Galaxy Z Fold

About Galaxy Z Fold

Galaxy Z Fold is Samsung's book-style foldable: a phone with a cover screen on the outside that opens along a vertical hinge into a small tablet. It has run since 2019 and is the line Samsung uses to argue that a foldable can be a working device rather than a novelty. As of the 2026 generation the line is no longer one phone. Samsung split it into the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, which keeps the tall shape and the three camera system, and the Galaxy Z Fold8, which is shorter, wider and cheaper but drops the telephoto. On Samsung's US store the Fold8 starts at 1,899.99 dollars and the Fold8 Ultra at 2,099.99 dollars, both for 256GB. Neither supports the S Pen.

What the split between Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra actually means

Until 2026 the Galaxy Z Fold was a single tall phone that opened into a squarish tablet. The two current models are genuinely different shapes, and picking between them is the main decision this line now asks of a buyer.

The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra keeps the familiar proportions: a 6.5 inch cover screen, an 8.0 inch main display, 215g, and 8.9mm thick folded. Its camera set is the one the line has carried for years, a 200MP wide, a 50MP ultra wide and a 10MP telephoto at 3x.

The Galaxy Z Fold8 is a different object. The cover screen drops to 5.5 inches and gets much wider, and the main display is 7.6 inches at a 4:3 ratio. Folded it is 81.9mm wide against the Ultra's 72.8mm, and shorter at 123.9mm against 158.4mm. It weighs 201g. Reviewers have compared the open shape to a small e-reader rather than a phone.

The cost of that shape is the camera. The Fold8 has two rear cameras, both 50MP, and no telephoto at all.

Is the Galaxy Z Fold still a phone you can use closed

This was the historic complaint about the line and it is the thing the 2026 split addresses.

On the Fold8 Ultra the cover screen is 6.5 inches at a normal phone aspect ratio, so it works as an ordinary phone when shut, which is how most owners use it most of the day.

On the Fold8 the cover screen is 5.5 inches and much squatter. It is usable, but it is not a normal phone shape and typing on it is a different experience. If the closed state is where you will spend your time, the Ultra is the safer of the two.

Both are rated IP48. That covers dust ingress at a lower standard than a sealed phone, which is a consequence of the hinge rather than a corner cut.

Battery and charging on a foldable

Foldables carry less battery than their price suggests, because the hinge takes space a solid phone gives to the cell.

The Fold8 Ultra holds 5,000mAh, matching a conventional flagship for the first time in the line. The Fold8 holds 4,800mAh, up from 4,400mAh on the previous generation. Both charge at 45W wired.

Reviewers testing the Fold8 reported a day to a day and a half of mixed use, and noted that endurance still trails a conventional phone with the same capacity, because the larger inner screen costs power whenever it is open.

Neither model has built in magnets for magnetic charging accessories.

Why the S Pen is gone

Older Galaxy Z Fold generations supported an S Pen, though never one stored in the body. That support has been removed and Samsung states plainly in its own FAQ that the Fold8 Ultra does not support the S Pen.

The engineering reason is thickness. The digitiser layer that reads a stylus adds depth, and Samsung has spent several generations reducing it: the Fold8 Ultra is 4.1mm unfolded and the Fold8 is 4.5mm.

If writing on the screen is the reason you were looking at a foldable, the Galaxy S Ultra is the phone that still does it, and it costs less.

What to weigh it against

Inside Samsung's own range the honest comparison is the Galaxy S Ultra. It is several hundred dollars cheaper, has a longer optical zoom, a bigger battery in practice, full IP68 sealing and the S Pen. What it does not have is a tablet sized screen in your pocket. If you do not open the Fold every day, you are paying for a hinge you are not using.

The Galaxy Z Flip is the other foldable in the range. It folds the other way, into a square, and is cheaper. It is a normal sized phone that packs down, not a small tablet.

Among other makers, Google's Pixel Fold line is the closest direct comparison in the same book style format. Reviewers testing the Fold8 have consistently rated the crease and the weight as the areas where Samsung is now ahead.

Who should buy something else

If you take photographs at any distance, do not buy the Galaxy Z Fold8. Two cameras and no telephoto at 1,899 dollars is the weakest part of the whole line, and reviewers have called it out. Buy the Fold8 Ultra, or buy a Galaxy S Ultra and keep the change.

If you want the longest battery life for the money, buy a conventional phone. Both Folds trail an ordinary flagship on endurance.

If you need real water resistance, note the IP48 rating. It is not the IP68 you get from a sealed phone, and the hinge is why.

If you use a stylus, this line no longer serves you at all.

If you mainly want a foldable because it looks interesting rather than because you would open it, the Galaxy Z Flip does the same trick for considerably less money and fits in a smaller pocket.