Samsung has unveiled the latest versions of its two foldable phones Wednesday at its Unpacked 2024 eventThe Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 are thinner and lighter than their predecessors, while the Fold 6 features a much-anticipated update to its traditionally narrow front-facing display. Both devices also come with even higher starting prices, at $1,900 for the Fold and $1,100 for the Flip, a $100 increase over the previous models.
As you might expect, it’s all about artificial intelligence. In fact, there are a total of 25 mentions of “AI” in the press release announcing the new devices, aptly titled “Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 take Galaxy AI to new heights.” At the heart of the features is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is the same system-on-a-chip that powered the Galaxy S24.
This flagship, announced in January, marked the beginning of Samsung Galaxy’s artificial intelligence campaign. It also kicked off what is shaping up to be the year of mobile AI devices with the developer conferences that followed. Google, Apple And Microsoft. Unsurprisingly, Google played a central role in Samsung’s initial push, as the S24 also marked the Start of the Search Circle feature.
It was a departure from Google’s standard Android feature release card, which typically finds the most impressive new offerings on its own Pixel line. The relationship between Samsung and Google has become much more intimate in recent years, as the two tech giants have joined forces against a common foe, Apple. Recently, the tech giants collaborated on a Android Fork for Foldable Devices And a new approach to Wear OS which replaces Tizen on Galaxy Watch devices.
A month later Apple Information debuted, Samsung gave the Galaxy Z Fold/Galaxy Z Flip a full paragraph Press release towards Google Gemini. The generative AI app gets deeper integration on the Z Fold 6’s larger display. Poor old Bixby never really had a chance. Samsung quietly abandoned its homegrown answer to Siri/Assistant in favor of Google’s latest.
According to Samsung:
By simply swiping the corner of the screen or saying “Ok Google,” you can bring up the Gemini overlay and get help writing, learning, or planning. Gemini is integrated with some of your favorite Google apps, making it easy to plan the perfect travel itinerary by getting real-time flight and hotel booking information, and exploring famous landmarks and the best routes to get there using Google Maps. When you want to get detailed information about a K-pop music video while watching YouTube on the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s big screen, you can access the Gemini overlay in the multi-window split screen and ask questions.
For its part, Google has systematically replaced its own Assistant with Gemini — although the generative AI platform hasn’t quite finished its work yet. Get on the Gemini Train was definitely the smart move in the absence of internal LLMs to rely on. Heck, even Apple is turning to a third party via a OpenAI Partnership to answer difficult questions off-device.
When it comes to the Galaxy’s AI, the S24’s early apps revolved around imaging, which has long been a cornerstone of Samsung’s mobile approach. This time around, the company is adding AI-powered assistance to its Notes app. That includes the ability to transcribe, translate, and summarize voice recordings (following in the footsteps of Google and Apple). The app has also gotten better at translating PDFs, while the Samsung Keyboard is getting a new predictive text input feature.
And yes, for better or worse, Galaxy AI will do its best to try to write in your style. “For social media in particular,” Samsung explains, “Compose creates text that reflects your tone by analyzing previous posts.”
Ultimately, there’s nothing revolutionary on the AI front, but the move to a squarer internal aspect ratio on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 demonstrates that Samsung is still responding to consumer demand after the foldables. Google And OnePlus/Oppo Samsung has proven that these devices don’t need to be too big. Samsung may still dominate the foldable market, but it’s not immune to market forces. Keep in mind that this category is still very young and far from perfect.
Both phones are available for pre-order now and will ship on July 24.