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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: Two-minute review
Spare a thought for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which isn’t having the easiest time of it right now. Yes, it’s a fantastic foldable phone, but it was launched in the shadow of its upstart sibling, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, with Samsung taking the OG folding phones’ name and applying it to a fresh, dare I say cute, design.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, by contrast, is almost indistinguishable from its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold 7. That’s hardly a criticism — I loved that Android device — but it’s hard to stand out when you’ve launched alongside to the phone world’s shiny new object.
If we can put the 4:3 aspect-ratio Galaxy Z Fold 8 aside for a moment — you can read our Z Fold 8 review if you’re so inclined — I’ll focus here on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, a fantastic folding device in its own right.
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If you’re unfamiliar with the Galaxy Z Fold line, here are the highlights for the Z Fold 8 Ultra. ‘Ultra’, but the way, does not mean it somehow more closely resembles the Galaxy S26 Ultra, though the camera and CPU enhancements do bring it more in line with the performance of its flagship cousin.
Folded, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra looks like a standard, if slightly narrower than normal smartphone (the S26 Ultra is a few millimeters wider). Unfolded, it’s an 8.0-inch flexible display — and the chief upgrade on the display side is a mechanical and material engineering marvel.
Under the protective plastic cover, ultra-thin glass and a flexible AMOLED screen are a pair of new titanium panels. One is pure titanium, with an all-new perforation design for better bending performance, and the other is an alloy that, while thinner than the previous polymer sheet, is stronger and more reliable.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
The quite noticeable result is an essentially flat main screen with a far less visible crease, with the promise that over the years the bendy display won’t suffer noticeable deformations (i.e., a more noticeable crease).
There are still five (yes, five) cameras, and while the 200MP main camera is essentially unchanged, the ultra-wide is now a more powerful 50MP camera (up from 10MP). The 3x optical zoom is still 10MP, and I do wish it were a 5x optical zoom (or at least 4x like the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s). You can go far further with digital zoom, but then you have to wonder how much of an assist your photos are getting from the on-board AI (assume a decent amount). All of the photography is further improved by the upgraded image processing.
Under the hood is the latest Qualcomm silicon, which supports an impressive array of AI features. As with other Galaxy devices, there’s almost too much AI here, but features like Photo Assist and Now Brief are standouts.
All in all, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is an excellent follow-up to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and is set to easily take over from its predecessor at the top of our rankings of the best foldable phones.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Price and availability
- Even more expensive than the Z Fold 7
- Still a good value for a two-in-one device
I guess it was inevitable that with the price of RAM and components rising, the latest Galaxy Z Fold would be more expensive than its predecessor.
The new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2,099.99 / £1,899.00 / AU$2,999. If anything, the $100 bump in the US is less than I thought it might be; double that would not have been surprising.
Released alongside the smaller Galaxy Z Fold 8 ($1,899.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,699 ), the Z Fold 8 Ultra has an inarguably premium price, though it seems more reasonable when you consider that this is a two-in-one device.
The Z Fold 8 Ultra is available in Graphite, Cream, Green Shadow, and my test unit’s Violet Shadow.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Specs
Here’s a breakdown of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s key specs:
|
Dimensions: |
Closed: 158.4 x 72.8 x 8.9mm |
|
Weight: |
215g |
|
Display: |
Cover display: 6.5-inch AMOLED |
|
Resolution: |
Cover display: 1080 x 2520 |
|
Refresh rate: |
Cover display: adaptive 1-to-120Hz |
|
Peak brightness: |
Cover display: 2,400 nits |
|
CPU: |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy |
|
RAM: |
12GB / 16GB |
|
Storage: |
256GB / 512GB / 1TB |
|
OS: |
Android 17 / OneUI 9 |
|
Cameras: |
200MP F/1.7 main, 50MP F/1.9 ultra-wide |
|
Selfie Camera: |
Main screen: 10MP F/2.2 |
|
Telephoto |
10MP F/2.4 3x optical |
|
Battery: |
5,000mAh |
|
Charging: |
45W wired, 20W wireless, Wireless Powershare |
|
Colors: |
Graphite, Cream, Violet Shadow, Green Shadow |
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Design
- Folded, it looks virtually identical to the last model
- Easier to unfold
- Unfolds flat… finally
- The crease is almost gone
There’s little argument that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is, despite the new superlative, a visually iterative update. Folded, it’s hard to distinguish it from the Z Fold 7.; it’s virtually the same size and weight, meaning it’s still lighter than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It’s still an Armor Aluminum Frame, though the Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 from the last Fold 6.5-inch cover display is now Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3. On the back is Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
It’s not until you unfold the handset, or rather attempt to unfold it, that the design changes, er… unfold.
First, there’s a new chamfered edge along the fold inseam, which makes it far easier to insert the tips of your fingers and unfold the phone. Samsung told us it made this change because some users complained that the 4.2mm thick Z Fold 7 was difficult to open. The even thinner 4.1mm Z Fold 8 Ultra is, in fact, easier to open. I might even call it a pleasure.
Speaking of pleasure, there’s another tiny little change that I really love. The power/sleep/fingerprint/Gemini button is no longer recessed, and is now so much easier to find by touch.
The biggest design upgrade is almost purely mechanical, and Samsung pulled it off by swapping out various materials and hinge designs to finally achieve a virtually flat and almost creaseless unfolded body and display. That is to say, the screen and chassis are flat, although if you lay it on a table, that ample camera bump will keep the whole thing rocking.
Inside the 4.1mm body — it’s so thin it only just accomodates the USB-C port — Samsung has re-engineered the rigid titanium panel along the hinge strip, transforming the perforations into an almost ‘A’ shape, which allows for easier and more reliable bending. That panel is paired with a new titanium alloy sheet (it’s thinner and stronger than the old polymer one). Together, they make the folding and unfolding processes better, and, when the phone is fully unfolded, allow for a virtually flat frame and the least noticeable crease yet. I’ll have more to say about this design in the Display section below.
As I’ve been carrying around the Z Fold 8 Ultra and opening and closing it, people have consistently asked how long the phone might last, and whether it fatigues at the bend. I reply that, in the course of using and testing Samsung’s folding phones over the last seven years, I’ve found them surprisingly resilient.
This model is actually water-resistant (IP48; yes, I ran it under water, yes, it survived, and perhaps enjoyed it), though I would not take it to the beach if it’s not in a sealed case. When I traveled to South Korea last month. Samsung showed me how it torture-tests these devices, including folding and unfolding them thousands of times. I’m quite confident that with normal use the Z Fold 8 Ultra will last for years — at least through all seven years of Samsung’s promised OS and security updates.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Displays
- Main screen is almost perfectly flat
- Responsive, colorful, main screen has sunlight-beating brightness
- Cover screen is wide enough to be useful as a regular phone
- I wish the cover screen was a little brighter
Samsung now has enough experience making folding phones to be well into the refinement phase. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is already thin and light enough, and the last model, the Z Fold 7, folded the screen so tightly that there was barely any gap between the two halves of the display. Now, though, the new display technology allows the screen to unfold virtually flat and, thanks to both the hinge engineering and new anti-reflective coating, make the crease very close to invisible.
The crease is not entirely gone. When I run my finger over the center of the 8-inch display I can feel it, and if I view the screen at the right angle, I can just make out the slight half-inch-wide indent.
Still, everything looks fantastic on the tablet-size display, which now sports a 2504 x 2256 resolution, a slight upgrade from the Z Fold 7’s 2184 x 1968 resolution. I played games, watched video, viewed countless photos, used it for full-screen turn-by-turn navigation in maps (it’s easy to get lost in London, which I was visiting for the Galaxy Unpacked event at which this phone was launched), and played more games.
If I had one real criticism of the main screen, it’s that it no longer has a digitizing display — but this is not an issue new to the Z Fold 8 Ultra. Samsung dropped this feature on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and there were rumors that the S Pen-supporting digitizing layer would return with the 8, but that didn’t happen. Without it, and a special S Pen, to protect the phone’s flexible display, I really don’t feel comfortable drawing on it with a universal rubber stylus (which you can buy from third-party providers, but which lack the S Pen’s unique features.
The cover screen reads as a 6.5-inch display, but that’s measured diagonally, and the reality is that it’s not as wide as the display on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. The Z Fold 8 Ultra cover display is about 2.5 inches wide, and the S26 Ultra is about 2.75 inches.
I still find the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s cover display more than usable. The virtual keyboard is large enough for me to comfortably type on it. Websites, texts, and social media look good on it. The only issue I found is that its max brightness is not as strong as the inner display (3,000 nits, max), and it was occasionally overwhelmed by direct sunlight.
It’s also a good-looking screen across multiple content types and activities thanks to the variable refresh rate that can sit anywhere from a power-sipping 1Hz up to a silky smooth 120Hz.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Cameras
- Excellent collection of cameras
- Best image processing I’ve seen from Samsung to date
- Finally, a 50MP ultra-wide camera
- Wish the telephoto was 5x optical
As with most of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Samsung didn’t completely reinvent the photography suite. Instead, we have a strong collection of cameras with some key improvements, chief among them a much more powerful 50MP ultrawide and the overall updates to the ProVisual engine for some of the best photography I’ve ever achieved with a Samsung smartphone.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
I’ve spent more than a week photographing everything from the iconic landmarks of London to a soccer match between Wrexham and Liverpool at New York’s Yankee Stadium. In virtually every scenario, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s cameras did not disappoint. Samsung’s ProVisual engine is finally focused on color fidelity, and while I can use Galaxy AI Photo Assist to alter mu images to my heart’s content, I applaud Samsung’s focus on photographic reality.
To recap, here are all the cameras (five of them!) you get:
- 200MP wide
- 50MP ultra-wide
- 10MP telephoto (3x optical)
- 10MP selfie (main screen)
- 10MP selfie (cover screen)
Like most high-megapixel main cameras on phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s 200MP and 50MP cameras default to a binned mode, squeezing multiple pixels into one (the main 48MP camera on iPhone 17 Pro, for instance, similarly defaults to 24MP). The result with the Z Fold 8 Ultra is 12MP photos, unless you choose 50MP or 200MP. The majority of my photos were shot with the 12MP default.
Even though Apple defaults to a higher resolution, Samsung’s overall higher megapixel count means it’s theoretically squeezing even more information into each photo. In anecdotal side-by-side shots, Samsung’s photography is now as good as, and sometimes better than, what I can get with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)
Portrait-mode photos have become a real highlight in Samsung’s photographic arsenal. From the very first photo I took of my colleague Axel Metz (above) to a shot of my son and his girlfriend, I’ve been impressed with the phone’s uncanny ability to capture every detail and strand of hair while warmly blurring the background. My favorite shot is this one, of one of the Beefeaters who guard the Tower of London guards. This gentleman was kind enough to pose for me, and I think even he was surprised at the result.
While I was generally pleased with the telephoto performance, I’m not thrilled with the underpowered, 10MP 3x optical zoom lens. It obviously pales in comparison to the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 48MP 4x optical zoom. Those extra megapixels also help the iPhone produce unprocessed 8x zoom sensor crops. After 3x on the Z Fold 8 Ultra, everything else gets some digital enhancement. Most of the images I’ve shared are optical-strength only.
One lens that’s gotten a big upgrade with the Z Fold 8 Ultra is the ultra-wide, which is now a 50MP lens. This helps improve the quality of those wide-angle shots, and macro images, as well. There’s some real drama in these ultra-wide images, and I’m impressed with how even the edges remain sharp.
Night photography is also strong, and I was often pleased with how much light, color, and detail the Z Fold 8 Ultra could find in even the darkest environments.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)
On the video side, the Z Fold 8 Ultra lives up to its name, letting you shoot and edit 8K video. I waded into my pair of hydrangea bushes and dozens of buzzing bees to capture some cool, up-close 8K footage that I was then able to fully edit inside the phone’s camera app, including adjusting brightness, and even using the AI-powered audio scrubber to bring down the wind and sound of leaves brushing against the microphones.
One of the other highlights is the Dual Camera shooting mode, which, while using a front and back camera, produces a rather distinct result. Instead of the 10MP selfie-camera image appearing as a picture-in-picture window on the front-facing camera video — as it does when using the similar Dual Capture mode on Apple’s latest iPhones — the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra creates a split-screen view.
I used this mode a few times in London, most memorably at the Royal Palace and at Borough Market, where I shot the famous strawberry stand. It’s a great effect, and creates some really engaging videos.
The other most notable video feature is a Galaxy AI enhancement called My FanCam. As the name implies, it lets you focus on your favorite video subject. The example we saw involved video of a soccer game. On playback in the camera app, you select the Galaxy AI icon and then the My FanCam option. The system identifies all the moving people (it doesn’t work with animals or anything other than humans). You select the one you want, and the video tracks that subject. But the best part is that it can auto-crop around the subject in the aspect ratio of your choice — perfect for sharing on social media.
I ran a couple of tests with My FanCam, and it worked perfectly every time.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Software
- One UI 9 is clean, elegant, and intuitive
- Lots of AI, but none of it gets in the way
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra arrives with Android 17 and OneUI 9. It’s a great combination. Overall, OneUI is a great Android overlay, because it’s useful without getting in the way of Android. There are still some odd choices, like the existence of a Galaxy web browser that I never use (does anyone?), but some of the native Galaxy features are actually quite useful.
It’s also a system with multiple AI platforms: Bixby, Galaxy AI, and Gemini. Of the three, Bixby, which can answer general questions and step into controlling key phone features, got the least amount of use. I do like though for it for how it lets you dig down to settings like brightness control without ever digging into settings. I could simply talk to Bixby and tell it what I wanted, like when I asked, “Can you make sure the brightness is set to 100%?” Bixby opened settings, brightness control, and pushed it to 100%.
Galaxy AI is a far richer collection of native AI tools, ranging from on-screen awareness to voice-driven photo editing.
(Image credit: Future)
I had some fun editing photos with my voice — and I was shocked by how good the results were. With the above photo pair, I simply asked Galaxy AI to “Remove the old man”. There was no hesitation, and in about 20 seconds I had the second image. I was gone, and Galaxy AI filled in the rest of my friend’s arm, turned a small satchel he was carrying into a shoulder bag, and fleshed out the guy behind me. It looked like reality.
There’s also a whole collection of Now features, including the “your world on a single screen” Now Brief, which now adds custom cards, and Now Nudge, which pops up contextual guidance for things like multitasking and automatically noticing that you might want to add an appointment to your calendar. I couldn’t get Now Nudge working for me in messages in RCS — I suspect it may take some time for the system to learn about me and start making these suggestions.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
On the quality-of-life front, the QuickShare updates that make sharing between this Android Phone and iPhones (and Macs) possible have been a revelation. I feel as if the world’s been thrown open, and I can only say it’s about time. Okay, I know that’s a bit much, but this feature update is bigger than you might think.
Gemini is especially powerful if you give it access to personal details and data inside apps like calendar and mail. When I asked Gemini, without preamble, “Where am I going today?” it looked in my emails and gave me my schedule and location for my next meeting. Impressive.
Features like Circle to Search can be summoned by holding down the virtual home button and then circling on-screen objects. The results are quick and accurate
I can also hold down the power/sleep button to summon Gemini. Six months of access to the more powerful Pro version comes with the phone; after that, you have the most basic Google AI, which is still pretty good.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Performance
- Powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy
- Performance is peerless
- Back can get a little hot
This is a powerful and smoothly performing smartphone. Qualcomm’s latest silicon virtually matches the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s A19 Pro Geekbench 7 single- and multi-core scores. The numbers, by the way, appear lower than phones tested last year with Geekbench 6 because, in the upgrade to 7, Geekbench completely recalibrated how it measures performance.
In the real world, I have yet to run into a task or situation the phone couldn’t handle. Games like Asphalt Legends looked and ran perfectly. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra can handle multitasking with ease — you can have up to four apps open simultaneously on the main screen — and editing 8K video is seamless.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
There were times when I could feel the back of the phone getting warm, but not so much that it became uncomfortable to hold.
In other performance areas, like audio, the speakers can get loud but with virtually no bass; they can also sound a bit tinny. Call quality is excellent, though my first few call tests were with phone scammers who somehow instantly found the new number.
5G speeds and WiFi 7 connectivity were strong and, with enough signal, fast. I’ve also enjoyed a solid Bluetooth 6.0 connection to my Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra |
|
Geekbench 7 single-core |
1835 |
|
Geekbench 7 multi-core |
4476 |
|
3D Mark Wildlife Extreme |
6632 |
|
3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Low |
1660 |
|
3D Mark Solar Bay Extreme Unlimited |
1366 |
- Performance score: 4.5 / 5
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Battery
- 5,000mAh battery
- 45W wired charging
- All-day battery life
Even though this is a thinner Z Fold than last year, the battery is now a larger 5,000mAh, a feat made possible by the thinner titanium alloy, which replaced the thicker polymer layer and the new silicon-carbon battery technology (more power in less space).
That battery gave me, with constant, all-day, mixed use in bright sunlight, 12.5 hours of battery life. In our lab tests, we got a solid 14 hours. It’s an all-day champ, to be sure.
The phone can also charge quickly with a 45W fast charger — I almost 50% in 15 minutes and 76% in half an hour — while wireless charging supports 20W charging. You can also put another Galaxy phone on the back and share a little power via Wireless PowerShare.
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra?
|
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Value |
The price of Samsung’s best foldable just keeps going up |
4 / 5 |
|
Design |
Thin, flat, almost creaseless and just beautiful. I do wish the camera bump didn’t mess up the on-desk flatness |
5 / 5 |
|
Displays |
Excellent displays and the upgrades to the main screen (flat, less of a crease, antireflection) make it a great content and productivity device. |
5 / 5 |
|
Camera |
Excellent collection of cameras. The ultrawide update is especially welcome. I do wish the telephoto was a bit stronger (optically). Powerful features like Photo Assist and My FanCam are strong additions. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Software |
Clean, well-organized platform with lots of useful, baked in, AI features like Now Brief. Lots of AI. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Performance |
Qualcomm’s best mobile processor (tweaked for Samsung) does not disappoint. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Battery |
5,000mAh battery. All day battery life is virtually guaranteed. |
5 / 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Also consider
How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
I’ve been working, playing, and traveling with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra for almost two weeks. I’ve tried to use it as I would any smartphone, but with the added benefit of the large screen.
This is my seventh year testing foldable phones, and I am constantly astonished by the progress that’s being made with the form factor, especially by Samsung. The Z Fold 8 Ultra is the full expression of its smartphone ideas and, as I carried it with me and pulled it out to take photos in London, Manhattan, and at home, I was constantly surprised and pleased with its performance.
More broadly, I’ve been testing phones for over 22 years and technology for 40. I use my wealth of experience to put products like the Z Fold 8 Ultra in context and perspective. As I see it, this is the best folding phone on the market right now.
Read more about how we test
First reviewed August 2026
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
