In the lead-up to the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the story wasn’t really about this new “Ultra” branding for Samsung’s best foldable. Instead, all anyone could focus on was the new wider, shorter model that would be known as the Galaxy Z Fold 8. That’s fair, since we all love a new toy, but switching the tried and true model into the Ultra category seems noteworthy.
Tim already did his thing with the new shape in his Galaxy Z Fold 8 review, so that leaves my turn on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. I’ve been on it for a solid couple of weeks now and have plenty to talk through.
As you all know, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the standard shape for the Fold series, brings meaningful upgrades in a couple of places (like the new hinge) and carries a higher starting price this year at $2,099.99. What makes it Ultra? I’m still not sure. What I do know is that this device is still as good as it gets in the foldable world.
Let’s dive in – this is our Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review.
What’s great about the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra?
Displays. It’s impossible to start evaluating a foldable without first talking about the displays, since well, you have two of them. The whole point in owning a foldable is to give you more flexibility, whether that’s by having a 2-in-1 device that can be both phone and tablet, or a mini phone that folds into nothing and opens into a normal device. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the type that goes from normal phone to 8-inch tablet and it does so beautifully, thanks to its displays.
The cover screen is a 6.5″ AMOLED at a full HD resolution (1080p) and refreshes at up to 120Hz. It’s fast, smooth, and responds to all of your touches. This is not a cover screen from the early days, where it felt like a space Samsung might be cutting a corner because they assumed you were using the folded display more. This is a high-end screen that looks good as your utility screen.
The inside screen is an 8.0″ AMOLED at 120Hz and with a resolution of 2504 x 2256. It too is fast, smooth, and features responsiveness that I’m not sure we ever thought we’d see on Android phones. It is a pleasure to swipe around as you open multiple windows, to view as you consume video, or to focus on as you play a mobile game.
Both displays can reach 3000 nits peak brightness and can be viewed outdoors, they have all of the display settings you need to customize your viewing experience (dark themes, adaptive brightness, comfort shield, and Vivid or Natural modes with a cool-warm slider). You can even control the aspect ratio of individual apps on the inside screen, decide how you want the screens to handle the selfie camera cutout, and how apps are handled as you open or close the device by moving from one screen to the next.
Samsung also made a huge upgrade with this year’s model by putting an anti-reflective coating on the inside display for the first time. When you couple that with the new titanium hinge system that reduces the crease on the big display, this feels like a brand new experience.
For one, you get less crease disruption as you swipe across the bigger display, so there are less distractions as you utilize multiple apps or watch a video. But maybe more importantly, this new anti-reflective coating makes almost every situation of use with this device more enjoyable than previous Fold devices. All previous devices used to present this constant glare that either asked you to wipe the screen clean regularly or find new lighting to try and avoid content being blocked. I didn’t think this would be this big of an upgrade, but it certainly is.
Finally, these displays have great brightness range for your low-light and sunny situations and can be viewed at the steepest of angles without content degradation. These are top tier displays that showcase the improvements Samsung still makes from one year to the next.
Design. With last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung tweaked the design by making it so thin when folded shut, that it felt the closest to a normal phone than any foldable before it. For the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, they’ve run that same shape back, so in the hand, you can hold and use this device like you would any other phone, you just also get the bonus of it opening into an 8-inch tablet.
This design is so brilliant that it allows for one-handed use when closed, but it so thin and balanced when opened that the transition from phone to tablet happens without worry or hesitation or adjustment. The weight remains at 215g this year, which makes it feel slightly heavy when folded, yet insanely light when unfolded and that weight distributes. There’s this beautiful balance when in tablet mode too, because Samsung has figured out how to spread components throughout and the large camera housing doesn’t actually overwhelm the top right corner.
I mentioned the new titanium hinge system earlier, but it’s worth noting that it has allowed for the device to unfold in a slightly more satisfying snap. As you move the display open, it sort of takes over and pushes the display outward to pop into a fully unfolded format. Unfortunately, the new hinge does not let you position the hinge at any angle, so Flex Mode is basically dead. You can’t prop this display at various angles to consume YouTube or other content by laying the device partially-opened on a table. So the new hinge gives us both upgrades and downgrades.
As for the rest of the design, there aren’t any worrisome sharp parts that’ll hurt your hand, even if there is nothing round or curved about this device. It’s comfortable to hold, the matte finish on the back glass has mostly resisted fingerprints, and this Violet Shadow version I’m testing is quite pleasant to look at. It looks like a matte black in many lighting scenarios, but then lets you know it is indeed not black at those special moments when you find yourself glazing Samsung’s design.
Software. Outside of the displays, you could argue that the software on a foldable is the second most important thing. If the flow between two displays or the use of space or the tricks to help with multi-tasking aren’t top notch, what’s the point of it all? For the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Samsung is certainly showing that it knows how to improve upon the base version of Android to help you get the most out of a foldable in this form factor.
This device runs Android 17 out of the box with One UI 9 on top of it. When closed and in phone mode, this device works like any other top tier Samsung phone. When you open up it, you really do get a mini-tablet experience with the option to run up to 3 apps at once in split screen, there’s a taskbar to help you get into other apps easily, and there are tons of ways to customize it all. Samsung also made the correct decision to have the cover display home screen setup mirror to the inside, so you don’t have to manage two setups.
For the most part, I think this is an excellent software experience. It looks modern enough, nothing is out of place or anti-Android, and there really are settings for just about everything. You can change icons, add weather effects to the lock screen, bring in a theme of your choosing, show notifications in various ways, set custom modes and routines, tinker with several Advanced features, and easily “Optimize” the device with a single button press.
It’s not all perfect with Samsung. I very much dislike the way Samsung stacks notifications from apps and doubles apps like Calendar because they want you to use theirs instead of Google’s. Out of the box, there are several features and settings that are missing or that I wish worked in a different way, like the app switcher.
Thankfully, Samsung has this app suite called Good Lock that can fix it all. While this is a separate app with modules that needs to be installed, it allowed me to add a swipe down on the home screen to easily access the universal search. It let me change animations and make them quicker, fix the app switcher to show the app I want it to show at all times, and folders can be adjusted to my preferred styling. Good Lock has basically made the software on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra almost perfect. It did take some work, though, which I can’t imagine everyone wants to do or learn.
Battery life. For the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Fold 8, Samsung switched to silicon-carbon batteries and that has allowed for bigger capacities without an increase in needed space or weight. The Fold 8 is almost identical in weight and size to the Fold 7, yet it has a 5000mAh battery vs. the Fold 7’s 4400mAh battery. That’s a big increase!
In terms of battery life, I’m seeing what I would call “good” battery life with this phone. I think I’ve had one day during testing where I hammered on it so hard that I needed to plug-in during the evening to guarantee it would last. Other than that single day, I’ve been going to bed with 30% or more remaining and 3.5-4.5 hours of screen on time. That amount of daily usage is pretty typical for me.
What makes up a typical day for me? I use a lot of Chrome, Threads, YouTube, Google Maps, Android Auto, Instagram, Telegram, and Google Health, plus I play a fair amount of Pokemon TCG or Pokemon GO. I’m not really the heaviest of users of any phone, but I am consistent. These numbers look perfectly good to me and seem like a pretty big improvement over the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which was very weak in battery life.
When it comes to charging the Fold 8 Ultra, there is nothing new or special going on here. This phone supports up to 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging. There are no Qi2 magnets built into this phone, so wireless charging forces you to use a regular and dated wireless charger. My home is filled with Qi2 magnetic chargers, so charging this phone at night has been a bit of a chore. I’ve been using a Pixel Stand and the camera housing has made it difficult at times to get the phone into the right position. Charging the Fold 8 Ultra has not been a highlight – thankfully battery life is good. If you do charge via wire, you could see up to 67% charge in “around” 30 mins.
Performance. Describing performance on a device like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is simple and also hard. I wish I could sit here and tell you that this outperforms everything I’ve ever used in the history of smartphones. However, phones have been good for so long that the differences are so subtle. The giant leaps from one chipset and phone to the next just doesn’t happen anymore.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 just like the Galaxy S26 series before it. This is the most high-end chip in the Android space, so there is plenty of juice here to power not one, but two displays. Samsung includes 12GB RAM in the 256GB and 512GB models, while the 1TB model gets a full 16GB RAM. The displays refresh at up to 120Hz, the One UI software is well tuned, and there just isn’t anything to slow this phone down.
Look, we don’t run benchmarks as a part of our testing, because I don’t find them useful. What I can tell you is that in daily use, I haven’t found a single performance issue or met a moment where I said, “Wow, this phone has really slowed from that app and I should probably reboot it.” Performance won’t be an area of concern if you own this device.
Support. I’ve looked everywhere and have yet to find confirmation, but Samsung should be providing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra with 7 years of updates, both OS and security. They first made this commitment when the Galaxy S24 series launched and they’ve kept it for all devices that arrived after. For the Fold 8 Ultra (and Fold 8), nothing has changed, according to official documentation. On Samsung’s Mobile Security site, they still suggest that as of January 2024, they have extended software support to 7 years.
What does that mean as a Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra owner? You would receive monthly security updates for the majority of the phone’s life. Currently, Samsung drops devices down from a monthly to a quarterly update schedule in their final year. For major OS updates, 7 years worth is a lot and I actually wonder how many of you will keep a phone through to the end.
Google is the best at updating its Android phones, but Samsung certainly isn’t far behind them.
What’s bugging me about it?
Camera. Whenever I’m testing a foldable, like this $2,100 Fold 8 Ultra, there’s always been a hesitation to be quick at taking pictures. I don’t know if it’s the fear of dropping a device this expensive or the awkwardness of the shape, but I always get to this point in a review and realize I have not taken nearly as many pictures as I would like. I’m not saying I don’t have pictures from this camera – I have plenty – it’s just that I don’t have as many as I typically would.
I bring that up because that’s worth pointing out. I think the idea of a foldable does something to my mind that pushes it away from me thinking it has a capable camera or that it’ll be the right camera at all times. And sure, I do think that because of the weight and shape it carries, that I do hesitate because these Fold devices aren’t that fun to take pictures with.
The setup here is a main 200MP sensor paired with 50MP ultra-wide and 10MP telephoto sensors. It also has a pair of 10MP selfie cameras. On paper, it is certainly capable and this camera was made to be able to do everything. You have your standard Portrait, Photo, and Video modes upfront, but then Samsung also gives you pro video and photo controls, RAW shooting if that’s your thing, and other lesser-used modes like Panorama, Slow Motion, and Hyperlapse. This is a $2,000+ phone and it has what you expect it to have.
That said, when it comes to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra camera, I’m not sure I’m completely sold on it being where it needs to be. Beyond the awkwardness of using it, the results I’ve seen have certainly been mixed and I just don’t think this camera keeps up with something like a Pixel 10 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro.
Here’s just one example of how behind I feel the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is compared to Google and Apple’s best cameras. For one, the Fold 8 Ultra took a half-second to snap this shot and then left it dark. It’s certainly a more natural representation of the scene, but the other two cameras snapped instantly with zero shutter lag and then brightened the photos enough to make them usable.
As far as performance goes, this phone has 12GB RAM and the newest and most powerful Snapdragon chip on the planet. It should be fast. Taking pictures should be snapped in an instant. The thing is, they just aren’t.
No matter how many times I open this camera, point at something, and then hit the shutter button, there is a subtle vibration followed by a noticeable lag before the camera completes and a picture is taken. It has been driving me nuts. Now, this isn’t new to Samsung phones, but I still can’t believe I’m seeing it in 2026 and with a phone that costs this much and has this hardware. This means a phone that you’ll question the results from, because that slight vibration and appearance of a delay could allow movement before it is done taking a picture. And I’ve noticed some shots that have just this touch of motion blur because I think I moved before it was done.
The results themselves can be pretty good, thankfully, assuming you remain rock steady. The camera is excellent at capturing depth, finding fine details on up-close objects, presenting a clean blue sky, adding the right amount of contrast and shadow, and giving you drama without it looking unnatural.
Anyways, below are several samples of other images I shot that I thought turned out quite nice. Again, the cameras here are certainly good, it’s mostly a performance issue that I feel has troubled many Samsung cameras over the years. Keep that hand steady if you buy one.
The wobble. I know I praised the heck out of this design and love 95% of it, but I have to point out how obnoxious the wobble is from the camera housing. Whether this phone is in folded or unfolded mode, that large camera setup in the top right corner makes this thing never lay flat. If you are the type to leave your phone on a desk and reach for it here and there throughout a day, you’ll get annoyed pretty quickly at just how wobbly it is. Tim joked last year with the Fold 7 about its hidden telegraph feature and I can (unfortunately) confirm that it has returned. I’m not sure there is a fix for this, I just want you to know about it.
Durability. Samsung is using Corning’s Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 and Glass Victus 2 on the Fold 8, making it mostly durable to scratches and daily use. They kept its water and dust resistance at IP48, though. With companies like Google bringing last year’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold up to IP68, we’re a bit surprised that Samsung didn’t do the same here.
The “8” in IP48 gives this device solid protection from water, but we all know the killer of foldables is dust and dirt. That “4” in IP48 is the problem. Google found a way to make their foldable resistant to dust and dirt getting inside, but Samsung still hasn’t. They really need to fix this for the Fold 9.
Galaxy AI. One of the biggest pitches for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is that it is filled with AI powers. As your resident AI hater, I can tell you that I use almost none of it. Most of the Galaxy AI suite is so worthless or made for such specific reasons, that I can’t imagine I’m alone in ignoring it. This is a showcase of AI that almost none of us need, but is forced upon our lives and worlds and will likely only make the communities we live in, worse.
The Fold 8 Ultra has a Galaxy AI suite that includes some of the following, with comment on if I’ve used it:
- Call Assist: Useful, because it screens incoming calls for you in the way that Google’s Pixel phones do. It’ll bug spam callers into explaining who they are before the call ever gets to you.
- Writing Assist: As a writer, I’ll never use this. Most people shouldn’t. Speak for yourself, you don’t need the machine to do it. Sounding authentic will always be better.
- Note Assist: If I were a student, maybe I would use this? As it stands today, no use for it.
- Transcript Assist: I’m not in the habit of recording people’s calls, so I won’t use this…ever.
- Browsing Assist: Does anyone use Samsung’s internet browser?
- Photo Assist, Creative Studio: Never. Always say “no” to generative AI garbage.
- Weather Wallpaper: Just look outside, man. You could also just tap your weather icon and save the world some water.
- Now Brief: A personal briefing that feels like the ultimate waste of an idea. I turn it off on all Samsung phones.
We live in such un-fun tech times.
Should you buy the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra?
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is an excellent foldable and would more than likely be considered the best option on the market. However, the smaller, wider and new Galaxy Z Fold 8 exists with a slightly lower price tag and a shape that might be better for most people.
Should the regular Fold 8 not tempt you, then yeah, get the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. This thing has flawless performance (outside of some camera slowness), really great battery life, is a pleasure to hold and use both open and shut, and has all of the software bells and whistles to help make the device truly yours.
I’m a big fan of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, just as I was the Fold 7 last year. If it’s in your budget and a foldable is your next, this could be the one.
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Read the original post: Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: It’s Amazing, But There’s That Other Option
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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