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Samsung’s cute and compact flip phone just got refreshed. This is the new Galaxy Z Flip 8, and I got to spend a short time with it. It’s not a ground-breaking change, but the design feels more refined now and Samsung finally improved the cover screen experience in a major way.
Pre-order the Galaxy Z Flip 8 for up to $600 off
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The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is now available at the official store. It features an improved build and offers a fantastic foldable experience. Pre-order yours and save up to $600 at Samsung with a trade-in. Alternatively, you can get the phone with a $200 Samsung credit, no trade-in required.
First, the Flip 8 is all about being thin and light. At just 180 grams, it’s lighter than many small non-folding phones, and it’s also noticeably lighter than Motorola’s latest Razr Ultra.
Flip 8 — 166.9 x 75.4 x 6.1mm, 180 grams
Flip 7 — 166.7 x 75.2 x 6.5mm, 188 grams
Motorola Razr Ultra — 171.48 x 73.99 x 7.2 mm, 200 grams
Achieving this record thinness of just 6.1mm unfolded and 13.1mm folded makes the Flip 8 much less bulky in a pocket.
The Flip 8 comes in the same cream and graphite colors as the Fold 8 series, but the signature color this year is pink, which speaks a lot about the positioning of this phone. Samsung also keeps on talking about selfies and this phone being fashionable, rather than talking up the performance or other specs.
Image by PhoneArena
I also need to mention the slight tweaks to the design that really make a big difference. The Flip 7 was a bit hard to open because of how thin it was and with the flat sides, there was just not enough phone to insert your fingers to open it. This was a real problem for me.
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Thankfully, Samsung listened to the feedback, and the Flip 8 has slighlty rounded sides, so unfolding the phone is much easier now. Love this!
Will this be the last Samsung Flip?
There are persistent rumors that the Flip 8 might be the last Flip phone for Samsung. There are plenty of theories why: some say the company is more focused on bigger foldables, while others mention corporate greed and the higher margins associated with bigger foldables.
Whatever the reason, this is definitely not official, but I see some warning signs in the Flip 8 that this might indeed be happening. First, while the Fold 8 phones use the new Flex Titanium display structure, which Samsung has developed for years, the Flip 8 does not seem to have that. Strange.
Another sign of neglect is the unchanged battery. I hoped to see a silicon-carbon battery on the Flip 8, but it’s instead only focused on getting slimmer with the same 4,300mAh battery size as the Flip 7.
The software
While those are the red flags, there are some areas where Samsung has — surprisingly — put in extra effort, like the software experience.
The cover screen, which Samsung calls the FlexWindow, is now finally reimagined. Previously, you’d have to almost hack the phone with GoodLock modules in order to get that FlexScreen to your liking.
Samsung software just wasn't ready for cover screens on the flip phones, and is only now catching up. The new FlexWindow Home now has specially designed home screens and better support for notifications. And yes, you now get a real app drawer here too, so you don't need to open GoodLock. You have your recent apps as well, just like on the main screen. Many individual apps are also now optimized for this smaller display.
This all feels so much nicer now.
This being Samsung, we have AI here too, of course. The Now Brief now occupies a more prominent space on the home, as it’s turned into a ProActive AI companion. Depending on the time of day, it surfaces relevant info.
There is a total of 112 preset Now Brief cards, which cover 56 supported scenarios, and all of that appears directly on the FlexWindow home. You can customize those existing cards, or you can type a prompt to generate a brand new card. More on this later in our full review.
All of this comes with your standard Android 17 and One UI 9 features, of course, and you can now do more with AI commands while the device is closed.
Samsung keeps mentioning the improved Now Nudge, a feature where AI recognizes things like addresses and proactively suggests actions like opening an address directly in maps.
Performance, Battery and Charging
Image by PhoneArena
The Galaxy Flip 8 is powered by Samsung’s latest Exynos 2600 processor, not a surprise considering that Samsung switched to Exynos chips last year. Still, Samsung’s big foldable phones all run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, so this looks like a cost-cutting move. I wouldn't judge Samsung too hard for this as the chip is still powerful, and who needs ultra-levels of power on a flip phone anyway?
And while the battery size is unchanged (4,300mAh), charging is now faster on the Flip 8 at 45 watts, up from 25 watts before.
No magnets on the phone itself, though, in case you were wondering. You'd need a case with magnets to snap to Qi2 wireless chargers.
On the camera front, you have a dual camera system with a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.
Samsung mentions improvements to skin tones, bokeh and detail for better portraits, which you can capture here using the main cameras.
The CamCorder grip is also still a thing with the Flip 8, and it now supports Super Steady with Horizontal lock for better stabilization.
Prices and Final Words
The Flip 8 starts at $1,200, $100 more than last year. This price bump is probably all about the higher RAM prices, and while I'm not happy about the change, Motorola charges $1,500 for a Razr Ultra, so there is that.
All in all, I think these are decent upgrades for the Flip 8. But I can't help to notice that Flip phones have hit a plateau in the past few years. And how can you improve them really? It's hard imagining fitting more cameras or larger sensors in such a design.
But the Flip 8 sure looks like a fun and stylish phone. The smaller cover screen also helps with digital detox, at least for me and little improvements like how it's easier to unfold make a bigger difference than you might think. For more on the Flip 8, stay tuned for our full review that's coming next week.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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