Product Testing - Fold 6 - Part 4

[Piper123]

Good evening

So here we are in my third week with the Fold 6 which the awesome @Lucy C and the Moderation Team have so kindly given us the opportunity to test and review various devices. 

For those following my journey, today we talk about the screen and apps. 

The Fold 6 is Samsung's latest itinerant in the large screen fold series. It comes with 2 screens......

Front screen - approx 6.3 inch and slim. Coming from an S24 Ultra, the screen feels very small, similar to that on the S24 but slimmer. However it does the essentials. 

Receive an SMS / MMS / WhatsApp or similar? Great, you don't need to unfold the device. 

Receive a call? Again you don't need to unfold the device. 

Using apps and browsing the web? If you are happy with a small screen, this works well. But if you prefer the larger screen like the S24 Ultra...... You'll maybe want to open to the larger screen. 

Screen quality is very good. Sharp and clear. 

Now to the larger inner screen.....

If you are used to the quality of the larger S24 Ultra or S23 Ultra screen, you will love the quality of the Fold 6 when opened up. I do a LOT of TV streaming and this Fold 6 really does hit the mark. The screen quality is as good as the S24 Ultra (which itself is truly superb) and if you place your device on a stand, you will barely notice the crease if you do at all. 

Streaming.....

Sky Go - my main streaming app. SkyGo works on HD and the picture quality does not disappoint. Sky also allow you to expand the screen so although you don't get to use the full screen, you do get to use most of it. 

YouTube - here things are a bit different. Picture quality still very good and will go as far as 2k (for example if you are watching a 4k video, it will play at 2k on the Fold 6 which is as good as you'll get on any mobile phone except a couple of Sony devices). Again you can expand only this time some videos will use the full screen. 

Netflix - who likes a bit of Netflix. Similar to Sky Go overall, with decent HD picture quality. 

Discovery+, BBC iPlayer, ITVX and others all relatively similar although ITV X does not allow picture in picture where as some of the other apps listed above do. 

The Crease - so any conversation about the Fold 6 does need to include a discussion about the crease. Of course there is one, that is probably obvious. But in my experience, when you are streaming, it really is barely noticeable if at all. I have been pleasantly surprised by this as my expectation was for my eyes to focus in on this instead of watch what was on the screen. But I really haven't. 

When using the screen with more hands on stuff, yes the crease is there but you really do forget about it when immersed in what you are doing. A Fold will likely always have some form of crease, Samsung in fairness have found a way to minimise this.

Picture quality across the board is excellent though and sounds quality is not far behind. 

Looking at various apps other than streaming, all in all a similar experience to the S24 Ultra, easy enough to use, download etc, nothing out of kilter here BUT there is something the Fold 6 offers that the Slab devices don't......

Split Screen - so on the Fold 6 you can watch the streaming app on one side and use another app at the same time on the other. There are several ways to do this, and it really is as simple as decide which options works best for you and stick to it. 

Screen Keyboard - so this does take a bit of getting used to. When you have the Fold 6 open, the keyboard goes across the two screens with a large gap in between. I haven't got used to this yet and don't like it. Haven't searched to see if there are alternatives. 

So - what do I think of the Fold 6 Screens? 

Love them. Great quality and depth, great colours, great sound. There really isn't much not to like here.

That enough about the screens. At the weekend the Fold 6 will hopefully look forward to welcome a SIM card and I'll spend more time with it out in the wild, using EE's 5g network. So Part 5 next week will be all about using the device on a mobile network......

But if course my review cannot close without the obligatory THANK YOU to @Lucy C and the Moderation Team for the opportunity. I know a number of the Samsung Community Stars are working on this project and thoroughly enjoying it. Thank you to the Community Team.

See you next week

[smiley]

Thanks for your helpful review.

I found during my short period of testing the fold6 that to change the settings for full screen apps... to 4:3 for some apps such as netflix, mean't that you can get a good zoom ratio that is not too zoomed in, and yet still removes a lot of the black bar... so it gives a good view with a larger video output, whilst not losing as much of the background from the movie or TV programme.

I think my favourite use of the large screen was with Readly app, magazine reading... a perfect use case of the fold 7.6" screen.

So overall... would you say you are a convert ? Sold on the fold as it were ?

[Piper123]

Hey there @smiley

Thank you.

To answer your question I will have to wait until Part 6 - Cameras. That will be the deal breaker for me.

There is much to like about this device. ......

In the hand it is slimmer and therefore easier to hold in it's folded state.
It has a similar weight to the S24 Ultra.
Screens are on a par, of course the Fold 6 has two so that is a bonus. But the quality is exceptional on both Fold 6 and S24 Ultra.

So far I generally like it but it is a very different user experience which takes a bit of getting used to as you know.

[smiley]

I found myself mesmerised with the build quality and engineering of the fold, hinge, and remarkable design. I really is a work of art in its naked state.

I was trying to find a suitable case that wouldn't spoil the intended looks of the phone... the unfortunate thing is that if wanting full protection with hinge and all... then these really do look cumbersome and turn a beautiful phone into something less attractive.

I like the way it feels in hand folded... and I think I could certainly get used to it as my daily driver.

However on my s23u I do like to use my s pen sometimes to jot down notes at work and for shopping lists etc... and this is a stumbling block for me with a separate pen needed that doesn't dock anywhere well enough.

Oh well there are always trade offs.