Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6's Auto Zoom is a must-have for selfie lovers

Note: This feature was first published on 10 July 2024.

If you haven't heard, Samsung announced its next-generation clamshell foldable flip phone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6. You can read about what it boasts in the linked story, but in this feature, we give you our first impressions. Given the upgrades and tweaks, we secretly think this is Samsung's favourite child.

Our demo session prior to the keynote in Paris, France, gave us the opportunity to understand the improvements it received and to test out some of its new features.

First things first. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 gets plenty of upgraded in the materials used. We know it has enhanced Armor Aluminium, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, an improved dual rail hinge for folding with heightened resistance against sharp objects.

Despite these upgrades, it still folds into two perfectly parallel halves. Samsung calls that the "straight edge design" that gives the Galaxy Z Flip6 its sleek, modern appearance.

Of course, not everything was fixed. The crease on its 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X main screen (1-120Hz refresh rate) still stays, which was a pity given how much attention was paid to the overall aesthetic of the Galaxy Z Flip6.

That said, the inner display is still wonderful to use, and it functions just like any standard bar-type phone with the added bonus of using it in a half-folded state.

The previous Galaxy Z Flip phones, despite their attention to helping users take flawless selfies, had an average camera system that didn't fully take advantage of their form factor. In the Galaxy Z Flip6, Samsung rectified that in two ways.

First is the change to a 50MP primary camera, up from the original twin-12MP rear shooters. It's not just a shameless megapixel increment either: the 50MP main camera supports  Dual Pixel AF (pixel-binning), OIS (optical image stabilisation). As mentioned in its announcement article, the 50MP camera's Nightography mode can now be accessed from Instagram's native camera functions, so that's even more Samsung goodness exported to popular social media apps.

Secondly, the main camera is capable of Auto Zoom (more on that below).

Auto Zoom on the Galaxy Z Flip6

Auto Zoom was amongst the features specific to the Galaxy Z Flip6 announced at Unpacked. In a nutshell, Auto Zoom allows the owner of the Galaxy Z Flip6 to take selfies, hands-free.

There is no need to play around with the zoom settings to frame the scene and yourself before shooting. You can also simply raise your hand or give it a voice command (e.g. "Smile!") to start a countdown for the shutter. This spares you from running back and forth (to the phone and to your selfie spot) when you are trying to take a series of worthy portraitures for social media use later.

How it works is straightforward. Using AI, the camera detects where you are standing and adjusts the zoom range so that you fit most of the image (about two-thirds the height of the full shot) while retaining some of your background. Auto Zoom uses anywhere from 0.6x (ultra-wide framing) to 3.0x (three times the standard 23-28mm equivalent shot) to get you properly framed. It takes an average of two seconds for the camera to detect you and automatically zoom to fit.

From our trials and what we understood from the Samsung staff at the demo, Auto Zoom can handle multiple subjects and frame them accordingly, trying its best to fit everyone inside the frame. This means you need to ensure that no photobombers or oblivious strangers are stealing your limelight; otherwise, the camera will also try to include them.

To our delight, Auto Zoom works well at shooting in different aspect ratios. It can take automatically framed shots in 1:1 (Instagram posts), 3:4 vertical (standard photo ratio), and 9:16 vertical (ultra-tall shots). This means that Auto Zoom is already configured to frame the user in the most flattering composition, which helps cut down on the editing needed before you upload these shots to social media.

Interpreter: Conversation Mode on the Galaxy Z Flip6

If you thought Galaxy Z Flip6 wouldn't inherit all the amazing Galaxy AI tricks, think again.

Building upon the existing slate of Galaxy AI's Live Translate capabilities is the new Interpreter: Conversation Mode. The main draw is that translated face-to-face conversation now takes advantage of the Galaxy Z Flip6's foldable form factor.

Previously, Interpreter: Conversation Mode already existed on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but all translated text was displayed in two halves of the same screen. The Galaxy Z Flip6 form factor takes advantage of its outer screen by displaying the translation to the viewer, while the owner can refer to translations via the main display.

To get the smoothest experience possible, you must set up the Interpreter app to allow voice pickup and translation without pressing the microphone icon (this is disabled by default).

Like Live Translate in phone calls, the Galaxy Z Flip6 detects pauses during the conversation and automatically translates the chunk of text. If you increase the volume, Galaxy AI's digital voice will also read the translations to both listeners.

Since it's based on Live Translate, the translation is done entirely on-device (not sent to cloud-based AI for processing), and it can only support the 13 languages Samsung has configured on-device for this feature.

We think it's a cute implementation that helps utilise Galaxy Z Flip6's unique build, but it doesn't offer anything different from the standard, one-display format that already exists. 

More about Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 begins pre-orders on 10 July 2024, with official retail starting on 24 July 2024. It starts at S$1,648 (12+256GB) and S$1,828 (12+512GB).

Pre-order the Galaxy Z Flip6 here:

• Samsung Online Store
• Lazada
• Shopee

For more information about its pricing, promotions, and availability, don’t forget to check out our pricing article here.

Read Next

• Pricing and Promotions for Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6
• Pricing and Promotions for Galaxy Watch Ultra, Watch 7 and Buds3 series
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 hands-on
• Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Watch7 hands-on
• Samsung Galaxy Ring hands-on
• A rundown of what's new on Z Fold6
• Everything new on the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7
• What's new on the Galaxy Buds3 series
• All about the new Galaxy Ring wearable

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