Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 First Impression: The foldable we've been waiting for?

Over the years, Samsung has steadily refined its book-style foldable with taller and narrower displays. But in 2026, the South Korean giant has taken a different approach, and that too before the anticipated Apple Fold. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 unfolds like a notebook, drawing similarities with the rumoured design of the Apple foldable. With the whole new size and aspect ratio, Galaxy Z Fold 8 offers a more practical experience, which finally makes sense.

I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 for over 3 days to understand how the new design caters to day-to-day usage, and if it makes the most practical Fold Samsung has built yet. Here’s my initial impression of the notebook-style foldable. 

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: New size, new display

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 flaunts a new wider design with a 10:16 cover display and a 4:3 main display, bringing a new foldable experience. The company claims that it is the world’s lightest foldable-ever, weighing just 201 grams, which seems quite impressive, and also feels comfortable in hand. 

With its wider display, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 offers a more practical experience on both screens, irrespective of the device's orientation. At every angle, the smartphone provided a smoother and more immersive experience compared to the taller foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. In terms of content viewing, multitasking, and day-to-day usage, the size feels more practical.

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Coming to the display, Samsung has upgraded the screen with a new Flex Titanium display that it used to make the foldable slimmer, lighter, and more efficient. In addition, it is also said to reduce the display crease. However, it is not quite invisible, and it may become more prominent with greater usage. 

Both screens feature a 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2x display, which is also said to be brighter at 3000nits. It also supports anti-reflective coating and the Vision Booster technology, offering a crisp and vibrant viewing experience. In day-to-day usage, I used the cover screen mainly for social media scrolling, messaging, and other day-to-day functionalities. Whereas, I the bigger screen was perfect for content consumption, news reading, and multitasking.

However, it is not the best in water resistance, as it supports an IP48 rating.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Premium Snaps

Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 features a dual camera setup that includes a 50MP wide main camera and a 50MP ultrawide camera. Initially, we tested the foldable during daylight conditions, and like any other premium Samsung phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 also delivered impressive results. 

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The images appeared bright, vibrant, and the colours were mostly accurate. However, we are yet to test its capabilities across ultrawide mode, night photography, portrait, and others. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Practical performance

Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor paired with 12GB RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage. While we are yet to test the foldable in e in heavy-duty workloads, early usage offers promising day-to-day performance when it comes to browsing, scrolling, casual gaming, and content viewing.  In addition to its power performance specifications, the foldable also offers advanced AI-powered features with Galaxy AI, and with the new One UI 9, the overall experience feels more polished and cluter free.

The foldable packs a 4800mAh battery that supports 45W fast charging. In three days, the foldable was charged just once with medium usage and screen time of around 5 hours. In addition, the smartphone takes slightly more than an hour to fully charge.