Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Review

Exactly one week ago, I picked up the new Galaxy Fold 8 and put my SIM card in it with a lot of excitement and a bunch of questions. Is the new passport form factor too wide and weird? Will it replace the boxier foldables we had until now? Do I really need this over a regular phone?

One week later, I think I have figured out the answers.

The Fold 8 appears in stores on August 7th, with a starting price of $1,900 for the base 12/256GB model. It will be available on all major US carriers, but probably the best way to buy it is with a trade-in that can save you a lot of that steep initial cost.

This review is based on seven days of daily use and lab testing of the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The device was provided by Samsung as a review sample, but the company had no involvement in our testing process, editorial decisions or final review.

Most images in this review are original photography captured by the PhoneArena team in our studio. Beyond real-world use, every phone also goes through our dedicated testing process, including our proprietary camera test that alone takes nearly a full day of use and battery life measurements across three scenarios using our prorietary method. The Fold 8 was tested under the same method.

I've been carrying the Fold 8 in my jeans front pocket all this time, and because it is so short and light, I actually feel it less than the iPhone 17 Pro that I carried before it. The Fold 8 weighs just 200 grams, lighter than many regular phones. Compare it to a Galaxy S26 Ultra (214 grams) and it's lighter. Heck, it weighs less than even the compacy iPhone 17 Pro (204 grams).

When closed, the wider cover screen does feel like a bit of a stretch to hold. You get used to that with time, but it’s an adjustment. The one downside of the shorter form factor is that the keyboard now takes up more space, leaving a bit less screen for the content, but at least you can reach the top of the screen much easier.

Overall, I have always found bigger traditional phones like the iPhone Pro Max or the Galaxy Ultra cumbersome to hold and carry in a pocket, and this Fold 8 is a lot more manageable.



The Fold 8 now also has slightly tapered sides. It is much easier to place your finger between the two halves, while opening the Fold 7 felt like the phone was fighting you. Small details like that matter a lot in daily use.



The crease in the middle has also practically disappeared on the Fold 8. You can see it if you really look for it, but I never actually felt it as a distraction.

Samsung is also the first phone maker to use titanium to support this screen, so it has less give and feels way sturdier, just like a real phone. The downside? Well, because titanium is a metal and metals are incompatible with a stylus, there is no S Pen support. It’s ironic that just as foldables feel strong enough to support an S Pen, Samsung drops it. 

I, personally, haven’t found a good use for the S Pen in my life, but I know some people who will miss it a lot.

The Fold 8 also has a new hinge. The phone opens very confidently and snaps fully open with a confident click. I prefer this over previous folds that opened with a feel that I can best describe as soft and a bit mushy.



You do lose Flex Mode this year, the feature that splits the screen in half when you watch content, and ironically this would have made more sense with this wider screen. But I, personally, never used it much, so I don't find this to be a big loss. What you can do is just prop open the cover screen, and it will stay on its own, facing you, great for watching videos while you are eating.

One notice about durability: the phone is still not fully dust-proof. You have an IP48 rating, so you are only protected from larger particles, but not against fine dust.



Last year, a screen replacement on the Fold 7 cost $450, so it makes sense to protect the phone. By the way, you still have the option for Samsung Care+ at $13 a month in the US (or $260 over two years), and that gives you a free screen replacement.



Speaking of protection, modern cases for the Fold 8 just cover the back part, but I really like this official carbon fiber case with a kickstand that feels really sturdy. A kickstand is so nice to have on a folding phone, you basically get a mini TV for your flights, and if you pair the phone with a small keyboard, you can even do some light work with it.

With a 5.5-inch cover screen, you might think this is some kind of an iPhone mini in its closed state (it had a 5.4-inch display). But once you actually get to use the Fold 8, you quickly realize that the wider 16:10 aspect ratio makes this screen feel much bigger than the display of the iPhone mini and the actual screen area is far bigger too.

In fact, the 16:10 aspect ratio is almost a perfect match for video, and fun fact — Macbooks also use the same 16:10 aspect ratio.

The big highlight of the Fold 8, however, is the main 7.6-inch display. It features a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is exactly the size modern smartphone take photos in. And having a rectangular screen means you can use it in both portrait orientation (when scrolling social media or reading) or landscape orientation (for watching videos).

Display Measurements:

Samsung claims this screen is brighter than before, and we measured that's indeed the case. It hits nearly 3,000 nits when tested against a 20% white spot (Samsung claims 3,600 nits, but it's probably using a tiny 1% white spot for that measurement, which is not a very realistic use case).

And let me tell you more about the use case for this screen. First, YouTube videos appear with much less letterboxing than the boxy Folds. I am also often tempted to zoom in to fill the whole screen, as I'm not losing as much information.

Most older TV shows from the 90s were actually shot in 4:3, so TV series like Seinfeld actually look perfect on the Fold 8.

Instagram has been the only app that’s a bit buggy for me. The UI is just not optimized well for the cover screen, and if you watch reels, you see the comment section and it basically squeezes the reel into this tiny window. It’s much better when you open the Fold 8 of course.

I should also mention the fingerprint on the Fold 8. It's embedded in the power button on the side and it's fast and accurate, no complaints at all.

You have two 50MP cameras on the back of the Fold 8, the main one and an ultra-wide one.

Samsung uses a smaller main sensor here compared to the Fold 8 Ultra and S26 Ultra, so that means that the 2X sensor cropping is also not quite as good.

I also understand why Samsung went with an ultrawide camera, but if you are like me and reach out more often for a zoom camera for portraits or to get some cool details, you might be disappointed.

Low-light photos

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Specs