On the just-concluded Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung has unveiled the new foldables with three new models this time: the Galaxy Z Fold8 which is now wider and shorter, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra that acts as the direct successor of the book-style format, and Galaxy Z Flip8 which is basically a Z Flip7 refresh with mostly new color choices.
Headline Feature: Flex Titanium, And Of Course, AI
Across the series, Samsung’s new Flex Titanium technology combines a titanium-alloy film and titanium plate, intended to make displays thinner while improving durability and reducing visibility of the display crease. While there are some nice additions such as silicon-carbon batteries (finally), Samsung barely spent time talking about new hardware features as it is still too preoccupied on AI features and short videos – the amount of AI slops and depictions of short video content in its keynote is not a great look for the brand, in my opinion.
Either way, the Android 17-based OneUI 9 will get even more AI features, including Now Nudge, which surfaces relevant next steps in the form of shortcut buttons during conversations, while Gemini Intelligence supports app automation across more than 40 apps and services, alongside Gemini Notebook for organizing notes, images, and files. The devices also connect with Galaxy Watch Ultra2, the Galaxy Watch9 series, and upcoming “intelligent eyewear” (from brands like Gentle Monster) for cross-device AI features.
On the privacy front, One UI 9 also introduces an AI Assistant Activity dashboard, which allows users to review AI automations in one place, alongside expanded Privacy Alerts that flag potential background permission risks. We’ll have to see if the Galaxy AI section of the settings will be simplified as the current iteration looks plain overwhelming for most (and disabling is a hassle), which probably is in the brand’s favor to keep usage metrics high because that’s what CEOs of tech brands love these days.
Anyhow, let’s talk about the devices themselves.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
The Galaxy Z Fold8 is the newest member of the foldable lineup, despite directly inheriting the name from the book-style foldable from the previous generation. The 5.5-inch cover screen uses a 10:16 ratio with FHD+ (1972 x 1248) resolution similar to laptop displays, while the unfolded 4:3 main display spans 7.6 inches with a 2448 x 1848 resolution. The new form factor measures 9.7mm thick folded and 4.5mm thick unfolded, while width measures 81.9mm folded and 161.4mm unfolded; height is 123.9mm. It weighs 201g, which is the lightest among Z Fold models, Samsung says.
Inside the Galaxy Z Fold8 is the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset and a 4,800mAh battery with 45W fast charging and 20W wireless charging. It has two cameras on its rear, both 50MP sensors each responsible for wide angle and ultrawide duties; no telephotos featured here. Both the inside and cover selfie cameras are identical 10MP sensors, with the inner unit featuring wider FOVs. Four colors are available, in Graphite, Cream, Lavender, and Pistachio. Pricing is at RM7,299 for 12+256GB, RM8,099 for 12+512GB, and RM9,699 for 16GB+1TB.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra
The book-style form factor now has a new name in Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, though the chassis has not seen any changes. Same dimensions (the 0.1mm thinner unfolded thickness barely counts), same weight, same cover screen, same cameras (except for the newly-upgraded 50MP ultrawide), and even the inner display is largely the same, just with higher resolutions.
What’s new is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset and a new silicon-carbon 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired fast charging, 20W wireless charging, and a new graphite cooling structure. It is available in Graphite, Cream, Violet Shadow, and Green Shadow color options, with 12+256GB priced at RM8,099, the 12+512GB at RM8,899 and the 16GB+1TB option at an eye-watering RM10,499.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8
Finally, the Galaxy Z Flip8 is now 8 grams lighter than the Z Flip7, and 0.4mm thinner when unfolded; which is to say, it’s not going to be felt by your hand unless you have superhuman abilities. OneUI 9 does focus on FlexWindow cover screen in particular with more appropriately-designed layout to accommodate the edge-to-edge screen, but we suspect Z Flip7 will also get the same feature later on. (For some inexplicable reason, Samsung calls it an “AI-native interface”.)
Hardware upgrades are very limited, with the only major change being Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2600 chipset now taking over the processing duty, featuring new Arm C1 series processor cores (the chipset uses 1X+3P+6E layout, the “Prime” core being the only C1-Ultra and the rest are all C1-Pros); the cameras meanwhile are the exact same hardware found since the Z Flip6, only this time getting ProVisual Engine for its software processing, and Super Steady video stabilization with a horizontal axis lock option. Battery stays at 4,300mAh, with 25W fast charging that is slightly improved to go from 0-55% by the 30th minute.
The new flip-style foldable is priced at RM5,399 for 12+256GB and RM6,199 for 12+512GB; color options are very different this time, with Mint being the only one carried over from the previous generation. The new colors include Graphite, Cream, and Pink.
Pokdepinion: Looks like the memory pricing surge has caught up to the smartphone market by now.
