Samsung launches Galaxy Z Fold 8 with passport-style design
Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold 8, a premium foldable phone priced from $1,899 that features a shorter, wider passport-style form factor, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and dual 50-MP rear cameras but no telephoto lens.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 8, positioning it as a new tier below the recently announced Z Fold 8 Ultra. The base model adopts a shorter, wider "passport" shape, measuring 123.9 mm tall, 81.9 mm wide and 9.7 mm thick when folded, and expanding to a 161.4 mm wide inner display that is only 4.5 mm thick. The phone is built with an Advanced Armor aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back, Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 on the cover screen, and a titanium-reinforced inner panel, resulting in a subtle hinge crease.
The device carries an IP48 rating, offering limited water resistance and partial dust protection, and is available in lavender, cream, graphite and pistachio finishes. It sports a 7.6-inch Foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X inner screen (403 ppi) and a 5.5-inch outer Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, both supporting up to 120 Hz refresh rates and 3,000 nits peak brightness. Unlike previous models, the Z Fold 8 uses a hole-punch front camera rather than an under-display sensor.
Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy built on a 3 nm process, the phone offers 12 GB or 16 GB of RAM and storage options from 256 GB to 1 TB. Battery capacity has been increased to 4,800 mAh, with wired charging up to 45 W and 20 W wireless charging, though it lacks magnetic alignment for Qi2 charging.
Camera hardware includes dual 50-MP rear sensors (main f/1.8 with OIS and ultra-wide) and two 10-MP front sensors, but omits a telephoto lens, relying on digital zoom up to 10×. Reviewers note that while daylight photos are bright and detailed, low-light performance and zoomed shots fall short of the Ultra variant and high-end slab phones.
The Z Fold 8 runs Android 17 with One UI 9 and promises up to seven major Android upgrades. Features such as Flex mode, multi-window multitasking, and generative AI tools are retained, though S Pen support has been removed. The phone is marketed as a refined, high-performance foldable for users who prefer the new form factor and can accept the trade-offs in camera capability and stylus functionality.