Samsung's newest foldables are here, featuring a reimagined Galaxy Z Fold 8

At its recent Galaxy Unpacked event in London, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z 8 series, its highly anticipated next-generation foldable lineup. But this year, there's a twist. Instead of announcing two new foldable phones as it usually does, Samsung introduced three: the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 are names you'll likely already recognize, as Samsung has refreshed both lineups every year for the past several years. While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the newest name in the lineup, it isn't an entirely new design. Instead, it's the direct successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, with Samsung adding the "Ultra" branding to position it as its top-tier option, much like the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

The real newcomer in Samsung's foldable lineup is the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Although it shares the familiar Fold name, it's an entirely new take on a book-style foldable. Inspired by the size and shape of a passport, it features a more compact design with a square Cover Display, a wider, though slightly smaller, Main Display than the Fold 8 Ultra, and one fewer rear camera.

Here's everything you need to know about Samsung's three newest foldable phones, all of which are available to pre-order now and launch August 7.

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra focus on refinement

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra finally has a much larger battery

Similar to last year, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra are mostly iterative upgrades over their predecessors rather than major overhauls.

Starting with the Galaxy Z Flip 8, the biggest upgrades over the Z Flip 7 are the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset and a slimmer design. It measures just 13.1mm when folded and 6.1mm when unfolded, while also becoming Samsung's lightest Flip yet at just 180 grams.

Beyond those changes, though, the Z Flip 8 is almost identical to last year's model. It comes in the same 256GB and 512GB storage configurations and features the same display sizes, including a 4.1-inch Flex Window and a 6.9-inch Main Display, although Samsung has trimmed the bezels slightly. The camera hardware is unchanged as well, with a 50-megapixel wide camera paired with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and the battery remains the same at 4,300mAh.

You can check out the full specs below. As for pricing, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 starts at $1,200 USD ($1,550 CAD), a $100 USD increase over last year's model.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is where things get a little more interesting. I was extremely impressed by how thin the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was last year, and Samsung has somehow made it even thinner. It now measures just 4.1mm when unfolded, down from 4.2mm on the Z Fold 7. Even more impressive, though, is that Samsung managed to fit a larger 5,000mAh battery -- up from 4,400mAh last year -- while keeping the phone this incredibly thin.

Samsung also says the battery can charge up to 65 percent in just 30 minutes thanks to 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0. Like the Z Flip 8, the Z Fold 8 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, delivering a modest performance boost over last year's model. For the cameras, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has an upgraded 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, while the main wide lens remains the same 200-megapixel one as last year, along with the 10-megapixel telephoto.

On the display side, Samsung has introduced its new Flex Titanium Technology, which helps make the crease noticeably less visible. In my brief time with the phone at Galaxy Unpacked, I could tell the difference, and it's a welcome improvement that helps enhance immersion. Apart from that, the display experience is largely similar, with the same 8-inch Main Display that's handy for multitasking and watching videos, and the same 6.5-inch Cover Display as last year's Z Fold 7. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2,100 USD ($2,700 CAD), again $100 USD more than last year. You can check out the full specs below.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the star of the show

Familiar name, but an all-new form factor

At Galaxy Unpacked in London, my eyes were immediately drawn to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 because of its redesigned form factor, which Samsung says was inspired by the simplicity and shape of a classic passport. Since a passport is easy to open and comfortable to hold, Samsung set out to recreate that experience with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, putting a fresh spin on the traditional book-style foldable. The result is a device the company says is designed for immersive viewing and content capture.

Looking at the specs, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 still brings a lot to the table despite being smaller and more affordable than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. It packs the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset as the Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, so there's no compromise in performance. It's also available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage configurations, all paired with 12GB of RAM.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is equipped with a 4,800mAh battery, only slightly smaller than the 5,000mAh cell in the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. It's impressively slim too, measuring 9.7mm when folded and just 4.5mm when unfolded, while weighing only 201 grams.

Of course, the displays are the real highlight here, thanks to the new passport-esque design. The Z Fold 8 features a 7.6-inch Main Display with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 1848 x 2448 QXGA+ resolution, alongside a 5.5-inch Cover Display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 1972 x 1248 FHD+ resolution.

Around the back, you'll find a dual-camera system with a 50-megapixel wide camera and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. You can check out the full specs below.

As for pricing, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts at $1,900 USD ($2,400 CAD), $200 USD cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and is available for pre-order now, launching August 7. If you want to see a direct comparison between the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, you can check out my other Pocket-lint story here.