Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Flip8 hands-on review

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra hands-on review

Let's start with something familiar just so we can have a good comparison point for when we get to the new form factor. As we said, there are no sweeping major changes, but some improvements are definitely present.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra specs at a glance:

• Body: 158.4x143.2x4.1mm, 215g; glass front, glass back, IP48 dust and water resistant (dust > 1mm; immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min), Advanced Armor aluminum frame.
• Display: 8.00" Foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2504x2256px resolution, 9.99:9 aspect ratio, 422ppi; Flex Titanium technology; Cover display: Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, 6.5 inches, 1080 x 2520 pixels, 422 ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.x.
• OS/Software: Android 17, up to 7 major OS updates, One UI 9.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 24mm, 1/1.3", 0.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 67mm, 1/3.94", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/1.9, 120˚, 1/2.5", 0.7µm, dual pixel PDAF.
• Front camera: Wide (main): 10 MP, f/2.2, 18mm, 1/3.0", 1.12µm; Wide (main): 10 MP, f/2.2, 24mm, 1/3.0", 1.12µm;.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/120/240fps (gyro-EIS), 10-bit HDR, HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 5000mAh Si/C battery; 45W wired, PD3.0, 67% in 30 min, 20W wireless, reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Samsung DeX (desktop experience support), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

One thing struck out for us, and that's the fact Samsung has increased the battery capacity by more than 10% while the weight of the phone has remained the same as the Z Fold7. Samsung has achieved that by integrating Si/C (Silicon-Carbon) tech for the phone's battery for the first time.

Now, without formally testing the battery endurance, we can't say how much of a difference the increase in battery capacity will actually make. However, we do have leaked EU energy labels for the Z Fold8 Ultra. It shows 51:00 hours of battery endurance for the Z Fold8 Ultra. In comparison, the same rating for the Z Fold7 is 40:28h. That constitutes around 20% better battery life. This sounds like a much-needed improvement for the Galaxy Fold line, since with an Active Use Score of 11:44h, the Z Fold7 placed notably below its sibling fold competitors back when we tested it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra

Before we officially move on from the battery system, we have to mention the charging power rating has finally been upgraded to 45W. Yes, surprisingly as it may be, up until this year the best the Galaxy Fold line could offer was 25W charging. We expect notably faster charging on this model. Samsung advertises around 67% charge in thirty minutes.

Samsung also mentioned something it calls a "new dual-path charging architecture" that supposedly helps "distribute power more efficiently across the battery system for faster, more stable and reliable charging throughout the day". In reality, the phone can charge both batteries simultaneously inside the phone.

Let's take a step back once again and look at how the Z Fold8 Ultra has changed externally - honestly, not at all. The Z Fold8 Ultra is remarkably similar to its predecessor. That includes pretty flat sides, as is the current trend, but also surprisingly boxy corners, while most current smartphone design seems to go for big, swooping round edges.

The Z Fold8 Ultra is available in the two common colors shared across the entire Galaxy Z lineup - Graphite and Cream. The Z Fold8 Ultra in particular also gets a Violet Shadow variant, and there is a Samsung.com exclusive Green Shadow variant. Violet Shadow is the hero color, and it is the one we got to see in person; honestly, it looks great - we only wish the Flip8 shared the same color too - it's much nicer than Graphite.

Samsung hasn't revealed any major changes to the hinge mechanism, but they've expanded on last year's flexible Titanium plate supporting the foldable screen by incorporating an extra flexible Titanium-alloy sheet inside the panel itself and they are calling the whole approach as "Flex Titanium" technology. The change should make the panel more resilient, especially to pressure and impact, and Samsung also claims it makes the whole assembly thinner somehow.

Samsung's press release also claims that the new construction is meant to "reduce crease visibility". However, that is not our experience. The crease was actually quite prominent on our demo unit. Definitely more so than on the Z Fold8 demo unit.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra display crease

Now this could simply be due to the Z Fold8 Ultra unit having seen more open and close cycles, so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt, as the Z Fold8 demo unit had no noticeable crease whatsoever.

Now another thing Samsung says it has worked on is display tension and magnetic force to make unfolding feel "smoother, lighter and more natural". Samsung calls this an "Easy Open-and-Close Mechanism", apparently at least in part borrowed from the South Korea-exclusive Galaxy Z TriFold. We can confirm that this is indeed a thing we noticed. In practice, we found it noticeably easier to separate the two halves of the phone for the first 5mm or so. In that range, the hinge doesn't seem to offer any resistance and the magnets are easier to overcome without requiring great force. Even so, opening the phone up with one hand is still very hard and probably impractical for most users.

Speaking of the display setup on the Z Fold8 Ultra, we don't think anything major has changed really. The outside display appears to be identical to last year's model. The inside display is perhaps a bit less reflective, though it is pretty hard to say, so if there is some new coating, it seems rather mild. Samsung does claim an improved maximum brightness of 3,000 nits this year, up from the official 2,600 nits figure from last year. That's hardly a meaningful improvement in practice, but still noteworthy. We'll definitely do our best to verify the claim in the full review.

Samsung did improve the main display resolution this year, bumping it up to 2,504 x 2,256 pixels, which at 8 inches in diagonal works out to around 422 ppi. By comparison, the Z Fold7 has a resolution of 1968 x 2184 pixels on its 8-inch panel and around 368 ppi. That's not an insignificant resolution upgrade, but we still don't consider it major since it's not a night-and-day difference in person.

Presumably the refresh rate control hasn't changed, with LTPO tech on both panels. Of course, Samsung's Vision Booster is present, though it is definitely not a new thing.

As mentioned, not a lot has changed about the rest of the phone. One thing already hinted at by the Ultra moniker is that Samsung still views this traditional foldable form factor as its "top" offering in the space, for lack of a better term. It gets the biggest battery and the fastest charging. Although the new form factor Z Fold8 also gets the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, Samsung specifically mentions that: "Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra uses an expanded graphite cooling structure engineered for improved thermal conductivity, helping dissipate heat more effectively and keep the device responsive during demanding tasks."

That does make us wonder whether, perhaps, the new Z Fold8 is expected not to deliver the full performance of its sibling? Perhaps the newer form factor is harder to properly cool? Of course, these are merely speculations on our part before we get to actually test the pair properly.

We can't really say much about the camera system prior to formal testing either. Samsung says that the Z Fold8 Ultra gets an upgraded 50MP ultrawide this year. It certainly looks better on paper than the 12MP unit on the Z Fold7, with more resolution, a brighter lens and a slightly bigger sensor. That said, we don't actually expect any major quality improvements, just like we didn't really see any major improvements when the S25 Ultra first got this "ultrawide upgrade".

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra camera UI

All in all, the Z Fold8 Ultra looks to represent a pretty modest upgrade, but an upgrade nonetheless. Plus, it is still a solid foldable through and through.