Samsung has finally made a book-style foldable that’s geared less toward productivity and more toward entertainment. It seems the company has realized that some of us just want a better way to scroll and binge-watch.
The $1,900 Galaxy Z Fold 8 is Samsung’s new baseline book-style foldable, sitting between the $1,200 clamshell-style Z Flip 8 and the top-of-the-line $2,100 Z Fold 8 Ultra, which carries on the design of last year’s Z Fold 7. The phones debuted at the company’s Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, and they’re available for preorder now before hitting shelves on Aug. 7.
With a 4:3 aspect ratio and a passport-sized design, the Z Fold 8 feels equally optimized for watching horizontal videos, multitasking in landscape mode and browsing vertically oriented apps in portrait mode. That versatility and compactness make the Z Fold 8 one of the most enjoyable phones I’ve used so far this year — though I still have some lingering questions I look forward to addressing in my full review.
The boldly reimagined Z Fold 8 arrives at a crucial time, as Apple reportedly gears up to launch its first foldable iPhone in the fall. Rumors suggest that device could also have a squarish 4:3 aspect ratio (similar to some iPad models), so this may well be Samsung’s attempt to stay ahead of the curve. And while Apple’s expected entry will mean fresh competition, Samsung has the advantage of several foldable generations — and years of consumer feedback — under its belt.
“This is Samsung going on the offensive,” Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s vice president of client devices, said. “By bringing a wider, passport-style foldable to market ahead of Apple, Samsung gets to define the new format on its own terms rather than reacting to it later.”
He added, “With Apple’s announcement less than two months away, this is the first Unpacked where Samsung has to defend the category it created, and that’s why it cannot play it safe.”
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 takes up less space when closed than many other phones.Andrew Lanxon/CNET
What makes the Z Fold 8’s design different
I first got my hands on the Z Fold 8 during a visit to Samsung’s Korea headquarters last month, and I was eager to spend more time with it at this week’s Galaxy Unpacked event in London. The phone feels compact and palm-sized while folded. It’s a welcome break from the monotony of today’s smartphones, including Samsung’s other foldables, which haven’t changed much from last year’s models.
The Z Fold 8 fits snugly in my hand, giving the feel of a small pocket notebook you’d use to quickly jot down notes. It’s simply a fun phone to use because of its size and design. It’s not much thicker than the super-thin Z Fold 8 Ultra, measuring 4.5mm when open and 9.7mm when closed. It’s also the lightest Z Fold device, clocking in at 201 grams.
Samsung EVP Kihwan Kim told me the Z Fold 8 is “very well suited for people who really enjoy media and social networks.” He added that the company “collected a lot of feedback from different types of users” to better understand the needs of people who prioritize media consumption. I can see myself using the Z Fold 8 in landscape mode when watching a movie or browsing across multiple apps, and then rotating it vertically when I’m on Instagram or reading an ebook.
In portrait mode, the Z Fold 8 is great for scrolling through vertical social videos.Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Customer feedback also led Samsung to make its new book-style foldables easier to open. That involved reducing tension on the hinge, which causes the phone to spring open. You won’t be able to unfold the Z Fold 8 partway, unlike the Z Fold 7, but it takes noticeably less force to pry it open.
One key spec hasn’t changed: The Z Fold 8 maintains an IP48 rating, meaning it can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes and is protected against solid objects larger than 1mm, but not dust or sand. That aligns with most foldable phones, though last year’s Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold boasts an IP68 rating, which places its resistance to liquids and particles on par with premium non-folding phones.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Display upgrades on the Galaxy Z Fold 8
The Z Fold 8 has a 5.5-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch inside display. Both screens have an anti-reflective coating, which Samsung says can reduce glare up to 50%. Paired with a 3,000-nit peak brightness, it should be easier to use apps and watch shows, even in the bright outdoors. I noticed the reduced reflections even while filming the phones indoors ahead of Unpacked.
The Z Fold 8 uses a new display technology called Flex Titanium. It combines a titanium-alloy film with a titanium plate to create a thinner, more durable display structure that should better withstand drops and other impacts. I watched Samsung put those displays through their paces at its headquarters, offering some reassurance that the screen is designed to withstand everyday use and hundreds of thousands of folds.
Flex Titanium also reduces the display’s crease, a longtime sticking point with foldable phone critics. While I found the crease in last year’s Z Fold 7 to be negligible, the Z Fold 8’s is even harder to notice when using the phone. This could be yet another way Samsung is hoping to beat Apple to the punch, as rumors suggest the foldable iPhone could have a creaseless screen — which could also be made by Samsung Display.
The Z Fold 8’s 4:3 aspect ratio follows in the footsteps of other wider foldable phones like the Microsoft Surface Duo, the first Google Pixel Fold and the Huawei Pura X Max. Notably, the Galaxy Z TriFold also has a 4:3 aspect ratio, albeit with a more sprawling 10-inch main display. The Z Fold 8 reduces that into a more compact design that’s a better fit for people who don’t want to carry around a miniature laptop.
Still, it’ll be an adjustment for those of us who are used to bar-style phones. The Z Fold 7 was one of my favorite devices I reviewed last year because using the cover screen feels remarkably like holding a slab phone. I’m curious to see whether the Z Fold 8’s squareish cover screen will make me more inclined to unfold the phone and use the main display — something I didn’t do very often with the more conventional-feeling Z Fold 7.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Battery life gets a boost on the Galaxy Z Fold 8
Samsung has equipped its foldable phones with a higher-capacity silicon-carbon battery. While the Z Fold 7 had a 4,400-mAh battery, which made it through the day but didn’t last much longer, the Z Fold 8 bumps that capacity up to 4,800 mAh. That should hopefully reduce the urge to anxiously check battery levels.
The Z Fold 8 also supports 45-watt wired charging, which Samsung says can get you from 0% to 63% battery in 30 minutes. That’s a notable upgrade from the 25-watt charging on the Z Fold 7, which was one of the phone’s weak points. The Z Fold 8 also supports 20-watt wireless charging, up from 15-watt charging last year. I look forward to testing these faster speeds, which are especially welcome given the high price tag.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 8
One compromise you’ll make when opting for the Z Fold 8 over the Z Fold 8 Ultra is the more scaled-back camera system. The Z Fold 8 has just two rear cameras, a 50-megapixel wide-angle and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. There’s also a 10-megapixel selfie camera on the cover screen and another 10-megapixel camera on the inside screen.
That should be enough for most people, but the lack of a telephoto lens may leave some wanting more. I’m no professional photographer, but I do take a lot of photos, so I’m curious to see whether I’ll miss having a dedicated zoom lens. Hopefully, though, sensor cropping on 2x and 4x shots will feel like enough.
Photo Assist lets you enter a text prompt for how you want to change an image. I asked for sunnier skies.Andrew Lanxon/CNET
AI and processor on the Galaxy Z Fold 8
The Z Fold 8 has a handful of AI updates for the camera, including My FanCam. In videos you’ve shot with several people moving, like a ballet recital or a soccer match, you can choose one person for AI to track. You can also select the aspect ratio, so you can crop a horizontal video for posting on social platforms. It’s a fun feature, though video quality will be compromised as My FanCam zooms in on a subject.
As debuted in this year’s Galaxy S26 series, Photo Assist now lets you enter a text prompt for AI to alter an image to your liking. I tested this on a photo with cloudy skies, which I asked Galaxy AI to make sunny instead. I was impressed with how it even altered the shadows on the building below to better reflect this faux reality, though the brick detail became grainier. Unlike Generative Edit capabilities that let you erase someone in the background of a photo, this feature comes off as a bit more misleading, so I’m not sure I’ll ever really opt for it.
The Z Fold 8 is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip for Galaxy. That should make tapping into AI features, endlessly scrolling and multitasking a breeze.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
A new foldable design at a critical time
Beyond its whimsical look, the Z Fold 8 underscores Samsung’s efforts to stay ahead in a category it’s dominated for years. But competition is heating up. Earlier this year, Motorola debuted its first book-style foldable, the Razr Fold.
Apple’s expected entry could give the foldable phones market an overall boost. In fact, global foldable phone shipments are expected to grow 21% year-over-year in 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung is projected to maintain the top spot with 32% share, compared to Apple’s anticipated 25% share. But the Korean phone-maker will have to keep innovating to maintain its lead, and the Z Fold 8 feels like a deliberate effort to stand out in an increasingly crowded space.
“Competition is good, actually,” Kim told me. “For the last seven generations, we’ve already experienced a lot of things [and received] a lot of feedback from users and the market, and we’ve evolved for those needs. … We’re pretty confident about what we’ve done.”
Now that I’ve spent some time getting a feel for the Z Fold 8, I’m eager to take it out into the real world to see how it fits into my media habits — and whether it pushes the foldable category forward.
Abrar Al-Heeti
Senior Technology Reporter
Abrar's interests include phones, streaming, autonomous vehicles, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. In addition to her current role, she's worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
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