Samsung today unveiled two new foldable devices — two, because the Korean electronics giant has actually resized its Z Fold line-up. The line-up now starts with the Z Fold8, which — unlike previous models — now opens up to a slightly smaller, passport-sized foldable. The second device is the Z Fold8 Ultra, which now takes the original size of the Z Fold series.
Starting with the Z Fold8 — the most new and interesting of all launches today — the device unfolds to a 4:3 aspect ratio, ideal for watching movies or playing games. Rotating the device switches to a 3:4 aspect ratio, a more natural ratio for reading books, but pretty much an odd one for every other task.
The cover screen is again, an oddly sized 10:16 aspect ratio, that Samsung says, is to provide “a familiar experience for browsing short-form content”.
A 4,800mAh battery supports more than 26 hours of video playback for Z Fold8. One definite advantage to the new Z Fold8 is its weight — weighing just 201 grams, Galaxy Z Fold8 is the lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet and remains comfortable to hold — even during extended viewing sessions.
The Z Fold8 Ultra is the new regular sized Fold in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold line-up. The device is also the most powerful among all launched yet, and is massively AI capable. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy and a 5,000mAh battery, making AI agentic tasks buttery smooth. Agentic AI anticipates when multitasking is needed, using Now Nudge to open Multi Window at the right moment. For example, Now Nudge can suggest adding dinner plans from a messaging app to the calendar and open the Calendar app in Multi Window.
The third and the last of the line-up is the Z Flip8, which remains pretty much similar to last year’s Z Fold7 with minor upgrades. One of Galaxy Z Flip8’s biggest upgrades is its more versatile FlexWindow. Users can check important information and access their favorite features without unfolding the device.
Another highlight is Galaxy AI’s Now Brief. From FlexWindow, users can instantly see the day’s weather, schedule and important notifications.
All Galaxy Z Fold devices are now costlier — a pattern similar to Apple’s recent, rare price increase across its non-iPhone segments. Costlier components and supply chain limitations — all thanks to an unprecedented surge in demand for chips for AI compute — could have well resulted in Samsung literally cutting down the size of its device.
The Z Fold8 starts at US$1,899.