At first glance, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 doesn’t appear dramatically different from last year’s Fold 7. It doesn’t introduce an entirely new hinge mechanism or some revolutionary display technology. Instead, Samsung spent the past year fixing nearly every complaint enthusiasts had about previous Fold devices. The result isn’t a radical redesign—it’s arguably the company’s best foldable yet.
After spending the past week using the Fold 8 as my primary phone, what stood out wasn’t the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset or the brighter AMOLED displays. It wasn’t even Galaxy AI, despite Samsung making it the centrepiece of nearly every presentation. It was the screen shape.
For years, Samsung’s Fold lineup has always felt like a compromise. The tall, narrow exterior display worked well enough for checking notifications or quickly replying to messages, but writing emails, browsing social media, or even typing comfortably often felt cramped. Unfolding the phone solved that problem, but introduced another one. A nearly square internal display that wasn’t always ideal for productivity or media consumption.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 changes that equation. Samsung’s move to a wider 4:3 aspect ratio fundamentally changes how the Fold feels to use. It sounds like a subtle adjustment on paper, but after only a few hours, I found it surprisingly difficult to go back to older Fold models. Rather than feeling like a phone that unfolds into a tablet, the Fold 8 feels like two genuinely excellent devices merged into one.
The first thing I noticed after picking up the Galaxy Z Fold 8 wasn’t how thin it had become; it was how normal it felt. Samsung has spent years slimming down its foldables, and that work finally pays off here. The Fold 8 measures just 8.9mm when folded and only 4.2mm when unfolded, making it remarkably close to the thickness of many conventional flagship smartphones. At 201 grams, it’s also the lightest book-style Fold Samsung has ever produced.
Those numbers don’t fully capture the experience, though. During my first day carrying the Fold 8, I frequently forgot I had a foldable in my pocket. Previous Galaxy Folds always reminded you of their existence. They were heavier, bulkier, and awkwardly narrow when closed. The Fold 8 sheds much of that baggage.
Samsung’s redesigned Armour Aluminum frame feels exceptionally rigid, while the updated hinge opens with noticeably less resistance than previous generations. One-handed opening still takes a bit of practice, but it no longer feels like you’re forcing two halves apart. The new hinge also closes completely flat, eliminating the wedge-shaped gap that persisted for years. It’s a cleaner, more polished design that immediately makes the Fold feel like a more mature product.
Like previous generations, the Fold 8 carries an IP48 rating, meaning it remains resistant to water but still offers limited protection against fine dust. That’s one area where foldables still trail traditional flagship phones.
Samsung’s biggest improvement this year isn’t brightness. It isn’t durability. It’s geometry. The Fold 8 features a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner display alongside a larger 6.5-inch cover display. Both panels reach up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness while maintaining adaptive 120Hz refresh rates. Those specifications are impressive, but they’re almost secondary to what Samsung has done with the proportions.
That’s always been Samsung’s vision for the Fold. This is the first time it truly feels realized. This device was made for viewing content. On days when I found myself doomscrolling for a bit on the couch, the cover display perfectly displays TikTok videos and Instagram Reels, making it easy to swipe over and over again. The real magic, though, is watching a movie on the 7.6-inch inner display. While leveraging the 4:3 aspect ratio, movies like Project Hail Mary or The Super Mario Galaxy Movie looked phenominal. It was like I had an IMAX screen in the palm of my hand. The colours beamed off the screen while the inky blacks provided an unparalleled contrast.
Ironically, the Fold 8 isn’t always perfect for watching movies. Most streaming content is mastered in wider cinematic aspect ratios; you’ll still encounter black bars during playback. In many cases, I had to pull in the display, cutting off some of the sides while viewing a video. The display itself remains gorgeous, but anyone expecting a massive edge-to-edge movie experience may find themselves slightly disappointed. 
Reading articles also benefits tremendously. Websites appear more as they do on a traditional tablet rather than requiring awkward zooming or constant scrolling. PDFs, spreadsheets, and even photo editing all feel significantly better suited to the new proportions. I will admit that I do miss some of the screen real estate the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra would provide. The display size is great for passively reading e-books, comics or reading articles. It’s less suited for productivity like multi-app use cases.
Then there’s gaming. Launching Pokémon GO immediately showcased the advantage of the wider display. HUD elements occupy less intrusive positions, while the increased horizontal space improves visibility during Gym battles. There’s a breadth of space while interacting with PokeStops or swiping to throw a PokeBall at a Pokémon. I was delighted by how much of a net positive the phone is for gaming on the wider display.
Powering everything is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. Samsung pairs the chipset with 12GB of RAM across the 256GB and 512GB models, while the 1TB configuration increases memory to 16GB. Predictably, performance is exceptional. Applications launch instantly, multitasking remains seamless even with multiple windows open, and switching between demanding apps never introduces noticeable slowdown.
During my testing, I frequently bounced between CapCut, Chrome, YouTube, Google Docs, and Discord simultaneously without the Fold 8 feeling remotely stressed. Thermals are similarly impressive. Even after longer gaming sessions, the Fold 8 became warm but never uncomfortable to hold. Samsung appears to have refined cooling considerably, allowing sustained performance without excessive throttling.
Battery life has historically been one of the Fold lineup’s biggest compromises. Larger displays naturally consume more power, and previous Fold devices often struggled to comfortably reach bedtime under heavier workloads.
Samsung addresses that this year with a larger 4,800mAh battery. While that increase may seem modest on paper, combined with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s improved efficiency, it produces noticeable real-world gains. Throughout my usage, which included photography, streaming, messaging, and roughly an hour of gaming, the Fold 8 consistently lasted a full day without triggering battery anxiety.
Samsung estimates up to 26 hours of video playback, and while those figures rarely translate directly into mixed usage, the improvement is tangible. Fast charging remains familiar, supporting wired charging alongside wireless charging and Wireless PowerShare.
Would I still like to see Samsung push charging speeds beyond where they currently sit? Absolutely. But for the first time in years, battery life no longer feels like the compromise you accept simply because you wanted a foldable.
For years, Samsung’s Fold lineup has always asked users to compromise on photography. If you wanted the company’s absolute best camera system, you bought the Galaxy S-series’ Ultra. If you wanted the productivity benefits of a foldable, you accepted cameras that were merely “good enough.” The Galaxy Z Fold 8 narrows that gap considerably.
Samsung equips the Fold 8 with a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens, alongside dual 10-megapixel front-facing cameras. On paper, the hardware doesn’t dramatically leap beyond its predecessor, but much like the rest of the Fold 8, this year’s improvements come from refinement rather than reinvention. The 50mm remains a standout for me, taking cityscape photos. I was able to capture an impressive amount of detail. Even at the 10x digital zoom, Samsung’s dual camera array had me walking away pretty happy with the results.
Samsung’s updated ProVisual Engine quietly does much of the heavy lifting. Photos consistently exhibit Samsung’s signature vibrant colour science, though processing appears noticeably more restrained than previous generations. Greens remain lush, and skies retain their punch, but images avoid the over-sharpened look that occasionally plagued older Galaxy devices.
Low-light photography is another area that benefits from Samsung’s continued software work. Nightography returns, producing cleaner shadows while maintaining detail without aggressively brightening every dark scene into artificial daylight. I’d still like to see a considerable amount of work done to fine-tune the low-light photography on Samsung’s foldable, but for now, it’s consistently serviceable.
I found myself reaching for the Fold 8 more often than expected while walking through downtown Toronto after sunset. Neon signs, storefront lighting and city streets all retained impressive detail without introducing excessive digital noise. It’s still not quite at the level of Samsung’s Ultra lineup, but the difference has become far smaller than previous generations.
Photography is only half the story. The Fold has always excelled as a content creation device, and Samsung continues to lean heavily into that identity. Dual Recording remains one of my favourite features. Being able to simultaneously capture yourself and your subject removes the need for awkward second takes or additional cameras when filming vlogs, product demonstrations or interviews.
Horizontal Lock also returns after debuting on the Galaxy S26 series earlier this year. While it initially sounded like a niche addition, I quickly came to appreciate it. Walking through crowded sidewalks while recording video inevitably introduces unwanted tilting. Horizontal Lock actively keeps footage level, creating noticeably smoother handheld clips without requiring a dedicated gimbal.
Samsung has also introduced My FanCam, an AI-assisted editing tool that automatically tracks subjects after recording and intelligently reframes footage. Creators filming sports, concerts or fast-moving children will likely find this feature particularly useful, removing much of the manual editing required to keep subjects centred.
Combined with the Fold’s expansive 4:3 display, editing directly on the device simply feels better than on a traditional smartphone. Whether I was trimming clips, reviewing photos or adjusting colour, I rarely found myself wishing for a larger screen.
Samsung has spent the better part of two years talking about Galaxy AI. This year finally feels like the point where many of those features become genuinely practical. Rather than existing as isolated party tricks, Galaxy AI now ties together multiple apps and workflows.
The standout addition is the updated Now Nudge. Imagine discussing dinner plans with friends inside Google Messages. Rather than forcing you to open Maps, search restaurants and manually create a calendar event, Now Nudge surfaces nearby restaurants, reservation information and scheduling suggestions automatically. It’s contextual computing done surprisingly well.
Semantic Search allows users to search naturally across their phone. Instead of remembering whether a file was saved in Notes, Samsung Internet or Messages, you simply search for what you’re looking for conversationally. During my hands-on time, the feature consistently surfaced relevant information without requiring exact keywords.
Samsung is also expanding Photo Assist. Generative Edit can now accept both voice and text prompts, making object removal or scene adjustments feel significantly more intuitive than traditional editing tools. These AI features won’t fundamentally change how everyone uses their smartphone overnight, but unlike earlier Galaxy AI releases, they feel grounded in everyday convenience rather than novelty.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 isn’t the most dramatic Fold Samsung has ever released. There are no revolutionary hinge technologies, no groundbreaking camera breakthroughs, and no headline feature destined to redefine smartphones overnight. Instead, Samsung focused on something arguably more important: removing friction.
The redesigned 4:3 display transforms the Fold from an interesting productivity device into one that genuinely feels comfortable for everyday use. The wider cover display eliminates one of the series’ longest-running frustrations, while the slimmer chassis, lighter weight and improved battery life make carrying the Fold far less of a commitment than previous generations.
Galaxy AI also feels more mature this year, supporting workflows rather than interrupting them, while One UI 8 continues to demonstrate why Samsung remains the company to beat when it comes to foldable software. There are still compromises. Charging speeds lag behind some competitors, the camera system, while excellent, doesn’t quite match the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the premium price keeps the Fold firmly positioned as an enthusiast device.
For the first time in several generations, those compromises feel considerably smaller. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 doesn’t reinvent Samsung’s foldable formula; it tees up a strong future for the foldable. More importantly, it finally delivers on the promise the Fold series has been chasing since the original launched. It feels less like an ambitious experiment and more like a polished flagship that just happens to fold.
Without a doubt, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the most I’ve enjoyed using a smartphone in nearly five years. It’s hard to imagine ever going back to a 16:9 display.
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