Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Fold 8: Full breakdown before launch

Table of contents

When and where

Why this launch matters more than usual

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Z Fold 8: At a glance

Software: What both phones get

Should You Buy the Z Fold 8 Ultra or Z Fold 8?

Samsung is heading to London on July 22 for Galaxy Unpacked, and this year the Fold lineup is different: two book-style foldables at the same event. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra builds on everything the Z Fold 7 started, with a bigger battery, faster charging, and upgraded cameras. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is an entirely new shape, shorter and wider, built around a 4:3 inner display that sits closer to a small tablet than a phone. 

Here is everything we know about both, before Samsung makes it official.

When and where

Samsung is expected to hold Galaxy Unpacked on July 22, 2026, in London. Korea Economic TV was the first outlet to report the date, and it has since been confirmed by Android Police, SamMobile, Android Authority, and Tom’s Guide. This will be Samsung’s first summer Unpacked event in the UK. Samsung has not issued an official media advisory as of mid-June 2026.

Pre-orders are expected to open the same day as the announcement. If Samsung follows its usual pattern, you should be able to buy both phones in the first week of August 2026, roughly two weeks after the event.

Three foldable phones are expected at the event, alongside the Galaxy Watch 9 series and what is being reported as Samsung’s first Galaxy Glasses (a Gemini-powered audio device made with Gentle Monster, no display):

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (traditional tall book foldable)
• Galaxy Z Fold 8 (new wider, shorter 4:3 foldable)
• Galaxy Z Flip 8
• Galaxy Watch 9 series

Why this launch matters more than usual

Apple’s first foldable phone, widely referred to as the iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra, is expected to arrive at Apple’s September 2026 event. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in April 2026 that it is on track to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, with a starting price exceeding $2,000 in the US. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo projects the price landing between $2,000 and $2,500, with Apple shipping 3 to 5 million units in its first year. It is expected to use a wider 4:3 form factor.

Samsung’s July 22 launch gives both Fold devices roughly a two-month window in the market before Apple ships a single unit. That means two months of reviews, accessories, trade-in deals, and carrier promotions before anyone can compare them side by side. Samsung chose London for this event as well, a move seen as a direct entry into one of Apple’s strongest premium markets.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the phone Z Fold 7 owners have been waiting for. It keeps the same tall book-style form factor but adds a meaningfully larger battery, faster charging, and the most significant camera upgrade the Fold line has ever seen. Here is what we know.

Specs

1. Design

The overall shape stays the same as the Z Fold 7. Renders from SamMobile put the dimensions at 158.4 x 143.2 x 4.5mm unfolded and 158.4 x 72.8 x 9mm folded. There is a conflict on thickness: tipster Ice Universe says the unfolded thickness drops slightly to 4.1mm. Both figures come from different streams, so treat the exact as unsettled until Samsung announces.

Key design details:

• Weight: 215g, the same as the Z Fold 7 (per Ice Universe), despite the larger battery inside
• IP48 rating for dust and water resistance
• Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover
• Side-mounted fingerprint reader
• S Pen support: expected to be dropped. Ice Universe reported in May 2026 that neither the 2026 Fold will support the S Pen. No credible supply-chain source has contradicted this. The digitizer was already removed starting with the Z Fold SE, so this fits Samsung’s thinness direction
• Color options: not yet known

2. Display

The Z Fold 8 Ultra keeps the same display sizes as the Fold 7. Both panels use LTPO OLED technology with adaptive 1-120Hz refresh:

• Cover display: 6.5-inch LTPO OLED, Full HD+, up to 2,600 nits
• Inner display: 8-inch LTPO OLED, QHD+, HDR10+, up to 2,600 nits
• The inner panel is reported to use a dual-layer Ultra-Thin Glass structure with a laser-drilled metal support plate

On the crease: This is the most contested detail. Ice Universe said in May 2026 that the crease will not improve significantly over the Z Fold 7 and that there is no Privacy Display. A separate SamMobile report suggests crease control could come close to the OPPO Find N6, which is nearly invisible. These two positions conflict. The consensus across most outlets is that the crease will improve by roughly 20%, but the phone will not be crease-free.

On the CES 2026 “Mont Flex” panel: Samsung Display showed a genuinely crease-free foldable OLED panel at CES 2026. Samsung told The Verge it is an R&D concept with no fixed commercialization timeline. The weight of current information suggests this panel will not ship on the Fold 8 generation.

3. Performance

• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, globally. No Exynos variant has been reported for the Fold line
• RAM: 12GB on the 256GB and 512GB models; 16GB on the 1TB model
• Storage: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. No microSD slot
• Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB, NFC, USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1)

4. Camera

The camera is where the Z Fold 8 Ultra makes its biggest leap. The ultrawide upgrade alone closes a gap that has been criticized across four Fold generations:

• Main: 200MP with OIS, retained from the Z Fold 7 and in the same sensor family as the Galaxy S26 Ultra
• Ultrawide: upgraded from 12MP to 50MP. This is the headline change. Source: SamMobile (via Tech Maniacs), corroborated by GSMArena, OnLeaks, and Digit
• Telephoto: 10MP with 3x optical zoom and OIS, carried over from the Fold 7
• Front cameras: 10MP on both the cover and inner displays. The cover punch-hole is reported to shrink from 3.7 mm to 2.5 mm
• Video: 4K at 60fps across all cameras, 8K at 30fps on the main and ultrawide

5. Battery and charging

The battery is the other major story. Samsung held the Fold line at 4,400mAh from the Z Fold 3 through the Z Fold 7. That changes with the Fold 8 Ultra:

• Battery: 5,000mAh, up from 4,400mAh. Multiple independent sources agree on this figure
• Wired charging: 45W, up from 25W
• Wireless charging: up to 20W Qi2.2, plus 4.5W reverse wireless (per SamMobile; some reports still cite 15W as the cap)

6. Software

• Ships with Android 17 and One UI 9 out of the box
• Galaxy AI suite: Photo Assist, Portrait Studio, Generative Edit, Now Brief, Now Bar, Samsung Internet multi-window improvements
• Gemini Intelligence: expected to debut commercially on the Fold 8 and Flip 8 (per Seoul Economic Daily, via 9to5Google). This is agentic AI that automates tasks across multiple apps
• Seven years of OS updates and security patches

7. Price

US pricing was leaked by tipster TheGalox in late March and early April 2026, corroborated by SamMobile and SammyFans:

• 256GB (12GB RAM): $1,999
• 512GB (12GB RAM): $2,199
• 1TB (16GB RAM): $2,499

The $1,999 entry price is unchanged from the Z Fold 7’s original launch price. The 512GB and 1TB tiers are roughly $80 to $90 higher than the Fold 7’s original tags.

On the $2,700 claim: Korean outlet NewsPim reported in May 2026 that the 512GB model may cost $2,300 to $2,400 in South Korea, and the 1TB model could exceed $2,700. This is driven by rising memory costs. SammyFans, citing Samsung disclosures, reported that mobile memory prices more than doubled year-over-year, rising 107%. These figures apply to the Korean market and may not translate directly to US pricing. Document the $1,999/$2,199/$2,499 US structure as the most credible position, with the Korean escalation as a documented risk.

Samsung is holding the $1,999 entry price flat partly because Apple’s foldable is expected to launch at $2,000 or above. Raising the price now would hand Apple a competitive opening before it ships a single unit.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is something Samsung has never shipped before: a book-style foldable that is wider than it is tall when open. Its 4:3 inner display gives it a shape closer to an iPad mini than a traditional Fold, and at 201g, it is one of the lightest large foldables ever made. It does trade away some camera hardware to get there.

Specs

1. Design

The Fold 8 Wide looks and feels completely different from the Ultra when you hold it open. According to Ice Universe (via SamMobile), the dimensions are:

• Unfolded: 161.4mm wide x 123.9mm tall x 4.3mm thick
• Folded: 82.2mm wide x 9.8mm thick
• Weight: 201g, which makes it 14g lighter than the Ultra and lighter than any comparable large foldable currently on the market
• IP48 dust and water resistance
• Armor Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover
• Side-mounted fingerprint reader

Note on thickness: one source (Geeky Gadgets) pegs unfolded thickness at 4.5mm rather than SamMobile’s 4.3mm.

2. Display

• Cover display: 5.4-inch LTPO OLED (some sources say 5.6-inch), with a 4.7:3 aspect ratio and 120Hz refresh
• Inner display: 7.6-inch LTPO OLED, 4:3 aspect ratio, 1-120Hz adaptive, HDR10+, up to 2,600 nits
• The 4:3 inner shape is verified across SamMobile firmware evidence, Ice Universe, and 9to5Google

On the crease: Same contested situation as the Ultra. Ice Universe says no significant crease improvement. SamMobile suggests crease control could rival the OPPO Find N6. The two positions conflict; lean toward a modest but visible improvement.

3. Performance

• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, same as the Ultra
• RAM: 12GB or 16GB
• Storage: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, no microSD
• Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB, NFC, USB-C

4. Camera

This is the most important trade-off to know before buying the Fold 8. It uses a dual rear camera setup with no telephoto lens:

• Main: 50MP (f/1.8) with OIS
• Ultrawide: 50MP (f/1.9)
• No telephoto and no 200MP main sensor
• Front: 10MP on both cover and inner displays, no autofocus or OIS
• Video: 4K at 60fps, up to 8K at 30fps on the rear cameras, HDR10+ and Super HDR

On the camera gap: The Ultra has a 200MP main sensor, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 10MP 3x telephoto. The Fold 8 drops the high-resolution main and removes the zoom lens entirely. If you take a lot of photos that need zoom, the Ultra is the right choice. Android Authority and others have framed this as Samsung choosing form factor over imaging on the Fold 8, which is an honest way to put it.

5. Battery and charging

Battery capacity (source conflict): SamMobile’s May 4 report lists a ~4,560mAh-rated cell (typical: ~4,700-4,800mAh). A June 2 Ice Universe report by SamMobile says 4,800mAh, but Android Authority’s body text, quoting the same source, says 4,500mAh. The most commonly cited figure from June sources is 4,800mAh. Either way, this is smaller than the Ultra’s 5,000mAh.

• Wired charging: 45W. Supported by the June 2 Ice Universe report and an independent China 3C certification (model SM-F9710 at 15V/3A). Earlier, SamMobile data suggested 25W, but that appears to be superseded
• Wireless charging: 15W or higher, per the older SamMobile baseline page. No newer figure has been confirmed

6. Price

No clean price information exists for the Fold 8. SamMobile has estimated a price of around $1,800 in the US, based on the reduced camera hardware and smaller battery compared to the Ultra. PhoneArena notes that it could be priced similarly to, or slightly below, the Ultra entry. Nothing is confirmed.

Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Z Fold 8: At a glance

Here is how the two phones compare across the specs that matter most:

Software: What both phones get

Both the Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Z Fold 8 ship with Android 17 and One UI 9.0 out of the box. They are expected to be the first devices to receive the stable One UI 9 release, potentially ahead of the Galaxy S26 family and the Pixel 11.

• Galaxy AI suite: Photo Assist, Portrait Studio, Generative Edit, Now Brief, Now Bar, redesigned Bixby with natural language understanding
• Samsung Internet multi-window improvements for working across apps on the inner display
• Gemini Intelligence: expected to debut on these devices. This is Google’s agentic AI that can automate multi-step tasks across apps. It was absent from the early One UI 9 beta on the S26, so it likely arrives with the stable One UI 9 release
• Seven years of OS updates and security patches

The wider cover screen on the Fold 8 is also its biggest software story. A 5.4-inch 4.7:3 cover display is much easier to use one-handed when the phone is closed compared to the narrow, tall cover screen on previous Fold models. Expect expanded third-party app support on that cover screen with One UI 9.

Should You Buy the Z Fold 8 Ultra or Z Fold 8?

You want the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra if:

• Camera quality is your priority. The 200MP main sensor and 3x telephoto are only on the Ultra
• You want the largest inner screen (8 inches vs 7.6 inches)
• You are coming from a Z Fold 5 or older and want the most complete upgrade

You want the Galaxy Z Fold 8 if:

• The wider 4:3 shape appeals to you for multitasking, watching video, or just something genuinely different from every foldable that came before it
• You want the lighter option at 201g
• Zoom is not a priority for you
• You want to spend a bit less

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7:

• The Ultra brings meaningful upgrades in battery, charging speed, and the ultrawide camera. Whether those justify the upgrade depends on how much you use the camera
• The Fold 8 is the more interesting upgrade path if the wide format appeals to you

On the Apple question: Apple’s foldable arrives roughly six to eight weeks after Samsung’s launch and costs $2,000 or more. It will be a first-generation device, with limited supply and an untested form factor. Samsung’s Fold line is now in its seventh generation. That maturity advantage is worth something if you plan to buy at launch.

July 22 is when Samsung makes everything official in London. Keep this page bookmarked as specs get updated the moment Samsung announces.