Samsung is no stranger to foldable devices, and it’s been a major player in the space for years. Their latest offering, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, is an incredible device that does about everything you could ever wish it to. From impressive performance to a gorgeous look, the Fold 8 Ultra delivers on the promise of a foldable that can do it all. The major issue is that you’ll be paying for the experience, and the device is incredibly expensive no matter which level you buy. For those who are able to, and are willing, to drop that much on a foldable, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the easy choice.
The Thinnest Galaxy Foldable
On the tech front, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, with options for 12GB or 16GB of memory and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. The cover display is 6.5″ FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X with 120Hz, but when unfolded, it grows to an 8.0″ QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X with 120Hz. All of this is to say the screen is gorgeous, with a beautiful colour range that never disappoints. It also now reaches 3000 nits of brightness, making it easier to use in bright daylight. It’s also coated in Gorilla Glass Ceramic for proper protection.
It’s also incredibly thin throughout; when folded, it’s about as thick as some other phones at 8.9mm. Unfolded, it drops to 4.1mm. It feels thin to hold in your hands, without bulking up too much in your pocket when folded. The hinge is almost unnoticeable, especially as you get used to the phone. There are slight bumps on the top and bottom center for the physical hinges that did get in the way a bit at first, but you quickly adjust to them and they stop being an issue.
More Battery, Premium Cameras
The major new updates in the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra are the bigger battery and premium camera suite. The battery is now a 5,000mAh silicon-carbon cell with 45W wired and 25W wireless charging, up from 4,400mAh in the older edition. It can easily last all day with moderate use, though more strenuous days may need a top-up in the afternoon.
Cameras are another benefit of the Z Fold 8 Ultra, bringing the foldable closer to the impressive camera arrays on its non-foldable counterparts. It packs a 200MP main camera, 10MP telephoto, and 50MP ultra-wide sensors, making its photos rich in detail. It barely struggles in low light, especially with Samsung’s image processing, which cleans up the pictures nicely. The cameras in the Fold line always felt a step behind the S-series, but no longer.
Actually using the Z Fold 8 Ultra is a dream. When folded, it acts like any other phone, but the main draw here is the unfolded experience. Multitasking is a breeze and so easy to do when you essentially have a small tablet in screen space to work in. Bringing up emails on one side and docs on the other makes it easy to move information around, or simply watch a YouTube video while scrolling Bluesky. It’s also a beast when gaming, with a huge display that gives you more to see than before. One of my favourite use cases is using YouTube with the device half folded, where it props up for easy viewing no matter where you set it down.
The Cost Is High
The only major drawbacks with the Z Fold 8 Ultra are the price and lack of S-Pen. These devices pack a ton of tech and screen real estate into an incredibly thin package with a big battery, and all that will do eyewatering damage to your wallet. They start at $2699.99 for the lowest memory/storage options, jumping to as much as $3539.99 for the full suite.
It’s a significant investment in your daily driver, so whether it’s worth it comes down to your finances more than anything else. That high cost makes the lack of S-pen, especially in an Ultra device, even more noticeable. An S Pen would’ve been a nice inclusion given how big the screen gets, and while it may have cost some thinness, a premium device without one does feel slightly lacking.
Verdict
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is an incredible device with an exorbitant cost. The screen is gorgeous, and the thinness and battery push it to the top of the foldable crop. Those who can afford it will have plenty of space to play and multitask, with performance to back it up. While the lack of S-Pen is unfortunate, the rest of the device and specs more than make up for it. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is fantastic for those who can afford the high barrier to entry.
[Samsung provided a launch retail unit for this review.]
