Samsung has unveiled its latest offering in its Galaxy Z Fold lineup of smartphones, and this time one model has gone Ultra, while the other is a lot more compact.
On Wednesday during its Unpacked keynote in London, Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra foldable smartphones, along with the Flip8 and the Galaxy Watch9 and Watch Ultra2.
So let’s unfold these new announcements.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 Finally Goes Ultra
The Galaxy Fold8 Ultra finally sees Samsung give the “Ultra” designation that it generally reserves for the S-Series smartphones to its Fold model, which it describes as its “most capable” foldable yet and for a myriad of reasons.
It has the largest Fold screen to date, a worthy camera system, and a bigger battery.
The biggest upgrades to the Fold8 Ultra include an 8-inch open screen that supports side-by-side apps, video calls, and documents.
A 200MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera and a 3x zoom lens with improved low-light capture and 8K video recording.
Under the hood is a larger 5000mAh battery that also allows for faster charging while providing expanding cooling, giving you the ability for extended use for either watching videos, editing, working, or gaming. It’s also powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy and runs Android 17 with One UI 9.
As for the fast charging, Samsung claims that you can get up to 67% of battery life from a 30-minute charge.
Amazingly, with each new model, Samsung finds a way to make them smaller, and that continues to be the case with the Fold8 Ultra, and that’s all possible thanks to Flex Titanium that makes the crease in the device even less visible and provides a smoother phone opening experience.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra costs $2,099, and is available for pre-order right now.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 Is More Compact Premium Foldable Experience
Despite being called the Galaxy Z Fold8, this device is not a direct follow-up to the previous model, but more so a new option to help entice smartphone users into the world of foldables.
The Fold8 is the Korean tech giant’s lightest Fold yet, weighing only 201 grams, making it 14 grams lighter than its premium big brother, the Fold8 Ultra.
By offering a lighter device with new screen dimensions, Samsung is offering users a Foldable device that can make reading, streaming, gaming, and whatever else you do on your smartphones much easier.
The device’s main display is 7.6 inches, complemented by a 5.5″ FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display that will display your messages, allow you to watch videos, and do some web browsing without having to open the device.
Thanks to the 4:3 display layout, gaming and movies now have more space on the main display. When rotated, a 4:3 layout allows for better reading of articles and e-books. Think of the Galaxy Z Fold8 as an e-reader capable of doing things only a high-powered smartphone can do.
While the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is presented more as a multitasking powerhouse, the Galaxy Z Fold8 is more of a device built for fun, thanks to its smaller size and easy-to-use editing features like FanCam, which lets you select a person to follow while reframing the footage into a format of your choosing.
Handling the video recording is a serviceable dual-camera system consisting of a 50MP main camera and a 50MP ultrawide lens.
Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Fold8 has a decent 4,800mAh battery compared the Z Fold8 Ultra’s 5,000mAh battery, but does also have the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy Android while running Android 17 and One UI 9, like the Ultra.
So, for $1,899, you’re not really sacrificing much when it comes to performance, and like the its big brother, the Galaxy Z Fold8 is available for preorder right now.
Other Shared AI-Powered Features
A chipset and operating system is not the only thing both devices will share. There are several AI tools that Fold users, new and old, can look forward to when they get the devices in their hands.
Now Nudge will present users with suggestions based on whats happening in other apps, or during conversations. For example if a date or event is mentioned, Now Nudge will open the Calender so you can add the date or event.
Gemini Notebook will take note taking to another level thanks to Google’s AI companion by carrying out functions like taking documents, photos and recordings and turning them into summaries or presentations.
Multi-app assistance will now allow Gemini to perform requests across more than 40 supported apps and services. Some requests will require user confirmation.
It’s no secret that AI is still a contentious topic, Samsung is still confident in the techonology and is implemented into their smartphones in a way that seems more beneficial and less intrusive.
Both the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra have appeals that cater to different kinds foldable phone users.
For more photos of Samsung’s newest devices, hit the gallery below.
