Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 price, specs and features: Yay or nay?

Samsung has unveiled the latest iteration of foldables alongside the much-anticipated Galaxy Ring, the Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro.

Samsung's once again using Galaxy AI to do the heavy lifting, ushering in the AI's latest chapter for better productivity, creativity and communication on its foldables.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are the sleekest versions yet but come with a heftier price tag this year and a couple of much-needed upgrades.

Let's dive deep into the phones first, before jumping into other announcements by Samsung Unpacked in Paris.

Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 price and release date in Australia

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are available to pre-order in Australia from 11 July 2024. They will officially start selling from 31 July.

And just like the cost of everything else in our lives, the newer foldables will also be more expensive.

Both variants of the Z Flip 6 will cost $150 more.

The Z Fold 6 256GB model is $250 pricer than last year, while the 512GB and 1TB will cost an additional $150.

You can get them from Samsung directly or retailers such as JB Hi-Fi, Amazon, Officeworks, Harvey Norman or The Good Guys.

Don't want to pay outright? You can sign up to a phone plan from Vodafone, Optus or Telstra.

Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 Australian specs and features

Here's a quick rundown of the specs for the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 before we dive into all that's changed (or remained unchanged) this year.

Both foldables come with seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates.

Z Fold 6: What's new, what's not?

Samsung's increased the width of the Galaxy Z Fold 6's main end cover display to make interactions more intuitive.

The foldable also features a new symmetrical design for a more modern and sleek look. The edges are a lot squarer, which is meant to feel nicer in the hand. And of course, the phone's 14 grams lighter than its predecessor which I'm here for.

The camera specs remain the same, but you do get Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for top performance, a brighter main display, ray tracing improvements (for more life-like games), and better cooling.

This might be unfortunate for some, but the S Pen slot has been ditched. Samsung's phone cases will feature it instead.

Otherwise, from everything we've now heard at Samsung Unpacked, it seems they want to hit a home run with the new and improved Galaxy AI features to make the Z Fold 6 an even bigger powerhouse.

Some callouts include:

• Browsing assist will enable easy summarisation of text-heavy articles using Samsung Browser.
• You can sketch an image, use smart select to highlight it and then allow AI to generate its iteration for clarity or creativity. You can use styles such as 3D cartoon or watercolour to make the images more fun.
• Samsung's enhanced its translation features like Interpreter, leveraging foldable screens for natural conversations. Interpreter now offers conversational and listening modes, which can be handy when you're travelling and are on a tour.
• Live Translate has been improved for accuracy and speed. You now even get an Australian English language pack.
• Chat Assist will allow text to be rewritten in different tones from professional to casual to polite. The composer feature now allows easy composition of emails, social media posts, and comments.

Z Flip 6: What's new, what's not?

First up, there have been some design adjustments, most noticeably a bold coloured camera outline.

Next, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is getting a camera upgrade! The new 50MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide sensors have been given the nod for clear and crisp details in pictures.

The 2x optical quality zoom will hopefully help reduce the noise in photos while AI can take things a few steps further with up to 10x zoom.

Nightography, enhanced with video HDR, will allow better videos even in dim lighting.

The battery life has been improved following customer feedback - you can now get up to four additional hours of juice.

Lastly, the FlexWindow allows for even more customisation enabled by AI. You can get suggested replies to text messages received, play around with interactive wallpapers and access information with even more glanceable widgets simulataneously.

Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 first impressions

There's no doubt the Z Fold 6, similar to its predecessor, is a multitasking marvel.

It's lighter too which is super handy if you're going to be using it all the time.

The caveat is it comes with a very hefty price tag and doesn't have much in the way of enhancements to jump from a Z Fold 5. Unless you can get a lot of value from pre-order deals and trading in your old phone.

The Z Flip 6 offers a similar story, but camera and battery enhancements do make an appealing case.

I'll be reviewing the phones top to bottom, left to right, over the next couple of weeks and will report back accordingly.

Samsung Unpacked also announces new watches and earbuds...and the Galaxy Ring (kind of)

The much-anticipated Galaxy Ring was announced at Samsung Unpacked, however, Australian pricing and release date were omitted. We might find out more in the coming months about its first-ever health ring.

Next on our list is the Galaxy Bud 3 series offer a new design for a more comfortable fit, complemented with Blade Lights. You can use the blade to control the earbuds and you can choose to keep the lights on or off.

Some handy AI features such as Interpreter can help when you're attending a foreign language class for instance.

The Buds 3 Pro goes a step further for a more "high range sound production".

The Galaxy Buds 3 cost $299 and the Buds 3 Pro are priced at $399. Both come in grey and white colours.

Prices for the Galaxy Watch 7 are:

• 40mm: $549 (Bluetooth) and $649 (LTE)
• 44mm: $599 (Bluetooth) and $699 (LTE)

The premium Galaxy Watch Ultra (47mm) costs $1,299. It's meant to "maximise everyday wellness with personalised workouts along with intelligent health monitoring capabilities".