Galaxy Z Fold 8 unfolds wider viewing experience

Samsung Electronics Co-CEO and Head of Device Experience Division Roh Tae-moon introduces the Galaxy Z8 series smartphones during Galaxy Unpacked 2026 at Old Billingsgate in London, Wednesday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Nam Hyun-woo

• Published Jul 22, 2026 10:01 PM KST

Samsung reorganizes foldable phone lineup

LONDON — Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy Z8 series on Wednesday, introducing a wider addition to the lineup that delivers a more optimized viewing experience enabled by a redesigned display and aspect ratio.

During the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event here, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8 series, expanding its lineup previously comprised of the horizontally folding Galaxy Z Fold and vertically folding Galaxy Z Flip series.

"As AI (artificial intelligence) continues to evolve, mobile devices will become the primary touchpoint that best understands users and seamlessly integrates into their daily lives," Samsung Electronics Co-CEO and Head of Device Experience Division Roh Tae-moon said.

"The new Galaxy Z series represents Samsung's most refined foldable devices yet, elevating the mobile experience while delivering personalized services to usher in the next era of intelligence."

With the launch of the Galaxy Z8 series, Samsung has reorganized its foldable lineup.

The traditional Galaxy Z Fold form factor — which becomes a bar-type phone when folded — now carries the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra branding as the company's flagship model. Meanwhile, the newly introduced Galaxy Z Fold 8 adopts a passport-like 4:3 aspect ratio, marking a new addition to the lineup.

The Fold 8 measures 193.2 millimeters wide when unfolded, enabling a 4:3 aspect ratio optimized for a more immersive viewing experience across various content. When folded, the Fold 8 becomes a compact smartphone with a 10:16 aspect ratio that allows most on-screen interactions within a comfortable one-handed grip.

When unfolded, the Fold 8 offers a display comparable in size to a small tablet, but weighs just 201 grams, making it the lightest foldable smartphone Samsung has released so far. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and features a 4,800 milliampere-hour (mAh) battery, maximizing usability for the demanding multitasking and AI-driven workloads expected from a foldable smartphone.

The hands-on experience also felt different from that of the Fold 8 Ultra. The 4:3 aspect ratio made the display feel noticeably more immersive. In particular, reduced black bars while playing video in full-screen mode made content feel more naturally fitted to the screen.

In hand, the Fold 8's folded mode was noteworthy. Its compact form recalled the reassuring grip of early smartphones, bringing back a sense of confidence that has become increasingly rare as smartphones have grown larger over the years. The streamlined user experience in folded mode felt focused on the essentials, while unfolding the device enables a spacious workspace better suited for multitasking and AI-powered features.

The Fold 8 Ultra was tuned toward productivity. While retaining a form factor similar to its predecessor, it has become Samsung's thinnest Galaxy Fold smartphone at 4.1 millimeters when unfolded. Despite a series of hardware upgrades, Samsung kept the weight at 215 grams.

The device features a 200-megapixel main camera and, for the first time in the Fold series, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery, up 600mAh from the previous generation.

Samsung also introduced the Flip 8, the lightest Galaxy Z Flip model to date, weighing 180 grams and measuring 6.1 millimeters thick when unfolded. The company also upgraded the cover display as an AI-centric interface, enabling more functions without unfolding the device.

For the new phones, Samsung also adopted titanium to reinforce the display structure and improve durability. The display crease was also significantly reduced, resulting in fewer distractions to the viewing experience.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is priced between 2.28 million won ($1,540) for the 256 gigabyte (GB) model and 3.15 million won for the 1 terabyte (TB) version. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at 2.58 million won and goes up to 3.45 million won for the 1TB version. The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is priced from 1.68 million won for the 256GB model to 1.94 million won for the 512GB version.

Compared with their predecessors, prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 8 increased by 13 percent to 18 percent, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra saw increases of 8 percent to 18 percent.

The new Galaxy Z8 series will be rolled out sequentially from Aug. 7 in major global markets, including Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, India and Brazil. Preorders in Korea will run from July 28 to Aug. 3.

During the event, Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy Watch 9, while showcasing two new smart glasses designs.

Samsung did not disclose detailed specifications, but confirmed that the smart glasses are expected to offer up to nine hours of battery life on a single charge and are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 platform. Samsung positioned the devices as AI input devices, highlighting features such as real-time voice translation and note-taking through the Galaxy Notes app.