Choosing between Samsung’s two new Galaxy Z Fold phones should have been fairly straightforward. There is the Galaxy Z Fold8, and then there is the more expensive Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. Buy the former if you want to save some money; buy the latter if you want the better phone. Simple, right?
Well, not quite.
You see, unlike most of Samsung’s “Ultra” pairings – ergo the Galaxy S26 and S26 Ultra, the Fold8 Ultra is not merely a Fold8 with better cameras and a larger battery. It is a different-sized device altogether and, somewhat confusingly, the more direct successor to last year’s Fold7. The regular Fold8 is the new one here, adopting a shorter and much wider body that opens into a 7.6-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
That gives the two foldable phones noticeably different shapes and sizes. They share the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, One UI 9 software and promised seven years of updates, but the experience of holding and using them is not quite the same. The Fold8 starts at S$2,498, while the Fold8 Ultra costs S$2,798, leaving a not-insignificant S$300 between them. Both are still very expensive phones, of course, so the question is less about which one is “better” and more about which compromises you can live with.
Five reasons to choose the Galaxy Z Fold8
Photo: HWZ
1. It is the easier foldable to carry around
The biggest reason to buy the Fold8 is also the most obvious once you pick it up. It is lighter and its shorter body makes it much easier to slip into a pocket.
That was what surprised me most during my time with it. Previous Galaxy Z Fold phones always felt like devices I needed to make room for, especially after adding a case. The Fold8 feels more like something I can simply take with me. It is still fairly wide and 9.7mm thick when closed, but this is the first Z Fold that has not constantly reminded me that I am carrying a folding tablet.
2. The wider shape is more comfortable in the hand
The Fold8 has a 5.5-inch cover screen, which sounds small next to the Ultra’s 6.5-inch display. But specifications alone do not quite explain how different it feels. Its shorter, wider shape makes the phone easier to grip, while the cover display feels less narrow than those on earlier Z Fold models.
I also found myself typing on it with one hand more often, including when the phone was opened. That sounds slightly ridiculous when describing a foldable, but it says a lot about the balance Samsung has struck. The Fold8 does not demand two-handed use every time you want to reply to a message or check something quickly.
Open the Fold8 and its broad 7.6-inch screen is a particularly good match for games – I’ve played Genshin Impact and PUBG on it, and it sings. This is notable because the wider view feels closer to a small gaming tablet than an unusually square phone.
It also makes better use of its display when watching YouTube, Netflix or other widescreen videos. There will still be black bars, but they are generally less wasteful than on the squarer Fold8 Ultra. The Ultra technically has the larger eight-inch screen, yet a larger diagonal measurement does not always result in a larger video.
4. You get the same performance for S$300 less
Samsung has not given the regular Fold8 a lesser processor to create another point of separation. Both phones use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, paired with 12GB of memory on the 256GB and 512GB models. The 1TB versions step up to 16GB.
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