Three ways I think the Galaxy Z Fold 9 can beat the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and three things it shouldn’t do

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a commercial success and one of the most popular foldable smartphones that Samsung has ever made. Most of that comes down to the new form factor, what’s now being called the passport-style foldable.

However, now that it’s been confirmed that people really love this layout for foldable phones, there are a lot of upgrades that Samsung can focus on for the Galaxy Z Fold 9. In particular, there are five upgrades that I would love to see come to the Galaxy Z Fold 9 next year to improve upon the foldable flagship that sold me on these phones.

A telephoto camera

The one aspect where the Galaxy Z Fold 8 falls very short, in my opinion, is the camera setup. For starters, the main and the ultrawide cameras that you get with the Fold 8 aren’t as good as their counterparts on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. They take good pictures but they just don’t match the caliber of photos that Samsung’s other two aforementioned flagships take.

But the biggest letdown, in my eyes, is the lack of a telephoto lens. As someone who enjoys playing around with the zoom to enhance the scale of distant objects in photos, a telephoto camera is a must-have, and I’d love to see one on the Galaxy Z Fold 9.

A larger display than the Galaxy Z Fold 8

At 7.6 inches, the inner display of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is plenty big. Media playback in particular looks so much better than it does on a standard candy bar phone.

But, as someone who’s always loved larger displays on phones, an increase in size for the internal screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 9 would be easiest way to get me to give it more points. Though I also acknowledge that not everyone wants the displays on their phones to keep increasing in size. Good thing the Fold 9 will have a relatively smaller external display then.

A bigger battery than its predecessor

Now, granted, this is something that basically every Samsung phone on the market today could benefit from. The company has remained very conservative with the capacities of the batteries that it uses in its smartphones.

Still, at only 4,800 mAh, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 didn’t even hit Samsung’s usual 5,000 mAh. That honor was reserved for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra instead.

According to reports, however, Samsung is finally crossing that 5,000 mAh threshold next year with the Galaxy S27 Ultra. I hope that this means that the Galaxy Z Fold 9 might at least get a 5,000 mAh battery, though I wouldn’t say no to a battery with an even larger capacity.

Foldable phones especially need larger batteries. After all, a larger inner display means having to power more pixels.

What the Galaxy Z Fold 9 should absolutely not do

There are also some “upgrades” that I do not want to see come to the Galaxy Z Fold 9 in the slightest. Unfortunately, given Samsung’s tendency to follow in Apple’s footsteps more often than not (the Fold 8 only exists because of the iPhone Duo) I’m afraid that these changes might just be under consideration.

For starters, I absolutely do not want Samsung to adopt the nano-texture display used on the iPhone Duo’s internal display. The matte finish ruins sharpness and color contrast. Samsung’s own anti-reflective coating on the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s inner screen is more than enough, in my opinion.

I would also hate to see Samsung ditch the boxy look and adopt the rounder corners of the iPhone Duo. I’m still not over Samsung having done this with the S-series flagships and, as I think that the Fold 8 looks so much better than the Duo, a rounder Fold 9 would be the last thing I’d want to buy.

Lastly, I’m conflicted on whether I want Samsung to return to an under-display camera for the inner display. While I absolutely despise display cutouts, the under-display camera on the iPhone Duo is horrible. Perhaps Samsung should keep using punch-hole cameras until a better under-display camera can be designed.

Overall, though, if Samsung uses the same form factor and improves upon it in any way, I think it will have another winner on its hands.

My recent thoughts on Samsung phones:

• The upgrades I want to see for the Galaxy S27 Ultra
• Samsung's sliding phone is taking notes from the Galaxy Z Fold 8
• The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is simply better than the iPhone Duo

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