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

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 hands-on review

Now on to the actual meat and potatoes of this hands-on experience, as they say. At least we imagine that most people will be interested in our first-hand experience with the new "book-style" foldable?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.4x123.9x4.9mm, 201g; IP48 dust and water resistant (dust > 1mm; immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min), Advanced Armor aluminum frame.
• Display: 7.60" Foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1848x2448px resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio, 403ppi; Flex Titanium technology, Cover display:, Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, 5.5 inches, 1248 x 1972 pixels.
• 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 Android upgrades, One UI 9.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, F/1.8, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel AF PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, F/1.9, 0.7µm, Quad Pixel AF.
• 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: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4800mAh; 45W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers.

Regardless of what we collectively decide to start calling this form factor, there seems to be an undeniable push towards it. The big driving force behind it, of course, is expected to be the upcoming iPhone. The iPhone Ultra, if rumors are anything to go by. It will be Apple's first foldable, and it is expected to offer a similar aspect ratio on its displays. Huawei already has a China-only Pura X Max in this form factor, and we expect other major industry players to follow suit sooner rather than later, definitely on an accelerated timeline once the iPhone becomes a reality. That's just how the wheel usually turns.

One thing potentially worth reiterating before we dig into things is that this is technically not Samsung's "flagship foldable", whatever that combination of words might mean to you. What we mean is that certain expectations must be tempered and we have to be fine with getting an experience that is sort of "almost on the level" of the Z Fold8 Ultra. That means things like no telephoto camera and technically smaller display. Though, they are so different that that point is debatable.

On about the new form factor. It is almost the same size as a passport, which is pretty standardized and the best proverbial "banana for reference" we can offer you right now. We have to say that it quickly grew on us for several reasons, which we will go over. But, almost instantly, we appreciated how easily "pocketable" it is.

It also feels a lot lighter than the Z Fold8 Ultra because it is at just 201 grams. It is technically slightly thicker than the Z Fold8 Ultra, but it's really not noticeably in practice.

Samsung definitely did its best to keep the foldable design as consistent as possible. You get the same flat sides and the same general I/O placement. The displays look boxy here as well, also going against the common industry trend of large rounded corners.

Samsung Galazy Z Fold8

The build seems to be comparable, and although we are yet to get the formal bill of materials confirmation we would ideally want, we believe that the glass on both sides is the same as on the Z Fold8 Ultra and so is the aluminum on the frame. The IP48 ingress protection is certainly shared among Samsung's latest foldable trio.

Before we move on to some actual usability notes, let's look at the color selection real quick. The Z Fold8 is available in the same "standard" Graphite and Cream as the rest of the 2026 Galaxy Z lineup. The hero color is called Lavender, and the Samsung.com exclusive color is Pistachio.

Our demo unit was in Cream, though it didn't seem to have the warm tinge you'd expect to come with the name Cream, and if there is any, it's all but lost in our photos.

Let's talk display, since that is the real novelty factor here. The outside one measures 5.5 inches in diagonal, which is technically smaller than the 6.5-inch panel on the Z Fold8 Ultra, though with a vastly different aspect ratio. The Z Fold8 Ultra has a FullHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2520 pixels on its outside display, which works out to a neat, even if not-exactly-popular 3:7 aspect ratio. It's the definition of "tall and skinny".

In contrast, the Z Fold8 cover display has a resolution of 1,248 x 1,972 pixels, which Samsung calls WUXGA+ and, at first glance, it does seem deceptively higher than the one on the Z Fold8 Ultra, though, in reality, both panels have very similar pixel density figures. The aspect ratio on the Z Fold8 outside display works out to an awkward 312:493, which is quite close to the 10:16 Samsung advertises.

Honestly, it seems very odd at first glance in person. It's not an aspect ratio most of us have really encountered at this size. Though, it arguably makes more practical sense than the "tall and skinny" panel on the Z Fold8 Ultra. Reaching from corner to corner with one hand was not a challenge for us, which is important.

We found usability great here, especially when it came to typing. We definitely found typing on the wide cover display of the Samsung easier than on the Honor Magic 8 Pro. And the iPhone 17 Pro, which we had handy for a side-by-side comparison, only managed to keep up in typing due to its overall superior keyboard layout and programming.

Left: Apple iPhone 17 Pro • Right: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8

Interestingly, the iPhone 17 Pro did seem to fit more text on a single screen, but the odd aspect on the Z Fold8's cover screen really managed to shine with social media content like Instagram, where we could maximize our screen real estate.

So, we found the cover display to be pretty great in practice. What about the main foldable display? Well, it is a smaller 7.6-inch display with lower resolution than the Z Fold8 Ultra's main display. Though 1,848 x 2,448 pixels is still perfectly sharp, working out to about 403 ppi of density.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 main display productivity

The display on the Z Fold8 is 12 pixels too tall to be a perfect 4:3 ratio. So for all practical intents & purposes, we can round it to a 4:3 aspect ratio when discussing it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 main display productivity

Anyway, do you enjoy some old-school animated shows? Well, this is about as perfect an experience as you can get. Just us? Well, don't worry, this particular aspect is also a boon for multitasking, with two apps open on either side of the display.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Fold8 16:9 video playback comparison

We were also kind of interested to know how watching a video in the much more popular 16:9 aspect on the Z Fold8 compared to doing the same on the Z Fold8 Ultra. Well, actually, surprisingly well. Lining the two up as best as possible, the Z Fold8 Ultra does show a slightly larger image, but also much bigger black bars, for what that's worth.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Fold8 compared

Honestly, we think that this aspect ratio and form factor make more sense overall. Samsung says that both displays are more comfortable and natural regardless of the task, whether it be video watching, gaming or reading. A personal opinion, of course, since it will come down to preference.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 camera viewfinder

Honestly, the one thing that looked really off to us on both screens was the camera viewfinder. Anything outside of Portrait Photo mode just seems awkward, but that's something that you could get used to, we guess.

Other than that, it is perhaps good to note that both panels on the Z Fold8 can refresh at up to 120Hz and seem to both be based on LTPO tech that offers the same dynamic refresh rate switching as on the Z Fold8 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 minimal display crease

For what it's worth, unlike the Z Fold8 Ultra demo unit we were handed, the Z Fold8 barely had a visible display crease.

Samsung seems to be using very similar tech for the hinges on both phones. The Flex Titanium technology chain we already described in detail in the Z Fold8 Ultra hands-on is here as well. That means an extra flexible titanium-alloy sheet is incorporated inside the display itself and presumably a thinner overall assembly with better durability.

Also, the hinge promises the same improvements to stability and less force required to open the magnetic latch.

While technically the Z Fold8 isn't quite as "feature-packed" as the Z Fold8 Ultra, there are very few actual "shortcomings" to point to. We already mentioned the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera, which is probably the one big omission. Anything past 2x zoom just looked a bit "fuzzy" while shooting from the main 50MP camera. Said 50MP camera appears to be very similar to the one inside the Galaxy S26, which is to say pretty good, but far from industry-leading. Of course, we will reserve any quality judgment for the full review.

The battery inside the Z Fold8 is technically a bit smaller than the Ultra's, rated at 4,800 mAh typical capacity. There is actually still a bit of a debate as of writing this hands-on whether this pack is Si/C like the Ultra's or regular Li-Po.

Regardless, we find it much more meaningful that Samsung included the same 45W charging support on the regular Z Fold8. It promises a 63% charge in around 30 minutes.

As already mentioned, the Z Fold8 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset as the Z Fold8 Ultra. Though, based on some of Samsung's wording in the press release, said chip might not be cooled quite as effectively in this form factor. Of course, this is more of a speculation at this point, and we look forward to actually confirming performance and stability in the full review.

All things considered, we very much enjoyed our short initial time with the Z Fold8 and believe it might just have a bright future ahead of it.