For the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to test Samsung’s newest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and honestly, it’s been the most fun I’ve had testing a new phone in a very long time. And there’s one big reason for that.

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 8 at Galaxy Unpacked in London last month, alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8, it immediately became the star of the show. That’s largely because Samsung has completely rethought the book-style foldable with the Z Fold 8, giving it a bold new form factor that’s shaped more like a passport. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the direct successor to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, sticking with a design that’s much closer to a traditional slab-style phone.

So far, I’ve found the Fold 8’s wider cover display and inner screen make it much more practical for everyday use. After spending a few weeks with it, I’ve found myself glued to it for watching YouTube videos, doomscrolling social media, reading e-books, writing, and browsing the web in a way I haven’t with Samsung’s previous foldables.

And to be clear, I really liked the Galaxy Z Fold 7 last year. But the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s smaller, wider form factor is genuinely eye-catching, a joy to use, and fits perfectly in my pocket. It’s also clear from the response this phone has received and the buzz surrounding it that Samsung may really be onto something with this design, especially with Apple’s long-awaited foldable iPhone rumored to launch later this year with a similar form factor. And with the Fold 8 already breaking sales records, I’m even more convinced that this could be the future of foldables.

4/5

Brand

Samsung

SoC

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy

RAM

12GB, 16GB

Storage

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

Pros & Cons

• Fun new design
• Great performance
• Solid battery life

• No built-in magnets for full Qi2 support
• No telephoto lens
• Steep price

Price, specs, and availability

Samsung revealed the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in July and officially launched it this August, starting at $1,900 USD ($2,400 CAD). It’s available in three storage options: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The 1TB model also gets a bump to 16GB of RAM, while the 256GB and 512GB versions come with 12GB of RAM.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 comes in three standard colors: Cream, Graphite, and Lavender, with Lavender serving as the hero color I had the chance to test for this review. Samsung is also offering another color, Pistachio, a light green shade exclusive to its online store.

Turning to the star of the show: the displays. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 features a 5.5-inch AMOLED Cover Display with 1,248 x 1,972-pixel resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 10:16 aspect ratio, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3. Unfolded, it has a 7.6-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X Main Display with a 1,848 x 2,448-pixel resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio.

As for the internals, the phone is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, the same chip found in the Galaxy S26 series. It also comes with a 4,800mAh battery and supports 45W wired fast charging, which can charge the battery to roughly 67 percent in about 30 minutes.

As for the cameras, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is equipped with two selfie cameras: a 10-megapixel f/2.2 wide camera on both the Cover Display and the Main Display. On the rear, there are two cameras: a 50-megapixel f/1.8 wide camera and a 50-megapixel f/1.9 ultra-wide camera.

What I liked about the Galaxy Z Fold 8

Beautiful displays, complemented by a sleek design and solid battery life

If there’s one thing that really stood out to me about the Galaxy Z Fold 8, it’s just how much I enjoyed using its screens. But more than that, it’s the sheer versatility of having both of them. Starting with the Cover Display, while its 5.5-inch size is technically smaller than the Fold 8 Ultra’s 6-inch Cover Display, its wider 16:10 aspect ratio more than makes up for it. At first, the wider display took me a little while to get used to, especially when typing, but I adjusted pretty quickly after a few days. Since then, it’s been stellar for texting, catching up on my inbox, watching way too many Reels and Shorts than I’d like to admit, and reading tons of articles.

The unfolded experience is where the Galaxy Z Fold 8 really shines, though. Its 7.6-inch main display, with a 4:3 aspect ratio, is practically the size of an iPad mini, and it’s hands down the best foldable screen experience I’ve ever had for watching YouTube videos, shows, and movies, as well as playing games. It’s sharp, the HDR looks incredible, and I can’t get enough of watching 4K videos on it. Like the Cover Display, it took me some time to get used to typing on the larger screen, especially since the keyboard is split in half. But I eventually adjusted to it, and I ended up writing many of my notes for this review in Google Docs on the Fold 8.

I also want to put a particular emphasis on how much I enjoyed reading on the Fold 8. When unfolded and used vertically, the phone offers an experience that’s akin to reading on an iPad or Kindle, and I really enjoyed using the Kindle app on it. It’s obviously not an E Ink display, so it’s not quite as comfortable to read on for long periods as my Kindle Colorsoft, but since I got the Fold 8, I haven’t picked up my Kindle once. I think that really speaks to just how versatile this phone can be.

And that versatility extends beyond the screens. A big part of what makes the Fold 8 so practical is its design and portability. Thanks to its passport-like form factor, the Fold 8 is quite compact when folded, measuring 123.9 x 81.9 x 9.7mm, and I found it hard not to love how seamlessly it slipped into my pocket. Unfolded, it measures just 4.5mm thick, which is a tad thicker than the Fold 7’s 4.2mm, but it’s still quite comfortable to hold. It’s also relatively light at just 201 grams, which makes carrying it around all day a breeze.

As for performance, I had no issues with the Fold 8. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset and 12GB of RAM handled everything I threw at it just fine, and multitasking on the larger screen was seamless. I’m not really into mobile gaming, but I did try out Fortnite just to see how it would look and run on the Fold 8. On the High settings preset, I was able to get roughly 60 FPS while playing, and it felt fine to me. The phone did get a little hot after a long play session, but my Fold 7 did the same, so I wasn’t too surprised by that.

As for the cameras, the Fold 8’s dual 50-megapixel rear cameras are impressive, and I had a lot of fun taking pictures in London with them shortly after Galaxy Unpacked last month. They capture plenty of detail, and the colors are quite impressive. That said, there’s quite a bit of post-processing going on, particularly when using the digital zoom. When you first zoom in to take a photo, the image can look pretty rough, but after a second or so, the phone processes it, and the final image looks much cleaner. I did miss having a telephoto lens, but I’ll get into that more in a bit. You can check out some of the shots I took below.

Battery life wasn’t an issue for me either. I had no problem getting through a full day of use and even into the next day, which wasn’t too surprising given that the Fold 8 has a 4,800mAh battery, an upgrade from the Fold 7’s 4,400mAh cell. Samsung also used a silicon-carbon battery in the Fold 8, a first for the Fold series, which allowed it to fit a larger cell into its slim form factor.

What I didn’t like about the Galaxy Z Fold 8

The price undoubtedly stings

The first thing that really bothered me about the Galaxy Z Fold 8 was its lack of magnets for Qi2 magnetic charging and accessories. Considering the Galaxy S26 series doesn’t have magnets either, I wasn’t too surprised by this, but as someone who uses a magnetic charger every night, it’s something I really value and definitely missed while using the Fold 8. When Google added Pixelsnap to the Pixel 10 series last year, I was really hoping Samsung would follow suit this year with its new phones, but alas, nothing. Fingers crossed for next year, I guess. I’d even be willing to accept a slightly thicker phone if it meant magnetic charging was finally on the table.

Another nitpick I have with the Fold 8 is the selfie camera on the inner display. I’ve found it a bit distracting at times, especially when using the phone vertically for reading. It would be really cool if Samsung could hide the camera under the display, as it did with previous-generation Folds, while still retaining the same level of camera clarity.

I mentioned the Fold 8’s rear cameras earlier, and while I was happy with the 50-megapixel wide and ultra-wide lenses, I did miss having a telephoto lens for more natural zooming instead of relying so heavily on digital processing. For a phone that costs $1,900, I don’t think a telephoto lens is too much to ask. But for now, Samsung is keeping that feature exclusive to the $2,100 Fold 8 Ultra.

That brings me to the biggest sticking point about the Fold 8: its price. At $1,900, it’s $100 less than the Fold 7’s $2,000 starting price last year, but that high price tag still stings, and the ongoing memory shortage certainly isn’t helping either. If this phone were a couple of hundred bucks cheaper, it would truly be the ultimate foldable. But with the way prices are trending, that seems like a pipe dream at the moment, especially with Apple’s foldable iPhone rumored to cost more than $2,000.

Should you buy the Galaxy Z Fold 8?

If you’ve always wanted a foldable, this is the one to try

With the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung is betting big on its new, wider foldable design, and judging by the sales figures alone, that bet seems to be paying off. The phone has broken pre-order records and was even temporarily sold out on Amazon.

At the end of the day, I’d recommend the Galaxy Z Fold 8 if you want to try a foldable for the first time, or you’re already into foldables and intrigued by its new passport-like design, and, most importantly, you don’t mind shelling out $1,900.

But if you’re wary of the new design or that steep price tag, I’d hold off for now, especially if you already have a relatively new foldable, like a Fold 7 or Pixel 9 Pro Fold. If you’re on the fence, though, I highly recommend checking out the Fold 8 in person, such as at Best Buy or a Samsung Store. Its wider design is something you really need to hold in your hand to fully appreciate, and actually testing it out might just change your mind.

Overall, I think Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a fresh and exciting take on the book-style foldable, and it’s easily become my favorite foldable I’ve ever used. It’s also been the most fun I’ve had using a new smartphone in a long time. I have a funny feeling the Fold 8 could become even more popular once Apple’s foldable iPhone reportedly arrives this September. If Apple’s first foldable ends up costing more than $2,000, as rumored, the Fold 8’s $1,900 price tag could suddenly look a whole lot more appealing.

This device was provided to Pocket-lint by Samsung.