At yesterday’s Unpacked event, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold8 alongside the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, with the standard model offering a noticeably fresher take on the book-style foldable that feels more compact and fun to use than its predecessor.
Instead of the tall, narrow design we’ve gotten used to, this one goes shorter and wider. It’s clearly built for watching videos, scrolling social media, and just everyday enjoyment without feeling like you’re wrestling with a big tablet every time you open it.
On the outside, you get a 5.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 10:16 aspect ratio. Open it up and there’s a big 7.6-inch inner screen with a more square-ish 4:3 ratio that reduces black borders on long-form videos. Both support HDR and get seriously bright (up to 3000 nits on the main panel) with an anti-reflective coating so they actually look good outdoors. One quick note: there’s still no S Pen support.
There are a few notable hardware improvements this year. Apart from the anti-reflective coating, Samsung is also using a new “Flex Titanium” backplate that helps reduce the display crease and makes the phone feel more solid than Fold 7.
At just 201 grams, it’s now Samsung’s lightest book-style foldable, lighter than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Folded, it’s 123.9 × 81.9 × 9.7mm. Unfolded, it stretches to 123.9 × 161.4 × 4.5mm. It also carries IP48 dust and water resistance.
The camera setup is a bit less impressive, though. Around the back you’ll find a dual camera setup: a 50MP main (with OIS) and a 50MP ultra-wide. There are 10MP front cameras on both the cover and inner displays.
Power comes from the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, with 12GB or 16GB of RAM depending on storage (256GB/512GB/1TB options). The battery jumps up to 4,800mAh, thanks to its silicon-carbon construction, which should feel like a nice improvement. It supports 45W wired charging (0-63% in about 30 minutes) and 20W wireless.
It ships with One UI 9.0 on the latest Android and gets seven years of OS and security updates. Samsung packed in plenty of Galaxy AI and Gemini-based features.
Pricing and availability
The Fold8 comes in four color options: Lavender, Graphite, and Cream. Pre-orders are already live, and shipping begins August 7. Samsung has listed the phone on its official website at the following prices:
- 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage: $1,899
- 12GB RAM + 512GB Storage: $2,099
- 16GB RAM + 1TB Storage: $2,499
Overall, this looks designed as a direct competitor to Apple’s yet-to-launch first foldable, positioned below the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra in Samsung’s lineup.
(Samsung)
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