Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 review | Infinium-tech

Introduction

Samsung expanded its foldable lineup in a big way this year. Of course, the naming could have been better chosen, but now we have a completely new form factor in the Z Fold8. The old, well-established Fold is also alive and well, but now called the Z Fold8 Ultra.

The new naming makes sense in isolation. The traditional form-factor (Z Fold8 Ultra) is the true foldable flagship – with all the bells and whistles. The regular Z Fold8 cuts some corners to achieve a lighter, thinner body, the most obvious of which is the camera setup.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 specifications at a glance:

• Body: 161.4×123.9×4.5 mm, 201 g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus Ceramic 3) (folded), plastic front (unfolded), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP48 dust and water resistant (dust > 1 mm; submersion up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes), advanced armor aluminum frame.
• Display: 7.60″ foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 3000 nits (peak), 1828x2448px resolution, 12.05:9 aspect ratio, 403ppi; Flex Titanium technology, Cover Display:, Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, 5.5 inches, 1248 x 1972 pixels, 428 ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-1-AD Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm).
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.x.
• OS/Software: Up to Android 17, 7 major Android upgrades, One UI 9.
• rear camera: wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/1.9, 120-degree, 1/2.5″, 0.7µm, Dual Pixel PDAF.
• Front Camera: wide (main): 10 MP, f/2.2, 18mm, 1/3.0″, 1.12μm; wide (main): 10 MP, f/2.2, 24mm, 1/3.0″, 1.12μm.
• video capture: rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, Gyro-EIS, OIS; front camera:4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, Gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4800mAh; 45W wired, QC2.0, 63% in 30 minutes, 20W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; é SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD; NFC.
• various: fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Samsung DeX (Desktop Experience support), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Samsung has made sure to give it impeccable build quality and materials, just like the Z Fold8 Ultra. Both the displays, while differing in size and shape, promise very similar features and performance. Both are 120Hz LTPO AMOLED panels.

You’re not giving up any performance by going for the new form factor though – the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is still on board.

The rest of the specs also seem to be at par with Ultra. The Z Fold8 has stereo speakers, two 10MP selfie cameras and even though the difference in battery capacity is negligible, the Z Fold8 packs a solid 4,800 mAh – which is just 200 mAh smaller than the new Si/C pack inside the Z Fold8 Ultra. Not bad at all, especially considering that the Z Fold8 is about 15 grams lighter.

Samsung also went ahead and added its new optimized 45W charging to the Z Fold8. This is the fastest charging rating of any Samsung foldable so far.

unbox

Seeing as this is a modern Samsung device, don’t set your expectations too high in terms of accessories in the box. The Z Fold8 comes in what we’ll consider the standard Samsung box at this point. It’s a two-piece cardboard case that has this kind of weird gray printing on the exterior, which starts to make more sense when you realize that Samsung has removed all plastic from the packaging and prints everything in soy ink. Still, the box is sturdy enough for safe transport, and there’s even a cradle for the phone inside.

Accessories are almost non-existent. Samsung has not included a charger in the box for many years. There is no complimentary matter either. You just get a Type-C to Type-C cable. This is one of Samsung’s passive, non-marked 3A cables, so you won’t find a better 5A cable than this. That said, we know for a fact that Samsung’s modern 45W charging works just fine with a 3A cable, so there’s that.