Out of all the new foldable phones that Samsung announced today at its July Galaxy Unpacked event in London, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the weakest. Starting at $1,200 ($100 more than the previous Galaxy Z Flip 7 model), the new flip-style foldable has the fewest upgrades.
Let’s speed run through the new stuff because it’s gonna be brief: a faster and more efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip, a nearly imperceptible thickness reduction of 0.4mm when unfolded, an 8g weight drop, and four new colors (Pink, Cream, Graphite, and Samsung.com exclusive Mint). That’s it for the hardware.
See Galaxy Z Flip 8 at Samsung
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo
Everything else is just software tweaks. There’s a redesigned FlexWindow interface for the 4.1-inch AMOLED cover screen. It now looks more like the main home screen on the inner 6.9-inch AMOLED screen, with app icons and a more accessible and customizable “Now Brief” widget that uses AI to surface glanceable information like the news, calendar events, reminders, health info, and more. I do like this software change; the FlexWindow now feels less like a bigger smartwatch UI and more like a shrunken phone interface.
Samsung’s stock camera app also supports Super Steady mode with Horizontal Lock for more stabilized video. This feature is not entirely new; it debuted on the Galaxy S26 series earlier in the year.
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo
Other than these incremental changes, the Z Flip 8 is largely the same as before. I already mentioned the screen sizes, both of which are identical to the Z Flip 7. There was some confusion that the Z Flip 8 has the same Flex Titanium technology in the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, which helps strengthen the folding mechanism and reduces the visibility of the crease, but it doesn’t. While the crease on the Z Flip 8 did look less visible than on the Z Flip 7, it’s likely that it’ll deepen quicker than on the new Z Fold phones. Also, keep in mind these demo units are new, so they haven’t been put through the wringer of daily folding and unfolding, so the crease will, naturally, look less pronounced than, say, after a few months.
The Z Flip 8 also has the same 4,300mAh battery as before with the same charging speeds, not the faster 45W wired and 20W wireless charging in the two new book-style foldables. Even the camera resolutions are exactly the same: a 50-megapixel main, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and two 10-megapixel hole-punch cameras. Any image quality improvements for photos and videos will come from software optimizations. The storage and RAM options are unchanged, too: 12GB of RAM with either 256GB or 512GB of internal storage.
Samsung keeps trying to make camcorder mode happen, but does anyone really use it like this in real life? © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo
If you’re upgrading from a Z Flip from a few generations ago, the Z Flip 8 will feel more like a leap forward. From the Z Flip 7, though? It’s all very mild.
© Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo
I’ve been a fan of the Z Flip series, but after last year’s drastically thinner Z Fold 7, I was hoping Samsung would give the Z Flip 8 the same slim profile, reducing the thickness (when unfolded) to around 4.2mm instead of its 6.1mm thickness. That would have made the Z Flip 8 look and feel like a major refresh.
I’ll reserve full judgment when I have a device to review, but I can’t help but feel like Samsung is neglecting the Z Flip series because it might be the last of its kind.
You can preorder the Galaxy Z Flip 8 starting today, and it’ll be available on Aug. 7.