Earlier this week, Samsung confirmed that it would be holding an Unpacked event on 22 July to announce its new foldable phone range. Countless industry leaks rendered this announcement almost comically unsurprising.
Indeed, not only do we know the date of Samsung’s launch event, we also know many of the products to be unveiled. Leak after leak has enabled us to build a fairly comprehensive view of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the all-new (honest) Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.
That’s why I feel sufficiently confident to go out on a limb and predict that this is the Samsung Galaxy Z foldable you should be buying in 2026.
I should stress right at the outset that I have not gained early access to any of these devices. I’m looking forward to spending plenty of time with all three phones around the time of their launch, but that time has not yet come.
With that said, let’s take a look at the contenders.
Flipping out of contention
Let’s remove the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 from the equation straight away. Leaked renders point to a device that’s virtually unchanged from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8, which has left some of us at Tech Advisor feeling distinctly underwhelmed – especially with the news that it’s going to be subject to a £100 price bump.
What’s more, if reports from two separate tipsters are to be believed, this could be the last flip phone Samsung ever makes. The usually reliable Samsung leaker Ice Universe is the latest to claim that there will be no Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 9.
Until the company’s plans for this sub-series are set out clearly, I see no reason to invest in it.
Time for a book-off
It comes down to the big two, then. Samsung is going to be offering two book-style foldables this year, and if reports are to be believed it’s gone a bit squiffy with the naming.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra will be the name given to the direct successor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Meanwhile, a new model with a wider aspect ratio is going to inherit the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 name.
It’s the latter that I’m most excited for. Conceptually, I like the sound of its new 4:3 inner display, having never found the square(ish) shape of most other foldables particularly convincing.
For my money, Apple’s iPad offers the ideal large-screen viewing experience, offering plenty of space for multi-tasking and web browsing without making video content look too stupid. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 (and indeed the forthcoming iPad Ultra) will adopt something similar, albeit in a bendy format.
Luke Baker
Weighing things up
Other leaks lend weight (in a contrary way of speaking) to my impression that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the one to buy.
It seems the new foldable is going to come in at an impressive 201g, making it the lightest full-sized foldable yet. That’s lighter than my iPhone 17 Pro.
True, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra won’t exactly be bulky at 215g, but it’s the wider device that gets closer to dipping under 200g, which I’ve always held to be the ‘just so’ mark.
In the interest of fairness, I should point out that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is tipped to be thinner than the wider model when closed: 8.9mm vs 9.7mm.
That’s definitely a point in the Ultra’s favour, but probably not enough to swing my overall decision.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
At what cost?
But the real clincher here is price. According to another recent leak, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 will start from £1,699. Hardly cheap, but in large foldable terms that’s pretty appealing.
More to the point, it’s likely to be £200 cheaper than the equivalent Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. That’s a 12% difference, so not at all insubstantial.
One of the lingering issues with foldable phones is the high cost of entry, and that’s only being exacerbated in the current AI-driven component crisis. Samsung’s new foldable model seems to be at least attempting to address that.
Many will argue that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is going to earn its premium through superior cameras – it’ll have a dedicated telephoto camera for one thing. As someone who doesn’t take many zoomed shots outside of reviews, that’s not really an issue.
For me, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 looks to be the most exciting, the best-value, and the most practically appealing of Samsung’s forthcoming foldables. It’s the one to buy (probably).
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