3 Reasons I Ditched My Galaxy S23 Ultra for the Galaxy Z Fold 6

I’ve been using the Galaxy S23 Ultra since it came out and it’s served me incredibly well. It’s a great device with plenty of power and more camera features than I know what to do with. While I was initially drawn to this year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, I couldn’t really justify the upgrade based on my individual use case, so I felt it was best to sit on the sidelines and see if the Galaxy Z Fold 6 would pique my curiosity.

I’ve been bouncing between the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy S Ultra models for the past few years. I’m not particularly keen on sticking to one series. I choose to look at each model individually, weigh them against my use case, and only buy the one that ticks all the boxes for me. This time, the latest foldable smartphone wins the round, which is why I’ve already pre-ordered my Galaxy Z Fold 6.

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Screen brightness

The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s display was exceptional when it came out and I loved every minute of using it. While I agree that its successor has increased brightness significantly, there wasn’t much else changed beyond that, and I felt like an upgrade wasn’t necessary if I was going to stick with the same form factor.

My decision to pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is based on the fact that its 7.6-inch internal display reaches a peak brightness of 2,600 nits versus the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 1,750 nits in HDR mode. That’s a big boost that will make a big difference when using the phone outdoors on sunny days. Plus, more screen real estate is always a welcome change.

Faster onboard memory

At first glance, both the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 6 appear to have similar LPDDR5X built-in memory. Like most people, I bought the standard Galaxy S23 Ultra with 8GB of RAM. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 gets 12GB of RAM as standard, so that’s a nice little upgrade there, but that’s not all.

It also has a higher clock speed of 4800MHz compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 4200MHz. While this may seem like a small difference, the higher RAM clock speed means that the memory is able to process more data per second, providing a noticeable performance boost. Since I tend to extract maximum performance from my main device due to the nature of my work, this upgrade is worth the cost for me.

Embossed colour finish

Last but not least, perhaps the biggest reason I chose to switch isn’t performance-related, but looks-related. I find the handcrafted black color offered for the new foldable incredibly attractive. This is an online exclusive and you can only get it if you pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 6 from Samsung.

It’s unlike anything we’ve seen on a Samsung foldable before. It gives the device a carbon fiber-like appearance, and you have to agree that the black-on-black look is gorgeous. I find the usual color options a bit boring, but the black one is anything but boring, and it’s worth opening my wallet for.

Finally, one of the main reasons why the upgrade makes sense is the fact that Samsung is offering an $800 trade-in value for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Being able to trade in a phone after using it for over a year and a half for that decent value was too good an offer to pass up. Samsung is only offering these high trade-in values ​​until pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 end, so it’s best to pre-order before July 24 so you can also get the most out of your money.