more detail.

While the observations above hold true for 2x zoom videos as well, the inky shadows and more contrasty look from the Flip5 add for nicer 2x footage. Low-light video from the two ultrawides is more or less a toss-up.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 low-light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 low-light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Verdict

All things considered, the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Flip6 are remarkably similar devices. Still, Samsung has managed to improve the latest Flip across the board (albeit, in small, incremental refinements rather than any major changes).

The Z Flip6 has brighter displays for better sunlight legibility. The extra battery capacity along with the more power-efficient screen have translated into better battery life. The latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 comes with more RAM to boot. There is the promise of a whopping seven years of software support as opposed to merely three left in the Z Flip5. And last but not least, the new 50MP main camera brings about better photo image quality.

The Galaxy Z Flip5 is not that cheaper than the Flip6 and unless you find a really killer deal on that one, going with the Z Flip6 will be the better deal.