Samsung has gone far beyond making lonely individual products. Its smatphones, tablets, watches and laptops have been trying to blend into an inseparable whole in the last few years. After the company’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, it will be almost impossible to ignore the pull of the South Korean company if Android is your choice.
The company has prioritised its artificial intelligence plans as much as giving a push to its hardware ecosystem. The result: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy Watch7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Buds3 series and Galaxy Ring. AI, in some form or the other, runs through the entire range.
Unique possibilities
In January, Samsung presented a slew of artificial intelligence-focussed features on its Galaxy S24 series phones that can trump any Android brand.
The new foldable phones stand out for two important reasons. First, Samsung’s bet on the Fold and Flip formats is paying off as more and more consumers are buying these devices. Second, the company is clearly pointing out that AI features will be a deciding factor when it comes to purchasing smartphones while hardware specs alone will no longer attract consumers.
The new Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 are slimmer, sexier and souped up but, more importantly, it has a number of AI features that are practical.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 takes advantage of the screen size while working with AI features.
We had the opportunity to experience the new features during the company’s event in Paris and here are the ones that excite us. There is already a feature called Circle to Search, which involves drawing a circle on anything that’s on the screen leading to a focussed set of search results.
Samsung has extended the feature to suit the new foldable devices. Say your children come to you with a complicated math problem and you need an answer there and then. All you have to do is draw a circle around the math problem and see the results in real-time. Not just that: You also get a step-by-step solution. Apple too is working on a similar service but that has only been announced and the public will get to experience it later this year.
Another AI smart: Imagine walking down a street in, say, Japan, and you come across a number of billboards. Samsung devices can give you the translation (in your language of choice) placed in the exact position of the original text.
More practical AI features are coming your way. Many a time we get PDF files in a language that’s beyond our understanding. For example, you get a PDF file that tells you — in French — how to fix the engine of a particular vintage car. Instead of having to manually translate chunks of text, the entire PDF can be translated in a single shot, without playing around with the format. If there are graphs in the PDF, those too get translated.
The advanced editing experience with Photo Assist on the large Fold6 screen helps to effortlessly create professional-grade content. Portrait Studio creates a variety of different portrait styles such as 3D cartoon or watercolour for more creative possibilities.
Let’s dive deeper into sketch to image: Some of us like to doodle but somehow the drawing comes out less creative than that of a four-year-old. Here’s how it works: Draw a penguin, say, with the S Pen on the Galaxy Z Fold6, select the drawing and then decide what kind of output you would like, for example, a 3D drawing. It takes 10-15 seconds (depending on the complexity of the doodle) to come up with a generative AI-generated drawing.
Sketch to image can also be used with a real photograph. For example, I take a picture of my wife on the beach and I want to literally make her feel like a queen. Simply doodle a crown on her head and let AI turn it into a masterpiece without touching any other part of the picture.
Other than that, you can take a note/memo and then use AI to summarise, correct spelling, translate and transcribe. That’s one part. You may also have a voice recording which can be transcribed alongside to make the memo/note richer.
Two more exciting AI-driven features — Conversation Mode and Listening Mode. As the name suggests, Listening Mode can listen to a speech or the voice in a video and translate it into the language of your choice. With Conversation Mode, put your Fold phone in Tent Mode, so one user can see the inside screen while the other can see the cover screen. Say it’s a conversation between someone who speaks only French while the other, only Korean. The conversation gets translated in real-time.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 comes with a bigger battery.
The Galaxy Z Flip6 has some unique experiences to offer, like with the AI-powered Photo Ambient, a wallpaper can change in real-time based on the time and weather.
Meanwhile, FlexCam automatically finds the best framing for your shot by detecting the subject and zooming in and out before making any necessary adjustments.
Eye on details
On the hardware front, Samsung has taken both the Fold and the Flip to a new level. It’s the slimmest and lightest Galaxy Z series ever and it comes equipped with enhanced Armor Aluminum and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, making this the most durable Galaxy Z series yet.
To ensure the phones remain your companion for years, both Fold6 and Flip6 are equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy.
The Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6 come in a packaging box made from 100 per cent recycled paper material, and they provide seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates.
The reporter is in Paris on an invitation from Samsung
At a glance
Specs for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6: 6.3-inch HD+Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display and 7.6-inch QXGA+Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner flex display; 10MP selfie camera, 4MP under-display camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, 50MP wide-angle camera and 10MP telephoto camera; Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy; 4,400mAh battery.
Specs for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6: 6.7-inch FHD+ dynamic AMOLED 2X display; 3.4-inch super AMOLED cover screen, 10MP selfie camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, 50MP wide-angle camera; Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy; 4,000mAH battery.
