GoKawiilis a news editor with over a decade’s experience in journalism. He previously worked at Android Police and Tech Advisor.
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Is this the future of foldable phones?
Samsung clearly thinks so. The company has given its new wide foldable the “Z Fold 8” name, positioning the phone not as a widescreen oddity, but as the new normal, the default design for foldables going forward. Rumor has it that Apple feels the same way, with a similar squat shape widely predicted for the first foldable iPhone, expected to launch in September.
Whether you want to give the credit to Apple, Samsung, or even Huawei (which got here first with the Pura X Max), I think they might be onto something. After a week, the Z Fold 8 feels comfortable, natural, and normal, despite being the shortest and widest phone I can remember using. And thanks to the 4:3 inner display — better suited to both reading and watching video — I’m using this as a foldable more than I ever have with previous models.
It isn’t perfect. Not every app plays nicely with the short outer screen, though issues are pretty rare. And the drop from three cameras on last year’s model to two cameras on this year’s feels like a real downgrade for an $1,899 phone.
We won’t really know the future of foldables until Apple enters the market. But with the Z Fold 8, Samsung has already made a good case that this design should stick around.
Until now, foldables have mostly been one of three shapes: flippy, foldy, and more recently (and rarely) trifoldy. Samsung has played a large part in defining those categories. But the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is among the first of a new wave of wider models.
The 5.5-inch outer display is both shorter and wider than typical phones, almost the exact same dimensions as a standard passport, with a 10:16 aspect ratio. It looks a little odd when closed, but makes sense when you open the phone up to see its 7.6-inch, 4:3 inner screen — not coincidentally the exact aspect ratio used by most iPads. This feels more like a foldable tablet than any previous Z Fold yet, and perhaps because of that I’ve found myself opening it up more than any foldable I’ve ever reviewed.
A little less content fits vertically on the outer screen, but it usually looks fine. Though some pages, even One UI’s default Quick Settings, require extra scrolling. Opened up, the Z Fold 8’s inner screen is a great shape for movies, though still has letterboxing. It’s arguably even better for reading in portrait.
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