Samsung Quietly Launches a Better Folding Phone (HANDS ON)

So you guys have obviously heard of the Z Fold 6, that is Samsung's latest flagship

folding device, a device that I'm really familiar with. I mean, I've used every version of Z Fold

for some period of time, and they've continued to make improvements to the mechanical aspect of the

device, and then obviously also the internal specifications and so forth. There is a lesser

known Z Fold device that's called the Special Edition, and it's not available in North America

but it is available in Korea, Korea Post. And this device might be like the perfect folding phone

It's not like some sort of special edition where they put a paint job on the device

or gave you accessories inside of the package. It's an actual upgrade over the standard Z Fold 6

The hardware is different. The displays are different. The cameras are different. And this all sort of happened quietly

in a device that for some reason is currently available in Korea

I don't know if it will ever be available elsewhere or if it's some sort of precursor to the next version

maybe this is closer to the spec you could eventually have for that

But like I said, it's an improvement in almost every direction except for one

There is one thing that the Z Fold 6 does that the special edition doesn't do

but I'll tell you about that after we talk about all the things that this one does better

Okay, well, first thing, the package is completely different. The standard Z Fold 6 will ship like this

a tiny little slim package with nothing extra included, no power brick

This is what the special edition looks like. The other thing about the special edition beyond the specification increase and improvement

is that it's only available in one color. So you can only get this in the black color

whereas obviously the regular Z Fold 6 comes in a variety of colors. Oh, wow

Okay. Yeah. The unboxing experience is more premium here for sure. And we have a totally different texture

on the device as well. A little bit more grip. Ooh, whoa

I think they've diminished the significance of the hinge here. Like the crease, oh my God, by a lot

What is going on here? Samsung is hiding an absolute marvel in Korea

with this special edition. They call it a special edition. This is a totally different phone. This is without the display even turned on

and I can easily pick up the crease on the Z Fold 6

and it is nearly vanished here. The other thing to mention, in its folded state

the whole thing feels thinner. It is thinner. It does feel thinner. It is thinner

Okay, so the layout here is also a bit different. We've now got our SIM tray on the top of the device

whereas the Z Fold 6 regular puts it on the side. Our power switch volume rocker is in the same location

same as our Type-C and speakers. Examining the camera layout, I mean, they look similar

but they're different. And the entire section is a little bit larger and more boxy on the special edition

It's also a satisfying kind of pop to it. Is there more tension there

Yeah. Oh, there definitely is. This one doesn't get pulled into that state nearly as rigid as the special edition

Like this one just has a much stronger spring effect. Wow. Now, what else do you get with the special edition

Power brick, I'm guessing. Now, presumably you're paying a lot more money for this

I don't know what kind of conversion rate. What did we pay for this? Oh my God

Yeah. Okay. So it's pricey. $4,300 Canadian dollars or $3,100 US. That's a very expensive smartphone

And it's limited edition. So yeah, they're not making that many of them. It's not going to be for everyone

So I guess it kind of like a concept in that sense Like maybe this would become more accessible tech or more accessible device cost later I mean the regular Z Fold 6 is already expensive and this just takes it even further

3,100 USD, holy cow, that's an expensive phone. So yeah, you get a power brick

You're spending a lot of money, you get a power brick. And I guess you get a case

Yeah, you get a case, dude. USB cable, case, SIM tool. So a more comprehensive package

Oh, this is cool what they did. They left a lip inside the front frame. So when you go to open it, you have a spot to grip

Sometimes it's just easier to determine where the ridge is. Is that worth 3,100 US

Probably not. I think the real compelling part here is the improvements to the display size and the camera

and the overall fit and finish. Like it does feel more refined than the Z Fold 6

This episode has been sponsored by ExpressVPN. I've been using a VPN for a really long time

in order to mostly for me unlock content from regions that wouldn't otherwise be available

You'd be amazed at the different inventory of content, though, that exists on Netflix

say, for example, in the UK versus Netflix in Canada or in the US

For example, this past weekend, I wanted to watch Pulp Fiction, not available on Netflix Canada

However, Netflix Argentina, boom, I'm watching it. But of course, VPNs go beyond that by enhancing things like privacy and security

See, there are data brokers out there that collect your online data, trace it back to you using your device's unique IP address

Obviously, this address is going to be different when you're working through a VPN. They then take that data they collect from you, sell it off to other companies or even government agencies in some cases

So you can protect your privacy and mask your digital footprint by using ExpressVPN

Oh, the other thing, ExpressVPN is really quick. Like that's the benefit of having a premium VPN is that all your connections are fast enough to actually do high resolution streaming

So they've also just started offering a new add-on feature called Dedicated IP. This will help you avoid those annoying captchas that force you to prove that you're not a robot

Dedicated IP will give you your own private IP address, and they use zero knowledge tokens to make your IP untraceable back to you

They don't even know which Dedicated IP gets assigned to which user. And they've also got a 30-day money-back guarantee

so if you're not 100% satisfied with ExpressVPN, just let them know within those 30 days, and they'll refund your payment

It's that simple. So go ahead and find out how you can get three months free of ExpressVPN

by scanning the QR code on screen, clicking the link in the description, or by just heading over to expressvpn.com slash unboxtherapy

Okay, so both of these devices are now set up. You know what's interesting

You place them flat on the table and the reflection is slightly different

See, like if I hover that where the camera reflection is, you can see the crease there

but on the old one, you can see how much more defined that crease is

like a book. I'm calling it the old one. I mean, this is the limited or special edition

It's a little bit complicated to navigate. It really feels like a new version of the phone as opposed to this one-off limited edition

If I launch into a browser, for example, with some degree of light output

like now that crease is hidden even more so. Wow, this thing is slim and light

Like I think it's like a few grams lighter, but the weight is distributed differently because the device itself is bigger, flatter

I mean, brightness-wise, they look comparable to me. Maybe the color temperature is slightly different

I mean, they're both nice looking displays, but as you can tell, the main difference here

is that the special edition is larger. It's taller and it is wider by even more of a margin

all while being slightly lighter and diminishing the significance of the crease

And it should be the same story on the outside of the device. And it is both super smooth

obviously 120 Hertz AMOLED displays, but on the front I feel like you gonna notice it even more this difference in display size where the special edition is more in line with like a flagship kind of size

It's a lot closer. This is a Pro Max. It's getting a lot closer. Bottom line

What about when it's not closed? Identical. So that's interesting. They found a way to make it thinner

Just hinge design, really. Because when it's unfolded, it's identical. Yep. When it's folded, it is not

So this is hinge design and the tightness of the tolerances. That's cool engineering

One of the advantages of having this narrow folding device is that one-handed reachability is extremely high

If I needed to type something on the keyboard You can see that my thumb just really easily reaches the entirety of the keyboard and then over here

I don't think it's gonna be all that different, but we'll see you know what not an issue for me

It could be if you have smaller hands that this reach gets a little bit further But it's still narrow by comparison to something like an iPhone or even an s24 ultra

It is shockingly different to type on the two of them, even though the increase in screen real estate is not crazy

You feel it when you're typing with one hand. You feel that increase in keyboard size

Now, it's important to remember, we go inside, and we get the beautiful, one of my favorite things about folding devices

this beautiful split keyboard, which is just so comfortable to type on

And even bigger now than it was on the previous one. Either of these is going to be a huge improvement

over typing long paragraphs on a portrait-oriented standard smartphone because the balance of the device is just so much more comfortable

the weight distributed more evenly across two hands, and then, of course, your thumbs just have so much more room to move around

The other thing that I mentioned was the cameras because now we have the camera from the S24 Ultra on the special edition Z Fold

and that's not there on the standard Z Fold 6. I think a lot of people expected to see on the Z Fold 6 but didn't get it

You got that same 50 megapixel setup that's been there for a while. So here, 1x.63

I'm just gonna open these up on the, wow, damn dude, damn

And that's on the zoom. There's the ultra wide color balance nailed

This is the best looking one. Look at that thing. Even me cropping in here, tremendous detail

Look at this, 200 megapixels. Try the same photo here. So now it's crazy

Look at that. So many megapixels to work with there. And you know, one of the things about these folding devices

is such a better way to actually enjoy your photos, crop in, move around the image

and just have such a better representation than what you're used to on a traditional format smartphone

Who doesn't want that? Now, one thing to note, they have decided not to have the hidden front-facing camera

So you can see that dot there when you have it in its unfolded form

It's a cool gimmick to have it obscured, but there is no hidden front-facing camera

that I've experienced that performs as well as one that's exposed, but I don't use these anyway

Like this is a device that still has another front-facing camera on the other side there

This is not a big deal for me. Now, if you're doing a lot of video conferencing and this camera is constantly in use

you may benefit from having the non-under display. I would take the under display

if they could have fit it in there, but it is nowhere near a deal breaker for me. Like this is not a high priority by any means

I'll launch into the camera just out of curiosity and see what the difference is, if there is

So I think there's going to be a difference. That's what your under display can look like sometimes

It's very like cloudy almost, usable, but not winning any selfie contests

And then not having it. I mean, also not really amazing, but it's better

Yeah, I mean, it's better on this one. Not by a whole wide margin, slight man

But I wouldn't, again, I'm not using, I'm not gonna use those cameras. I have a better one here

This is a more typical place to do it. And just a thousand times better So no that is not gonna be a deal breaker for me Like I just don even care very much about that they could even just get rid of that internal camera completely I never used it never can think of a time I used it but I not one of these people that doing a

tremendous amount of video conferencing let's go ahead and listen to the speakers one of the best

things about these folding devices you never cover up the speaker grills they stay exposed and they

stay at ear level when you're holding it so this is the inside 360 go 3s it is this tiny little action camera here is some footage i took

it to this small little training ring here and i wanted to film just kind of shooting around and

see if i could get creative with places to place and that was the most stable actually which you'll

see here i shoot to the camera here we have a helmet mount which showcases i think the sound

is better on the z fold six not the special edition i just took an extra moment there to

listen to some dialogue and a little bit of music hey there's got to be some sacrifices

to say you want to make it thinner, lighter, better hinge. It's hard to make everything better

I mean, it's slight. You heard them both. It's a slight difference, but I'm searching for those differences

I'm going to take it out of the studio and see how I can integrate it into filming some

of my daily life. But before I take this outside- That is just a huge screen to have in your pocket

That is huge. I almost forgot to mention, I was supposed to tell you the one thing that the Z Fold

6 Special Edition can't do that the Z Fold 6 can is S Pen input, stylus input

I don't know. I know a lot of people were very happy that that feature existed

To me, it wasn't such a big deal, but will not work. Your pen will not work

Is that some other sort of indication or teaser about the next generation fold

and whether or not Samsung will continue to support pen input or if they'll just do away with it completely

Now, which one would I take? I would take the special edition. I don't need the pen input

I want the better camera. I want the bigger displays. I like the thinner design

I like this textured back. I don't like the price. But it's just like, this is your flagship

The Fold is your flagship. You have to have, in my opinion, you have to have that S24 Ultra camera, which is in there now

So that's a big missing piece. Definitely piqued my interest, and it was something that I was curious about

It kind of lived up to it. I know the price is insane. The Z Fold 6 is also expensive

It's kind of wild. I think this is like sort of a concept, but in the form of a special edition

I don't know why they released it. It's not something that I'm aware of them doing in the past

I've looked at special edition Samsung phones, like the BMW phone, where, you know, it's got a special outfit on it

special skin and some included accessories, but like a whole different phone with a whole different camera setup

whole different display setup. I get it. I mean, it's still similar, but it's definitely a different phone

and they've just labeled it as a special edition of this phone. Is this a new thing that Samsung's gonna be doing

Was it a way to capture some data from a small group of users

I'm not sure, but it's definitely better. It's not really available. Even if it was available

I'm not sure a lot of people want to spend three grand US for a folding phone right now, 2024

I mean, outside of the real enthusiasts, power user types that can immediately see the value and benefit

But it's just not going to be mainstream. And this one is not meant to be mainstream. Hence the special edition title