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Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs Z Flip 5 Camera Comparison: Worth Upgrading

by Rahul Rai
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Samsung released the Galaxy Z Flip 6 with new features like an on-screen crease, new colors, an upgraded camera sensor, new wallpapers, the latest processor, and more. However, one feature most buyers want to know about is the camera quality. While you might expect the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to capture better photos, is the difference significant enough to justify the extra $100 over the Galaxy Z Flip 5? Let’s find out.

What Changed

The Z Flip 6 features a 50 MP main camera, up from the 12 MP on the Z Flip 5. This means you can zoom in on your photos without losing quality. Additionally, the pixel size is larger at 1.0µm, compared to 1.8µm in the Z Flip 5, allowing for better low-light performance as more light is captured.

Camera SpecsGalaxy Z Flip 6Galaxy Z Flip 5
Main Camera50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS12 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.76″, 1.8µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
Video (main camera)4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/120/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+4K@30/60fps, 1080p@60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+
Front Camera10 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), 1.22µm10 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), 1.22µm
Video (front camera)4K@30fps4K@30fps

Differences in Main and Ultrawide Camera

Let’s start with the main camera, which most of us use daily.

Daylight Photography

Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs Z Flip 5 - main camera

Here, in both images, we didn’t find any noticeable difference to point out. Then we switch to the ultrawide camera, where most things look good on both sides. However, in the Z Flip 6, the shadow of the tree seems a bit faded and lacks detail, whereas, on the Z Flip 5, it has good darkness and detail, making the scene look more natural and lifelike.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Human Subject

Next, we moved to a human subject. Here, the result was quite disappointing. In the Z Flip 6, the sky is excessively bright, and the tree leaves are overexposed. The Z Flip 5, on the other hand, maintains more natural colors, better shadows, and clearer background details. It also captures the shirt’s texture better and retains more detail overall.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Uff, that’s quite a rough start for the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Let’s see how it performs at night scenes.

Night Photography

Moving outdoors at night, I intentionally chose to capture a scene with street lights. Here, the Z Flip 5 seems to struggle with lighting. Pretty much everywhere you see the street light, you will notice lens flare. Also, I noticed the Z Flip 5 photo was slightly overexposed, making the road and tree brighter than they should be, whereas in the Z Flip 6 picture, it looks well-balanced. Also, notice how shadows are visible on the car in the first photo, which the Z Flip 5 completely missed.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

50 MP vs 12 MP

Ever wondered if more megapixels mean better photos? I put the 50 MP camera on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 to test against the 12 MP shooter on the Z Flip 5. I snapped some shots in my office to see how they stack up.

The Z Flip 5’s photos came out sharp and crisp, capturing details with precision. In contrast, the Z Flip 6’s 50 MP camera softens the textures, making clothes and skin look a bit smudged. On the bright side, the Z Flip 6 did a great job with white balance and kept lens flare at bay.

So, does higher megapixels equal better quality? Not always. Sometimes, it’s not just about the numbers but how the camera handles the details.

Winner: Draw

Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs Z Flip 5: Zoom Shots

Though neither device features a telephoto lens, I wanted to test how well Samsung’s software would process the image if we digitally zoomed in. When I tried the 4X zoom, pictures from both devices came out pretty much the same, with a minor bluish hue visible in the Z Flip 5.

When I zoomed in 10X, I began to notice some differences. The lack of sharpness and softer tone can easily be seen on the building pipes and glass window edges of the Z Flip 5. Additionally, the details of the tree’s reflection in the glass are way clearer on the Z Flip 6, whereas the Z Flip 5 completely misses out on that.

In another zoom test, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 came out on top when I zoomed in to check text clarity on both phones. You can see the results yourself.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Video Comparison

After doing some photography, I wanted to do a video comparison between the Z Flip 6 and 5 and see how much improvement has happened in this area.

I started with the main camera, which most of you will use for videos. At first glance, the difference isn’t noticeable, but look closely and you’ll see the lack of details in the Z Flip 5’s shadows. While it captures highlights well, it struggles with shadows.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Super Steady On

Here, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and 5 results were the same, and I didn’t find any difference in color accuracy and dynamic range. However, I think the Galaxy Z Flip 6 footage seems a bit more stable.

Winner: Draw

Portrait Mode Video

When I switched to portrait mode, I was surprised to see that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 captured details better than the Z Flip 6. The shadows on my colleague’s shirt looked just like they did to the naked eye, with all the details intact. But when it came to face tones, the Z Flip 6 did a pretty good job. However, for the shadows on the ground, the Z Flip 6 camera slightly overexposed the shot. For this segment, I will give the point to Samsung Z Flip 5.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Night Video

A small spoiler: in the later part of the article, you’ll see a lot of pictures where the Z Flip 5 struggles with lens flare. In this footage, I experienced the same issue. The Z Flip 6 handles artificial lighting better, avoiding the lens flare issues seen with the Z Flip 5. This makes the Z Flip 6 a better choice for night photography and videography in well-lit environments.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Selfie Camera

Down from the back camera to the selfie, we took some shots in different lighting conditions, and here is one of them. In this picture, the face on my Z Flip 5 photo looks soft and blurry, and the shadow on the face is higher, making the face tone pale. Also, you might notice that the black shirt appears darker than it should be. This might be because the second phone has higher contrast or doesn’t capture shadow details. On the other hand, the Z Flip 6 camera has a black shirt that looks more true to life with visible texture and detail.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Night Shot Selfie

Turning to the night selfie, again, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 failed to remove the lens flare from the picture, and if you notice, it has lightened my beard. The Z Flip 6 photo maintains the original black color of the beard, showing better color accuracy and contrast.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Portrait Shots

Moving on to portrait shots, both phones managed to get the edge detection right, and the bokeh effect came out pretty well. However, the photo captured from the Z Flip 6 camera looks more natural, and the background is well-lit, making it an excellent night portrait shot. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 camera has slightly overexposed the shirt, and the light strip in the background appears faded, impacting the overall scene’s vibrancy.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Portrait Selfie

This is the first instance where the Z Flip 5 completely outperforms its younger sibling. Just to be extra sure there wasn’t any mistake on my part, I took multiple shots in portrait selfie mode, and the results came out the same. The Z Flip 5 wonderfully detected my colleague and automatically added him to the focus, blurring the rest of the background scene. Other than that, the color accuracy on both devices was spot on.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Portrait Night Selfie

Next up, I tried taking a portrait selfie at night. While none of the photos were good enough to post on social media, the Z Flip 5 camera struggled with lighting. The lens flare was still visible, and the reflection on the wall was too strong in the photo, resulting in a graying part of my face.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Selfie Video

When it comes to selfie videos, both the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Flip 5 deliver impressive results. I didn’t spot any major differences in video quality. took a bunch of footage with both devices, and honestly, the quality was quite similar at first glance. The shadows, skin tones, textures, and dynamic range all looked great.

Switching to portrait mode, I found the edge detection on both phones to be spot on. The bokeh effect looked natural not like it was slapped on in editing software like Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. It gave my videos that professional touch without any extra fuss.

Winner: Draw

Audio Quality

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 really shines here. During my tests, the Z Flip 5 had noticeable distortion in the audio. For example, in a scene with strong winds, the Z Flip 6 managed to cut down the background noise, making the audio clearer. On the other hand, the Z Flip 5 struggled to handle the noise, leaving the audio a bit muddled.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs Z Flip 5: The verdict

So, after taking so many samples, the big question is: should you upgrade to the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or stick with the Z Flip 5 and save $100? Honestly, there’s a pretty solid camera upgrade in the Galaxy Z Flip 6 compared to its predecessor. The 50 MP camera improves the picture quality, keeping things crisp and sharp even if you crop your shots. Plus, the zoom shots are processed better, and it handles low light like a pro, with no annoying flare.

But the camera isn’t the only thing that’s changed. The Z Flip 6 also comes with the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, is IP48 water-resistant, and has a screen that gets up to 2600 nits of peak brightness. The battery has also seen a nice boost from 3700 mAh to 4000 mAh. And let’s not forget the cool new AI features like sketch-to-image, turning photos into artwork, and the new interpreter mode.

So, if you’re into better camera performance and the latest features, the Z Flip 6 is worth considering. But if you’re happy with what you’ve got and want to save a bit of cash, the Z Flip 5 still does the job nicely.

  • Buy Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 (add genius affiliate link)
  • Buy Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

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