Galaxy Z Fold 6 could be Samsung’s thinnest and lightest folding phone yet — what we know

Samsung’s next batch of foldable phones — the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 — aren’t expected to arrive for another six months, but a leaker has just provided some fresh and exciting insights about what to expect from the latter.

On the Korean site Naver, the blogger yeux1122 has written about what changes to expect, some with more certainty than others. While early rumors — especially those subjected to the fallibilities of machine translation — should be treated with skepticism, the blogger has been proven right in the past about Samsung’s activities.

So, with that health check out of the way, what’s yeux1122 claiming? 

First up, it appears Samsung is continuing on its ongoing mission to make the Galaxy Z Fold series pocketable, having been overtaken on that score by the Pixel Fold and the Honor Magic V2. This will manifest itself in a thinner design overall, but also a more compact (yet more durable) hinge. The ultra-thin glass will also apparently offer improvements to both feel and durability.

The leaker also claims that the upcoming foldable will follow the design cues of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, offer titanium and other finishes and include a battery boost of around 5%. For reference, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 currently packs a 4,400mAh cell, which our testing found lasts for just shy of 11 hours in mixed usage (itself a significant leap from the 9:17 provided by the Galaxy Z Fold 4).

In a section on “points currently being checked” there are a few exciting tidbits which, as the heading suggests, are yet to be confirmed. Firstly, the leaker suggests that the handset may come with up to 16GB RAM — a quantity Samsung hasn’t put in its phones since 2021’s S21 Ultra — and up to 1TB of onboard storage (unchanged from the current model).

Secondly, the reduced thickness of the handset should have a knock-on effect to weight, though it may not be as dramatic as you’d think. Based on the heft of previous prototypes against the final product’s weight, yeux1122 is expecting the Z Fold 6 to tip the scales at around 248-249 grams — not much of a reduction from the 253g Z Fold 5.

And despite this, you shouldn’t expect a slot for a dedicated S Pen as seen on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. The blog claims it’s “more likely to not be installed on Fold 6”.

Previously, we’ve heard that the phone may adopt a wider aspect ratio and something called an “Ironflex” display. We’re not expecting big changes to the camera, but there’s a lingering hope that we may see a cheaper Z Fold announced alongside the main flagship this year, which could give the foldable market a much-needed shot in the arm.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you’ll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.