I didn’t love this flip phone when we reviewed it – here’s why I think it’s a good deal now
After I declared it the runner-up in a showdown with Razr, this flip phone has caught my attention with a massive Prime Day discount
When I’m reviewing smartphones, price inevitably plays a huge part in my final verdict. A handset can be technically very proficient but if it charges dramatically more than rivals that largely offer a similar user experience, odds are I’m not going to rate it that highly. I had one such encounter with a recent pair of clamshell folding phones, when I set the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 in a head-to-head competition with the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra.
Playfully designated a “flip off”, this deep dive ultimately established that, while it wasn’t the fastest nor did it have the longest software support, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra was the better of the pair, offering more premium features for less money. Fast forward a few months and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 has received its first big discount in Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale, so it’s high time we gave this silver medalist another look.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: What’s the deal?
When it launched over the summer, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 started at £1,049. That got you the 256GB model, while the 512GB variant cost a further £100. This discount brings both down to much more tempting prices, with the 512GB now at £949 and the 256GB at £849. Both of those are record-low prices on Amazon, dropping from average prices of £1,049 and £1,033, respectively.
Even at its original price, we weren’t uncomplimentary about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, with our reviewer Jon Mundy rating it four stars out of five and giving it our Recommended award. But it’s safe to say that, as competent as it was before, being on sale for as little as £849 has certainly improved the Z Flip 6’s allure.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: What’s so good about it?
It may have come second in the head-to-head, but it was a close call, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is still a very good folding phone. For starters, it uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with a solid 12GB of RAM, and delivers the fastest performance of any flip phone that we’ve tested thus far. Gaming is also very impressive, with the Z Flip 6 hitting over 100fps in the onscreen benchmarks.
The new 4,000mAh battery adds to the performance strength with improved battery life of 24hrs 21mins – a smidge better than both the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Razr 50 Ultra. Charging speeds aren’t amazing but they’re solid enough, with 30 minutes plugged in bringing the battery to around 55%.
The other big improvement this generation is the main camera, which has been bumped up from a humble 12MP lens to a far superior 50MP (f/1.8) unit. This new camera performed very well in our testing, with rich colours and bold contrast in the day and sharp details and restrained artificial brightening at night. The 12MP ultrawide isn’t as impressive but it still serves well enough, expanding the scope while maintaining the main camera’s tone.
As with all Samsung flagships this year, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 also receives several Galaxy AI features, including live translation and transcribing, auto zoom framing on the camera and message format suggestions. You also get the Sketch to Image feature which uses AI image generation to convert your doodles into “art” in your chosen style.
My feelings on the AI features are hit and miss but what I’m much more openly positive about is the rest of the software. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 launched with Android 14 and is set to receive the same seven years of software support as the rest of the flagships this year, which offers much better longevity than the Razr’s four years of OS updates and five of security patches.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Any drawbacks?
Aside from the price, the Razr has two main advantages over the Galaxy. For starters, it’s the first flip phone to include a dedicated telephoto lens, and a rather good one at that. This further highlights the lack of advancements made to the Galaxy’s ultrawide camera and, whether you prefer the option to zoom or widen your shots, the Galaxy’s camera suite is that little bit weaker by comparison.
Secondly, the Razr has a more advanced cover display, with a higher resolution and refresh rate, as well as open app compatibility that allows you to set any app you wish to open on the external screen. Will you want to watch Netflix on the smaller screen religiously? Probably not, but the flexibility offered by the Razr is much more appealing.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Should you take the deal?
The tricky thing is that the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra is also on sale for Prime Day, dropping to a record-low price of just £768. For my money, I think that’s the deal that you should take, as you’re still getting more bang for your buck.
However, there are plenty of reasons to be more attracted to the Samsung, including the nippier performance, the more extensive software support and preference of an ultrawide camera over a telephoto. More to the point, this discount is big enough that the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s shortcomings aren’t as dramatic. If you want to try a flip phone and are looking for the best performance and longest software support around, this Prime Day deal is the absolute best time to snatch up a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
