Samsung launches the Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Flip8
Three new foldable phones enter the fold.
Samsung has announced three new foldable phones at its annual Galaxy Unpacked event: the Galaxy Fold8 Ultra, Galaxy Fold8 and Galaxy Z Flip8. They offer new sizes, new features, brighter screens and more advanced cameras than their predecessors.
Will they make it onto our coveted list of best foldable phones? Let’s see what’s new.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra
The Fold8 Ultra is the flagship device and a new entrant to the Fold family. Like Samsung’s other Fold devices, it opens like a paperback book, with a cover screen and a much larger screen inside. Its 8-inch interior screen is the equivalent of two 6.5-inch displays side by side. This makes it ideal for multitasking, as it’s like having two phones next to each other.
This screen boasts a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, making it the brightest Samsung Galaxy smartphone ever (brighter even than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra), as well as an anti-reflective coating that makes it easier to see in bright sun.
Despite its improvements over the Galaxy Fold7 that preceded it, it measures just 4.1mm slim when open, making it the thinnest Galaxy Fold ever. (For reference, the iPhone 17 is 7.95mm thick.)
The Z Fold8 Ultra has a new hinge with new magnets and a new mechanism, making it easier to open and more durable over time.
It benefits from a 200MP main camera, 50MP ultra wide and 10MP telephoto. The big improvement here is the ultra wide – the Galaxy Fold7’s equivalent was only 12MP, meaning the new model should deliver landscape shots with more detail and impact.
It also has the ProVisual Engine with advanced AP processing for Nightography video, and the same Horizontal Lock features as the Galaxy S26 – this helps you create steady videos with no blur, keeping the recording level even if you angle the phone. You can quickly present your videos in one of four cinematic presets (like romance, thriller etc), letting you play director with none of the training.
The Z Fold8 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy – the same processor at the heart of the Galaxy S26. Its 5,000mAh battery gives you 27 hours of video playback, and charges up to 67 per cent capacity in just 30 minutes.
Samsung Z Fold8 Ultra vs Z Fold7: what’s changed?
- Brighter main screen
The Z Fold8 Ultra has a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, while the Z Fold7 only managed 2,600 nits
- New processor
The Z Fold8 Ultra is powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor as the Samsung Galaxy S26, whereas the Fold7 used an earlier, less powerful version of that processor
- Better camera
The ultrawide camera has been boosted from 12MP on the Fold7 to 50MP on the Fold8 Ultra
- Bigger battery
The Fold8 Ultra’s 5,000mAh battery has more capacity than the Fold7’s 4,400mAh.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
The Z Fold8 is slightly lower specced than the Fold8 Ultra, and while it comes in the same form factor, it’s a little shorter and wider than the flagship.
At 201g, it’s the lightest Galaxy Z Fold that Samsung has ever made.
Its 7.6-inch inside screen is a little smaller than the Fold8 Ultra’s, but has the same 3,000 nits peak brightness and anti-reflective coating, both of which make it easier to see in bright light. Its cover screen measures 5.5 inches.
At 4.5mm when open, it’s a little thicker than the Fold8 Ultra, but has the same processor inside, so its performance should be the same.
Its cameras are also a step down. It has two rear cameras instead of three (a wide and an ultra-wide), and they are both 50MP resolution. But like the Fold8 Ultra, it lets you record both what’s in front of you and yourself using the selfie camera at the same time. You can then save these recordings as individual videos, or combine them to watch at the same time.
A new feature called My FanCam lets you focus on one subject in a video without having to crop it yourself. Just film as normal, then select your subject from the footage and the phone will use AI to zoom in on them and follow them throughout the duration of the video. You can choose the aspect ratio you want, and share it to social media with no editing required.
The Fold8’s battery is a little smaller than the Fold8 Ultra’s, but still promises impressive results. Its 4,800mAh battery should last for 26 hours of video playback, and charges up to 63 per cent in just 30 minutes. Handy for those mornings when everything is a bit of a rush.
Samsung Z Fold8 vs Z Fold7: what’s changed?
- Smaller main screen
The Z Fold8’s 7.6-inch display is smaller than the Z Fold7’s 8-incher.
- Brighter
The Z Fold8’s 3,000-nit screen is brighter than the Z Fold7’s 2,600 nits
- Thicker
The Z Fold8 is actually slightly thicker than the Z Fold7 when unfolded (4.5mm compared to 4.2mm)
- Bigger battery
The Z Fold8’s 4,800mAh battery has more capacity than the Z Fold7’s 4,400mAh battery
- Fewer cameras
The Z Fold8 only has two rear cameras to the Z Fold7’s three
- Different camera resolutions
The Z Fold8’s main camera has dropped from 200MP to 50MP, but the ultra wide has been bumped up from 12MP to 50MP
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8
The Z Flip8 takes a different form to the Z Fold phones. It flips open like a handbag make-up mirror, or like the iconic Motorola Razr phone from the early noughties.
It’s the thinnest and lightest Galaxy Z Flip ever – it’s 6.1mm slim when open (13 per cent slimmer than its predecessor) and weighs just 180g (3.9 per cent lighter than the Z Flip7).
Because of its form factor, you can hold the Z Flip8 in a camcorder grip while recording videos. It has a 50MP main camera with the ProVisual Engine. It has an improved background blur which will help your selfies stand out more than ever, and the same Horizontal Lock feature as the new Fold phones.
It also has a new FlexWindow Home, which is a dedicated area for notifications and quick access to apps which are optimised for the bendable screen.
Like the other new Galaxy Z phones, it has an upgraded Now Brief feature, which promises to be smarter at proactively suggesting actions and providing contextual information that’s relevant to your situation and schedule. You can also customise the Now Brief cards as you need.
Samsung Z Flip8 vs Z Flip7: what’s changed?
- Slimmer and lighter
The Z Flip8 is 13 per cent slimmer and 3.9 per cent lighter than the Z Flip7
- More expensive
The Z Flip7 starts at £1,049, but the Z Flip8 ups that to £1,100.
- New features
The Z Flip8 has a new FlexWindow Home area for notifications and an upgraded Now Brief feature
Samsung says these phones will “enable your day-to-day to be more efficient.” We’ll have full reviews of each soon.
All three phones are available to pre-order now, and ship next month. The Z Flip8 starts at £1,100, the Z Fold8 £1,699 and the Z Fold8 Ultra £1,899 (all start at 256GB storage). They all come in 512GB variants too, and the two Z Folds a further 1TB model.
Each comes with free access to Google AI Pro for six months.
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