Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 review

Despite having so many new things to consider when building a Fold8, Samsung hasn’t neglected the must-haves for premium displays and foldables. You’re still getting an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and Vision Booster for use under sunlight, and they’ve also made sure the hinge opens up as flush as possible without being too flimsy/stiff to fold/unfold. The crease, while not entirely invisible, has been markedly improved by the use of a Flex Titanium display module sandwich to help with better retention of its near-creaseless appearance on an inactive display (you can barely see the crease if you’re engaged on the panel).

As good as it may be, there is always room for improvement. A minor detail is the on-display camera, which mildly interrupts the Main Display’s viewing experience, and it’s especially prominent when you’re in full-screen apps or e-books. Also, the Fold8 still wobbles when you set it camera-down towards a desk. The crease – while less visible – is still obvious to the touch (unlike one other rivalling foldable). 

The most critical (in our opinion) isn’t all of these, but the IP48 dust and water resistance rating is on the lower side at a time when foldables are beginning to see IP68 or higher. It sounds like nitpicking, but higher dust and water resistance ratings go a long way in assuring users of the durability of their investments. Granted, foldables are a challenging engineering feat, so it’s understandable that Samsung prioritised features that offer greater comfort or convenience first, but we also cannot ignore what the competition is offering.

For a more intimate perspective on the Fold8’s passport shape being a stunner, you can read this piece below:

Software and user experience (beyond the foldable)

It’s not that One UI 9 (based on Android 17) has nothing new to share — it’s just that Android software updates have shifted from an annual affair to regular check-ins. To users coming from the Apple camp, a notable add-on this year is Android’s Quick Share now supporting Apple’s AirDrop transfers for files and images.

While not unique or new to Samsung, these file transfers are lossless (unlike sending lossy photos via messaging apps when you forget to send them as attachments) and don’t burn your Wi-Fi or mobile data allotment. Such minor tweaks to the greater Android ecosystem only add more value to phones like the Fold8, which already has its own unique selling points.

Another way the Android user experience plays smoothly with Fold8’s form factor comes through its secondary display (cover screen). It has a lower learning curve and fewer limitations than foldable phones with bespoke interfaces (like the Galaxy Z Flip8). Effectively, you’re on a compact version of the Fold8 Ultra’s cover screen, so the navigation and browsing don’t deviate very far from a standard, bar-type handset. 

On Samsung’s part, it made its home-brewed app continuity a fully supported feature and moved it out of its experimental Labs menu. It now goes by “continue apps on cover screen” inside Settings > Display. This is particularly important for users who prefer to confirm a phone lock via the Lock Button, instead of prematurely locking the phone when folding the Main Display.

Having two displays inevitably leads to minor software quirks, even though Android supports all aspect ratios and display sizes. These issues usually boil down to individual app compatibility. Gaming apps, for instance, are the primary culprits that fail to resize correctly when you switch displays.

Some video streaming apps (including YouTube) support resizing, but in-app elements like the video player can still struggle when moving between the Cover and Main Screens. Restarting the app usually fixes it—though this is incredibly annoying during unpausable PvP ranked matches. Ultimately, the onus is on app developers to fully support unique form factors, as Samsung’s compatibility work naturally stops at its One UI platform.

In an interview with Samsung executives at the Galaxy Z Fold8’s launch announcement, these spokespersons explained that Galaxy AI is now treated as a platform that houses important features alongside AI agents and models from third-party AI services (like Gemini and Perplexity). Galaxy AI takes a suggestive approach so users always feel in control of their AI tools. 

This is most evident in updated features like Now Nudge, which provides an app shortcut (to the likes of Calendar and Maps) on your display when you’re messaging friends to set up a meet, sparing you from going through 3-5 menus or gestures for the same outcome.

You can also use AI to create “cards” in Now Brief, so you get more personalised summaries on the things you actually care about. For instance, we added UV and humidity levels to the Weather card to make the forecast feel more productive, since Singapore’s weather is very predictable otherwise: hot, raining, or hot while raining. For folks who love driving, they get to add Visibility, too. 

Our main complaint is that custom cards restrict your instructions to 150 characters, making it challenging to create super-targeted, clutter-free cards. The available options can also feel limited; for example, the Weather card lacks a “feels like” temperature alongside other metrics you might want to add.

Still, we appreciate that Samsung is taking Now Brief in a practical direction. It feels one step closer to keeping your apps tucked away while surfacing key information directly on your cards. This is a marked improvement over early iterations, where Galaxy AI simply made assumptions and left Now Brief feeling like a glorified ad banner.

Our favourite, however, is that Samsung finally made Bixby capable of executing some phone controls via voice. With a single command, it can lower or mute all audio sources, like videos, but also simultaneously turn alert/message sounds up to full blast. While it’s not all-encompassing, Bixby cuts down a whole series of steps, instead of having to set coded routines and/or fiddle across menus. Another really cool way to use Bixby (out of many) is to tell it to restart your phone without touching the physical side buttons like you’re trying to reset a Tamagotchi or Digimon toy.

All these examples are small ways Samsung made its software and user experience more seamless and convenient to use without losing features or controls valued by nitpicky folks. It’s not flashy, but they feel more essential to the overall experience than a fancy AI feature that only works 10% of the time or limits the number of uses per month.

Imaging Performance

To summarise:

• Main camera: 50MP, f/1.8 aperture, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, 2x optical-like zoom
• Ultrawide: 50MP, f/1.9 aperture, Qual Pixel AF, FOV 120˚
• Cover camera: 10MP, f/2.2 aperture FOV 85˚
• Inner camera: 10MP, f/2.2 aperture, FOV 100˚

It’s also capable of using the cover screen as a digital preview before you confirm the rear camera’s shot (Flex Mode). We’ve sorted our photo samples into landscape and portrait orientations. Click through the arrows to see different focal lengths and subjects.

We’ve had the opportunity to try, side-by-side, the Galaxy Z Fold8 with its larger Ultra immediately after attending its Samsung Unpacked launch in London. Notably, there are no game-breaking differences when shooting with the main or ultrawide cameras on both devices (despite Fold8 Ultra’s 200MP main), as they are equally competent at delivering fairly accurate colours, contrast, shadows, and highlights for social media use straight from the camera.

The optimistic view is that the Galaxy Z Fold8 offers a camera system and imaging quality comparable to the higher-priced Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra (+S$300). Unfortunately, the lack of a true optical telephoto/zoom prevents the device from completely eclipsing its competition.

While it’s certainly not easy to squeeze a telephoto lens into such limited device real estate, including one for added shot versatility would go a long way. It would help lower buyer hesitation and convert more users making the jump from conventional bar-type phones.

We feel that the Fold8’s imaging quality is acceptable for a foldable, but it’s not enough to sit among the best bar-type Ultra-tier phones today. Colour science and photo expressions are subjective, and there’s limited space for lenses. As seen in the chicken rice photo above, we think Samsung could still afford to put in more algorithmic work for better contrast handling, shadows, and highlights.

Fortunately, the same pro-tier, Galaxy-only camera apps are still available for post-editing, so check out that article if you feel that your Fold8’s photos aren’t up to your standards yet.

It sounds like we’re unhappy with the Fold8’s imaging options and quality, but that’s not true. We’re just mindful that its starting price of S$2,498 will invariably face comparisons to simpler, slightly cheaper phones with more powerful imaging capabilities. This form factor already delivers on its potential for convenience and added functions, but we know users will start expecting fewer compromises in future iterations.

Benchmark Performance

The details on how we benchmark Android phones can be found here.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset platform. Happily, that means the smaller passport-style folding phone (starting at S$2,498) shares the same 2026 premium-tier processor as its top-end sibling, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra (starting at S$2,798), with the same heightened clock rates on the prime cores (0.14GHz more than typical SD8G5E sold to other brands).

Among the trio, the Galaxy Z Flip8 is the only odd child, using Samsung’s own Exynos 2600, unlike the other two foldables or the Ultra variant.

From our benchmarking and regular use (which also includes gaming), the Galaxy Z Fold8’s performance feels like other premium foldables we’ve been testing for years. It’s easy to take for granted that a good processor would naturally mean powerful computation and fast resolution, but the brand’s optimising partly affects how each task (web browsing, graphics, compute, loading, etc.) consumes power over time. Since it’s on two display sizes that’s new to Samsung, we’re relieved to see that nothing is out of the ordinary here. Also, we know benchmarks aren’t really helpful to the average user, but it still lends some assurance getting to see it’s on par with the Fold8 Ultra in this area.

While the passport-sized foldable’s peak performance starts to taper off with extended use, we found that it doesn’t go beyond 34°C (in an air-conditioned area). Galaxy Z Fold8’s provision of flagship power comes with decent thermal management, and that’s an important detail for a form factor that’s likely wrapped in your palm.

Battery Life

Our battery benchmark uses PCMark for Android’s Work 3.0 Battery Life, with results shown in minutes. This controlled benchmark simulates real-world usage, such as web and social media browsing, video and photo editing, parsing data with various file formats, writing, and more. The test starts at 100% and ends with 20% left on the device.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 packs a silicon-carbon 4,800mAh battery, which is just 4% less capacity than a regular 5,000mAh smartphone (e.g. Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra). Despite a smaller footprint and juice tank, Fold8 still clocked in more than 13 hours of uptime via its bigger Main Screen, with 20% left to spare at the end of every attempt. 

This battery performance is a pleasant surprise for two reasons. First, it took Samsung a long time to move away from lithium-ion battery blends. They are likely finally confident in the technology, especially with the expansion silicon-carbon batteries when heated up during a charge.

Second is the foldable form factor itself. Until recently, these devices have struggled to supply enough uptime to power their larger displays. This latest update proves how much thought went into balancing longevity and performance. Just as Samsung squeezed an extra 100 minutes out of the larger Fold8 Ultra, the Fold8’s similar duration proves you don’t have to sacrifice uptime when downsizing from the traditional book-style format.

Relatively speaking, 13 hours is good and beyond expectations for the wide foldable, and we’re still giving a high performance score in light of this. But there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Both this and the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra aren’t clocking in OPPO Find N6 uptimes. They’ve also yet to achieve bar-type uptime like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. While it seems unfair when you compare to handsets with fewer displays and constraints, the user success of foldable adoption beyond its hype period will be (partly) judged by how long it lasts untethered, regardless of its form factor.

The device’s 45W wired charging brought it to 50% within 25 minutes, and a full 100% charge took ~65 minutes. To use its 25W wireless charging with a puck, you’ll need a magnetic phone case. However, the wireless charging rear is still compatible with desktop wireless plates.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 is why design matters. There’s no doubt that foldable smartphones are a technological marvel today, but technology plays second fiddle to human behaviour, much in the same way that AI today is a tool only as competent or innocent as the person who wields it. Samsung has struck gold with the passport-shaped Galaxy Z Fold8, despite the design hiding in plain sight in our daily lives.

The brand’s decision to embrace a wide-format foldable gives extra meaning to folding display technology. While the aspect ratios aren’t perfectly aligned on all fronts, the unique real estate brings several aces up its sleeve. 

Books are highly enjoyable thanks to the Main Screen’s shape, while vertical videos feel incredibly natural on the Cover Screen with your thumb comfortably in reach. Crucially, none of this compromises navigation or app spacing. Even typing feels like a return to form with a minimal learning curve, elevating the Fold8 beyond a simple content consumption device into a true everyday carry. 

The software refinements tied up some loose ends, making the One UI 9 experience feel a little lighter without losing essential control. Voice commands for Bixby to adjust phone settings are our favourite change, and improved app continuity is our second favourite, but we’re sure you’ll find another Galaxy AI or Gemini software optimisation that resonates in our detailed section above. 

This is on top of passing nearly all premium expectations with flying colours. Our benchmarking and real-world usage showed decent imaging, similar processing performance, and a healthy battery life on par with its Fold8 Ultra sibling. You can squeeze in half a day’s use on its bigger display, dispelling worries about Samsung’s change to silicon-carbon battery technology or a smaller footprint affecting capacity. It’s able to run most gaming and photo-editing apps smoothly, and the physical experience — hinge and crease included — has improved thanks to lessons learnt from its sibling foldables.

It also shows how important it is to commit to a new design with quality parts and hardware. If the Fold8 lacked these premium flagship ingredients, it would certainly be a less compelling device.

If it had a telephoto camera, higher-rated IP resistance against dust and water, and didn’t cost so much (partly because of the ongoing trade uncertainties and AI demand), we think the Galaxy Z Fold8 could become a more significant milestone in Android phone history beyond Samsung’s tale. In the time taken to run our benchmarks and form our opinion on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, the foldables (including its Fold8 Ultra and Flip8) collectively broke past pre-order records set by its previous chart-topper, the Galaxy Note10 series. 

We note that Samsung’s first attempt at a passport-style foldable phone has been impressive, and that’s with our already heightened expectations for a dominant Android brand in the Singapore market. It’s fair to say that this is one of the most exciting Android phones (not just foldables) we’ve reviewed this year, and it has shown other brands that rigorous design considerations are the secret sauce to advancement, especially when Android mobiles have been relying on gimmicks or incremental differences to sell, year after year.

At this point, it would be remiss not to give the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 an Editor’s Choice award. It’s not easy to design a new size that feels familiar while ensuring its success by going beyond what its previous seven generations have mustered. Much was committed, from snatching a household name over to the quality parts it possesses, resulting in a big bet that paid off in spades.

Play