I used the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra and it’s awesome, but misses out on a very important upgrade

Upon picking up the Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra, it was immediately apparent that Samsung has refined the edges a little bit. Not that the Fold 7 was uncomfortable to hold, but the Fold 8 Ultra feels a little bit smoother and ergonomic.

Aside from that welcome refinement, much of the hardware design is the same. This isn’t bad news, because the 6.5” cover display is sizable enough. There’s still a little bit of a black bezel around it, slightly more than is typical nowadays, but it by no means looks bad.

The Fold 8 Ultra’s appearance still has its charm and unique character, which, to me, is a good thing.

It’s a compact, super-thin foldable phone, which opens up to a massive, 8” internal display.

What I’m very excited about is the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, because it delivers a meaningful improvement over that already powerful 8 Elite. Now, this is a foldable phone, and foldable phones are notoriously tough to squeeze performance out of, due to their extra thin profiles.

We haven’t run performance benchmarks or anything yet, so it’ll be very interesting to see how the 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy performs here in the Fold 8 Ultra. The “for Galaxy” is not just branding – it does make a bit of a difference in what the chip is capable of, as it can ramp up to even higher clock speeds compared to the standard edition of the chipset. Literally, I can’t wait to run GeekBench and 3D Mark on this thing. Stay tuned!

A super-strong hinge

The major advancement with the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra (applies also to the Fold 8 and Flip 8), is the new Flex Titanium hinge. It incorporates a new titanium-alloy film and a titanium plate – a first for a foldable phone.

This new titanium structure provides a stronger support for the flexible OLED panel and helps absorb pressure and impact forces much better.

I believe modern foldable phones have been in a pretty good place durability-wise for quite a while now, but it’s always reassuring to know that Samsung has further this aspect for extra peace of mind.

Another very welcome upgrade is the opening and closing mechanism, which now feels smoother and more effortless. Incorporating some innovative approaches that Samsung debuted with its TriFold, it’s managed to make the operating the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra’s hinge even more satisfying.

The 200MP camera system

Ah, the camera. Foldable phone makers like Huawei and Honor have proven that just because a phone is a foldable, doesn’t mean it has to compromise with the camera.

And with the new, wider/shorter Fold 8 now having just main and ultrawide cameras, the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra is positioned as Samsung’s camera-centric foldable powerhouse.

On one hand, the 200MP main camera is very good and is now further enhanced with better processing and even HDR support when shooting in 200MP mode.

On the other, the zoom camera is still the familiar, 10MP sensor capable of 3x magnification. Not that it’s bad, but its capabilities are limited as the sensor itself is physically small at just 1/3.94". This means it’s can’t really deliver detailed, clear and noise-free shots in anything but optimal conditions.

Moving on, getting a much-improved telephoto camera onto the Fold should be of the highest priority for Samsung.

On the bright side, there’s a new 50 MP ultra-wide camera that’s promised to deliver better detail and clarity. We have a very advanced testing procedure in the PhoneArena Camera Score benchmark, so any meaningful improvement will be identified when we have the chance to run the Fold 8 Ultra through the complete test.

Where Samsung has to try harder

I already started with the topic of what needs to be improved for the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra to be the undisputed king of foldable phones, but let’s just say it again: a more capable telephoto camera has to be on top of that list.

Having a longer-range, more capable zoom sensor unlocks a whole new world of photography, so it absolutely should not be overlooked. I’m sure Samsung knows this; it’s just that the company has to manage a whole host of factors, including the price (we’ll get to that as well), and we know telephoto cameras are bigger and costlier.

Next on my list of negatives is the price. It makes me very sad that the starting price of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra is again going up this year, from $2000 to $2100, and that’s for just 256 GB of storage and 12 GB RAM.

I’m sure Samsung is not to blame for this. For what it’s worth, I’m certain Samsung is doing a lot to try to keep the cost down, but this is the world we’re living in right now. You can blame the whole AI bubble, as well as the complicated geopolitical situation, for this.

In any case, the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra was going to be a very expensive phone, no matter which version of reality we had, and that, also, is a bit sad.

We were all hoping that as the technology needed to make foldable phones matured, it would go down in price, but this doesn’t seem to have happened. As a matter of fact, the original Galaxy Fold (2019) debuted at $1980. Come to think of it, that we have a product 7 years later that still costs roughly the same in nominal terms, has to mean that costs have generally gone down, no?

On the other hand, that original Galaxy Fold launched with 512 GB of storage as a base tier, so… I don’t know what to tell you!

Should you pre-order the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra?

With the price rant out of the way, what does the bottom line say? Is the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra a good deal in 2026?

I generally believe it is, if you can take advantage of the large, foldable display that would at least in some practical terms pay off your investment.

What I mean it: this is a serious device that costs serious money, and its target audience is those who really want to max out the power and convenience they get out of their mobile device.

I believe the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra is that device. With the exception of the camera, which is a bit of a compromise in my opinion, I believe Samsung has delivered the goods in all other categories. The even includes the battery – the other regular complaint towards Samsung phones.

The Fold 8 Ultra now comes with a 5000 mAh Si-Ca battery, a substantial increase over the 4400 mAh unit that was in the Fold 7 and Fold 6. Would this be a night and day difference in terms battery life? I doubt it, but I’m certain the increase will be substantial and very welcome.

Samsung generally optimizes its software very well, so I’m confident the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra will not cause any battery anxiety for the majority of its users.

And this is who should consider pre-ordering the Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra – those who want to max out their mobile experience in terms of productivity. For everyone else, e.g. people more focused on gaming, entertainment and content consumption, I believe the new and slightly cheaper Galaxy Fold 8 would be a better option.

From this perspective, Samsung’s rebranding of the Fold family makes a lot of sense.