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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Review: Comfortable and practical form factor for everyday use
Galaxy Z Fold 8 is easily Samsung’s most fascinating foldable yet. Its biggest achievement isn’t faster hardware or smarter AI; it’s making the foldable form factor genuinely comfortable to use every day
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Samsung's Most Complete Foldable Yet
Transitioning to a foldable phone used to mean making peace with obvious flaws: subpar cameras, a thick profile, a prominent screen crease, and a sky-high price tag. Samsung aims to crush those old expectations with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Credit: Hook.Online Instead of resting on minor spec bumps, the Ultra brings meaningful upgrades. Shaving its unfolded depth to just 4.1mm (down from the Fold 7's 4.2mm), it houses the ultra-fast Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor alongside an inner display with a virtually undetectable crease. However, the Ultra faces an intriguing rival from Samsung itself: a newly redesigned, wider base Fold 8. While the Ultra represents the pinnacle of the original tall-and-sleek foldable form factor, it now competes for the spotlight against its sibling. After using the Z Fold 8 Ultra daily for two weeks, I tested whether its refined anti-glare display, upgraded camera system, and flagship horsepower truly establish it as the definitive mobile productivity device of 2026. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Design & Build Unboxing the Z Fold 8 Ultra triggers pure disbelief about how Samsung managed to pack a motherboard and battery into a frame this slim. Folded shut, the phone measures 8.9mm deep, matching the Z Fold 7 and sitting right alongside standard slab flagships. Weighing just 215 grams, it feels noticeably lighter than conventional ultra-premium smartphones, eliminating the wrist fatigue that came with older generations like the Fold 4 or Fold 5. Credit: Hook.Online Samsung rebuilt the hinge assembly using a mix of titanium alloy and armor aluminum. Dubbed the Armor FlexHinge, it delivers smooth, fluid movement, closing completely flush with zero gap. Unfolded, it locks into a flat 180-degree position without any creaks or flex. Credit: Hook.Online Durability remains a priority with an IP48 rating. Although it is not built for sand or beach days, official protection against solid debris and freshwater submersion offers solid peace of mind for daily use. Round back, a satin glass coating comes in Graphite, Cream, and a striking Violet Shadow. The finish resists fingerprint smudges effectively, giving the hardware a refined, solid, and undeniably high-end feel in hand. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Cover & Main Displays Samsung’s older foldables had cover screens shaped like TV remotes. They were absurdly tall, super narrow, and almost impossible to type on if you had normal hands. Most people gave up and opened the phone every single time. The Z Fold 8 Ultra fixes this completely with a much wider 6.5-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X outer display. Credit: Hook.Online Since the screen ratio feels like a regular phone now, two-thumb typing actually works. Your fingers do not clash constantly anymore, though your brain might still need a day or two to get used to it. Outdoors, both panels are bright enough to cut through harsh glare. They run on a smooth 1 to 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and peak at 3000 nits, so outdoor visibility is zero hassle. Credit: Hook.Online Unfold the device, and you are looking at an 8.0-inch QXGA+ main screen. Samsung did a serious overhaul on the crease here. You can still spot the seam if you tilt the glass under direct ceiling light, but day-to-day, it practically disappears. Your thumb glides right over the centre during casual scrolling without hitting a giant speed bump. Add in the new anti-reflective screen treatment and Vision Booster, and media viewing is fantastic. HDR10+ content on the 8-inch display delivers ink-black tones and punchy colours that look like a mini cinema, even if that boxy frame shape feels slightly odd for video at first. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Cameras Samsung stuck with the same 200MP primary sensor we saw on the Z Fold 7, featuring an f/1.7 aperture and OIS. It still performs great. Quad Pixel AF keeps daytime images sharp, while the 2X sensor crop gives you crisp shots without losing resolution. At night, that wide aperture and OIS keep noise under control so dark scenes come out clean. Credit: Hook.Online The real headline is the ultrawide camera , which jumps from last year’s disappointing 12MP to a sharp 50MP sensor. It sports an f/1.9 aperture, a wide 120-degree field of view, and Quad Pixel AF. That extra resolution pays off instantly. Landscapes look detailed right to the edges, and close-up macro shots turn out surprisingly sharp. Then you have the 10MP telephoto lens. It offers 3X optical zoom, an f/2.4 aperture, and OIS. Portraits come through with realistic colour and smooth background separation, but don't expect miracles if you zoom past the 3X optical range, where details begin to blur. Credit: Hook.Online For selfies, Samsung placed 10MP f/2.2 cameras on both displays. The cover screen uses an 85-degree field of view for quick solo shots, while the inner screen expands to 100 degrees, making video calls and group shots much less cramped. Credit: Hook.Online Video capabilities feel genuinely pro-grade. With solid OIS and fast autofocus tracking, you can record crisp 8K at 30fps or ultra-smooth 4K at 120fps for slow motion. 10-bit HDR and HDR10+ support deliver excellent dynamic range and deep contrast straight out of the box. Combine that OIS with gyro-EIS, and handheld footage stays impressively steady while walking around. My only real gripe? The camera still shows an awkward colour shift when you switch between lenses mid-recording. Credit: Hook.Online Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Performance Powering the Z Fold 8 Ultra is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, backed by up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of onboard storage. As you would expect from these specs, everyday speed is top-tier. Credit: Hook.Online The lab numbers tell the same story. The phone hit a massive 3,351,472 on AnTuTu and pulled off a 22,054 score in the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Test. On Geekbench, it turned in a single-core result of 3617 and a multi-core score of 10845. Credit: Hook.Online In actual daily use, that power really shows. Juggling three apps at once on the big display, exporting 4K edits in VN, or running long sessions of BGMI fails to slow the device down. Cooling gets a big upgrade too, thanks to a redesigned graphite thermal system. During heavy gaming, the phone delivered locked-in ~120FPS performance in BGMI whether unfolded or closed. Even better, the body remained remarkably cool in hand, only getting warm when we pushed it through synthetic benchmark tests. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Battery Life & Charging Speed Battery life used to be the ultimate trade-off with foldables simply because super-thin bodies could not fit big power cells. Samsung tries to settle that on the Z Fold 8 Ultra by introducing a 5,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery. It is the company’s first run with silicon-carbon tech, even if they played it somewhat safe with the execution. Credit: Hook.Online During daily testing split equally between both screens, covering emails, web browsing, camera use, video streaming, and casual gaming, the Ultra easily made it through a full day. I routinely ended late nights with around 20% to 25% battery left in reserve. Recharging gets faster thanks to a new dual-path 45W wired system. A quick 30-minute plug-in takes you from dead to roughly 65%, while a complete charge takes under an hour. Wireless charging moves up to 20W as well, which is a welcome speed boost over last year. Just keep in mind that Samsung still skipped built-in magnets, so using snap-on accessories means buying a compatible case. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Software & AI Spending this much on a foldable means software matters just as much as hardware. If the interface fails to take advantage of that big internal screen, all those high-end specs mean very little. Luckily, Samsung remains ahead of everyone else when it comes to foldable software. Credit: Hook.Online The Z Fold 8 Ultra ships with One UI 9 running on Android 17, and going back to a standard phone after using it feels like a downgrade. That small taskbar sitting at the bottom transforms the UI into something closer to a mini tablet. Snapping three apps side by side takes a simple drag and drop, and you can still keep a floating window open over top if needed. Moving text, photos, or documents directly between active apps works effortlessly, quickly turning into a regular habit. Credit: Hook.Online Samsung’s Galaxy AI tools also feel genuinely practical here, rather than marketing features added just to pad out a bullet list. Live Interpreter with Dual Screen View is a great example: flex the phone halfway, set it on a table, and two people can carry on a conversation while reading live translations on opposite screens. Note Assist is another tool that saves genuine time. It transcribes meeting audio, builds quick bulleted summaries, and highlights action items right inside Samsung Notes. Over in the gallery, the Generative Photo Editor lets you erase unwanted objects, expand background edges, or clean up shadows in seconds, producing surprisingly detailed results. On top of all that, Samsung promises seven full years of Android OS upgrades and security patches. When you drop this kind of money on a device, that level of long-term commitment is exactly what you want to see. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: Verdict Rather than forcing a drastic redesign, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra represents years of gradual, smart polishing. Samsung systematically wiped out almost every drawback older generations were known for. The body lost weight and thickness, the display crease is barely there anymore, the cover screen actually works like a normal phone, the cameras hold their ground against standard flagships, and the battery gets you through an intensive day without anxiety. Credit: Hook.Online The biggest triumph here is subtle: you stop constantly thinking about the hinge mechanism. It simply operates as a high-end flagship phone that expands into a tablet whenever extra screen space helps. For power users juggling multiple apps, editing files on the fly, bingeing video content, or looking for maximum flexibility, this hardware makes total sense. Starting at ₹2,00,000 for the 12GB + 256GB version, it remains a heavy financial commitment that will not fit everyone's wallet. However, if you have the budget and want the absolute best foldable Samsung has produced, the Z Fold 8 Ultra comfortably establishes the standard for modern foldable flagships.
By Ishan Fazili
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Apple September event 2026: iPhone 18, new Apple Watches, AirPods and more expected
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Apple Event 2026: Five devices likely to launch next month
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Nothing launches CMF Clip Pro earbuds with a Smart Dial on the case
They boast 10-hour battery life and fast charging. Just as expected, today Nothing has unveiled the CMF Clip Pro earbuds. As the name implies, these are...
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Nothing is using AI-generated people to show off its new earbuds – everyone hates it [Gallery]
Yesterday Nothing’s CMF brand launched a new pair of pretty cool open-ear earbuds, but a big part of the online...
By Ben Schoon
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