5 phones you should buy instead of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6

Samsung recently released its newest generation of foldable devices, with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 leading the pack. This is Samsung’s latest and greatest folding phone, and it packs in a ton of power and features with the latest software.

But there’s also another factor to consider, especially for the Galaxy Z Fold 6: the price. It’s certainly not cheap, and in fact, there was a price increase with the new model, so it’s more expensive than ever. If you’re thinking about buying the Galaxy Z Fold 6, here are five alternatives you should think about buying instead.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

If you must have Samsung’s top-tier foldable, you should consider the Galaxy Z Fold 5 instead. Even though this is last year’s model, the differences between them are honestly very negligible. Plus, Samsung is still selling the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and it shaved some money off the price, too.

Though the Galaxy Z Fold 6 did get some minor tweaks to the overall design, it very much looks the same as its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The Z Fold 5 still has slight curves to the edges, but it is barely noticeable, especially from a distance. It also uses Samsung’s redesigned hinge that no longer allows for a gap when it’s closed. The only thing that you’re really missing out on is the slightly adjusted cover display aspect ratio on the Z Fold 6, which is supposed to be more natural. But overall, they both are very similar in terms of design.

The Z Fold 5 has a tall and narrow 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display, which will take some getting used to. The inner display is a 7.6-inch Foldable Dynamic AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate. While Samsung did make some improvements on the Z Fold 6 displays, the screens on the Z Fold 5 are still gorgeous, with vibrant colors and deep blacks, and smooth scrolling with the 120Hz.

Inside the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip, along with 12GB RAM. The storage sizes for the Z Fold 5 are the same as the Z Fold 6 as well, with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB options. While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is a year old, it is still a very fast and capable chip for great performance, especially multitasking.

The cameras are pretty much unchanged with the newer Galaxy Z Fold 6, so you really aren’t missing out on anything. With the Z Fold 5, you have a triple-camera setup with a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom. The cover display selfie camera is just 10MP, and the inner display has a 4MP camera. Again, this is identical to the Z Fold 6, so aside from a “new” sensor for the ultrawide, there isn’t any difference.

The battery did not change on the Z Fold 6, so you still have a 4,400mAh battery with 25W wired charging, 15W wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless.

Samsung added Galaxy AI tools to the Z Fold 5 through software updates, so you aren’t missing out there either. Really, the Z Fold 6 is a bit disappointing due to the lack of big changes from its predecessor, so if you still want a Samsung folding phone and want to save some money, just pick up the Galaxy Z Fold 5 instead.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

OK, yes, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the new shiny from Samsung. But have you seen that price? It’s even more expensive than before with a starting price of $1,900. But if you want the latest Samsung foldable, you can also consider the Galaxy Z Flip 6 instead.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the smaller, more compact sibling to the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It has the clamshell form factor, which is much easier to tote around than pretty much all other phones. Plus, you look so cool when you flip it open.

With the Galaxy Z Flip 6, you have a 3.4-inch cover screen that lets you quickly view glanceable information through widget panels, and you can even run full apps on it. When you flip it open, you get a large 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and brightness that reaches 2600 nits, up from the 1750 nits of its predecessor.

For cameras, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a dual-camera system, like the Galaxy Z Flip 5. It features a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide lens. The selfie camera is 10MP. While it’s not the best camera out there, it is fairly reliable at producing good shots.

Inside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset and 12GB RAM. You can get 256GB or 512GB storage. This is plenty of power for a compact phone and a nice bump up in RAM over last year’s 8GB.

The only real difference between the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the Z Flip 5 is that the new one has a larger battery capacity, so it should be able to better last a full day. But the charging speeds are still 25W maximum for wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is a lot cheaper than the Z Fold 6, yet it still provides an excellent folding phone experience. If you’re OK with the flip-phone form factor, this is a great one to consider.

OnePlus Open

The OnePlus Open may be OnePlus’ first foldable phone compared to Samsung’s six years of experience, but it’s still one of the best ones out there. Plus, it’s slightly cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and offers an overall better experience.

With the OnePlus Open, you get one of the lightest foldables available. The 6.3-inch cover display is less tall and narrow than the Z Fold 6 and has a 20:09 aspect ratio. It has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a maximum brightness of 2800 nits.

The OnePlus Open’s inner display is also very impressive and even better than the Z Fold 6. It is a 7.8-inch display with 2800 nits peak brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate, and it’s also anti-reflective. Since OnePlus has an anti-glare layer on the inner display, combined with a very bright display, the OnePlus Open is incredibly usable outdoors. Who likes reflections all over the screen? The crease is also barely noticeable.

Inside the OnePlus Open is a ton of power with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and 16GB RAM, along with 512GB storage. This phone has more RAM than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, making it a productivity beast. The Open Canvas multitasking feature in OxygenOS 13 is also very impressive. It allows you to work with multiple windows in an infinite virtual canvas — you aren’t just limited to the physical screen size of the OnePlus Open. This makes it great for power users.

For cameras, the OnePlus Open is also impressive with the Hasselblad partnership for image processing and color tuning. It has a triple-lens Hasselblad camera setup on the rear with a 48MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide lens, and a 64MP telephoto lens with 3x optical and 6x in-sensor zoom. The cover display has a 32MP selfie camera, and the inner display has a 20MP selfie camera. Already, this is a more powerful setup than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and with Hasselblad, you get very impressive photos that are vibrant and detailed.

Another area in which the OnePlus Open is better than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the battery. It has a massive 4,805mAh, which should last more than a day on a full charge. And when you do need to charge it up, it supports up to 67W charging speeds, so it can get a full charge in less than an hour. Unfortunately, it lacks wireless and reverse wireless charging.

Overall, though, the OnePlus Open is more impressive than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and even costs less at $1,700. Plus, OnePlus has a great trade-in deal that can net you at least $200 off, making the price theoretically $1,500 or less.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

OK, this isn’t a foldable at all, but hear me out. If you want a Samsung phone with one of the absolute best smartphone cameras, then you should get the Galaxy S24 Ultra, not the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Plus, it’s way cheaper.

Despite the S24 Ultra not being a foldable, it still has one of the best displays on a phone in 2024. It has a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with 120Hz refresh rate and 2500 nits of brightness. The colors really pop, the text is crisp and sharp, and the scrolling is very smooth. Inside the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip, 12GB RAM, and up to 1TB storage. It’s pretty much the same specs as the Z Fold 6 but without the folding.

But the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s cameras are its bread and butter. It has a quad-camera system with a 200MP main camera, a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide camera. It also features a 12MP selfie camera.

With a 200MP main camera, you get the best of the best image quality for any Samsung phone available today. Your shots will be incredibly detailed and pop with color. The S24 Ultra is also great for low-light images. And with two telephoto lenses for different optical zoom ranges, it’s very flexible for those close-up shots.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra also has an integrated S Pen. While you could use the S Pen for productive things like jotting down notes, navigation, or as a remote for presentations, another great use case is as a remote shutter button.

Not to mention that the S24 Ultra’s battery is 5,000mAh, beating out the Z Fold 6 as well. This should last you at least a day and a half (or two days), depending on usage. It has faster charging speeds at 45W wired, as well as the standard 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless.

And the best part? You get a more capable phone for photography for several hundred dollars less. If you want a top-tier Samsung phone and don’t mind getting a non-folding one, the S24 Ultra is the phone to buy.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Another foldable that could potentially beat the Galaxy Z Fold 6 this year is the upcoming Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is expected to launch at the Made by Google event on August 13.

Though this is just the company’s second foldable following last year’s Pixel Fold, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is shaping up to be a substantial upgrade. It appears to have an all-new design with flat edges (along with the rest of the Pixel 9 lineup), a revamped camera module, and even larger displays.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold reportedly will have a larger 6.3-inch cover display instead of 5.8-inches like before. The inner display appears to be a massive 8-inch display, which is bigger than the one on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. If you’re buying a foldable for large screens, then it looks like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will be the biggest one on the market this year.

The revamped camera module will also house a decent triple-lens camera setup. From the leaked specs, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold appears to have a 48MP main camera, 10.5MP ultrawide lens, and 10.8MP telephoto. Pixels are known for taking reliable photos and videos, especially when paired with Google’s magical AI photo-editing tools.

Google also appears to be upping the ante this year, as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold should have the new Tensor G4 chip and 16GB RAM (along with the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL). This would be the first time that any Pixel device would have that much RAM, which outclasses even Samsung.

Even though the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold seems to outperform the Galaxy Z Fold 6, it might actually be cheaper. The price hasn’t leaked yet, but if it remains at the usual $1,800, then it still starts at $100 less than Samsung’s offering.