Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series has long been the benchmark for foldables and with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the company is doubling down on refinement. The latest iteration brings a sleeker, squarer design, a thinner profile and Samsung’s first-ever Ultra branding for a Fold device. But beyond the new name, does the Fold 8 Ultra offer a truly better foldable experience? After spending time with the device, here’s why Samsung’s most ambitious foldable yet may also be its most complete.

Design

The Galaxy Z Fold series has evolved steadily over the years, but the Z Fold 8 Ultra feels like Samsung’s most refined foldable yet, striking the right balance between portability and productivity. Measuring just 4.1mm when unfolded and 8.9mm when folded, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is remarkably thin for a book-style foldable. Despite its slender profile, it feels sturdy and reassuringly premium in hand. The Violet Shadow variant reviewed here stands out with its subtle lavender hue, lending the device a distinctive yet understated premium look. The finish also does a good job of resisting fingerprints and smudges. The only notable drawback is the protruding camera module, which causes the phone to wobble when placed on a flat surface.

Display

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features an expansive 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR10+ support and a peak brightness of up to 3,000 nits. On the outside sits a 6.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display that matches the inner screen’s 120Hz smoothness and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3.

The large foldable display remains one of the Fold’s biggest strengths. It is ideally suited for streaming videos, reading documents and PDFs, browsing the web and multitasking across multiple apps. The extra screen real estate also enhances gaming and photo-editing workflows, offering a tablet-like experience in a device that still fits in a pocket.

Watching Operation Safed Sagar on Netflix was particularly enjoyable on the 8-inch display. Like most streaming platforms, Netflix defaults to a letterboxed aspect ratio, but a quick adjustment allows the content to full screen. The panel delivers excellent contrast, natural-looking skin tones, and rich yet balanced colours, making movies and shows look consistently immersive.

Sound

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features a stereo speaker setup. Listening to tracks such as Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, the synth-pop and synthwave production came through with excellent clarity, even at higher volume levels. Vocals remained crisp and well-defined, while the instrumentals retained their energy and detail, resulting in a balanced and engaging listening experience.

That said, Samsung’s pursuit of an ultra-thin design has introduced a minor compromise. Both stereo speakers are positioned on the left half of the unfolded Fold, with one located at the top and the other at the bottom. As a result, audio exhibits a subtle left-side bias in landscape mode. It’s not a significant issue in day-to-day use, but it does slightly affect spatial audio and channel separation, something only audiophiles and more discerning listeners are likely to notice.

Camera

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features a versatile triple-camera system, led by a 200MP primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and Samsung’s 2x optical-quality zoom. It is accompanied by a 50MP ultra-wide camera for broader perspectives and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and OIS for steadier long-range shots.

In use, the primary and ultra-wide cameras consistently delivered well-balanced images with excellent detail, contrast and reliable exposure. Colours appeared natural without being overly saturated and dynamic range was generally impressive. One minor quirk was the Fold’s bright inner display, which occasionally made it difficult to accurately judge exposure in harsh outdoor conditions immediately after unfolding the device.

Low-light performance was equally commendable. Night-time images were clean, with controlled noise levels, good detail retention and pleasing contrast. Samsung’s image processing strikes a sensible balance between brightening scenes and preserving a natural look.

The 10MP telephoto camera remains a useful addition for portraits and moderate zoom shots, but its relatively modest resolution and 3x optical reach limit its ability to capture finer details at longer distances. While the results are perfectly serviceable, the setup falls short of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s dual-telephoto system, which combines 3x and 5x optical zoom lenses to offer greater flexibility and long-range image quality.

Samsung includes a 10MP cover camera and a 10MP under-display camera hidden beneath the foldable display. Both deliver good detail, natural skin tones, and a wide field of view that works well for group selfies and video calls.

Performance

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset. Our review unit came with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, while Samsung also offers 12GB/512GB and 16GB/1TB variants.

Geekbench 6, the device posted a single-core score of 3,656 and a multi-core score of 11,185, firmly placing it among the fastest Android smartphones available. The single-core result notably outpaces devices such as the OnePlus 13 (2,881) and the Galaxy S25 Ultra (2,852), highlighting the performance gains of the latest Snapdragon silicon.

Day-to-day performance was predictably flawless, with apps launching quickly and multitasking feeling effortless. The foldable form factor continues to be one of the Fold’s biggest strengths, allowing users to comfortably run multiple apps side by side on the expansive 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display.

Gaming is another area where the device excels. Titles such as Call of Duty: Mobile ran smoothly at up to 90fps, while the large screen makes both competitive shooters and casual gaming more immersive. The foldable design is particularly well suited to gaming, offering a tablet-like experience without sacrificing portability.

It is also impressive how seamless the UI feels when switching between the main display and the cover screen. The dual-screen experience is particularly well thought out, allowing one half to function as a viewfinder while the other provides shooting controls. This approach extends to other apps as well. Overall, the UI feels highly polished, intuitive and well refined.

Despite its remarkably thin chassis, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra manages heat well, though at times, I could feel it on the cover screen. The device remained comfortable to hold during benchmarking sessions and extended gaming. Samsung’s software experience is equally polished, with minimal pre-installed clutter beyond the company’s own apps and seamless optimisation across the foldable interface.

Battery

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W wired charging, 20W wireless charging and Wireless PowerShare. In everyday use, battery life proved to be reliably all-day, comfortably lasting from 7:00 AM until around 10:00 PM with a mix of web browsing, video streaming, messaging, email and occasional gaming. By the end of the day, the phone still had around 22 per cent charge remaining.

Using a 100W USB-C charger, I was able to take advantage of the Fold 8 Ultra’s 45W wired charging speeds, bringing the battery from empty to full in under an hour. Wireless PowerShare remains a useful addition for topping up accessories such as Galaxy Buds and smartwatches, although charging speeds are understandably slow.

Verdict

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra represents Samsung at its best, delivering meaningful improvements across design, display quality, feature set and overall refinement. While it faces strong competition from rivals such as the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, OnePlus Open 2 and Vivo X-Fold 5, Samsung has managed to raise the bar over its predecessor.

Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and 6, the Fold 8 Ultra offers a superior display experience, a more mature and refined implementation of foldable technology, and noticeable enhancements in software optimisation. The result is a foldable that feels more polished in everyday use, excelling in multitasking, productivity and overall user experience, making it one of the most complete foldable smartphones currently available.

Published on August 12, 2026