A group of tech reviewers descending on London’s Borough Market clutching identical lavender foldable phones was enough to make one chocolate-covered strawberry vendor wonder if he’d stumbled onto the set of a sci-fi film. “Why do you all have the same phone?” he asked, mouth agape. “I feel like I’m in the Matrix.” It’s a fair reaction when dozens of people are walking around with oddly squarish Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 devices, fresh off the company’s latest Unpacked event. But beyond the novelty of its passport-size silhouette lies what might be Samsung’s most enjoyable foldable yet — a device that adapts to how you actually live rather than forcing you to work around it.
The Z Fold 8 ditches last year’s tall, narrow design for something altogether different: a squat 4:3 aspect ratio that feels like a compact slab phone when closed and a mini tablet when opened. At just 201 grams and measuring 9.7mm thick folded, it is the lightest Z Fold Samsung has produced. The reimagined shape makes it surprisingly versatile. Open it in landscape and the 7.6-inch display becomes ideal for YouTube, web browsing or running two apps side by side. Flip it vertically and it transforms into something closer to an oversized standard phone, perfect for scrolling Instagram or typing out messages one-handed. Even the smaller 5.5-inch cover screen holds up better than expected, handling quick texts and emails without feeling cramped.
Samsung has also made real progress on the crease — that perennial foldable bugbear that has dogged the category since inception. The company’s new Flex Titanium display makes the folding line so subtle you barely notice it under your thumb. The camera system delivers solid quality across everyday shooting scenarios, though photography enthusiasts may lament the absence of a dedicated telephoto lens. Battery life has improved over the already respectable Z Fold 7, easily getting through a full day of mixed use including video streaming, social media scrolling and multitasking across multiple apps propped up in tent mode on a kitchen counter while unpacking groceries or catching up on period dramas.
None of this comes cheaply. The Z Fold 8 starts at $1,900 for the base 256GB model, placing it firmly in luxury territory alongside the $2,100 Z Fold 8 Ultra and the $1,200 Z Flip 8 launching August 7. There are other compromises too: no built-in magnets mean Qi2 charging isn’t fully supported, and Samsung’s AI features remain inconsistent enough that they can’t be relied upon uniformly. Yet these shortcomings fade against how genuinely delightful the phone is to use daily. With rumors swirling that Apple is preparing its own wider book-style iPhone potentially arriving this fall, following devices like Google’s Pixel Fold and Microsoft’s Surface Duo before it, the squarer aspect ratio could become the new normal. For now, Samsung has staked its claim early with a device whose strengths comfortably outweigh its limitations — assuming your wallet can handle the hit.