Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Galaxy S26 Ultra hands-on: the premium choice

Does the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra make the S26 Ultra obsolete?

By Preslav Kateliev

Published: Jul 23, 2026, 12:02 PM

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Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy S26 Ultra held close to the camera, backs towards the camera

Pretty, modern machines | Image by PhoneArena

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. One to please the people who want that wide-screen experience on a foldable, the second to continue down the path of a productivity-oriented split-screen machine.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is considered the peak Samsung smartphone, commanding a hefty $2,100 price. But if you look past the foldable form factor, the best Samsung bar phone is the Galaxy S26 Ultra. And it has the added benefits of being the camera phone and the S Pen phone.

A lot to unpack here, and it's not an easy decision to make — would you be good with an S26 Ultra, or is it worth jumping in with both feet for that sweet, thin foldable?

Well, we had a short hands-on time, so here are our first thoughts.

$899 ⁹⁹

$2099 ⁹⁹

$1200 off (57%)

Trade in an eligible device and save up to $1,200 on the new foldable phone from Samsung. With its refined design and large cover screen, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a top pick for foldable phone fans. You also get a $30 reservation gift and a $200 Samsung credit if you don't trade in a device.

Pre-order at Samsung

$699 ⁹⁹

$1899 ⁹⁹

$1200 off (63%)

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is Samsung's first foldable phone with a passport design. Right now, you can pre-order it with a $1,200 maximum trade-in discount. Alternatively, you get $200 Samsung credit without a trade-in.

Pre-order at Samsung

$579 ⁹⁹

$1299 ⁹⁹

$720 off (55%)

The Galaxy S26 Ultra has been announced, bringing a Privacy Screen feature, insanely fast processor, and multiple Galaxy AI enhancements. Right now, you can save up to $720 at the Samsung Store with eligible trade-ins. You also get 15% off the Buds 4 series with your purchase. Alternatively, you can get $150 credit for add-ons, no trade-in required.

Buy at Samsung

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 differences:

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Galaxy S26 Ultra
Narrow book-style foldable, 21:9 cover screen and square main screen	A slab phone with 21:9 display
6.5-inch cover screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120 Hz, 3,000 nits peak 8-inch inner screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X Anti-glare treatment	6.9-inch screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120 Hz, 2,600 nits peak Anti-glare treatment
Triple camera with 3x telephoto	Quad camera with 3x telephoto and 5x telephoto
New 50 MP ultrawide camera	The same 50 MP ultrawide
5,000 mAh Si-C battery	5,000 mAh Li-Ion battery

Table of Contents:

Design
Display
Performance
Camera
Battery
Specs
Summary

Design and Size

A different approach, same premium destination

Double the size | Image by PhoneArena

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is Samsung's thinnest foldable yet, at 4.1 mm when unfolded. When closed up, it's 8.9 mm, only slightly chunkier than the 7.9 mm Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, it's still perfectly usable as a "regular" smartphone, especially since its external display has the 21:9 aspect ratio that we are now used to.

The good news is that the Z Fold 8 Ultra is not heavy at all. With the new Flex Titanium hinge, Samsung managed to shave its weight down to 215 g — basically the same as a 214 g Galaxy S26 Ultra, and that's wild to experience when holding both devices.

Almost as thin | Image by PhoneArena

Of course, we do lose something to that thin profile. Since last year, Galaxy Z Folds no longer support an S Pen. So, if you want that pristine stylus experience, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is still the place to go — and it holds an S Pen inside it, like always.


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Design

Dimensions
158.4 x 143.2 x 4.1 mm	163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm (~12.33 mm with camera bump)
Weight
215.0 g	214.0 g

See the full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

For protection against the elements, the Galaxy S26 Ultra wins with its IP68 rating, impervious to dust, debris, and water. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra will survive splashes and submersion, but can only keep particles away if they are 1 mm in diameter or bigger.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra launches in Violet Shadow, Cream, Graphite, and Violet Green exclusively available online. The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes in Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold.

Display Differences

Both are good, one just happens to double up

Pretty similar when closed | Image by PhoneArena

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has that huge 8.0-inch internal screen with almost-square aspect ratio that's the star of the show. It's been the subject of many arguments in the past — some say, why do I need a square screen that letterboxes my media, or turns my games square-shaped. Others swear by it as the optimal form factor for multi-tasking, as it opens apps in their natural tall aspect ratio.

Whichever side on that fence you are on, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra delivers exactly that experience yet again. This time, however, the screen has been buffed to hit 3,000 nits peak and has an anti-glare coating. Stay tuned until we get to test if it's as good as on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Now, the latter also has an excellent Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with the "old" peak brightness of 2,600, which is still plenty enough. And we already know that its own anti-glare treatment was basically the best in the business.

Technically, if we are comparing the devices with the Z Fold closed, there's not much to talk about — the experience is similar. Though the Z Fold's cover screen does not have anti-glare.

Otherwise, you get 120 Hz refresh rates all around, and the same excellent Samsung display colors and punchiness.


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Display

Size
8.0-inch	6.9-inch
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz

See the full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

Both devices come with a fingerprint scanner, but differing tech. The Z Fold 8 Ultra has its scanner in the slim power button on the side. The S26 Ultra has an ultrasonic scanner under its screen. Honestly, you can get used to both approaches, but the under-screen one feels fancier.

Performance and Software

For Galaxy optimizations

Let's hope those thermals are on point | Image by PhoneArena

The Qualcomm chipset for this year is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and both the S26 Ultra and Z Fold 8 Ultra come with it. It's also a special edition with the "For Galaxy" moniker, denoting that they two companies have partnered and worked on safely overclocking it a little bit.

This means they can hit 4.74 GHz at turbo speeds, though it remains to be tested whether the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra will throttle faster than the S26 Ultra, or whether it can sustain the same performance.


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 8 Gen Elite 5 for Galaxy SM8850-1-AD (3 nm)	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy SM8850-1-AD (3 nm)
Memory
12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB 16GB/1TB	12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB 16GB/1024GB
OS
Android (17), up to 7 OS updates	Android (16), up to 7 OS updates

See the full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

The memory setups are also exactly the same — 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB, with these being paired with 12 GB / 12 GB / 16 GB RAM.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra will launch with Android 17 and One UI 9 out of the box. More advanced agentic AI functions that can now work across 40+ apps, Now Brief has been improved to show you more data including security insights, and Now Nudge is to be more proactive. That said, the Galaxy S26 Ultra should receive the update fairly soon, hopefully. Both of these premium Samsung phones come with a 7-year support commitment.

Camera

Same, if you squint

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra comes with a 200 MP main camera, 50 MP ultra-wide, and 10 MP 3x zoom camera. Those specs sound exactly the same as on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, though the latter has an added 4th camera — the 5x zoom one, which enables extreme 100x magnification.

Last year, Samsung incorporated that 200 MP main sensor in the Z Fold 7 to bring it a step closer to the S25 Ultra's performance. The keen-eyed among you will have noticed that this year, the ultra-wide camera is the one that gets the 50 MP bump.

It remains to be seen how the Z Fold 8 Ultra's snapper compares to the actual Galaxy S26 Ultra in real life when we get to take them for an expensive spin and our proprietary camera benchmark test.


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Camera

Main camera
200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3" Pixel size: 0.6 μm	200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Aperture size: F1.4 Focal length: 23 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3" Pixel size: 0.6 μm
Second camera
50 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F1.9 Focal Length: 13 mm Pixel size: 0.7 μm	50 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung JN3 Aperture size: F1.9 Sensor size: 1/2.5" Pixel size: 0.7 μm
Third camera
10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 67 mm Pixel size: 1.0 μm	10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Sensor size: 1/3.94" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Fourth camera
	50 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX854 Optical zoom: 5.0x Aperture size: F2.9 Focal Length: 115 mm Sensor size: 1/2.52" Pixel size: 0.7 μm
Front
10 MP (HDR)	12 MP (PDAF, HDR)

See the full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

But Samsung has also been working on the software side of things, upgrading its ProVisual engine and bringing the APV codec to the Fold series. You can also record in cinematic LUTs with on-device color grading. All cool stuff! The S26 Ultra also supports APV and has the ProVisual engine, we just expect that if there are any improvements to them, we'd receive them with an update.

Battery Life and Charging

Samsung joining the Si/C crew

5,000 mAh on both! | Image by PhoneArena

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra comes with a 5,000 mAh battery in that thin-thin body. How? It's the first time Samsung has utilized the new-ish Silicon-Carbon tech for batteries! Well, the tech itself is not new, but engineers have only recently found effective ways to keep Si/C at bay, since it has the tendency to expand by 300% while charging.

Modern solutions like nano webbing and scaffolding make these batteries stable and while we often see them on overseas phones from Vivo, Xiaomi, etc., this is the first mainstream device to have one in western markets.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 5,000 mAh Li-Ion cell, as its body allows for more room.


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Battery

Type
5000 mAh	5000 mAh
Charge speed
Wired: 45.0W Wireless: 20.0W	Wired: 60.0W Wireless: 15.0W

See the full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

Charging speeds differ a bit, too. The Z Fold 8 Ultra can handle 45 W on the wire and 20 W wirelessly, whereas the S26 Ultra can do 60 W wired, 15 W wireless. In reality, we expect very small differences in charging speeds, based on those numbers.

Notably, both of these lack magnets inside. So, they are Qi2-ready, if you slap on a case with a magnetic ring, but not fully Qi2-capable on their own.

Specs Comparison

Here's a quick overview of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra versus the Galaxy S26 Ultra specs.


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Design

Dimensions
158.4 x 143.2 x 4.1 mm	163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm (~12.33 mm with camera bump)
Weight
215.0 g	214.0 g

Display

Size
8.0-inch	6.9-inch
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 8 Gen Elite 5 for Galaxy SM8850-1-AD (3 nm)	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy SM8850-1-AD (3 nm)
Memory
12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB 16GB/1TB	12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB 16GB/1024GB
OS
Android (17), up to 7 OS updates	Android (16), up to 7 OS updates

Battery

Type
5000 mAh	5000 mAh
Charge speed
Wired: 45.0W Wireless: 20.0W	Wired: 60.0W Wireless: 15.0W

Camera

Main camera
200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3" Pixel size: 0.6 μm	200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Aperture size: F1.4 Focal length: 23 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3" Pixel size: 0.6 μm
Second camera
50 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F1.9 Focal Length: 13 mm Pixel size: 0.7 μm	50 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung JN3 Aperture size: F1.9 Sensor size: 1/2.5" Pixel size: 0.7 μm
Third camera
10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 67 mm Pixel size: 1.0 μm	10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Sensor size: 1/3.94" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Fourth camera
	50 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX854 Optical zoom: 5.0x Aperture size: F2.9 Focal Length: 115 mm Sensor size: 1/2.52" Pixel size: 0.7 μm
Front
10 MP (HDR)	12 MP (PDAF, HDR)

See the full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

Summary

Two very different form factors, but the same beast inside. On paper, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra just gives you more than the S26 Ultra.

There are still things to consider and test. Sustained performance, for one. Camera quality in real life. And how that new battery hangs.

If you are itching to pre-order the Z Fold 8 Ultra right now, I can't blame you. And I've no doubt it'll be high quality based on Samsung's track record. For those of you that prefer to combat the impulse-buy — stay tuned for our full testing!

View Full Bio

Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.

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