Galaxy Z Fold 8 Review: At $1,650, Samsung’s Wider Foldable Finally Makes Sense

For most of their history, Samsung’s book-style foldables have been easy to admire and hard to recommend. They cost as much as a laptop, the cover screen was too narrow to type on, and the crease never let you forget you were using a folding phone.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the first one that addresses most of that at once. It launched this summer at $1,899.99, and this week Amazon cut it to $1,650 for the 256GB model and $1,850 for 512GB, a $250 discount that 9to5Google calls an all-time low. That price changes the conversation.

What’s new: shorter, wider, easier to open

The headline change is shape. Folded, the Fold 8 is shorter and wider than the Fold 7, measuring 4.88 by 3.24 inches, with a 5.5-inch cover screen in a roomier 10:16 aspect ratio. Open it and you get a 7.6-inch inner display in a 4:3 ratio that’s much better suited to video, reading and games than the squarer panels of older Folds.

Samsung also reworked the hinge so the phone is easier to unfold, and flattened the crease with an anti-reflective coating on top. Gizmodo’s reviewer summed it up bluntly: “The Z Fold 8 is the only one that I have unfolded more times than I have not.” That’s the whole point of a foldable, and it’s rarely been true.

Specs that matter

Inside is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy with 12GB of RAM on the base model. The battery grows to 4,800mAh, with 45W wired and 20W wireless charging. The rear cameras are now a pair of 50MP sensors, main and ultrawide, replacing the Fold 7’s 50MP and 12MP combo. There’s no telephoto on the regular Fold 8.

Samsung also sells a bigger sibling this year, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, for $2,099.99. Here’s how they compare:

What still bugs us

• The inner hole-punch camera sits in the content area, and on a screen built for video, you notice it.
• It gets warm under load more often than you’d expect, per Gizmodo’s testing.
• IP48 only. It handles water, but the dust protection is minimal. Beaches and pockets full of lint are still a risk.
• No built-in magnets for Qi2-style accessories, which feels stingy at this price.
• App support is still uneven. Some Android apps don’t properly handle the wide inner screen.

On the plus side, the battery comfortably gets through a full day, the displays are gorgeous, and Quick Share now works with Apple’s AirDrop, a nice perk if your family is split between platforms.

Fold 8 or Fold 8 Ultra?

Engadget’s comparison frames it well: the choice comes down to “if you think it’s worth spending an extra $200 for the Ultra’s bonuses.” Those bonuses are real. The Ultra’s 200MP main camera and 3x telephoto make it the better camera phone, and its bigger screens are closer to a small tablet.

But the regular Fold 8 is lighter at 201 grams, easier to live with in a pocket, and its wide cover screen is the feature you’ll use most. If you mostly shoot on the main camera and want a foldable that behaves like a normal phone when closed, the standard model is the smarter buy.

Verdict

At $1,899.99, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 was a very good foldable with a very steep price. At $1,650, it’s the easiest Fold to recommend Samsung has made. It fixes the cramped cover screen, the stubborn hinge and the short battery life that dogged earlier models. The IP48 rating and that hole-punch keep it from perfection, and anyone who cares about zoom photography should pay up for the Ultra. For everyone else who has been waiting for foldables to grow up, this is the one to buy.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Sources: Gizmodo, Engadget, 9to5Google. Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash.