Editorials · Reviewer Insight
Galaxy Z Fold 8 ruined all phones for me, and I almost never open it
A lovely form factor, but a terrible use of money. I'd love a passport-style non-foldable phone!
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
A foldable that you don't unfold... what? | Image by PhoneArena
It's been now nearly a month since Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 has been out, and the writing on the wall is clear––it is the smash-hit success that the company surely hoped for. The novel form factor combined with the more stomachable price tag makes this Samsung's most interesting foldable phone in years.
While I haven't used it as a daily driver yet, a few hours worth of usage was sufficient to ruin pretty much any other foldable phone for me, unfortunately forever. After adjusting myself to the peculiar at first form factor, it quickly clicked in place and started feeling natural.
But here's the kicker: I actually like using the Galaxy Z Fold 8 folded way more rather than unfolded.
Who knew we needed such a disruptive form factor so badly
I know I may sound terribly unoriginal and be parroting the general blogosphere's opinion about the Galaxy Z Fold 8, but it's that kind of disruptive device that simply beckons you to interact with and leaves no person without a strong opinion.
In my anecdotal experience, I am yet to see anyone in real life actively dislike this phone after playing with it for a few minutes. Even if it looks off or odd when handled in YouTube videos or in renders, I recommend finding a display unit somewhere and taking it for a spin. Chances are you will love the form factor.
But let me circle back to the ending of my intro, where I confessed that I like using the Galaxy Z Fold 8 way more in its folded state.
I don't have a valid reason, I just find it great fun and can already see myself daily-driving a standard candy bar phone with a "stumpy" aspect ratio. The 16:10 cover screen on the Fold 8 is great for pretty much any use case barring media consumption, where the inner screen is naturally a much better fit due to its large physical size.
But for standard web browsing, for typing, and for regular doom-scrolling in the most popular social media apps out there, the cover screen is rather satisfying to use. The only problem is the number of niche apps that aren't really optimized well for such a stubby aspect ratio and appear peculiar, but these are few and far between.
The inner screen is great for media consumption
But what's the point of getting a foldable if you, well, never unfold it? I have to admit, with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, I only have a couple of reasons to open the phone, and I'll list them all right here for you:
- showing photos and videos to my family,
- catching up with TV shows late at night in bed,
- reading e-books,
- playing games.
In all other scenarios, I actually preferred the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in its folded passport state.
And yes, I agree that the 4:3 inner screen still delivers undesirable letterboxing with most general media you might watch today. If you're into older TV shows like The Shield, Twin Peaks, Seinfeld, Friends, and The X-Files, then you'd be able to utilize the full physical scope of the Galaxy Z Fold 8's screen. With most modern 16:9 series that Netflix, HBO, and Apple are producing, you will have to endure the letterboxing, but it's something I'm used to, and you're likely, too.
For e-books, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels like a proper book when you use the internal screen. Sure, it's not an e-ink reader so it's far from perfect to read on it a lot, but when it comes to modern foldables, I'm yet to see a better option to catch up on my TBR list of books.
Gaming on the inner screen is a very satisfying experience. The rectangular aspect ratio feels quite natural in first-person games, but the added real estate benefits pretty much any mobile game out there. I am currently in my yearly Call of Duty: Mobile phase, so grinding the new battle pass season has been a joy on that large screen which makes it easy to utilize your triple- or quad-finger layout setup.
I want more passport-style phones
I know, I know, they will probably never become mainstream, but the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the iPhone Ultra, and certainly the barrage of other passport-style foldables will surely make a dent in the foldable phone market. There really is a use case here, both from a functional and from a usability perspective.
I legitimately want more passport-style phones to come out, and I don't mean foldables, but proper standard candy bars. And from the looks of it, this is happening: China's Huawei recently announced the Huawei Pura X View, which is a passport-style candy bar, and I can't wait to hold it in my hands.
Hopefully, these phones scratch the same itch at a more affordable price tag and provide consumers with options when it comes to picking the perfect daily driver.
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