I tested the Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra — and this 4-month-old foldable beats both of them

Jul 27, 2026 — 6:00 AM ET

The latest Galaxy Unpacked has blessed Samsung fans with three new foldables to check out. And while the Galaxy Z Flip 8 looks like a perfectly reasonable upgrade to Samsung’s more compact foldable, it’s the two larger phones that truly share the spotlight from Samsung’s latest launch event.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 catches the eye with its new form factor, and a fairly approachable price for a folding phone — all seemingly tailored to appeal to first-time foldable buyers. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, meanwhile, takes the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and improves key features, such as its cameras and battery, to create the ultimate Samsung foldable.

But despite all these appealing features, I am fairly sure I will not be picking up either phone for myself when they go on sale in a couple of weeks’ time. And that’s because I have had all the foldable I could wish for in my pocket since March.

I’ve been using the OPPO Find N6 since it first arrived about four months ago, and I’ve not felt the need to switch to any foldable that’s launched since. I expect that to remain the case even post-Unpacked. We should await full reviews of the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra before making final conclusions, but it’s already obvious from the specs that OPPO is out in front.

Z Fold 8 vs. Fold 8 Ultra vs. Find N6: Which foldable would you choose?

How the Fold falls flat — and the Find finishes first

To start with, Samsung makes a big deal of the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s 200MP main camera and its new 50MP ultrawide camera. But the Find N6 matches that, while also offering a 50MP 3x telephoto camera to Samsung’s 10MP sensor — plus higher resolution 20MP front-facing cameras instead of 10MP ones. Megapixels aren’t everything, but it’s a strong indicator of photography performance all the same.

Both the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra’s displays are rated for 3,000 nits of brightness — new peaks for Samsung’s foldables. But that’s a figure that the Find N6 already matches, while also having a small screen size advantage both open and closed.

Samsung equipped its new Z Folds with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the same top-tier chipset that the Find N6 uses. Samsung may have a slight power advantage thanks to its unique, higher-speed “For Galaxy” variant of this chip, but the difference will likely be negligible when using apps or playing games.

I am glad to see that Samsung has finally improved its foldables’ charging speed and battery capacity with the Z Fold 8 series. 5,000mAh and 4,800mAh of capacity in the Ultra and standard models, respectively, and 45W and 20W wireless charging are big upgrades for both. However, the Find N6 still comes out on top, with a 6,000mAh capacity and 80W wired/50W wireless charging available for refueling. There’s just no contest here.

OPPO has also retained a feature that Samsung has abandoned for its foldables: stylus support. And even if you aren’t a dedicated doodler, making the most of the Find N6’s inner screen is much easier than on the Z Folds thanks to OPPO’s Free Flow Window system. This lets you open and resize app windows like a proper laptop, rather than Samsung’s static two- or three-app split-screen options.

It would be remiss of me not to mention pricing also. Samsung is charging $1,900/£1,700 for the Z Fold 8, and $2,100/£1,900 for the Z Fold 8 Ultra, in line with its previous pricing for Z Folds. The Find N6, however, is noticeably cheaper. Selling at around 11,000 yuan in China (roughly $1,625), the OPPO phone is actually closer in price to the Z Flip 8 than to the Z Fold.

What’s holding OPPO back?

The fact that I have to mention the Chinese price first reveals the major catch with the Find N6: it’s not available through regular retailers or carriers in Europe or North America. Importing the phone is an option, but that then removes the pricing advantage.

In terms of the actual devices, Samsung’s improved design, made thinner with new Flex Titanium components, means the Z Fold 8 Ultra is lighter and a little thinner than the Find N6. This fractional difference is good enough for Samsung to claim bragging rights, but in terms of the two phones’ actual capabilities, the Find N6 is still way out in front.

Availability issues alone may be enough of a hurdle to mean that (pending reviews) the Z Fold 8 or Z Fold 8 Ultra may still be the best foldable option for you. But even as we celebrate the improvements and refinements that Samsung has made in this year’s batch of foldables, bear in mind that you can and should expect more — and the OPPO Find N6 certainly throws the remaining limitations of the new Z Folds into sharp relief.