Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra Review: The Thinness Remains Unreal

This year, Samsung unveiled two Z Fold devices: the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and the shorter, fatter Z Fold8 non-Ultra. The review focuses on the former, highlighting the similarities and differences between it and its predecessor. The Z Fold8 Ultra bears a striking resemblance to last year's Z Fold7, with only minor updates. Samsung's decision to maintain the same thin chassis, both folded and unfolded, proves to be a wise choice, as the device is comfortable to hold and handle.

Powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 SoC, 12GB RAM, and a 4,800mAh battery, the Ultra offers top-notch performance inside its compact form factor. Additionally, the phone maintains an impressive weight of 215g.

The camera setup remains unchanged, featuring a triple rear camera configuration with a 200MP wide lens, 50MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The front-facing cameras are also 10MP cameras, positioned on both the cover and main displays. The displays are largely the same as the previous generation, with an 8-inch main display, a 6.5-inch cover display, and a Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X panel.

Both screens are protected by Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, and Samsung's Flex Titanium technology adds strength to the main display. A significant improvement in this year's model is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 processor, which represents a substantial leap from the previous generation. While the phone struggles to run some of the available Android UL benchmarks, the user experience remains smooth and fluid, with barely noticeable crease in the main display compared to the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

Notably, the Z Fold8 Ultra lacks some of Samsung's latest features, such as the Privacy Display, which may require further refinement in future iterations. Despite this, the phone boasts a punchier color gamut, decent battery life (over 15 hours on average in playback tests), and an integrated fingerprint scanner, providing an overall excellent user experience.