Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: The best foldable, if you can afford it

This year, Samsung launched two book-style foldables: the content-native Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra for “Ultra” performance. While the Fold 8 grabbed much attention this year due to a new form factor, the Ultra model is built on the roots of Samsung’s traditional foldable design, while adding more power and features. We had the chance to review both foldables to find out which one makes more sense for different types of users.

As with each year, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra also comes with major upgrades across the board, making it one of the most impressive foldables on the market, but with a hefty price tag. Priced at Rs 1,99,999, the Fold 8 Ultra brings an ultra-slim design, performance and camera upgrades, and a new immersive display experience with a Flex Titanium layer.

We have been testing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra for over 2 weeks now to see if it brings notable upgrades over the already its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which has already set a benchmark with impressive slimness, powerful performance, and a camera system that closed the gap with Samsung's S series models. 

Here’s a detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra to know if it's worth upgrading.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra design:

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's design is built on the roots of its previous-generation model, offering a familiar book-style foldable form factor, but with a few refinements. The foldable is 1mm slimmer than the Fold 7’s 4.1mm when unfolded. Despite a small change, the smartphone offers a more comfortable in-hand feel.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra also brings upgrades to the folding mechanism with a slimmer Armor FlexHinge, titanium frame, and Gorilla Glass Victus, making it more durable for daily wear and tear. However, the major upgrade you’ll notice is when you unfold the phone. This year, Samsung has introduced a new Flex Titanium Technology,  placed under the display, which claims to reduce display crease, offer flexibility, and maintain the thinness of the foldable. 

But has the crease visibility been reduced? Well its not completely invisible, as you will see subtle lines running across the centre of the display, especially when viewed from certain angles. However, Samsung has managed to bring its least prominent crease yet. Overall, the design feels premium, refined and comfortable to use. However, I would pick the Galaxy Z Fold 8 (review) in terms of practicality in design.

However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has lost two crucial features which can not be overlooked. Firstly, the foldable does not come with S Pen support, despite Samsung marketing the device for productivity, which is a major compromise for a screen size of 8 inches when unfolded. Secondly, it still retains an IP48 water resistance rating, whereas its competitors have started offering IP68 for foldable phones.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra display:

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features a 6.5-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display and an 8-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display, both offering up to a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. Both displays offer impressive responsiveness, brightness, and crisp visuals, making it perfect for day-to-day usage, content viewing, gaming, and multitasking.

For everyday use, the cover screen is the perfect size for checking notifications, replying to messages, browsing social media, and quickly accessing apps. But since it has a narrower screen, you may find typing slightly cramped; if you are someone who operates with one hand, then it may come as an advantage. 

When you unfold the device, you get a square 16:18 ratio, which is perfect for multi-window multitasking, allowing you to run multiple apps side by side. The inner display also gets an anti-reflective coating, which reduces reflection under direct sunlight. However, when it comes to watching content, the aspect ratio does not work well, as it does not fill the screen, showing thick black bars around the video. If your primary idea for a foldable is content consumption, then you may want to consider the Galaxy Z Fold 8. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra camera:

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features a triple camera setup that includes a 200MP wide main camera, a new 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 10MP telephoto lens that offers up to 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. 

In terms of real-time performance, the main camera captures exceptional daylight images with crisp detailing, vibrant colours, and good dynamic range.  However, the low-light image is not quite impressive, as you will have to switch to 50MP or 200MP raw for greater sharpness. 

Coming to the ultrawide camera performance, the Fold 8 Ultra has received an impressive jump from the Fold 7. With a wider f/1.9 aperture and upgraded pixels, brighter, more detailed images with better colour consistency. Lastly, the 3x telephoto lens also captures decent portraits, but beyond the optical zoom, image quality starts to drop.  

In terms of videography, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra now supports 8K recording at 30fps on both the main and ultrawide camera sensors. Overall, the smartphone has an impressive camera setup that delivers desired results in daylight and offers notable improvement, although the low-light performance and telephoto lens leave room for some improvement.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra performance and battery

Similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the Fold 8 Ultra is also powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, paired with up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage. We received the 12GB+256GB variant for testing. While the processor looks impressive on paper, the real-time performance is equally impressive, swiftly handling everyday tasks, multitasking, app switching, demanding games and productivity without any noticeable lag. Throughout the usage, the foldable felt fast and smooth, making it well-suited for power users who rely on a smartphone for the majority of their work, communication and day-to-day tasks.

Even for straight one-hour gaming, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra did not show any signs of weakness in terms of responsiveness and frame rates. We tested the foldable with BGMI and COD, and the experience remained impressive. However, you will notice the smartphone getting uncomfortably hot around the camera area during extended hours of gaming or camera usage. However, you will not face any lag or hiccups during usage.

Coming to the battery life, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is backed by a 5000mAh battery that supports 45W wired charging. In terms of usage, the foldable runs a full day on a single charge with medium to heavy usage. Therefore, you can easily get up to 10 to 12 hours of screen time, which is quite impressive for a foldable phone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra verdict

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is no doubt an all-rounder foldable phone that checks all the boxes of a premium-segment smartphone. It is slim and lightweight, displays are smooth and vibrant, the camera captures breathtaking daylight images, and overall the performance is top-notch. However, at Rs 1,99,999, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a niche smartphone, similar to any other high-end foldable on the market. 

Therefore, if you demand absolute peak foldable performance, want the slimmest book-style design Samsung offers, and budget is no object, then the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra will be able to fulfil all expectations. However, if you are seeking a value-for-money foldable or prefer the content-native form factor, then the Galaxy Z Fold 8 could be a great choice as well.