Foldable iPhone or the Galaxy Z Fold 8? There’s one correct answer

This year’s foldable flagship rivalry will be unlike anything that we have seen before. That’s because this year, Samsung’s newest foldables will go toe to toe with Apple’s long-awaited foldable iPhone, also known as the iPhone Ultra.

Apple’s foray into the foldable space has shaken up the smartphone industry tremendously. Huawei, for example, rushed a new, different Pura phone — the Pura X Max — after designs for the foldable iPhone leaked.

Samsung, which will be exclusively providing displays for the iPhone Ultra this year, also immediately started work on a similar foldable phone of its own. The new Galaxy Z models are launching next month, and the highly anticipated Apple foldable will come out in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

But which one is worth getting? And how is the foldable iPhone different from existing foldable models on the market?

Foldable iPhone, a different take

Somewhat similar to the Huawei Pura X that came out prior to the Pura X Max, Apple has decided to go for a wide-folding form factor that is practically nonexistent in the foldable market.

The iPhone Ultra, when folded, will be a shorter phone than traditional foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 7. However, when unfolded, the foldable iPhone will be much wider, similar to an iPad mini that is being used in landscape mode.

The idea is to provide a superior experience for watching videos and movies and have more space for multitasking, while also being easier to use when folded for simple tasks.

Which one should you get? Neither

That probably seems like a non-answer, as if I’m trying to not take sides in a very lame attempt at neutrality. It’s not, and I am. Hear me out.

This year, Samsung is changing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 to a wide-folding phone with only two cameras and a smaller battery: 4,800 mAh. But the popularity of the aforementioned Pura X Max in China does not guarantee similar success in other regions for the iPhone Ultra and this new Fold 8.

For all intents and purposes, the wide-folding foldable phones are an experiment. They are first-generation products of their kind and will come with new and unique as-of-yet undiagnosed problems.

If this layout does not take off, there is a strong possibility that Samsung will abandon it just like it did with the Galaxy S25 Edge line. Apple might give it another try, like it’s doing with the iPhone Air 2 next year, but it will also abandon it and start making more traditional foldables if sales don’t pick up.

If you get either, you’re going to be gambling upward of $2,000 — trade-ins and other plans exempted, of course — on an experimental device.

Get the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, or wait

If you absolutely must get a new foldable phone this year, then the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra would be your best bet, in my opinion. Yes, there are going to be two Fold 8 models coming out next month, with the Fold 8 Ultra being the real successor to the Fold 7.

It will have the same sqaurish layout when unfolded and will feature the usual, and expected, three cameras along with a larger battery: 5,000 mAh. This phone might be the safest option out of the three flagship foldables that I’ve mentioned.



Then again, the wide-folding layout might sell so well that the traditional form factor becomes endangered instead. It will be a very unpredictable year for foldable phones.

Which is why I think that the best thing you could do is skip every new folding model this year and get a new one next generation. Apple will have mostly ironed out the kinks by the time its second foldable rolls around and Samsung will have understood which layout is performing better with the public.

Besides, the iPhone is becoming more expensive, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is seeing a price hike, and the overall health of the smartphone industry is very questionable at the moment. Better to just wait and strike at the right time than to potentially waste thousands of dollars.

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