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Every summer, Samsung drops its new foldable devices like clockwork. While last year's Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 are solid devices, both foldables are also nearly identical to their predecessors. With its 2026 lineup, Samsung is thankfully shaking things up a bit — at least as far as the "new" Galaxy Z Fold 8 is concerned, and to some extent with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, too, as long as you care about minor camera upgrades.
The star of the show this year is the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which in a twist, isn't actually the direct successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and in a lot of ways, is an entirely new foldable from Samsung. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the real upgrade to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 given its size, foldable display aspect ratio, and camera array. Confusing, right?
It's a bit of an odd move by the South Korean tech giant, but from a branding perspective, I get it — as far as foldables go, the standard "Fold" is probably Samsung's best-known device, so it wants its flashy new foldable design to have a recognizable name.
The wider Galaxy Z Fold 8 is an undeniably eye-catching foldable
It's sleek, unique-looking, and the different aspect ratio is surprisingly practical
With the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its wider 5.5-inch 1972x1248 pixel Cover Display and 7.6-inch (1-120Hz) 1848x2448 pixel inner foldable screen, it's clear Samsung is preparing to battle Apple's inevitable foldable smartphone, which is rumored to release this fall with a similar aspect ratio. The wider 10:16 Cover Screen aspect ratio makes the Galaxy Z Fold 8 feel more natural to hold and like a standard smartphone that's just a bit wider.
During my hands-on with the foldable, Samsung highlighted that the screen size is great for reading ebooks. While that's likely accurate, I prefer to read content on my e-reader rather than an AMOLED display, regardless of the screen size. Still, this will definitely be appealing to some people, and I can see myself catching up on saved Instapaper stories with the phone.
On the other hand, the 4:3 inner screen aspect ratio is perfect for watching YouTube videos and browsing the internet, particularly for longer periods. It feels way more comfortable to hold the phone when unfolded compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7's and Z Fold 8 Ultra's roughly 10:9 screen, which has always felt a bit awkward to me.
I'd describe the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as a very pocket-sized foldable phone. This is helped by the fact that it's so thin, coming in at 9.7mm when folded and 4.5mm when unfolded — it really is almost like sliding a passport in your pocket. It's also adorably chunky and stands out from pretty much every phone available right now.
It's the sort of notable design change that I wasn't sold on based on the rumors until I actually saw the device for myself and was able to go hands-on with it. On the more negative side, the Galaxy Z Fold 8's hinge doesn't allow the device to be used half-folded in Flex Mode. It's redesigned hinge (which is featured in all three foldables — more on this later) makes it far easier to unfold the device, though. This is great if you tend to open foldables with just one hand.
The new Z Fold 8's camera array is a bit lackluster. All you get is a f/1.8 50-megapixel wide, a f/1.9 50-megapixel ultrawide, a f/2.2 10-megapixel main, and a f/2.2 cover shooter. These specs and lenses are good enough for my mobile photography purposes, and in my brief hands-on time with the sleek-looking and feeling foldable, it shoots solid photos even under low-light. Still, it's a step back from the Galaxy Z Fold 7's camera and this year's upgraded Z Fold 8 camera array, so the sleek aspect ratio comes with a few trade-offs.
Other notable Galaxy Z Fold 8 specs include 12GB/16GB of RAM, 256GB/512GB/1TB of storage, a 4,800mAh battery, IP48, and Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. Colors include Lavender, Graphite, Cream, and Pistachio (online only). The Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts at $1,900 and is available for pre-order now. The phone releases on August 7th, 2026.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's key upgrade is its ultrawide camera
On the other hand, the Z Flip 8 is basically the Z Flip 7
Then there's the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which again, should actually be called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 if Samsung stuck to the naming scheme most of us expected. The key upgrade this year is on the camera side, with the Fold 8 Ultra borrowing most of the Galaxy S26 Ultra's rear camera hardware, including its f/1.7 200-megapixel wide, f/1.9 50-megapixel ultrawide, and f/2.2 10-megapixel telephoto shooter. Given how much the Fold series costs, I've always felt that it should offer a higher-end camera array, especially since Samsung has now added "Ultra" to its name. It looks like Samsung finally feels the same way.
Beyond the camera changes and the phone being slightly thinner at 4.1mm when unfolded and 8.9mm when folded, this is nearly the same smartphone as the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Like with the Z Fold 8, the new hinge design makes it easier to open the foldable smartphone, particularly with one hand (it also still supports Flex Mode, unlike the Z Fold 7). Other key specs include 12GB/16GB of RAM, 256GB/512GB/1TB of storage, a 5,000mAh battery, and the Snapdragon Elite Gen 5 chip. This years colurs are Violet Shadow, Graphite, Cream, and Green Shadow (online exclusive). The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2,100 and is available to pre-order now. The phone releases on August 7th, 2026.
Then there's the Z Flip 8, which as far as I can tell, is pretty much identical to last year's Samsung clamshell foldable, only slightly thinner at 6.1mm when unfolded and 13.1mm when folded. This comes right down to its rear camera array, which includes a f/2.2 12-megapixel ultra-wide, an f/1.8 50-megapixel wide, and a 10-megapixel f/2.2 front shooter. This is disappointing given the Z Flip 7 was already in dire need of back camera improvements. I've always been a fan of the Flip series, but it's clear Samsung is coasting with this year's Flip 8 — I was hoping for a more substantial upgrade.
Other specs are the same as last year, including its 4,300 mAh battery, 256GB/512GB of storage, 12GB of RAM, and IP48. The only upgrades to the 6.9-inch foldable are the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and three new colors: Graphite, Cream, Pink (online exclusive), and Mint (online exclusive). The Galaxy Flip 8 starts at $1,200 and is available to pre-order now. The phone releases on August 7th, 2026.
There are a few other key features worth mentioning that are available across the entire lineup, including Super Steady Horizontal Lock, which is genuinely pretty useful and keeps the horizon locked even when you rotate the phone. This is borrowed directly from the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Sticking with this theme, none of Samsung's new foldables feature the full Qi2 wireless charging spec, which means that like the S26 line, you'll need to add magnets to the foldable phones via a case. This remains a perplexing decision on Samsung's part, and my best guess is still that the company just wants to sell more cases.
Then there's the new "Flex Titanium" technology the tech giant is touting with this year's Z series, which, along with making the foldables easier to open, decreases the inner display crease. I noticed a bit of an improvement in my brief hands-on time with the devices, but it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. The display crease was already not that big of a deal with the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 anyway.
As usual, there's a slew of AI features, like better image editing and faster on-device processing, but I need to spend more time with the new functionality to be able to tell if any of it's actually useful (it's also unclear what AI features will actually be exclusive to this year's foldables). Sticking with AI, Now Brief, Samsung's agentic AI based on your routine, and Now Nudge, its suggestions feature, are back. Lastly, once again, the rumors surrounding S Pen compatibility with the Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra were inaccurate. Samsung's stylus is still being left out of the fun as far as its new foldables are concerned.
There's also a new video auto-reframing feature Samsung calls My FanCam that's designed specifically with short-form video like TikTok in mind. It automatically follows a specific subject in a standard 16:9 video and crops it for vertical viewing by locking onto them. It's a bit off-putting at first and isn't the type of feature I personally plan to use, but I can see it coming in handy for some people, especially if you're into short-form video content creation.
I like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 far more than I expected
This year, Samsung has really only released one interesting foldable in its 2026 lineup, the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It's a very sleek-looking device with a genuinely compelling, unique aspect ratio. I'm excited to spend more time with the phone to see if the new aspect ratio works better for me compared to my experience with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is pretty much the same as the Z Fold 7 Ultra, only with an upgraded rear camera, while the Z Flip 8 is identical to the Flip 7 in nearly every way.
On the wearable front, Samsung also revealed the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy Watch 9 series. XDA will have more on Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 in the coming weeks.
