Samsung unveiled the latest versions of its foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, during its Unpacked event in Paris on Wednesday. Picture: Samsung
Samsung unveiled the latest versions of its foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, during its Unpacked event in Paris on Wednesday.
Local tech reporters watched the live stream at the Gallery in Steyn City, Midrand.
While the devices share many of the same features, there are some differences between their cameras and displays.
Both devices are a little more durable, a little lighter, and come with a handful of tiny upgrades. Even so, both models got a boost of a certain kind: higher prices, with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 with 256GB starting at R43 499 and the Z Flip 6 256GB at R25 999.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is available in Silver Shadow, Pink and Navy, while Galaxy Z Flip 6 is also available in Silver Shadow, Yellow, Blue and Mint colour options.
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Samsung head of product management Zahir Cajee told The Citizen there is a “lot of AI” in the new devices.
“There is a lot of AI improvements, so Galaxy AI has a platform we launched with the S24 series, we brough a lot more features that will be available on the Fold 6.”
Mobile manufacturers like Samsung are delving more into software development particularly artificial intelligence (AI) in devices as opposed to leaps in aesthetic appearances.
Mobile AI devices have been shaped through subsequent developer conferences from Google, Apple and Microsoft.
With proliferation of AI, the software is becoming the primary feature of smartphones. This is a case in point with Samsungs new Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 which are packed with AI features.
The latest Google Gemini app is also fully integrated on the new Galaxy Z series, providing AI-powered assistant right on the phones leaving poor old Bixby, Samsung’s AI assistant out in the cold.
Google was unsurprisingly central to Samsung’s initial push, as the S24 also marked the debut of the Circle to Search feature and language translate features with many more languages added this time around.
While there aren’t any striking differences, there have been some changes to the overall design of both phones.
Both phones use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset specially tuned for Samsung. The inner flexible glass is also more durable, and both devices are now rated IP48.
The Fold 6’s camera hardware is much the same as last year, with a 50-megapixel main rear camera and a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto. However, there’s an updated 12-megapixel ultrawide this year, which claims better low-light performance.
However, there are a few updates that could make sways fans — particularly on the Flip 6. It now comes with a bigger 4,000mAh battery and a vapor cooling chamber, a first for the Flip series.
The phone gets the same 50-megapixel main camera sensor as the Fold and base-model S24 devices launched earlier this year and comes with the new ultrawide camera, too. There’s 12GB of RAM instead of 8GB.
The full suite of AI features introduced with the S24 series are present on the Z Fold 6 and Flip 6.
There’s also a new “sketch to image” feature that uses AI to turn S Pen doodles into images, and interpreter mode gets an update to take advantage of the foldable form factor to display translations on the cover and inner screens.
Samsung also unveiled a new Galaxy Ring, but don’t hold your breath as it will not be coming to South Africa due to regulatory approvals
The new Galaxy Watches are likely to garner a lot of attention. They get a new feature with the Ultra striking a close resemblance to Apple’s wearable of the same name.
Samsung said the device offers “extreme durability” and it is clearly squarely aimed at fitness enthusiasts, but with a battery life of up to 100 hours, Huawei, still leads the pack with battery life.
The new Galaxy Watch7 series can now check for sleep apnoea and can even check a user’s biological age, which are useful features.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra starts at R19 999, with the Watch7: R6 999 (40mm) and R7 499 (44mm)
Samsung also introduced the Galaxy Buds3 Pro with enhanced 2-way speakers with planar tweeter. However, the resemblance to Apple’s Air pods is clear visible. The new Galaxy Buds 3 will cost R4 000 and the Buds 3 Pro will launch at R5 000.
Also coming to Samsung South Africa for launch are pre-order incentives and a trade-in programme that will return up to R15 000 for your old device.
Should you upgrade to the new device? Well if you have deep pockets then I’d say go for it. But if you want all the new features and prepared to wait a while, until the end of 2024, a software upgrade will take care of what you missing out on, albeit for a short while.
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