Samsung unveiled its current foldables this year and they are scheduled to be available on July 24th. Motorola, on the other hand, has chosen the same current to base its unreleased Razr.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is basically nothing to celebrate – for now, at least. Google and OnePlus will definitely establish horizontal foldables untouched after this moment. The Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 are the primary foldables with particle coverage. It simply has an IP48 rating, so only coarse debris is repelled (though mud can still get in). However, with this and the enhancements of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and Armor Aluminum, these will probably be the strongest foldables yet.
And they’ll get 7 years of tool support – both OS updates and security patches – so if you invest in one now, chances are you won’t need the untouched software until 2031. Oh, and Samsung has reduced the aspect ratio of each Galaxy Z Fold6 monitor and made the phone thinner (when folded) and lighter. These objects have a significant impact on the feel of the hand. For more information, take a look at our practical overview.
The Galaxy Z Fold6 is available on Samsung.com, Amazon, and other stores. Payment is initiated on Samsung.com and the trade-in credit can be extended up to $1,200. However, if you don’t want to put up with some crappy software, Amazon bundles a free $300 rewards card into the Z Fold6 package, making its effective price lower than what Samsung charges.
The situation is indistinguishable with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 – it’s $50 less at Samsung.com and you can score up to an additional $650 in enhanced trade-in credits. Amazon, on the other hand, offers a $200 rewards card, so the associated fee is lower without a trade-in.
Note that these are pre-order, Samsung’s untouched devices will be available starting July 24th. However during the pre-order period, you get a free cabinet upgrade, so both Z phones start with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage.
Despite this fact, keep going. The price of the Motorola razr+ 2024 has already dropped by $900, albeit partly due to the smaller cabinet and weaker Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset (vs. 8 Gen 3 for the Galaxy). And the Z Flip6 price tag of $1,100 minus the $200 reward card fits Razer. The Moto has a larger Safeguard display (4” 417ppi, 165Hz vs. 3.4” 306ppi, 60Hz). Each has a 4,000mAh battery, but the Moto charges faster over USB-C (45W vs. 25W), with wireless charging the same at 15W. Finally, the Z Flip6 has a very large digital camera, although the razr+ has a 50MP 2x portrait camera. Take a look at our overview for our thoughts on whether this is a fair compromise.
After this there is Motorola razr 2024. Its 8/256GB unit is priced at $700. It’s cheaper, but not by much, especially considering that this phone uses the Dimensity 7300X instead of the flagship chipset. The Safeguard display isn’t as good on the Plus, but at 3.6″ 413ppi 90Hz, it’s still better than the Galaxy. The 4,200mAh battery is better with 30W power and 15W wireless charging. And it has a very large digital camera (13MP), leaving a 50MP main camera for future zooming in.
We’ve discussed these things before, but they bear repeating – Galaxy Z phones have longer device support and particle coverage (Moto Razors are the only ones given an IPX8 rating for aqua resistance).
The Galaxy Guard Extreme is Samsung’s attempt to speed up the Apple Guard Extreme. With an aqua resistance score of 100 meters, an untouched 3nm chipset, a massive battery and blood power tracking, this guard has it all (with a special design, love it or hate it).
The Samsung Galaxy Watch7 additionally uses the Exynos W1000 3nm chipset and the integrated bioactive sensor can measure your AGEs index to determine your biological time. It is available in Bluetooth and 4G variants in 40 mm and 44 mm sizes. Despite this fact, there is a negative rotating bezel. Note that Samsung has been running a promotion recently and prices are lower on Amazon.
Samsung has completely redesigned its TWS buds. They now have “blades” for better body control (and some lights in the professional models). The Galaxy Buds3 Pro have 2-way speakers and UWB, future Buds3 will be cheaper yet still offer ANC and AI features.
Amazon is running an Early Top Month Deal with up to 50% off on its products. You can buy the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for just $25, but we’d go with the 4K Max for an extra $10. It has a more powerful processor and faster Wi-Fi 6E. Both Xbox games support Go terminating streaming (note that the associated fee goes up to $20/over in September).
The Amazon Fire Max 11 also supports game streaming – anything that runs on Android, not just Xbox. With a good feature 11” IPS LCD and stereo audio system, it is also commendable for streaming movies and can handle exhaustive internet surfing and social media scrolling. The base form ranges straight up to $140, though we’d pay the remaining $20 for the extra wardrobe (there’s also a microSD slot) and the removal of lockscreen ads.
If your idea of entertainment is gaming or a good stock read in lieu of Bing Area of the Dragon, the Amazon Kindle Scribe is your only option. The ten.2” display is best for reading content that can’t be reformatted like PDF and it comes with a stylus for taking notes and sketching ideas.
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