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I immediately like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra more than the last model. And it’s for such a tiny reason that I didn’t expect would make any difference. I’ve spent 48 hours with Samsung’s top-end foldable and I’ve put in a lot of footsteps around London, testing it as much as I can, from its enormous inner display to the upgraded rear cameras. There’s certainly a lot to like, but with its higher $2,100 starting price, there needs to be.
Here’s what I’ve discovered about the Z Fold 8 Ultra from my testing so far, though keep in mind I’m continuing to test the phone over the coming days as part of the full review.
Marginal physical changes, important hinge updates
Samsung boasted that the Fold 8 Ultra is the thinnest foldable phone it’s ever made. And at 4.1mm at its slimmest point, it’s certainly a skinny thing. But it is only 0.1mm thinner than the previous model, the Z Fold 7, and side-by-side, I honestly can’t tell any difference. They look identical, so those of you hoping for a radical update will be sorely disappointed.
Still, that svelte body is comfortable to hold and use in one hand and it makes the phone particularly easy to slide in and out of my jeans pocket. I used Samsung’s earlier Folds — including the first generation — and those thicker bodies definitely caused something of a pocket bulge. The new ones, not so much.
One little change, though, is a slight bevelled edge on the sides of the inner displays, which creates a tiny gap between the two sides when folded closed. This makes it easy to grip onto and open up — something I found quite difficult on the Z Fold 7, which has almost no gap between the sides. It’s such a minor change and not one I would have thought would really have much impact but it’s surprising how much difference it makes — especially when I’ve been unfolding it many times throughout each day.
The hinge has seen some updates and it has a smoother action than the previous model. Again, it’s not exactly a revolution, but it just helps the phone feel that bit more premium.
The redesigned hinge also results in a flatter surface when unfolded, which allows for a slightly less noticeable crease on the inner display. That’s helped too by a new anti-reflective coating, which means overhead lights are less visible, resulting in fewer visible ripples across the screen. I found it particularly useful while simply watching YouTube videos while in my hotel bed. I could simply enjoy the videos without being distracted by a crease.
Cameras and AI tricks
I’m obviously not going to spend the week in London without taking a ton of photos as I wander around, and the Z Fold 8 Ultra was an admirable companion here. The 200-megapixel main camera is pretty much unchanged from the last model but the ultrawide has seen a boost from 12 megapixels to 15 megapixels.
I found both cameras capable of being able to capture vibrant, sharp images that are in line with what I’d expect from a premium Samsung phone. As a photographer myself, I don’t always love the quite over-processed look it delivers, with shadows that are frequently lightened to create a very “HDR” look. But this is par for the course for most smartphones and those of you wanting to simply capture some quick shots of your family to share to Instagram are well catered for here.
The 3x telephoto zoom also delivered some good-looking images, while the night mode allowed me to snag some lovely shots looking down the Thames — as well as plenty of photos taken that first night at Samsung’s after party, where I may or may not have plowed my way through a bunch of free beer.
It’ll come as no surprise that there are a bunch of new AI tricks on the phone and some are particularly focused on imagery. My FanCam is a new tool that allows you to re-crop a video to focus on a specific person in the frame. The idea is that if you’re filming your kid on stage in a school performance of Fiddler on the Roof (just an example, your kid’s school might vary), you can have the AI automatically crop into your footage so only your kid is in the frame, instead of everyone, most of whom you don’t care about.
It’s a neat idea in theory and I’ve had some success filming clips in crowds and selecting just one person to focus on. But I think there are some limitations that are worth keeping in mind. For one, it heavily crops into your footage, which can make the resulting clips look extremely low-resolution. If you know in advance you want to use the tool, then it’s worth shooting in 8K for the extra pixels, but I typically shoot at 4K as default (and to avoid filling my phone’s storage) and even 4K footage can quickly look grainy when cropped in tight.
It also only works when tracking people, rather than objects or animals, but even then, I found some clips where it didn’t recognize a person in a scene and therefore didn’t allow me to track them. For me, it’s not a tool I can really imagine wanting to use that often but I can definitely see the appeal — particularly if you love filming at concerts and want to be able to focus on your favorite member.
Samsung also added the ability to reimagine images using generative AI by simply typing in what you want to see. I tried this with an image, asking it to turn the scene into a sunset photo and the effect was quite realistic — albeit a bit unrealistic. I don’t love this sort of AI fakery, to be honest, so this isn’t a tool I’m keen to use, at least not as part of my professional photography workflow, but I guess if you’re really keen to pretend you had the perfect sunset instead of a disappointingly grey day, then it’ll suit you nicely.
A tool that particularly impressed me, though, is the Super Steady Horizontal Lock for video. With this activated, I was able to move the phone around all I wanted and the horizon was kept locked in place. It’s honestly amazing — I was even able to turn the phone right around yet the scene stayed locked in place. It evidently works by cropping into the scene in order to allow the frame to “rotate” within the sensor area, but whatever magic Samsung has done really works here.
I can see this being a particular boon if you’re filming action footage — say, a friend skateboarding or even just a kid running along kicking a ball. It means you can simply point the phone vaguely in the right direction as you run along, knowing you don’t need to keep your frame rigidly in place. I’m looking forward to trying this more in the full review.
Battery life boost
With its 5,000-mAh cell, the Z Fold 8 Ultra has the largest battery Samsung has ever stuffed inside one of its foldable phones. It promises up to 27 hours of video playback and while I can’t yet verify that claim precisely, I can say that battery life seems excellent. I spent a full day out and about in London, taking photos and videos, editing and using some of the new AI tools and battery life only dropped to around 70% by the end of the day.
To be fair, I didn’t have a cellular connection for most of this — I was just tethered to my phone for data connection at certain points. As a result, it’s not fully representative of how well the battery would last in real world use, but even so, it’s off to a good start.
What I particularly appreciated, though, was the new 45-watt fast charging, up from only 25 watts on the previous model. When I first turned on the phone, it had only 40% remaining and I was heading out shortly, so I slammed it on charge with my 100-watt UGreen charger and it was pretty much full by the time I left my hotel room.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: My early conclusion
Having used the Z Fold 7 before it, I can see that the upgrades are very minor. I didn’t notice any extra processing power in my day-to-day use and beyond the helpful bevel that makes it easier to open, the design is pretty much identical. I’m confident that those of you with a Z Fold 7 already do not need to upgrade.
But I’ve really enjoyed using the phone so far and there’s a lot to be excited for, especially if you’ve been using a much older foldable or you’re looking to invest in one for the first time. The inner display is excellent, with a minimal crease; the video stabilization is superb and the battery life feels like a big improvement.
It’s early days though, and I’m far from ready to slap a final verdict on this thing. Next up will be deeper processor benchmarking, gaming and far more camera tests to really see how this thing compares to its rivals. I’ll also be spending a lot more time playing with some of the other new AI tools elsewhere on the phone. Stay tuned for a lot more.
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