Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra launched with a bigger battery, faster charging, and Ultra cameras 39%
By Adamya Sharma14%
7/22/2026, 1:00:40 PM
Topics: Android Phones
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Samsung has announced the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Watch 9, and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra builds on last year’s Z Fold 7 with a bigger battery, 45W charging, ultra-grade cameras, and an easier-to-open design.
Unlike the new wider Galaxy Z Fold 8, the Fold 8 Ultra remains Samsung’s flagship book-style foldable with premium hardware and AI features.
After what felt like an endless stream of leaks and rumors, Samsung has finally made its next-generation foldables official.
The company used today’s Unpacked event to unveil the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Flip 8, while also taking the wraps off the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.
The foldable lineup is where things get really interesting, though.
Samsung is selling two book-style foldables for the first time ever, but don’t think of them as two versions of the same phone.
They’re built with entirely different priorities in mind.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a brand-new, wider foldable designed around media consumption and portability.
The real successor to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, however, is the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.
It’s Samsung’s most premium foldable yet, keeping the familiar phone-like form factor while addressing the Fold 7’s biggest drawbacks.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra design: Slimmer, easier to open, and more durable
Samsung made headlines last year by dramatically slimming down the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
This year, the company has refined that design rather than reinvented it.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is just 4.1mm thick when unfolded, making it even thinner than its predecessor while retaining a folded thickness of 8.9mm.
At 215g, it weighs the same as last year’s model, but Samsung still calls it its slimmest Fold ever, thanks to the thinner unfolded profile.
More importantly, Samsung has addressed one of the Fold 7’s biggest annoyances, i.e., opening the phone.
The company says the new Armor Flex Hinge has a 20% wider opening gap, making the device easier to unfold, while a subtle lip along the edge gives your fingers something to grip.
Anyone who struggled to pry open the extremely flat Fold 7 will definitely appreciate this quality-of-life improvement.
Samsung has also introduced a new Flex Titanium display structure on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.
The folding panel now uses an ultra-thin titanium alloy film beneath the OLED layer alongside a titanium support plate, which the company says creates a flatter display, almost eliminating a visual crease, while also improving durability.
The phone comes in Violet Shadow, Graphite, Cream, and an online-exclusive Green Shadow.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra specs: Samsung finally upgrades the battery
One of our biggest criticisms of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was that Samsung paired a $2,000 foldable with the same 4,400mAh battery and 25W charging it had been using for years.
Thankfully, that’s changing this year.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh battery alongside upgraded 45W wired charging, with Samsung claiming you’ll reach 65% charge in just 30 minutes using a compatible charger.
The company also promises 14% longer battery life than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and up to 27 hours of video playback.
Notably, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, along with the Fold 8 and Flip 8, is among the first set of Samsung phones to launch with silicon-carbon batteries.
This makes the battery one of the biggest hardware upgrades on the phone this year, bringing Samsung closer to what we’d expect from a 2026 “Ultra”- branded flagship.
The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor and starts with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Samsung will also offer higher-capacity models with up to 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage, depending on the market.
The displays should also look sharper and brighter this year.
The Fold 8 Ultra retains its 8-inch inner OLED panel, which is now rated at 3,000-nit peak brightness with a pixel density of 442 ppi.
The company has also added an anti-reflective coating to the inner screen to reduce glare and reflection.
Unfortunately, the 6.5-inch cover display doesn’t get the same treatment.
Samsung says the unfolded workspace is effectively equivalent to having two 6.5-inch phones side by side, reinforcing the device’s multitasking focus.
One feature that still hasn’t returned, however, is S Pen support.
Samsung once again omits stylus compatibility, meaning those hoping for the productivity feature to make a comeback will be disappointed.
Ultra cameras finally live up to the name
Samsung leaned heavily on the “Ultra Unfolds” slogan last year, but the camera system still wasn’t quite on par with its Galaxy S Ultra phones.
This year, that appears to have changed.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra uses what Samsung says are the same rear camera sensors as the Galaxy S26 Ultra, including a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide sensor, and a 10MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom.
You also get a 10MP camera on the main screen and another 10MP sensor on the cover display.
Beyond the upgraded hardware, Samsung is also introducing several new camera and video features.
These include Nightography Video, Super Steady with Horizontal Lock, APV codec support, Cine LUT presets for Pro Video mode, 8K recording and editing, and a video auto-reframing feature called My FanCam, which can automatically keep a person centered while filming sports or other moving subjects.
The overall camera island has also been redesigned to resemble the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Galaxy AI leans even harder into multitasking
Samsung has always positioned foldables as the best showcase for Galaxy AI, and keeping with that tradition, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra supports Now Nudge with Multi-Window, which can proactively suggest opening another app based on what you’re doing.
For example, if someone messages you asking whether you’re free at a certain time, the phone can suggest opening your calendar in split-screen.
Samsung says supported actions include creating calendar events, viewing schedules, browsing locations, saving places, and composing emails.
The company is also introducing a new suite of AI experiences, including Gemini Intelligence for task automation, which can complete more than 40 actions across apps without manually switching between them.
This makes the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, along with the other new foldables, the first phones to launch with Gemini Intelligence.
Gemini Notebook, previously known as NotebookLM, also comes pre-installed on the phone.
How is the Fold 8 Ultra different from the Galaxy Z Fold 8?
The biggest surprise this year isn’t the Fold 8 Ultra itself, but the fact that Samsung is selling another book-style foldable alongside it.
Unlike the Ultra, the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 is wider and lighter, weighing just 201g.
It features a much wider 5.5-inch cover display designed around short-form content, a 7.6-inch internal display, a smaller 4,800mAh battery, and a dual 50MP rear camera setup instead of the Ultra’s flagship 200MP system.
It also shares the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, 45W charging, Galaxy AI features, and the lack of S Pen support.
In other words, if you want Samsung’s absolute best foldable with its top cameras, biggest battery, and premium hardware, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is still the flagship.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra price and availability
Samsung is once again pushing the upper limits of flagship smartphone pricing with its top-tier foldable.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2,099.99 in the US for the 12GB/256GB model, making it $100 more expensive than last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, which launched at $1,999.99.
The all-new Galaxy Z Fold 8, meanwhile, starts at $1,899.99, positioning it as a more affordable alternative for those who want Samsung’s new wider foldable without stepping up to the Ultra model.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
Flagship hardware • Multitasking • Big battery • Thin design
MSRP: $2,099.99
Samsung's ultimate foldable just got even better
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra refines Samsung's flagship foldable with a slimmer design, a larger 5,000mAh battery, faster 45W charging, Galaxy S26 Ultra cameras, and smarter AI features.
If you want Samsung's most capable foldable yet, this is the one to buy.
See price at Amazon
Both phones are available for preorder starting today and come in four colors.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is offered in Violet Shadow, Graphite, Cream, and an online-exclusive Green Shadow, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 comes in Lavender, Graphite, Cream, and online-exclusive Pistachio.
Samsung is also sweetening the deal by bundling six months of the Google AI Pro plan with all Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 8 preorders.
As is typical for Samsung launches, buyers can also expect trade-in offers and other preorder promotions, with regional offers varying by market.
In the US, Samsung is offering savings of up to $1,200 with an eligible trade-in, or up to $200 without a trade-in, toward other eligible devices when you pre-order on Samsung.com.
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