00:00What if I told you that Samsung's newest foldable is the best one they've ever made,
00:03but it's missing a potential deal-breaking feature?
00:07Welcome to my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 review. If you ask me, there's something that feels just
00:11right about this new style of Samsung foldable. It's super light, gives you a wide front display,
00:16and the big inside screen has two distinct orientations for video watching and for reading.
00:22But do I actually think you should shell out $1,900 for this wider form factor,
00:26or are the trade-offs too much to ignore? Let's break it down.
00:33Reason to buy at number one, Samsung finally fixed two of my biggest foldable pet peeves.
00:38First, the crease on the main 7.6-inch display is drastically reduced thanks to Samsung's
00:43FlexTitanium tech. They used a titanium alloy film with microperforations so the display sits
00:49virtually air-gap-free. Yes, you can still feel it if you drag your finger across, but
00:54visually, it practically disappears when watching content.
00:59Second is the anti-reflective coating. If you use this phone outside, the reduction in glare
01:04compared to the Fold 7 is night and day. Plus, when unfolded, the 4 by 3 aspect ratio means
01:11smaller black bars when streaming shows or trailers. Flip around to the 3 by 4 mode and you have a
01:17screen that's ideal for browsing the web and reading ebooks. Typing here is a lot more comfortable
01:22because the keys are closer together. Yes, I know you have the option of using the split keyboard
01:26if you have the Z Fold 8 Ultra, but it's just a lot wider on that phone. So when it
01:31comes to just
01:32typing, I prefer the regular Fold 8. One of the things that I'm most surprised about with the Galaxy Z
01:38Fold 8
01:38is the front display. So at 5.5 inches, I actually thought it was going to be too small at
01:43first to use as
01:44my everyday phone. But I found that it's wide enough not only for comfortable typing, but also for like
01:50scrolling through TikTok and using apps just as you would with any other phone. And you have the option
01:56of going big whenever you want it.
02:00Win number two, performance and battery endurance. There's already a video live here on the channel
02:05featuring the Tom's Guide battery test results for all three of Samsung's latest gen foldables.
02:10But the Z Fold 8's 4800 milliamp hour silicon carbon battery lasted nearly an hour and a half longer
02:16than the Fold 7. And with upgraded 45 watt wire charging, you can hit a 70% charge in just
02:2230 minutes.
02:24Under the hood, the Fold 8 is packing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip for Galaxy. Multi-core performance
02:30in Geekbench and graphics benchmarks actually beat out the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Multitasking with three apps
02:36open simultaneously didn't show a single stutter. Gaming is a blast on this phone too, and there's
02:42lots of titles that look great on the wide display. The third big reason I like this phone is that
02:50it
02:50has AI that actually makes sense on a foldable. My favorite feature is Now Nudge. If someone texts
02:55you asking to grab dinner next week, an icon pops up that opens your calendar automatically in split-screen
03:01mode. There's also My Fan Cam, which lets you pick one person in a video clip and automatically crops and
03:07tracks them. Perfect for sports or concerts.
03:18Now for the downsides. And deal breaker number one is the cameras. Don't get me wrong, the dual 50
03:24megapixel main and ultra-wide cameras take great photos. Dynamic range is solid, low-light nitrography
03:30is improved, and close-ups look rich. But charging $1900 for a flagship phone in 2026 and dropping the
03:37telephoto zoom lens entirely is frustrating. Digital zoom at 10x looks noticeably blurry compared to the
03:43Fold 8 Ultra or even the Motorola Razr Fold. Deal breaker number two is a collection of somewhat
03:50confusingly absent hardware features. Because of the redesigned hinge, there's no flex mode on the
03:55standard Fold 8. That feature is exclusive to the $2100 Fold 8 Ultra. That means you can't prop it open
04:02like a mini laptop for video calls or YouTube. There's also still no S Pen support, and durability
04:09is stuck at IP48. It handles water just fine, but has zero dust resistance, meaning taking it to the beach
04:16remains a gamble, while competitors like Google and Motorola offer an IP68 rating. And the last reason
04:23I'm hesitant about recommending the Z Fold 8, app optimization. While apps like Gmail and TikTok look
04:29great with side-by-side menus, apps like X and Instagram just completely have stretched out phone
04:35apps. Slack wastes massive amounts of screen real estate. That likely won't be the case for the
04:40upcoming iPhone Ultra, which will essentially be an iPhone and iPad mini in one device.
04:46Let me be real for a second. Despite being physically smaller and lighter than the Fold 8 Ultra,
04:52it's really not that much smaller price-wise. We're talking about a $200 difference between this
04:57and the $2100 Ultra. In fact, if you upgrade this Fold 8 to the 512GB storage option, it costs $2100,
05:04which is the exact same starting price as the Ultra. So you aren't buying the standard Fold 8 to save
05:10cash. You should only buy the Fold 8 if you specifically prefer the shorter, passport-style
05:15form factor and want the lightest, book-style foldable in your pocket. To be clear, this is the foldable
05:20I'd rather carry on a day-to-day basis. But if you're already dropping nearly $2,000 and you want
05:26optical telephoto zoom, flex mode, and maxed-out specs, you should skip the standard model and step
05:31up to the Ultra. What do you think? Is $200 enough of a gap to justify losing the telephoto lens,
05:38or would you jump straight to the Ultra? Or are you waiting for Apple's first foldable? Let me know
05:43in the comments below, and don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel for all the latest
05:47reviews. For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhour.
