During my summer fling with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 back in July and August last year I realized that foldables are my favorite phone design, and I wasn’t excited about the prospect of going back to my dependable, but (at that point) stale, non-folding Samsung Galaxy S24.
Thankfully, in November I had the Z Fold 6 back in my hands for a long-term test, and having relied on it as my primary handset since, I thought now was the perfect time to tell you how I’m getting on with the phone – and update you on whether my love affair with foldables is a bonafide romance, or was just a short-lived infatuation.
In five months I’ve learned five important things about foldables, including why phone case haters will definitely want to rethink their stance, why rear-camera selfies are amazing, and why I’m still not convinced everyone should own one.
1. You probably want a case
I know, I know… me saying “buy a case” begs the retort “well, duh”, but when it comes to foldables, proper protection is even more essential than for a regular handset – and I say that as someone who usually just relies on a screen protector and nothing else to keep my phone safe.
When I drop a non-foldable phone I know that at worst my screen protector might shatter, and the phone’s edges might suffer a few bumps, but fundamentally the device will function just about as well as it did before. With a foldable, however, the hinge is a whole new point of failure that you need to worry about – and one that’s fairly exposed.
I’ve also got the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold for testing, and it recently took a tumble while I was flying free (read: caseless). The hinge popped out of place as a result, and until I was able to perform a bit of DIY repair to push it back into place the foldable wouldn’t open or close – and even now unfolding it doesn’t feel as smooth as it once did.
Given that foldable phone repairs are usually more difficult, and as a result pricier, than repairs to standard phones, I’d strongly recommend that you get a case when you buy one – and not just one of those cheap cases, but a case that actually protects the hinge – and get a screen protector too. They’ll likely save you a lot of grief if your phone ever tries to make a break for it.
2. You’ll unfold it less than you realise
When you read that the Z Fold 6 – or some other foldable – can only survive 200,000 or so fold cycles you start to do the math. “200,000 divided by 100 folds a day is 2,000 days, divided by 365 days is about five-and-a-half-years” and then you think “That’s no long for a phone, especially one that costs close to $2,000.”
From my experience, though, the Z Fold 6’s hinge should last you a lot longer (provided you don’t wreck it by dropping it regularly). I’d say that on my most active days I’d only open and close it about 40 times, and many of those are only half-unfolds so that I can prop it up to watch a horizontal video.
Rounding that up to a generous 50 fold cycles a day average would double your hinge’s lifecycle to nearly 11 years, which is longer than Samsung will support the Z Fold 6 with software updates for – it’s only guaranteeing seven years of software and security patches.
I don’t open it up all the time because while the massive tablet-like screen can be great for writing, reading, watching content and a whole host of things, it can also be inconvenient overkill in a lot of scenarios.
While the foldable format enables you to use your device as a phone or as a tablet, a lot of the time you’ll just want to rely on that outer screen for a more traditional phone-like experience. That’s why the Galaxy Z Fold 6 having a smaller outer display than the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold or OnePlus Open – both of which offer full-size outer phone screens) is easily its most frustrating feature.
3. You’ll love rear-camera selfies
One instance where you will need to unfold the display is when you want to take a selfie.
Being able to unfold the display to take any photo is handy, as the phone uses the left half of your tablet-like screen to show you a reasonably sized version of the snap you just took, making it much easier to tell if you got a good take without needing to check your camera roll.
For selfies it’s another level of usefulness, as you’re able to use the outer 50MP wide-angle main camera for your snaps instead of the standard 12MP selfie camera you’re stuck with for most other phones. And thanks to the outer screen you get the full benefit of a display, so you can compose the perfect self-portrait as normal; it’s a win-win, and the feature I most appreciate day-to-day.
4. You might hate the crease
Some of you will accuse me of ‘huffing copium’ or some technological version of Stockholm syndrome, but when you’re using the unfolded screen I’m never that bothered by the crease. It’s certainly become more noticeable over time, but at least on the Z Fold 6 it’s generally fine – and from the right angles when watching a video it’s practically invisible at times.
It’s more of an issue with some foldables than others. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, for example, has a much more noticeable crease splitting its tablet screen in two which can be a massive distraction – as a result I actually unfold it much less frequently than the Z Fold 6, only doing so to watch a show or snap a selfie.
5. I still wouldn’t recommend you buy one today
Today’s folding phones are far from perfect. Cameras and price are the most pressing issues – you’re paying considerably more for a foldable than you are for a brand’s priciest flagship (think, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra), and that’s for a phone with usually inferior cameras (for example the Z Fold 6 has a 50MP main sensor, where the S24 Ultra a 200MP main).
When I speak with friends and family, this camera downgrade is usually the reason they cite for wondering why you’d actually want a foldable.
The other issue is durability. Even with a case, the IP48 rating means foldables aren’t as dust- resistant as non-foldables, which almost mostly boast the top-tier IP68 rating as standard. A trip to a sandy beach could permanently kill your foldable, and when they come in at prices like $1,899.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,749 (which is what a Galaxy Z Fold 6 with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM will set you back) you don’t want it to feel so fragile.
That said, I still love foldables. Every day I’m more convinced that they’re the smartphone design most of us will be using in a decade – a nice ironic twist after flat smartphones supplanted classic flip phones.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
