GoKawiilWith all the buzz of anticipation surrounding the rumored foldable iPhone that Apple is widely expected to announce this fall, it's hard not to wonder what the good people at Samsung are thinking.
After all, Samsung has had foldable phones since 2019, and at its recent Unpacked event in London, the company unveiled its 8th generation devices. That's a lot of iteration, design refinement, and technology development, yet it's not clear Samsung is getting, or will get, the credit it deserves for that work and for creating the category in the first place.
Still, the company keeps pushing the foldable experience forward, and these latest 8th generation devices show the real-world expertise Samsung has built up over the years. What's particularly interesting about this launch is the addition of a new passport-style, wider but shorter form factor, simply called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 (below), alongside the existing pocket-sized Flip and the taller, narrower flagship, now renamed the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
For clarity's sake, we wish Samsung had kept "Z Fold 8" for the top-of-the-line model and called the new form factor "Z Fold 8 Wide," as was widely rumored, but that's not what happened.
The new Z Fold 8 is about 1.36" shorter and 0.36" wider than the 8 Ultra, resulting in a smaller but more tablet-like 7.6" 4:3 aspect ratio inner display and a 5.5" 16:10 outer display, versus an 8" nearly square inner display and 6.5" 21:9 outer display on the 8 Ultra.
If the rumors hold up, this passport-style design closely mirrors what Apple is expected to unveil this September with its own foldable iPhone. In other words, Samsung is essentially leading the way on foldable design and innovation and yet, there are many who believe Apple could end up getting credit for evolving or even creating the foldable smartphone category.
To be fair, an Apple foldable will almost certainly drive far more attention to the category overall, and Samsung should benefit from that halo effect, but it still doesn't feel entirely fair.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
On the technology side, Samsung packed several notable advancements into the 8th generation lineup. Chief among them is an improved screen structure the company calls Flex Titanium.
... continue reading