The iPhone Duo is ticking all of the right boxes at the moment, wowing just about everyone that's been able to use it ahead of its official release Oct. 23. We still don't know how much of a success the phone will be, especially considering the $2,000 price tag, but you can be sure other phone makers are watching closely — especially Samsung.

Samsung has been the de-factor king of the foldable phone business for several years. Mainly because, outside of China, the best foldables have been limited to Google and Motorola — who haven't exactly put up much of a fight. Apple could finally bring the Galaxy Fold series some serious competition, and if I were Samsung I'd be looking for ways to make my foldables stand out. Even if it means blatantly copying Apple's ideas.

Here are five things the Galaxy Z Fold 9 should steal from iPhone Duo, and two things it should leave well alone.

What Z Fold 9 should steal from iPhone Duo

Under display camera

Samsung had under-display cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold lineup for four generations, from the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to Z Fold 6. The quality of those cameras was a little... weak, to say the least, so it's no surprise that Samsung pulled them for the last two generations. But maybe now is the time to bring them back.

Apple has added an under-display camera to the iPhone Duo's foldable display, though this one isn't designed for selfies. Apple has referred to it as a FaceTime camera, and talked about its use as an aid for video calling. That suggests the quality isn't all that either, but by limiting its use cases (at least in marketing) Apple can avoid the same criticisms as Samsung.

This means the Z Fold 9 could be the perfect time for Samsung to bring the under-display camera back — and give you more of your screen back. Plus, considering you can already take selfies with the rear cameras and the hole-punch on the cover display, I'd avoid using it as a way to take photos of yourself.

S Pen support

The loss of the stylus is one of the things Galaxy foldable fans have been complaining about since the release of Galaxy Z Fold 7. The stylus requires a special digitizer layer in the display, which was removed in an apparent attempt to reduce thickness. Which isn't a great reason to remove a long-standing feature, especially when it leaves Galaxy foldables feeling a little bit lacking.

Not only does the iPhone Duo have stylus support, it uses the Apple Pencil USB-C — which is compatible with almost every iPad on sale. There's no special iPhone-exclusive stylus; it's the one a lot of iPad users may already have. The same couldn't be said for past Z Fold models, which needed a special foldable-exclusive stylus designed for the more fragile folding display.

I felt that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra was missing out on account of its lost stylus, and the launch of Z Fold 9 would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce that support. Ideally, it would the form of a stylus that will work across Galaxy devices, including tablets and other phones.

IP68 durability

Google was the first foldable phone maker in the U.S. to add IP68 water and dust resistance to foldables with Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and Apple has followed its example with iPhone Duo. Galaxy Z Fold 8, on the other hand only has an IP48 rating, which means it's totally exposed to dust — even if it is sealed tight against water.

Obviously, that's not a good look for Samsung, especially when you consider all the moving parts associated with a foldable hinge. You should be able to take your $1,900 to $2,000 foldable to the beach. So Samsung definitely needs to do better with the Z Fold 9.

Magnetic wireless charging built in

One of the things I'll never understand is why Samsung is so seemingly against adding magnetic wireless charging to its phones — foldables included. The phones support Qi2 wireless charging technology, but they lack the integrated magnets that let chargers and accessories snap into place.

One reason I was given was that the magnets interfered with the S Pen, and Samsung couldn't offer both. But considering the iPhone Duo has Apple Pencil support and MagSafe, it's clear that there is a way to offer both features without asking users to compromise. Because a magnetic case system is just a poor show for a phone company that sells devices for close to two thousand dollars.

An actual Vapor Chamber

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset is powerful. But the phones that use it can get quite hot, and a lack of cooling can lead to worse sustained performance.That's why Samsung needs to add a vapor chamber, much like the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the iPhone Duo.

Vapor chambers help move heat across the phone, allowing it to dissipate more evenly, and keep key components from overheating. It also helps improve sustained performance, and les the phone work harder for longer.

Admittedly, the Z Fold 8 does have pretty good sustained performance compared to the S26 Ultra (72.4% versus 53.9%) but it's behind the iPhone 18 Pro Max (79.4%), But can you imagine how much better things could be if there was a vapor chamber to help keep everything cool?

Two things iPhone Duo can keep

Curved corners

Apple loves curved corners on its phones, a design that has made its way to foldables as well. Samsung may have opted for more curved corners on its non-folding phones, like Galaxy S26, but for the time being foldables have retained the sharper right-angles Samsung was once known for. The Galaxy Z Fold 9 should stay the same way.

My issue with the iPhone Duo is the lack of symmetry in the design. If you look at it from the cover display, the disparity between the left side and right side is painfully apparent. It looks wrong to have curved corners on one side and rounded edges on the other, even if you don't actually see that when the phone is unfolded.

The Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra are the total opposite, with a symmetrical design regardless of which screen you're actually looking at — and it makes Galaxy foldables all the better to look at. Plus, you're likely to get a little bit more screen space if you're using the phone in certain display configurations.

The eSIM only design

Apple has been aggressively pushing eSIMs the past few years, and that's led to a foldable with no support for physical SIM cards — regardless of which part of the world you buy it in. Samsung, on the other hand, has stuck to the physical nano SIM slot on all its flagship phones — and it should continue that trend for Z Fold 9.

I get the appeal of eSIMs in certain situations, but I also feel as though they come with a key disadvantage compared to physical SIM cards. A physical SIM pops out of your phone and into another device without issue, while eSIMs have to be digitally transferred. The process is not as awkward or laborious as it used to be, but it's still not as convenient.

If you prefer eSIMs, that's great, more power to you. But it's good to offer users a choice on how they connect to cell networks, rather than deciding for you and giving you no flexibility. Which is a very Apple way of doing things.

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We asked Tom's Guide readers if they would rather pick up Apple's new iPhone Duo or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the winner was quite surprising.

With 2,761 votes, one device proved far more popular than the other by more than double the votes, but was it the Apple iPhone Duo or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8? Check out the results below.

Which flagship foldable would you rather purchase?

• 1st place: 62%, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
• 2nd place: 23%, iPhone Duo
• 3rd place: 15%, Neither

With a total of 1,705 votes, 62% of respondents said the Samsung foldable is their preferred foldable phone. Apple's Duo came in a distant second with 632 votes, or 23%.

Meanwhile, 424 people said they weren't interested in either phone. If you find yourself in that camp, what would you buy instead? Or is this category too pricey for you?

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the winner, but why?

So why did the Galaxy Z Fold 8 dominate our poll over the iPhone Duo.

I think it comes down to a few of factors in the battle between the Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo: design, price and expertise.

The Duo starts at $1,999 for the 256GB version and goes up to over $3k for the 2TB option. Samsung's foldable starts at $1,899, not a big difference but with how expensive the world has gotten in the last two years every dollar matters. No, Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB variant but the top-end 1TB model will cost you $2,499, again $100 than the equivalent Duo version.

Additionally, the Z Fold 8 offers a thinner and lighter design than the iPhone Duo. And Samsung lets you run more than two apps at once, which is better for multitasking. Plus, Samsung has been iterating foldables for eight generations, while this is Apple's first attempt.

There is concern over visibility and brightness with the matte finish on the Duo display, which is meant to hide the crease. Pictures of CEO John Ternus at the Emmys recently stirred up controversy online, but we thought it was plenty bright in our hands-on time.

As we've found, though, the iPhone Duo has multiple features that the Z Fold 8 doesn't, including iP68 durability, stylus support, faster charging, and a vapor chamber for better cooling.

What you have said

One reader said in a comment that they were staying away from all things Apple as they didn't want to get sucked into another ecosystem. "I have Samsungs 8 ultra, and I am impressed with it," they said.

As a counterpoint, another reader wrote that the "crucial factor" when comparing Samsung and Apple is Apple's "after-purchase service experience."

"Functionally, I have liked both platforms, but there is a fundamental difference in corporate philosophy. Apple actively invests in both technology and the customer service infrastructure required to support it. Samsung, on the other hand, focuses almost entirely on tech specs while leaving its customer support framework completely neglected," they said.

Bottom line

The iPhone Duo may be the belle of the ball after its recent announcement, but you won't be able to actually hold it in your hands until October 23.

Meanwhile, the Z Fold 8 is available right now and is a pretty impressive foldable, even if Apple's device beats it in some areas.

Let us know: why would you pick the Duo or the Z Fold 8? Don't like either? What's your replacement?

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The world of foldable phones is about to change in a big way, and it's all thanks to the release of the iPhone Duo. Apple's first foldable phone has generated a lot of buzz, and it certainly has the brand recognition going for it, but does it have what it takes to take the crown from Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8?

Samsung has almost a decade of experience making the best foldables, and the newly-released Galaxy Z Fold 8 is easily one of its best yet. It may lack some of the features of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, but it makes up for it with a wider, passport-shaped design that is much more comfortable to hold and use — especially for streaming movies and TV shows.

The question is, which of these wide foldables is the right one for you? We compare the iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 to help you decide.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Specs

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Price & availability

The iPhone Duo pre-orders open on October 16, with a release date scheduled for October 23. Prices start at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499 for a model with 256GB of storage. Higher storage options are available including 512GB ($2,199 / £2,199 / AU$3,899), 1TB ($2,599 / £2,599 / AU$4,699) and 2TB ($3,199 / £3,199 / AU$5,899).

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is on sale now from all major retailers and carriers. Prices start at $1,899/£1,699/AU$2,699 for a model with 256GB of Storage and 12GB RAM. The 512GB model is $2,099 / £1,869 / AU$2,999, and a 1TB model with 16GB of RAM will cost you $2,499 / £2,209 / AU$3,599.

While Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB option, it does have the price advantage, with comparable storage costing $100 less in the U.S., with significantly higher gaps in the U.K. and Australia.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Design & Display

Both phones have the wider passport-shaped design that's currently in fashion in the foldable phone market. Both unfold to produce a larger 7.6-inch display, and have an aspect ratio close to 4:3 — which is the same as a lot of popular tablets. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has the slightly larger cover display, measuring 5.5-inches to Apple's 5.4-inches.

The Z Fold 8's screen offers an anti-glare coating to improve visibility in bright conditions. The iPhone Duo answers with a nano-texture matte display. Both phones do a good job of minimizing the the crease, though additional time with the Z Fold 8 has proven that the creasing does get more prominent — regardless of how uniform the display is out of the box. However, we will see how the iPhone Duo's screen performs when it is released.

The most notable design differences come with size and weight. While the iPhone Duo is thinner than the likes of the iPhone Air, it's not quite as slim as the Z Fold 8, which sits at 4.5mm to the Duo's 5.2 mm when both phones are unfolded.

The Z Fold 8 is also noticeably lighter, with a weight of 7.09 ounces, versus the iPhone Duo's 8.96 ounces. That mass actually makes the Duo the heaviest iPhone Apple has released, likely on account of it being a double-sided phone.

The iPhone Duo has a major durability advantage, though. Only it offers IP68 durability for water and dust resistance. Samsung's foldable only has water resistance.

Both phones feature fingerprint scanners in the power buttons, and hole-punch cameras in the cover display. However, the Z Fold 8 also has a second hole-punch camera in the foldable screen, while Apple has opted for an under-display lens.

The Z Fold 8 is available to buy in Graphite, Cream, Lavender and Pistachio coloring, while iPhone Duo is only available in Night Sky (Blue) and Star White.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Cameras

Both foldable phones come with a dual rear camera setup, consisting of main and ultrawide angle lenses. Sadly, unlike their non-folding counterparts, there is no telephoto lens here. That means all zooming capabilities are done digitally.

The iPhone Duo offers a pair of 48MP cameras, while the Z Fold 8 has 50MP. This seemingly gives the Z Fold 8 an advantage, but we won't know how these two cameras compare until we get an iPhone Duo for testing.

The Z Fold 8 managed to produce excellent photos in our testing other than its 10x digital zoom shots. We expect that the iPhone Duo will offer similar quality snaps, though Apple's computational photography could push things a little further.

The front cameras are a little different, since Apple hasn't just added identical lenses on both screens like Samsung did. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 features two 10MP hole-punch cameras, one in each of its screens. The iPhone Duo has a 12MP hole punch camera on the cover display and an unnamed "FaceTime Camera" that sits under the display.

This camera appears when in use, and has been advertised as useful for FaceTime and other video calls — rather than selfies and photography. That suggests that the quality isn't fantastic, but we will evaluate that in our iPhone Duo review.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Performance

Apple used to dominate at performance, but in recent years Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips have caught up pretty fast — particularly thanks to Samsung's custom "for Galaxy" chipsets. The Z Fold 8 has one of those chips, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, which offers better performance than you'd find on the standard Gen 5 chip.

The iPhone Duo is set to come with the A20 Pro chipset, Apple's latest and best SoC that promises to be 20% faster than the A19 Pro, with a 40% improvement to graphics performance — which is something Apple chips have often struggled with. The chip also contains a second neural engine, which is said to double the AI processing power.

We haven't benchmarked the iPhone Duo yet, but we anticipate that the A20 Pro will outperform Samsung's foldable in terms of sheer speed but also sustained performance. That's because only the Duo has a vapor chamber for cooling.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Software & AI

Apple has been far behind in the AI arms race, but the new Siri AI that comes with the iOS 27 update is a lot more capable than before. Siri can perform multiple tasks with a single voice prompt; it offers smarter personal context; and you get more expressive voice options. There's also new AI-powered photo editing features like Reframe and Clean up.

The iPhone Duo also comes with a new Smart Tracking camera feature, similar to the Z Fold 8's MyFanCam, which tracks users in frame when recording video.

The Z Fold 8 comes with all the best Galaxy AI features, including Now Nudge's contextual resurfacing tool, Now Brief to prepare you for different parts of the day, and the advanced version of Circle to Search that can identify multiple things at once.

Multitasking might be the clincher between these two devices, though. The Z Fold 8 supports up to four windows at once, as well as floating app windows that can sit wherever you like on screen. However, the iPhone Duo only supports two Split View windows at a time.. Sadly, the iPhone Duo only supports two Split View apps at a time, which puts it at a productivity disadvantage.

Then again, the iPhone Duo also supports the Apple Pencil (USB-C) stylus, which is something the Z Fold 8 can not do. Apple's foldable has a feature that detects the angle of the screen, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's Flex View mode. This alters the interface of the app in question to account for the angle of your screen. Sadly, while the Ultra model offers this feature, the regular Z Fold 8 itself misses out.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Battery

The iPhone Duo is expected to come with a 4,883 mAh battery pack, which is incrementally larger than the Z Fold 8's 4,800 mAh battery. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will last longer based on capacity alone.

Apple has worked hard to improve energy efficiency over the years, and that hasn't changed. The A20 Pro reportedly offers a 30% improvement in energy efficiency, while the Apple C2 modem is reportedly 15% more efficient than the older C1X.

Combined with the battery, we could see the iPhone Duo jump ahead from the Z Fold 8's 12 hours and 19 minute battery life based on that optimization alone. Though we'll obviously need to do some in-depth battery life testing before we can say for sure.

As for charging, expect the iPhone Duo to recharge faster. The 60W wired charging restores 50% charge in just 15 minutes and you get 25W wireless charging. The Z Fold 8 only has 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging, which allows it to regain 43% in 15 minutes.

That's not a huge difference, but Apple has the edge. Plus, only the iiPhone Duo offers MagSafe charging.

iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Outlook

We sill need to test the iPhone Duo to see how well the software works and how long the battery life is . But based on our hands-on impressions and everything we know so far, Apple should give Samsung some real competition.

The iPhone Duo has some notable advantages, including its IP68 durability, powerful A20 chip and, an even less visible crease, MagSafe and Apple Pencil support and faster charging.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is $100 less than the iPhone Duo; it comes in a thinner and lighter design, and it has better for multitasking. We also can't ignore the fact that this is Apple's first attempt at a foldable phone, while Samsung is currently on its eighth generation.

Stay tuned for our in-depth face-of to declare a winner.

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 has been a strong reminder of why Samsung has been able to dominate the foldable phone market for so long. While it's true the company hasn't had a lot of competition, the fresh new form factor of the Fold 8 seems to have reinvigorated the interest in Galaxy foldables — just in time for Apple to jump onto the foldable bandwagon with the iPhone Duo.

The simple fact that this is a foldable iPhone means the Duo has the potential to offer Samsung the first serious competition for several years. The phone hasn't even been released yet, and we've already identified key ways that the iPhone Duo beats the similarly-styled Galaxy Z Fold 8. But what about the other way round?

Samsung has almost a decade of foldable experience, and that shows in the ways its latest release compares to Apple's first attempt. Here are seven ways the Galaxy Z Fold 8 beats the iPhone Duo.

It's lighter and thinner

Rumors suggested that the iPhone Duo would be the thinnest phone Apple has ever built, at 4.5mm (0.17-inches) thick when unfolded. That wasn't the case, and we now know that the iPhone Duo is 5.2mm (0.2 inches) thick — which is slightly less than the 5.6mm iPhone Air.

Meanwhile the Galaxy Z Fold 8 really is 4.5mm thick when it's unfolded, making it one of the thinnest phones you can go out and buy. It's also much lighter than the iPhone Duo, weighing 201 grams (7.09 ounces) to Apple's 254 grams (8.96 ounces). That weight actually makes the Duo one of the heaviest iPhones Apple has ever released.

The difference between the two may not seem like much, it does mean that the Z Fold 8 is likely to be more comfortable to use.

A cheaper price tag

Foldable phones are not cheap, with both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo costing several hundred dollars more than their non-folding counterparts. But when it comes to the actual asking price, Samsung has the edge.

The cheapest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is $1,899, which gets you a model with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. Apple's cheapest iPhone Duo offers the same level of memory and storage, but it costs $1,999 — $100 more.

That price disparity sticks around for the 512GB and 1TB options as well. Samsung charges $2,099 and $2,499, respectively, while Apple's prices are both $100 more at $2,199 and $2,599. Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB storage option; the 2TB Duo comes in at $3,199.

Better multitasking

Multitasking has never been Apple's strong suit, especially on the iPhone, and it looks like iPhone Duo won't be at quite the same level as the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The Z Fold 8 supports up to three windows at once, as well as five floating app windows that can sit wherever you like on screen. This is also possible on Apple's iPads, but iPhone Duo only supports two Split View windows at a time.

Considering one of the benefits of iPhone Duo is the ability to carry an iPad-like device in your pocket, the limited nature of Split View means you're missing out on an important productivity feature other devices have offered for years.

DeX

While desktop modes have slowly started making a comeback on Android phones, Apple has always seen fit to completely ignore them. The Z Fold 8 offers Samsung's DeX desktop mode, while the iPhone Duo lacks any sort of equivalent feature.

The idea behind DeX is that you plug your Galaxy phone into a monitor, at which point the phone loads up a desktop-like UI on the larger screen. That way you can use your phone as a desktop computer, without needing to carry around a laptop or tablet everywhere you go.

It's a fairly niche feature, and it's reliant on having access to a spare display. But it is a way to get more use out of a Z Fold 8, and put all the performance hardware to good use. It's unfortunate that the iPhone Duo is limited to its own display and UI.

Physical SIM slot

Apple has been betting big on eSIMs in recent years, and some regions (including the U.S.) can't use physical SIM cards in newer models of iPhone.

Sadly, while European versions of the iPhone 18 Pro still come with a physical SIM card slot, that won't be the case with iPhone Duo. Apple has confirmed that the phone will be eSIM only all around the world. So no matter where you live, there's zero opportunity to use a physical nano SIM card.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 still supports both eSIM and physical SIM cards, which gives users a lot more choice and flexibility. It's pretty small in the grand scheme of things, but as someone that has to swap phones fairly often, the process of transferring eSIMs to a new device is nowhere near as simple as swapping a physical card between devices.

16GB RAM option

The iPhone Duo comes with 12GB of RAM no matter which storage variant you get. Samsung starts off by offering 12GB on its cheapest models, but those buying the 1TB storage option will actually get an additional 4GB of RAM thrown in — for a total of 16GB.

Why does that matter? It all comes down to why memory prices have been skyrocketing over the past year: AI processing. AI features are heavily reliant on RAM, and generally speaking the more memory that's available, the faster things will run. That's particularly important for on-device AI processing, which is faster and more secure than offloading those tasks to the cloud.

Historically iPhones haven't needed as much RAM as Android phones, on account of the strong links between Apple's hardware and software. But not even Apple can bypass AI's need for memory, and we'll have to wait and see how the Duo (and A20 Pro chipset) performs in AI benchmarking tests before we can say how much better or worse it could have been with more RAM.

8K video recording

The iPhone Duo is no slouch in the camera department, at least not as far as we can tell from the specs and limited hands-on time. While the actual camera hardware looks fairly similar to that of the Z Fold 8 (48MP main lenses compared to 50MP), there is one thing Samsung has a leg up on — ultra-high-resolution video recording.

Like many Samsung flagships, the Z Fold 8 is capable of recording video at 8k resolution at 30 frames per second or 4K resolution at 120fps. Meanwhile, the iPhone Duo is capped at 4K resolution video recording, with frame rates of 120fps on the main camera and 60fps on the ultrawide.

Admittedly, the opportunities to play 8K video are pretty slim for the average phone user — so recording in such high resolution is just a waste of storage space. But it is a key area in which Samsung outpaces Apple, which might be important to you.

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The launch of iPhone Duo is a big deal. This is the first ever foldable developed by Apple, and for that reason alone it has the chance to dethrone Samsung as the king of the foldable phone space. But it also helps that Apple has produced a phone with a lot of great qualities, and will naturally lead to comparisons with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The two phones are similar in a bunch of ways, including their wider, passport-inspired design. However, there are a number of key ways Apple has improved on the foldable design, and beaten Samsung at its own game. Considering this is Apple's first foldable, that might just make the extended development time worth it. Here are seven ways iPhone Duo actually beats the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

IP68 rating

Google proved that a foldable could get an IP68 water and dust resistance rating with last year's Pixel 10 Pro Fold. This means that, despite all the moving parts around the hinge, Google was able to seal the phone up and ensure dust and other foreign particles can't get inside. Apple continued that trend by also sealing the iPhone Duo up to the same IP68 standard.

Meanwhile the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is only rated to IP48. The 8 means that it's water-tight, capable of being submerged in up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes — just like Google and Apple. However, the 4 means that the Z Fold 8 offers no protection against dust, or any other particles larger than one millimeter (0.04 inches).

In other words, there's a whole bunch of nasty stuff that could get inside the Z Fold 8 and cause problems — and you might not even realize it. In other words, you should be able to take the iPhone Duo to the beach.

Apple Pencil support

Samsung used to sell foldables that supported the S Pen stylus, but the last one to be released was 2024's Galaxy Z Fold 6. From the Z Fold 7 onwards, Samsung stripped out the S Pen functionality, removing a critical part of the display makeup in order to reduce the phone's thickness. This means that the Z Fold 8 does not support any kind of active stylus.

Meanwhile, the iPhone Duo not only offers stylus support, it's compatible with the Apple Pencil USB-C — which works with the majority of iPads still on sale. Samsung needed a special kind of S Pen for the foldable screen, but the iPhone Duo uses a stylus that you may already have.

It's the most basic Apple stylus on sale, and it lacks key features you'll find on the Apple Pencil Pro, but it's better than nothing.

MagSafe

Magnetic wireless charging is a rarity, in part because Apple had a stranglehold on it for so long. While Qi2 wireless charging does allow phones to add a MagSafe-style magnetic ring, Samsung has avoided doing this — preferring to utilize special magnetic cases instead. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is no exception to this trend, despite offering all the other benefits of Qi2 charging.

Apple had no such issue adding MagSafe to the iPhone Duo, as it's done with virtually every iPhone released since the iPhone 12. Plus, despite the phone's unique shape and size, Apple confirmed that it is compatible with MagSafe accessories and chargers — meaning all your old MagSafe products should still fit.

Faster 60W charging

MagSafe isn't the only way iPhone Duo beats Z Fold 8 in the charging department. Apple's foldable also offers faster charging speeds, regardless of whether you use MagSafe or a plug-in charging cable.

Wired charging supports up to 60W speeds, which regains 50% charge in just 15 minutes. Meanwhile, wireless charging is capped at 25W. In comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 offers 45W wired charging, and can regain 43% in 15 minutes. Wireless charging is also slightly slower at 20W, which puts it at a slight disadvantage to the iPhone.

Better front-facing camera hardware

Like the S Pen, Samsung used to offer an under-display camera on Galaxy Z Fold phones — and it hasn't been seen since the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The quality was not great, and it was no surprise that later Z folds switched back to the hole-punch camera design. Apple is giving under-display camera tech another chance at the limelight.

Apple hasn't specified the quality of this camera, noting that it's designed for use with FaceTime and other video calling software rather than selfies. That suggests the quality isn't great. But at least Apple is willing to try new things with the Duo, rather than reusing the same lackluster selfie camera hardware for multiple years in a row.

Plus, the iPhone Duo's actual selfie camera, which is in the cover display, offers higher resolution than Samsung. We're talking 12MP compared to 10MP, and while resolution doesn't automatically mean quality, it's likely that this is a similar selfie camera to the one in iPhone 17 Pro Max — which I found to take better photos than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

iPhone Duo software reacts based on folded hinge state

A lot of Samsung phones offer what the company calls "Flex Mode," which allows the phone to react and adapt depending on the angle of the central hinge. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the first Galaxy foldable to ditch this feature, despite the fact it's available on the Ultra model. This reduces the functionality of the phone somewhat, especially compared to iPhone Duo.

Apple doesn't have a special name for this feature, but the Duo does react depending on the angle of the hinge and the state of the fold itself. So if you have Netflix running, folding the screen to a 90-degree angle will shift the video to one side of the screen, and media controls to the other.

Vapor chamber cooling

The iPhone Duo offers an A20 Pro chipset with vapor chamber cooling, which helps dissipate heat. This means that the iPhone should offer better sustained performance, especially when doing resource-heavy tasks like gaming, multitasking and AI processing.

We haven't done any performance or thermal testing on the iPhone Duo just yet, so we don't know how effective the vapor chamber will be. That said, the Fold 8 doesn't offer a vapor chamber at all.

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This has been an amazing year for foldables. Now more than ever, fierce competition is forcing phone makers to innovate at a rapid pace. With the iPhone Ultra poised to make its debut at Apple’s upcoming “surprise and shine” event in just over a week, it will no doubt go toe-to-toe against the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

That’s why I’m exploring the iPhone Ultra vs. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra matchup, breaking down what the latest leaks and rumors reveal about Apple’s upcoming foldable. Then, I’ll detail how it stacks up against what I’ve tested and experienced with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra — all to see which one truly deserves the title of best foldable phone.

A form-factor preference

The first and arguably biggest difference between them is the form factor. While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra sets a high bar with its remarkably thin, lightweight build, ergonomics often come down to aspect ratio. The taller profile of Samsung's foldable line contrasts sharply with the broader, passport-like shape rumored for Apple's debut.

Leaks and renders indicate Apple is embracing a wider footprint for the iPhone Ultra, which fundamentally changes day-to-day usability. When closed, that shorter, stouter profile should make one-handed operation far more comfortable, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, where reaching the top corners of the cover display remains a stretch. Unfolded, the iPhone Ultra’s rumored 4:3 main screen offers a natural, book-like canvas that excels for split-screen multitasking and reading.

Dimensions will play a major role as well. While Apple is tipped to make the iPhone Ultra roughly 4.8mm thin when unfolded with a weight between 8.1 and 8.5 ounces, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra holds the edge on raw numbers at 4.22mm thin and just 7.8 ounces.

Even so, I’d gladly trade a fraction of a millimeter and a few grams for the iPhone Ultra’s broader silhouette and superior everyday practicality.

Crease-less display: I'll believe it when I see it

Eliminating the display crease has long been the holy grail of foldable engineering. While Samsung has steadily refined the technology with each generation, the seam still persists. Frankly, though, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s crease doesn't bother me — it has never hindered me from watching videos, multitasking, or running apps.

Rumors suggest Apple is attempting to achieve the impossible with a virtually invisible crease on the iPhone Ultra. If Apple genuinely manages to deliver a completely flat, crease-free panel out of the gate, it would be an engineering triumph that instantly resets industry benchmarks and puts every other foldable maker on notice.

Still, I can’t help questioning the physics of bending ultra-thin glass thousands of times without wear and tear eventually leaving a trace. More importantly, the practical reality is that absolute perfection simply isn't necessary.

Samsung has refined the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s hinge and teardrop display structure so effectively that its shallow crease disappears when viewing the screen straight on. Sure, I can still feel a subtle dip under my finger or catch a stray reflection off-axis, but in everyday use, it’s far from a deal breaker.

If Apple pulls off a miracle, kudos to them —but for most buyers, living with a minor crease is hardly a sacrifice.

Camera versatility

When it comes to cameras, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra holds the upper hand in both hardware and software. Leaks strongly suggest the iPhone Ultra will settle for a dual-camera system — a 48MP main sensor paired with a 48MP ultrawide — leaving out a dedicated telephoto lens entirely.

I know first-hand that Apple’s computational photography and color science are stellar. Time after time in my photo shootouts, iPhones prove to be front leading contenders for the best camera phone title. For effortless point-and-shoot reliability, Apple rarely misses.

However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra offers the sheer versatility that serious photographers and mobile creators like me crave. Samsung didn't compromise on hardware, packing a triple-lens system headlined by a massive 200MP main sensor, a 50MP ultrawide, and a dedicated 10MP 3x telephoto lens.

That optical reach makes a noticeable difference when framing distant subjects without sacrificing clarity — something my colleagues demonstrated clearly in their Galaxy Z Fold 8 vs. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra camera shootout.

Beyond the lenses, Samsung’s software ecosystem provides a deeper roster of creative tools. Features like Horizon Lock keep action shots level during rapid movement, while full Pro Video and Expert RAW modes grant granular manual control over shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. While I have no doubt the iPhone Ultra will capture gorgeous images, the Z Fold 8 Ultra is the clear winner for creative flexibility.

Power and battery

Foldable phones are simply more demanding than your average slab, so performance can’t be shorthanded. I’ve seen how incredibly finessed Samsung’s foldable is with a Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy running under the hood. Benchmark performance scores prove it’s already a beast, which puts pressure on Apple to succeed with its rumored, next-gen A20 Pro chip that's supposedly using a 2nm manufacturing process. I don’t doubt that the A20 Pro will give the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 a run for its money, but history has shown me this isn’t a significant buying decision.

What I will say, though, is the class-leading performance of the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s battery life. Packed with a 5,000 mAh battery, it sets a high bar for the iPhone Ultra because the Fold 8 Ultra recorded a time of 14 hours and 33 minutes on Tom’s Guide’s battery drain test. That’s more than 2 hours longer than what we recorded with the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Apple’s reportedly going to lean on a split-battery design totaling around 4,883 mAh. While that capacity is slightly smaller than Samsung's cell, it’ll ultimately come down to Apple’s unmatched silicon efficiency and aggressive iOS background power management could level the playing field.

The true dark horse is the software

While hardware upgrades often grab the headlines, software optimization remains the real battleground for foldables — and it’s where Apple could quietly land a major blow. Even after years of development, Google and Samsung still wrestle with app scaling across irregular foldable aspect ratios.

I know this first-hand from playing some of my favorite games. While a title might scale properly on the cover display, opening the main screen — or simply rotating the device — frequently produces stretched-out layouts that fail to showcase the true benefits of a foldable screen.

If Apple enforces its strict developer guidelines and leverages a familiar iPad-like aspect ratio, the iPhone Ultra could deliver seamless app scaling out of the gate, taking full advantage of every square millimeter.

Still, Samsung has proven that raw productivity remains its top priority. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra effortlessly runs up to four apps simultaneously, while Samsung DeX elevates the hardware into a true desktop-like workstation when connected to an external monitor. It sets a towering standard for mobile productivity — and I'm eager to see whether Apple can counter with a comparable multitasking solution.

Outlook

Price will ultimately be the elephant in the room for this matchup. While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra already commands a staggering $2,099 premium, early leaks and analyst projections suggest the iPhone Ultra could blow past that threshold—potentially landing anywhere between $2,000 and upwards of $2,500. That’s an eye-watering figure that's difficult to stomach for any smartphone, regardless of pedigree.

Yet, if Apple executes on its core hardware and software promises, the iPhone Ultra might just justify that astronomical investment over Samsung’s latest flagship.

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Earlier this week Samsung announced the Galaxy S26 FE, a cut-price flagship phone that sits somewhere between the $899 Galaxy S26 and the $549 Galaxy A57. The general idea being that you get more flagship features without necessarily having to cough up the full price of a premium device.

Unfortunately, the small amount of time I've spent with the Galaxy S26 FE suggests that Samsung has fumbled the release of the new phone. We shouldn't really be surprised, considering how lackluster the last few Fan Edition releases have been. We're at the point now where it's time for Samsung to scrap the whole line-up and let the A-series step up to the plate.

Too expensive to be cheap, too compromised to rival flagships

The Fan Edition series has always been about lowering the price but making cuts elsewhere. You can't have the same specs as a Galaxy S26 for a lower price, because that's just not economical. That typically manifests itself in worse cameras, cheaper materials and slightly worse performance.

In the case of the Galaxy S26 FE, those compromises come in three key areas: the screen, the camera and the performance. This is not a phone that has the latest flagship Snapdragon chips, nor does it have the latest Exynos 2600 chip that powers international variants of the S26. Instead it has the Exynos 2500, which was released last year, alongside 8GB of RAM rather than the now-standard 12GB.

Admittedly, on paper, the lower specs on the S26 FE don't seem too bad or different from that of the standard S26. It's little things that help drop the price tag, such as weaker display glass, lower resolution telephoto lenses, and the loss of premium materials like the shiny matte glass back panels. But these things all add up, and while that keeps the price down, it also makes the S26 FE a much less appealing purchase.

The starting price of $699, which gets you 128GB of storage, may make this the cheapest Galaxy S26 you can buy, but it's still not particularly cheap as far as smartphones go. Sure, it's almost half the price of something like the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but it doesn't directly fall into the cheaper phone categories like the S57 or A37.

Easily the worst part of all this is the fact that Samsung has (at the time of writing) discounted the standard Galaxy S26 by $100. This means the cheapest model, with 256GB of storage, can be purchased for $799. Meanwhile the 256GB variant of the Galaxy S26 FE is also $799, which means you're getting a worse phone for the same amount of money.

Sure there is a cheaper storage option that costs $100 less, but is it really worth losing out on everything the S26 has to offer to save that much? In most cases, I'd argue no.

The Galaxy A series keeps getting better

As much as the Galaxy S26 FE isn't a huge amount worse than the Galaxy S26, it also doesn't seem to be that much better than the Galaxy A57. In fact Samsung's mid-range phone is one of the best cheap phones you can buy because, despite the sacrifices you inevitably have to make, it's an exceptionally good phone for its price tag.

It's a lot easier to see where the Galaxy A57 made the cuts in contrast to the S26 FE. The main sticking point for me is the terrible macro camera, which always feels like an absolute waste of hardware compared to a dedicated macro camera mode other smartphones utilize. It also looks a lot cheaper, and the performance hardware is more noticeably inferior.

It doesn't matter if you don't know anything about phone chips, the fact that the A57 has an Exynos 1680 means it might as well have a giant neon sign declaring that it won't outperform the S26 FE's Exynos 2500.

That being said, we've been seeing pretty big gains in the mid-range phone market over the past several years. They're starting to feel a lot more premium, and they're coming with AI and software features that you previously wouldn't see outside ultra-premium models. The yearly upgrades aren't exactly stellar, but that seems to be a problem all phones are facing right now — no matter the price point.

A Galaxy A-series phone is never going to be as good as a flagship S-series, but it still offers a lot of the things you might need from a phone, including solid cameras, battery life and so on. There's even some solid AI features thrown in, if you're the kind of person who really likes using Galaxy AI and Bixby.

Admittedly, the Fan Edition phones have all done this too, but they also cost more and don't offer as much of a discount compared to other Galaxy S-series phones.

Bottom line: Galaxy FE phones lack purpose

Few phone companies take the approach Samsung does when it comes to cheaper-than-flagship phones. In fact, Samsung is the only one I can think of that offers two distinct devices that are meant to sit below the entry level premium model. The likes of Google, Apple, Nothing and others typically only have the one.

With two devices that sit in such close proximity, from both a price and hardware perspective, differentiating them becomes a much harder task. We end up in a situation where the Galaxy S26 FE feels awkwardly placed in a bizarre, paradoxical middle ground.

In the past Samsung was a lot more inconsistent about releasing the A50-series phones in the U.S., which arguably gave the Fan Edition release a lot more breathing room. There's clearly demand for a cheaper Galaxy phone, and the lack of competition from itself meant Samsung could continue to push the more premium option.

These days, it feels like these phones are released out of obligation, rather than a pressing need to actually build them. And it's about time Samsung threw in the towel, and gave the Fan Edition line-up a trip to the farm upstate.

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If you're looking for a premium Galaxy smartphone experience, but can't quite justify the cost of a standard Galaxy S26, then Samsung is hoping that the Galaxy S26 FE might be for you. This is the latest in the long line of "Fan Edition" phones and the idea is that Samsung cuts a few features, but in the process offers a near-flagship experience for a lower price.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE certainly does that, though it may take things a little bit too far. I spent a little bit of time with the S26 FE ahead of today's announcement, and started to wonder who this phone is really for. After all, the Samsung Galaxy A57 already captures the lower-priced mid-range segment and recent discounts to the standard Galaxy S26 make it more accessible than before.

The Galaxy S26 FE seems to occupy the same awkward middle ground as its predecessors. The specs aren't good enough to qualify it as a true flagship, but at the same time, it isn't cheap enough to be a true budget option.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE hands-on review: Specifications

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE hands-on review: The Ups

The cost of entry isn't too high

In a world of price hikes and RAMageddon, it's no surprise that the Galaxy S26 FE is more expensive than the S25 FE. That said, a $50 price hike isn't actually a lot, and that helps keep the cost of buying into the Galaxy S26 lineup much lower than it was before. The fact that Samsung has kept the 128GB model around means the $699 starting price is $200 less than the standard Galaxy S26 was at launch.

Admittedly that benefit only really matters if you plan on buying the 128GB model, and can't justify spending an extra $100 more. Why? Because, at the time of writing, Samsung's online store is selling the 256GB Galaxy S26 for $799 — the exact same price as the 256GB S26 FE.

In other words spending an extra $100 can get you a phone with better hardware. However, if you want to keep costs low and want access to the flagship capabilities of a Galaxy S26, then the FE is an option for you.

More premium than most cheap phones

The main benefit for the S26 FE, compared to the likes of the A57, is that you do get a slightly more premium build and feature set. All without having to pay quite as much as you would if you picked up a Galaxy S26 or one of its larger siblings.

The glossy glass back isn't quite as impressive as the matte glass on the back of the Galaxy S26. Honestly, seeing my own silhouette reflected in the back of the phone instantly made me think of the Galaxy A57, which is a shame when you remember that past FE devices had the matte glass to offer that instantly-premium look.

Still, the Galaxy S26 FE doesn't really feel cheap. It's reminiscent of the Galaxy S26 Plus due to its size, and there's definitely some weight to it that makes it feel more important than an A-series Galaxy. The brushed metal frame certainly helps in this respect, as does the solid-coloring of the camera bar — a design trait borrowed from other S26 phones.

Great selection of AI and software features

Like any device hoping to be considered close to flagship, the Galaxy S26 FE does come with a huge range of AI features. There's nothing new here, which isn't a huge surprise, but it does come with the best things Galaxy AI has had to offer on other phones — including my favorite Galaxy Z Fold 8 feature, My Fan Cam.

In fact, there are a bunch of cool software features that we've seen on other Galaxy flagships, but still haven't had the option to use on cheaper devices. That includes the Horizontal Lock video camera mode, the Samsung Document Scanner, Audio Eraser, AI-powered photo editing with Photo Assist, Now Brief, Circle to Search with multi-object recognition, as well as Now Nudge with support for cross-app functionality and third party apps.

Samsung also promises that the upgraded ProVisual engine is also here. This offers improved low light performance, reducing noise in the photo and lowering the overall color distortion. Though we haven't been able to test this for ourselves just yet.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE hands-on review: The Downs

Camera quality seems iffy so far

I will caveat this point by making it clear I haven't done any extensive camera testing with the Galaxy S26 FE, but the few sample photos I have taken so far were not very impressive. In fact, the four cameras on the S26 FE seem to struggle when compared to those on the Galaxy A57.

From a hardware perspective, things are a little disappointing. There's a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP selfie camera. That's pretty similar to the A57, albeit with a telephoto lens instead of a crappy 5MP macro lens.

That minor change in third-camera hardware means that there's a big difference in the zoomed in photo I took. Since the A57 relies on its main lens, it's using a higher resolution lens and cropping it down — rather than actually zooming in. The camera defaults to 12MP, and while not great it is obviously higher than what an 8MP lens can accomplish.

The main lens on the S26 FE is a little better, with some extra clarity that lets you make out the sugar crystals a little more easily, though it does come out much darker and less vibrant. The same is true when looking at this photo of a plant, with both 50MP lenses offering similar quality — but wildly different brightness levels.

The selfie camera is a step in the opposite direction, though. While the A57 washed out the color from my face compared to the S26 FE, there's a lot more detail and clarity compared on the cheaper phone. The S26 FE is slightly blurrier, and struggles to pick up the finer details including hair and skin complexion.

As you'd expect the regular Galaxy S26 outmatches them all, with more true-to-life colors and general clarity exceeding both the A57 and S26 FE. Even if my attempt at a selfie did not come out particularly well during my hands-on time. Still, the fact that the Galaxy A57 manages to offer some serious competition to the S26 FE, despite it being $150 cheaper, is not a good look for the Fan Edition phone.

Upgrades are minimal

Incremental upgrades with few major hardware upgrades are not uncommon, and the Galaxy S26 FE seems to be the latest example of that to come from Samsung HQ. Checking over the specs compared to last year's Galaxy S25 FE really highlights how few upgrades there are this year. If you didn't know any better, you could easily mistake the S26 FE for an older model, and only real changes are the newer Exynos chipset and the glass enclosure around the rear camera lenses.

Everything else, from the cameras to the battery are essentially identical, which means Samsung is relying more on software upgrades to help sell the phone over its predecessors. Which is not a terrible plan, considering the number of flagship features Samsung has added to the Galaxy S26 FE. But it doesn't suggest that the phone is a must-have. Especially when you remember the Galaxy A57 exists.

The Galaxy A57 is right there

The minimal upgrades wouldn't be so bad on their own, but we can't forget the fact that the Galaxy A57 is still around — and costs a good $150 less than the cheapest Galaxy S26 FE. There are a bunch of ways the Galaxy A57 falters compared to the S26 FE, particularly when it comes to performance and the availability of AI features. That price cut has to come from somewhere, and Samsung can't save all that money by cutting premium materials.

Still, at the same time, the A57 shares a lot of the same hardware with the Galaxy S26 FE. The camera hardware is more or less identical, and puts up a good fight against the S26 FE's cameras, and both screens share the same size, resolution and brightness. The A57's battery is actually larger, weirdly enough, and they both support up to 45W wired charging speeds — though the A57 lacks wireless charging.

We can't do a full comparison just yet, and we'll need to get the S26 FE into the lab to figure out exactly what its deal is. Because there's only so much you can glean from a list of hardware specs. Still, things don't look great. Especially considering the $50 price hike, and the fact that the 256GB Galaxy S26 costs the same as the equivalent FE.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE hands-on review: Outlook

The Galaxy S26 FE certainly shows promise, I'm struggling to understand why Samsung is releasing it in the first place. The Fan Edition series has been losing relevance for a while, especially now that Samsung is consistently releasing A-series phones in the U.S. and the Galaxy S26 FE doesn't really do much to help salvage the line-up's reputation in any way.

Based on my limited time with the phone, it seems that it is too similar to the Galaxy A57 to justify the higher price tag. At the same time, the price is too close to that of the Galaxy S26 to make many of these compromises worthwhile. It's that weird middle ground where it's not a cheap phone, but it's too cut back to be a true flagship.

So who is this phone for? It does offer more AI and Samsung-exclusive software features than cheaper options, and the fact that the 128GB storage option is still around means the cost of entry is noticeably lower. If you're an AI superfan that doesn't have a lot of money, this might be the Samsung phone for you, but otherwise you may as well pick up a different model.

Of course we'll have a much better idea of what the Galaxy S26 FE can do when we get the phone into the Tom's Guide lab for testing. That could change everything, or it could cement the idea that the S26 FE needs to die. We'll just have to wait and see.

Over the weekend, a series of renders and drawings purported to reveal a redesigned Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra with some surprising subtractions. The images came from two prominent Samsung leaks and appear to show a new horizontal bar design that's more reminiscent of the iPhone 17 Pro or a Google Pixel 11 Pro.

The leaks started with a cryptic message from Samsung leaker Ice Universe, who posted a drawing and said, "I can't say anything."

They followed it up with a full-body drawing of the back of the phone. Those images appear to show a circle that is probably a Qi2 magnet for wireless charging.

From Ice Universe's sketches, it appears the Galaxy S27 Ultra loses a camera, going from the current triple stack to two, with the LED light and lenses in their own little pill. In another post, Universe noted that a new 5x telephoto lens will move into the LED pill and replace the current 3x version.

Yesterday, tipster Sonny Dickson posted renders of the S27 Ultra, claiming that Samsung will offer the Ultra in two sizes. Rumors suggest Samsung is working on two sizes for the Ultra model, one of which will likely be the S27 Pro.

It would make Samsung's offerings more similar to Apple's Pro and Pro Max models.

Ice Universe seemed to confirm that the Pro model is coming today with new renders and a post that claims the speaker on the bottom of the phone will be moved to the right side for the S27, S27 Plus and S27 Pro. The S27 Ultra will supposedly have its speaker on the left side.

Based on every drawing and render we've seen over the weekend, the new iPhone-esque plateau will only be available on the Ultra and Pro models. The base S27 and Plus models would have the stack.

With Samsung's foldables behind us, the rumor mill is starting to spin up in earnest for the company's flagship phone line. More renders will leak in the coming months, but we won't totally trust the leaks until we see some dummy units, which will probably leak in the fall.

As for the phones, Samsung will likely release the S27 lineup in the early part of next year. This year, the S26 series launched in February, and we expect Samsung will keep a similar schedule, give or take a week or two.

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When it comes to the best foldable phones, I strongly prefer flip-style ones for their compact footprint and effortless one-handed use. On top of that, they’re undeniably far more versatile for vlogging than notebook-style foldables, letting me frame shots on the outer cover screen using the superior rear cameras.

For years, I’ve praised Samsung’s flip-style foldables — but this year’s Galaxy Z Flip 8 has me concerned. It’s not just that it represents the most painfully lazy upgrade in the series’ history, but also that Samsung’s focus seems to have largely shifted elsewhere.

Pairing that with the glowing reception for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and it’s clear Samsung is at a tipping point with its Z Flip line. Here’s why.

Motorola has a way more robust selection

Despite being an early pioneer in the space, Motorola lagged behind Samsung for years with its Razr phones, plagued by awkward hinge designs and lackluster performance. But the narrative has shifted dramatically over the last couple of generations.

Instead of treating clamshell foldables as a one-size-fits-all product, Motorola built out a lineup with broader appeal. That strategy has culminated in today's lineup of three clamshell foldables alongside a book-style model. By offering varied price points, Motorola gives consumers the freedom to choose what fits their budget and needs. In contrast, Samsung has stuck to releasing just a single flip phone each generation.

Cameras are not an afterthought

Just as crucially, the Razr Ultra (2026) finally dismantles the long-standing stereotype that Motorola’s flip cameras are an afterthought. With upgraded high-resolution sensors, refined image processing, and superior low-light performance, it no longer forces users to compromise camera quality for pocketability. Just look at some of the snapshots I captured above to see how far Motorola's has come.

No mention of a Galaxy Z Flip FE this time

Perhaps the most glaring absence at Unpacked was any sign of a Galaxy Z Flip FE follow-up. When the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE launched alongside the Z Flip 7 last year, my colleagues and I were highly critical of the move — one we felt wasn't necessary since it was essentially a rebadged Z Flip 6. It certainly didn't help that it still carried a hefty $899 price tag.

Making matters worse, Samsung didn't just stick to minor hardware upgrades for the Flip 8 — it also tacked on a $100 price bump. In my Galaxy Z Flip 8 review, I noted that "Samsung's baby-step approach feels tough to defend."

While the switch back to a flagship Qualcomm chip delivers notable performance gains, I was shocked by the negligible battery life improvements. Instead of adopting the ultra-thin profile of the Z Fold 8 or delivering substantial hardware innovations, the Z Flip 8 feels more like yet another rehash.

I want a Galaxy S27 Ultra Flip

If the Z Flip line is going to survive, Samsung needs to stop playing it safe and introduce a true Ultra model. We’ve seen the company pour top-tier resources into the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Z Fold 8 Ultra — and the flip form factor deserves that exact same flagship treatment.

The most logical candidate would be something along the lines of a Galaxy S27 Ultra Flip. To truly make a statement, it would require an ultra-thin chassis, uncompromising battery life, and, crucially, a versatile triple-camera system that finally brings a dedicated telephoto lens to a Samsung clamshell.

Packing that level of hardware into a flip phone would inevitably command a steeper price tag. But considering what buyers are already willing to shell out for premium competitors like the Razr Ultra (2026), power users and creators would happily pay for a clamshell that refuses to cut corners.

Samsung has reached a critical tipping point with the Z Flip series. Iterative spec bumps and unjustified price hikes won't cut it anymore — the lineup desperately needs a major overhaul to breathe real excitement back into the category.

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in testing phones for over 20 years, it’s that there’s a difference between reviewing a device and living with it. And now that I’ve spent three weeks with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, I can say that my opinion has changed and that I was right about some things — and wrong about some others.

The cameras are good enough!

First, let’s talk about the cameras. I stand by what I initially wrote about it being a bummer that the Fold 8 doesn’t have a telephoto zoom. For $1,900 you deserve one. But I have since tested the Fold 8 vs the 3x optical zoom on the Fold 8 Ultra in a series of tests and I didn’t notice a huge difference until I got to 10x.

My point here is that you can more than get by with the Fold 8’s dual rear shooters. And I especially appreciate the improved low-light performance versus the Fold 7. The Nightography is just better.

If you really care about zoom performance, you’re better off getting the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and its 5x optical zoom, or going with a different foldable altogether with the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold, which also packs a 5x telephoto.

No Flex View is not a dealbreaker

The ability to use your foldable phone as a mini laptop certainly comes in handy, but the Fold 8 ditches this feature because of the way the hinge is designed. So, for example, you can’t play videos with the content up top and controls down below. Or take a Google Meet call without having to hold the phone.

It’s a bummer, but at least there’s a hands-free alternative for watching videos. You can just use the outer display on the Fold 8 and put it in tent mode. It’s a nifty way for me to catch up on that day’s First Take episode while I’m on lunch break at work or doing the dishes.

TikTok Is dangerously addictive. YouTube Shorts needs a fix

I admit that I scroll on TikTok way too much, but my addiction has gotten worse on the Fold 8. That’s because the front display is perfect for snacking content while I’m waiting for my bus ride home.

Open up to the main 7.6-inch display, and TikTok is even better if you love to read comments. They pop in from the right side in a dual-pane format. Even better, as you scroll through TikTok’s with the comments upon, they’ll automatically refresh for each video.

Too bad YouTube Shorts isn’t similarly optimized. You have to X out of the comments before you scroll to the next video, which is dumb. This also speaks to my issue with apps in general on the Galaxy Fold — too many aren’t optimized for the wider display. It’s something Samsung is going to have to fix, because you know Apple will be working with developers to make sure apps look amazing on the iPhone Fold/Ultra.

The shape is just right (but not in my pocket)

Initially I thought the Galaxy Z Fold 8 might be awkwardly wide when closed, especially when trying to use the phone quickly with one hand to scroll through notifications. But overall I haven’t had any issues, and I find myself responding to Slack messages on the cover display all the time.

When I’m on the go, however, I’ve found that the wide design of the Fold 8 is actually not as comfy in my front pocket as the Fold 8 Ultra. The former’s wider body is a bit more awkward when I’m walking. So I often put the Fold 8 in my back pocket instead.

It’s my new favorite e-reader

I’ve been trying to get back into reading more, starting with Joanna Stern’s “I Am Not a Robot,” which is about her journey of using nothing but AI tools for a year. And the Fold 8 is the perfect e-reader stand-in for two reasons.

One, when you flip around the main display you get a 3:4 aspect ratio that’s very Kindle-like. And, two, the anti-reflective coating makes reading outside a lot easier than I thought. There’s a lot less glare than previous foldables.

Plus, as I get ready for “Avengers: Doomsday,” I asked Gemini which Marvel comics I should be ready to get up to speed on Dr. Doom’s origin and powers. So I subscribed to Marvel Ultimate and I find the Fold 8 is a pretty sweet format for diving in.

How good is the battery life?

Now that I’ve been using the Fold 8 as a daily driver, I’ve discovered that it has pretty good staying power. On most days starting at 7 am with moderate usage — which includes streaming Spotify on the go, checking Slack and email, and watching videos to and from on my commute — I’m down to about 45 to 50% by the time I get home around 7 pm.

That’s pretty solid for one of Samsung’s first silicon carbon batteries.

Bottom line

The best thing I can say about the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is that it’s really growing on me. My initial skepticism around why the world needs a wide foldable phone has now all but been erased. And despite how Samsung is marketing this device as an ultimate content consumption phone I think it’s a great device for productivity.

You can still run up to three apps at once like on the Fold 8 Ultra. You just don’t get the same height for fitting more content on screen, though flipping around to 3:4 mode helps for the main display. I think this could very well be the foldable to beat, and the upcoming iPhone Ultra has a high bar to clear.

When it comes to streaming movies and TV shows, a larger screen is usually considered the better option. But, that only really works if the screen shape actually conforms to the aspect ratio of the content in question. That's not an issue for most phones or tablet screens, but what about the larger, oddly-shaped foldable displays like the one on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra?

I've been testing the Z Fold 8 Ultra for the past few weeks, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that watching video on the larger display means I also have to contend with large areas of blank space around the video. This can be rather irritating, especially in brighter environments that highlight both the display crease and my own reflection.

But as many people will no doubt point out, there are multiple ways to watch videos on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. There's the cover display which, while narrower than most phones, offers a traditional viewing experience. The foldable display can also be oriented in portrait or landscape modes, and switching between the two flips the aspect ratio.

While this may not seem like a big deal, the Z Fold 8 Ultra isn't a perfect square, and that means the flip also changes how video content sits on your phone. But which mode is the better way to watch stuff? I tested the Z Fold 8 Ultra's three viewing experiences against the iPhone 17 Pro Max to find out.

How I tested the screens

It's easy to load up some content on a screen and rely on vibes alone to make your conclusion, but I took things a step further by actively measuring everything on screen. This started with the screen itself, measuring between the bezels and calculating the amount of screen space that is actually available.

I should caveat at this point that this is only a rough calculation, because all four phones have curved corners. This is less of an issue on the Z Fold 8 Ultra because those curves are very slight. However the iPhone 17 Pro Max's corners are larger and more rounded, which means the total screen area is slightly smaller than the math suggests.

Once the total area of each display was calculated, I got to work streaming, throwing up a bunch of different kinds of content and measuring how much screen space they took up. Content included:

• "X-Men (2000)" (2:39:1) purchased on YouTube
• "X-Men-97" (2:35:1) on Disney Plus
• "The Emperor's New Groove" (16:9) on Disney Plus
• "Scrubs" (2001) (4:3) on Disney Plus
• "Avengers: Endgame" (2:39:1) on Disney Plus
• "Avengers: Endgame IMAX Enhanced Edition" (1:9:1) on Disney Plus
• Various vertical videos on TikTok

I set up each video playing on the four screen types, then measured how large each video was. With that in hand, I was able to work out just how much screen space they actually used, and thus, how much space is just sitting there going to waste. Crucially, this means I can figure out the best option for watching content in something close to a full-screen experience.

I should also note that while a lot of streaming platforms offer a "zoom to fill" option on smart phones and tablets, I have not taken this into account since that essentially crops the video and means you don't see everything that's going on.

iPhone 17 Pro Max

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has roughly 17.6 square inches of screen space available, but it seems as though a bunch of the tested content struggles to fill up that space by default. The most efficient use of the screen comes from TikTok, which takes up 92.94% of the screen. This shouldn't be a huge surprise given the platform's vertical video feed that can take up almost the full length of the screen.

When it comes to horizontal video, the content doesn't fare nearly as well. The worst offender was "Scrubs," though this shouldn't really be a surprise since the early seasons were broadcast in the (then standard) 4:3 aspect ratio. That box-like shape isn't great at filling up wider-screen devices, reflected by the fact it only filled 61.41% of the available space.

Widescreen live action movies didn't do so well either. Both movies have been cropped vertically, and can't take full advantage of the landscape height, but they don't fail to take advantage of the iPhone's width and crop that way as well. In fact, all the movies suffered from this and left at least 1.1 inches of wasted space across both sides of the display. In the end, though, both movies wasted only slightly less space than "Scrubs" did, taking up 61.95% of the usable screen space

The IMAX edition of "Avengers: Endgame" fared a little better, with the IMAX scenes using up more of the vertical space that the standard aspect ratio. Because of this, the movie, along with the bizarrely proportioned "X-Men-97," used up 77.95% of the iPhone's available screen space. This was closely followed by the 16:9 "Emperor's New Groove," with 76.53%, a difference accounted for by a slightly shorter and narrower video.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (Cover Display)

Looking at the results for the Z Fold 8 Ultra's cover display, and you'll see a couple of oddities. Both "X-Men 97" and the standard edition of "Avengers: Endgame" both took up 100% of the screen space. Which is certainly good, though this made me pause and wonder what's going on.

Checking the measurements of the cover display versus the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I noticed that the video was actually smaller on the iPhone — despite the fact the 17 Pro Max has almost 2.5 extra square inches of available screen space.

Weirder still was the fact that my Google-purchased copy of "X-Men" was smaller than "Endgame," taking up a paltry 53.19% of the screen. They were both the same size on the iPhone, but the Z Fold 8 Ultra decided that the black bars must be preserved for this particular movie. This appears to be a YouTube issue, because X-Men on Disney Plus expanded to the full size of the display, just like Endgame did.

The IMAX version of Endgame obviously came out a little worse, since the taller image requires more space than the 8 Ultra's cover display allows — causing black bars at either side of the screen. That said, it still used up 87.54% of the available screen.

16:9 content like "The Emperor's New Groove" fared a lot worse here, though, since the narrow screen forced the video to shrink at the edges even more than an IMAX movie. Likewise the design meant "Scrubs" left a load more wasted space thanks to its square-ish aspect ratio. Both videos used up a respective 71.55% and 57.74% of the available screen space.

As for TikTok, this result did surprise me. The vertical videos used up all the available width when playing, but they didn't take full advantage of the screen length. Which again, I assume is down to the 8 Ultra's narrow cover display, and means TikTok only used 76.94% of the available screen space.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Foldable Display (Portrait)

The Z Fold 8 Ultra's larger display is the size of two cover displays side by side, which should mean a larger video to watch, right? Well, apparently not. At least not when the phone is in portrait mode. The size of the screen means there is a lot more wasted space, but the videos themselves aren't automatically bigger than they appear on the cover display either.

Both "X-Men-97" and the standard version of "Avengers: Endgame" ended up being smaller than their counterparts on the Ultra's cover display — in terms of height, width and overall area. Both used a respective 41.08% and 37.71% of the available screen space.

That only worse performer was X-Men on YouTube, which used up 37.04% thanks to the way YouTube presents the video. That means almost two thirds of the screen is going unused. However, the video itself is larger than what I saw on the 8 Ultra's cover screen and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. So there is still a benefit to using the large screen.

There is an awful lot of wasted screen space watching in portrait mode. "The Emperor's New Groove" only used 47.33% of the screen, while the IMAX edition of "Endgame" took up just over half (50.34%). TikTok also suffered, using up 55.63% and showed off a video that was both shorter and wider than the one from the iPhone.

The major winner here is "Scrubs," thanks to the aspect ratio, which means it took up 67.51% of the screen and offered a much larger overall image than we've seen from it so far.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Foldable Display (Landscape)

The key benefit to watching video in landscape mode is that the entirety of the display crease gets covered up by whatever you're watching, which makes it nearly impossible to see. The other main advantage to watching video this way is that the videos are larger (and less wasteful) than in portrait mode

The biggest winner is again, "Scrubs," or any other older TV show that was filmed with a 4:3 aspect ratio. The show took up 83.74% of the total screen space, over 16% more than it did in portrait mode. This obviously means that the video is noticeably larger, though the standard definition image does not look great if you're getting up close with the screen.

Most of the other videos take full advantage of the extra width, with the only exception being "The Emperor's New Groove," which is about 0.4-inches narrower. However the extra height afforded to 16:9 movie means it uses up 58.33% of the screen, compared to the 46.46% utilized by X-Men and the standard version of "Avengers: Endgame."

"X-Men-97" is 0.2-inches taller in this configuration, meaning its total raises to 50.09%, while the IMAX enhanced edition of "Endgame" fills up 58.88% on account of its extra height.

The only real loser here is TikTok, which is shorter and narrower in landscape mode, and wastes an extra 11% of the screen compared to portrait mode. That also makes sense, since this orientation is wider than it is long, and that means the vertical videos get squashed down compared to viewing in portrait mode.

Verdict

With the exception of TikTok, landscape mode actually seems to have the largest overall video size of all four display configurations, barring one. The way "Avengers: Endgame" is presented on the cover display means it is slightly taller on the outer screen, by one tenth of an inch.

The cover display's aspect ratio means it seems to be uniquely suited to playing live action theatrical releases. Assuming the service you're using actually makes the most of the space, and doesn't do what YouTube did with my copy of X-Men and squashes the whole thing down for no reason.

As for TikTok, it's clear that the Z Fold 8 Ultra's foldable display is not as well-suited to vertical video as non-folding screens. Likewise, those of you that are bothered about black areas of screen around your video, you may want to avoid foldables for the time being. If you need a larger image to watch, you should probably invest in some kind of tablet.

But now the one question I have is this: How different would the results have been if I'd had a Galaxy Z Fold 8 to compare everything to? Samsung has positioned the passport-shaped device as the ideal device for streaming and media after all, but that face-off is going to have to wait.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I used a thermal camera to see how hot the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra gets compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra — here's what happened
• I tested the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Galaxy S26 Ultra for 2 weeks — here’s the one I’d buy
• I just tried the new Samsung DeX on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 — and it has one huge upgrade

Samsung’s been making its “Ultra” phones for years under the Galaxy S banner, but this year marks the first time the title is being used for a foldable phone. Needless to say, Samsung is trying to change the narrative with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra — by slapping its premier "Ultra" badge on a foldable for the very first time.

On paper, it packs the flagship hardware specs that I know appeal to hardcore fans who’ve remained faithful to the Galaxy S line for years, including the same 200MP main sensor as the Galaxy S26 Ultra. But when you’re paying a massive premium for a phone that folds, the cameras can’t come up short against the traditional slab flagship.

There are valid reasons why Samsung’s primary flagship remains the best camera phone around, armed with a quadruple camera setup that includes two telephoto lenses — whereas the Z Fold 8 Ultra comes with just a single telephoto lens with a shorter optical range. To see if Samsung’s newest foldable genuinely earns its name, I captured side-by-side photo sets with both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Here’s what I found.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Camera specifications

What’s really fascinating when looking at the specs alone is that the cameras are not entirely identical. Despite both devices sharing a 200MP resolution for their main sensors and a 50MP (f/1.9) ultrawide camera, the Galaxy S26 Ultra technically holds an edge in optical range and low-light capabilities.

For starters, the S26 Ultra features a wider f/1.4 aperture compared to the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s f/1.7, allowing more light to enter the sensor — which should result in better low-light performance, less noise, and blur-free action shots.

Over in the telephoto department, the S26 Ultra also benefits from dual telephoto lenses, complete with a superior 50MP sensor featuring 5x optical zoom. In contrast, the newer Z Fold 8 Ultra relies on just a single 10MP telephoto camera with a shorter 3x optical zoom. These specs alone tell me there’s no way the Z Fold 8 Ultra is going to match the S26 Ultra in sheer telephoto performance.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: 200MP high resolution

These first two shots illustrate the amount of detail captured when set to their maximum 200MP photo option. Not only do both produce massive file sizes, but the differences between them appear minimal at first glance. Looking at the full scene, it’s great that both phones balance the exposure evenly, though the S26 Ultra is slightly brighter in the shadows.

Zooming in, however, reveals that the Z Fold 8 Ultra retains sharper details and definition almost everywhere. From the base of the tree to the ornate floral arrangement hanging over the terrace in the background, I’d give this round to the Z Fold 8 Ultra.

Winner: Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Colors

Judging by color performance alone, both phones deliver vibrant shots of the flower arrangement inside Whole Foods.

While the S26 Ultra has a penchant for a warmer color temperature — evident in how the pink flowers take on a slightly orange tone — the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s shot isn’t too far off, albeit not quite as warm. Still, neither phone clearly outperforms the other when it comes to color rendering here.

Winner: tie

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Ultrawide

Given that both phones share identical 50MP (f/1.9) ultrawide cameras, I’m not surprised that this wide shot of Bryant Park is almost too close to call. Both devices capture impressive sharpness across the frame with minimal distortion around the edges.

However, looking closely at the lighting dynamics, the Galaxy S26 Ultra handles exposure and shadows slightly better — a trend I previously noted in the 200MP test. Notice how the people seated in the foreground have better visibility and contrast on the S26 Ultra, whereas the Z Fold 8 Ultra pulls a bit more shadow detail at the expense of a somewhat flatter tone.

Once again, it's a narrow victory, but the S26 Ultra takes it thanks to its superior dynamic range.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Dynamic Range

With the sun coming from behind, the background and sky are much brighter than the metal statue sitting in the shadow — a setup that clearly reveals how their dynamic range performances differ.

I’m initially drawn to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s punchier overall shot, which is largely due to how it boosts contrast. Doing so, however, comes at the expense of the highlights in the trees and the glass building in the background.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S26 Ultra exhibits superior dynamic range. It manages to tone down the harsh highlights on the metal statue while pulling up subtle details in the darker foliage and shadowed steps along the bottom left. Ultimately, the S26 Ultra achieves a more balanced, natural exposure without blowing out the brightest areas or over-darkening the shadows.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Portrait

At first glance, I don’t notice a whole lot of difference in the way they approach portrait shots, as both apply just the right amount of bokeh to blur the background while preserving clean edge separation around my colleague, Mark Spoonauer.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra produces a natural skin tone and plenty of fine detail across Mark’s face and shirt. However, closer inspection reveals that there are sharper details captured by the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s portrait shot. Most noticeably, the fabric of his shirt and the stitching around his pocket show superior definition.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Selfie

The S26 Ultra has a slight advantage on paper for taking selfies thanks to its 12MP front camera. The Z Fold 8 Ultra features dual 10MP selfie shooters, but for this test, I’m specifically comparing the cover screen camera.

It’s a very close call, though, with neither phone clearly outperforming the other. I really like the amount of sharp detail both capture across Mark’s face, as well as the texture of his shirt. Meanwhile, both devices manage to lift the exposure nicely in the shaded areas in the background.

Winner: tie

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Low light

When shooting in dimly lit conditions, the main sensor aperture specs show their real-world impact. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s wider f/1.4 aperture pulls in significantly more light than the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s f/1.7 lens, creating a slightly brighter scene overall.

Looking at the backyard patio shot, the Galaxy S26 Ultra does a much better job illuminating the white fence in the background, the lawn, and the texture of the patio pavers.

Don’t get me wrong, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra still produces an excellent low-light photo that brightens an otherwise dark scene, but those same background areas remain darker and cast heavier shadows around the base of the chairs and side table. Thanks to its wider aperture, the S26 Ultra also retains cleaner details across the patio furniture without introducing excessive noise.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Telephoto

Where I find the most substantial difference between them is in their telephoto performance. At shorter distances, they deliver nearly identical results, but the shots above of the ice cream truck show how the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers true Ultra-level performance.

Comparing them across 5x, 10x, and 30x zoom levels highlights the clear advantage of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s setup. At 5x zoom, both phones capture solid shots of the ice cream truck menu, but the S26 Ultra renders crisper text across the menu labels with less digital noise.

The divide widens significantly at 10x: the S26 Ultra retains sharp edges, vibrant contrast, and legible text on the menu options. To capture the same framing, the Z Fold 8 Ultra relies on digital cropping from its single 10MP 3x telephoto lens, leaving the 10x image noticeably softer with smoother, watercolor-like textures.

Finally, at 30x zoom, the S26 Ultra’s superior optical hardware gives its image processing far better detail to work with. The text labels under each ice cream cone remain surprisingly readable, whereas the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s 30x crop produces blurred text and blob-like details.

Winner: Galaxy S26 Ultra

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Verdict

While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra proves that foldable cameras are no longer scaled-down afterthoughts, I wouldn’t say it has completely earned the "Ultra" crown across the board. For a phone bearing Samsung’s most prestigious naming convention, it can’t afford to come up short in any category — yet it still does.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra remains the undisputed camera king of Samsung's lineup. Thanks to the wider f/1.4 aperture of its main camera and its dedicated 50MP 5x periscope lens, the S26 Ultra consistently pulls ahead in the areas that separate the good from the great: low-light environments, dynamic range handling, and long-range telephoto zoom. If you want the absolute best camera results, the S26 Ultra is still the phone to get.

However, if you want the versatility of a foldable, the Z Fold 8 Ultra gets dangerously close in several areas. Still, falling short in low-light and telephoto performance is a tough pill to swallow considering the staggering price tag attached to Samsung's newest foldable.

More from Tom’s Guide

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While everybody has been talking about the new shape of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and to be fair, it's been very pleasant to use, one of the most overlooked upgrades on Samsung's new book-style foldables is the less noticeable crease.

Samsung says it has significantly reduced the crease thanks to its new Flex Titanium display technology, which debuts on both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

But is it actually enough to catch up with other foldable phones that already have less visible creases? Earlier this year, I came away impressed by the Oppo Find N6, particularly because of how subtle its crease was. So, I compared the Galaxy Z Fold 8 against the Oppo Find N6 to see which one comes out on top.

Can Samsung match Oppo's "Zero-Feel" crease?

When Oppo announced the Find N6 earlier this year, one of the biggest talking points was its "zero-feel" crease. The company claimed it had reduced the crease to the point where you could barely see or even feel it while using the phone.

Having gone hands-on with the device, I can confirm that claim wasn't just marketing hype. The crease really was impressively subtle. Naturally, that made me even more curious to see what Samsung had done with the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

To compare the two, I placed the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Oppo Find N6 side by side under the same lighting conditions. I looked at both phones with the displays turned on and off, viewed them from multiple angles, and repeatedly ran my finger across each crease to compare how they looked and, perhaps more importantly, how they felt.

Right away, it became obvious that the two companies have taken very different approaches.

Samsung says its new Flex Titanium display technology redesigns the folding display to reduce the crease. However, structurally, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is still the same as previous generations, with a single, clearly defined crease running down the middle of the display.

It's much shallower than on previous Galaxy Fold devices, but it's still easy to spot under direct light.

The Oppo Find N6, on the other hand, looks quite different. Rather than one defined crease, the center of the display appears more like a series of tiny ripples. Neither phone hides the crease completely, but the two companies have clearly taken different approaches.

To be honest, I don't think either phone has a huge visual advantage when the displays are turned off. How visible the crease is depends almost entirely on the lighting and the angle you're looking at the screen from.

Where I did notice a difference was in how the crease feels. Running my finger across the Galaxy Z Fold 8, I could still feel a fairly noticeable dip before reaching the other side of the display.

The Oppo Find N6 feels different. Instead of one distinct crease, your finger glides across a series of much subtler ripples. The transition is smoother overall, and if you aren't deliberately looking for it, you barely notice the crease.

With the displays turned on, I really struggled to spot the crease on either phone. Whether I was gaming, browsing articles, or watching videos, it quickly faded into the background to the point where I barely noticed it.

Samsung's new anti-reflective coating on the inner display also helps here by reducing reflections that would otherwise make the crease more obvious under bright lighting.

Winner

So if I had to pick a winner, I'd probably go with the Oppo Find N6. I'll be honest with you, no foldable that closes completely is ever going to have a perfectly invisible crease. That's simply the nature of the form factor, and anything that folds is going to crease.

The Find N6's crease feels just a little smoother under your finger, and overall, I'd give it a narrow win.

That said, I don't think that should stop anyone from buying the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Samsung has made a massive leap forward compared to previous Galaxy Fold devices.

The crease no longer feels like one of the phone's biggest compromises, and once the display is turned on, the new anti-reflective coating actually helps make it even less noticeable during everyday use.

More from Tom's Guide

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 deals are here: how to save up $1,200 on Samsung's new foldables
• The tech world hyped up the Galaxy Z Fold 8's 'crease-free' display — here's a reality check after 7 days
• iPhone Fold report reveals this is how Apple is killing the crease

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a fantastic foldable, with a lot of great upgrades that (mostly) stands up to the Ultra moniker. But the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was also a fantastic foldable when it was released last year, with our review declaring it to be the foldable phone we've been waiting for.

Obviously this leaves us with a few questions that need answering. The Z Fold 8 Ultra is the better phone, but is it still good enough to supplant the Z Fold 7 as the foldable you should buy? After all, the Z Fold 8 Ultra is more expensive, and the Z Fold 7 is likely to get some price cuts in the wake of the Ultra's launch.

So how does the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra compare to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and which of these foldables is right for you?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Specs

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Price & availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has been on sale since last July, with prices starting at $1,999 for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. 512GB is available for $2,199, while a 1TB model with 16GB of RAM can be purchased for $2,499.

Color options include Silver Shadow, Jet Black, Blue Shadow and the Samsung-exclusive Mint. This phone is also likely to be discounted in the wake of the Z 8 series launch, since it's already a year old.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra goes on sale on August 7, with prices starting at $2,199 for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. 512GB raises the price to $2,299, while 1TB with 16GB of RAM will set you back $2,699.

Color options include Violet Shadow, Cream, Graphite and the Samsung-exclusive Green Shadow.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Design and Display

Samsung didn't offer any bold redesigns with the Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the new foldable's shape and size is more or less identical to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. They're not quite the same, since Z Fold 7 cases don't appear to fit on the back of the 8 Ultra, but it's close enough that you'd need precise measuring tools to notice.

The biggest upgrade is that the Z Fold 8 Ultra features a new Flex Titanium display, which offers improved durability and significantly less creasing in the middle. It's not quite crease-free, but it is almost invisible compared to the Z Fold 7.

The Fold 8 Ultra also has a much better screen when it comes to dealing with bright light. Both phones have the same high resolution screens and adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rates, but the Z Fold 7 isn't nearly as bright as the 8 Ultra. In fact, last year's foldable recorded a peak brightness of 2,245 nits, while the Z Fold 8 Ultra hit 2,687 nits.

The anti-reflective coating on the newer foldable also makes it a lot easier to use the Fold 8 Ultra in bright conditions, and it makes a shocking amount of difference in reducing glare. By which I mean you won't see your own silhouette staring back at you nearly as much.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Performance

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the first Galaxy foldable to feature the custom "for Galaxy" chipset, which means it shares the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset as the Galaxy S26 series. Older foldables utilized Snapdragon's standard flagship chip, so the Z Fold 7 arrived running the same Snapdragon 8 Elite as countless other non-Samsung phones.

While the off-the-shelf chip is no slouch, the upgrade to a For Galaxy chipset means that the Z Fold 8 Ultra gets to enjoy a performance boost compared to its predecessor.

As you can see in the table above, the Z Fold 8 Ultra finished Geekbench 6 with a single-core score of 3,733 and a multi-core score of 11,457. That's compared to the 3,052 and 9,735 scores recorded by the Z Fold 7 during the same benchmarking test. That's quite the jump, especially on the multi-core testing.

Graphics performance is a pretty similar story, with the Z Fold 8 Ultra scoring 12,950 in 3DMark's Solar Bay Unlimited benchmark test, with an average framerate of 49.24 fps. The Z Fold 7 came out with 10,912 and 41.21 fps which, while not terrible performance, seriously lags behind. Geekbench's AI test is more of the same with the Z Fold 8 Ultra coming in with a score of 71,715 to the Z Fold 7's 59,663.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Cameras

The camera situation on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a little hit and miss, though the same is true of the Z Fold 7. Both phones share the same 200MP main camera lens, 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and a pair of 10MP selfie cameras (one for each screen).

However, the 8 Ultra's ultrawide camera has been given a much-needed update, increasing the resolution to 50MP — among smaller changes. But saying the phones both have similar camera hardware doesn't really tell us how different the photos actually are — especially now that software plays such a huge part in the process.

You'd think that the quality of the 200MP main lens would be identical across both phones, but that actually isn't the case. They seem alike at first glance, but the Z Fold 8 Ultra is actually picking up a lot more detail compared to its predecessor.

The text on this mail box is a lot more legible, and the finer details in the brickwork stand out a lot more. Overall, the Fold 8 Ultra delivers a much clearer and crisper image.

Despite the big bump in resolution, the difference in the ultrawide shots are pretty subtle — just as they were when I tested the cameras for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review. The Z Fold 8 Ultra offers crisper image quality and a slightly brighter photo overall. At a glance, most won't be able to pick up the subtleties of how the two cameras are different.

Macro shots aren't that dissimilar either, and both phones are able to capture the smaller details from close-up shots. However, the Z Fold 7's shot is noticeably more washed out, and doesn't feature the same deeper coloring of the Z Fold 8 Ultra.

The selfie camera quality is more or less identical on both phones. Some areas are clearer than others, depending on which side you're looking at, but that seems to be due to the variations on focus rather than the actual quality of the final shot. The Z Fold 8 Ultra is a little bit brighter, though.

Portrait mode is exactly the same, with the exact same focus variations and brightness difference as the regular selfie mode. Neither photo has any particular characteristics that make it superior to the other, and the bokeh effect looks exactly the same across both devices.

Speaking of identical, the same is true of the telephoto lens at 3x optical zoom. The quality of the shot on both phones is pretty poor, and it's an upgrade Samsung desperately needs to make ahead of the Z Fold 9 launch next year.

Pushing the magnification up to 10x doesn't make any difference either. While the details are being picked up by the camera, the actual quality of the final shot is atrocious compared to other flagship phones that cost considerably less money — including Samsung's own Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Samsung made a point of emphasizing how much it was improving low light capabilities with the Z Fold 8 Ultra, and it definitely looks like it's succeeded. Compared to the Z Fold 7, the night-time shots are brighter, crisper and pick up a lot more detail from the mail box. In fact, the Z Fold 7 shot blurs out the letters V and R around the crown at the top

Samsung has clearly made some improvements to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, especially where low light photography is concerned. But a lot of the daytime upgrades seem to be a lot more subtle, and less noticeable to the casual observer. Whether that minor boost is worth it for you all depends on which phone you have, and whether the Z Fold 8 Ultra's other upgrades matter to you or not.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Battery & charging

One of the biggest upgrades on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the fact that the battery life is so much better now. This is thanks to a higher capacity silicon carbon battery with 5,000 mAh capacity, compared to 4,400 mAh for the Fold 7. Our custom battery test, which involves web-surfing over a 5G connection until the power runs out, clocked the Z Fold 8 Ultra's battery life at 14 hours and 33 minutes.

While this isn't as good as the Galaxy S26 Ultra, it is almost four hours longer than the Galaxy Z Fold 7's 10 hours and 44 minutes of battery life. Under 11 hours is pretty disappointing, but hitting 14+ hours means the Z Fold 8 Ultra is far more likely to make it through a single day without recharging.

The Z Fold 8 Ultra offers 45W wired charging compared to the Z Fold 7's 25W. That faster charging allows the phone to reclaim 76% of its battery life in just 30 minutes, compared to 54% on the Z Fold 7. Wireless charging has also increased by 5W, with up to 20W Qi2 speeds on the Z Fold 8 Ultra — though the embedded magnets are still missing from the phone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has a lot of upgrades compared to last year, and the majority of them are available in areas that actually matter to your everyday use of the phone. Battery life is significantly improved, performance has taken a pretty big jump and the bright, anti-reflective display makes it significantly nicer to use this phone in a variety of conditions.

Those are all notable quality of life improvements that could make the Z Fold 8 Ultra the foldable of choice for most people. The camera changes are subtle, with the biggest difference being low-light performance.

Overall. the Fold 7 is still a very good foldable, especially when you can find it for a sizable discount. But if you're in the market for a new foldable phone, the Fold 8 Ultra is hands-down the better option.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I just tried the new Samsung DeX on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 — and it has one huge upgrade
• iPhone Ultra vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 — here's 3 big ways Apple could win
• I tested the Galaxy Z Fold 8 vs. Fold 8 Ultra to see if the lack of a telephoto zoom is a dealbreaker

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra are officially available for purchase. Samsung's new phones are among the best foldable phones we've tested, but they're also some one of the priciest. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts at $1,899, whereas the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2,099.

The good news is that there are plenty of Galaxy Z Fold 8 deals you can get right now on both phones. For example, you can get up to $1,900 off either phone at T-Mobile with trade-in and an eligible data plan. Alternatively, you can get up to $1,200 off the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra at Samsung with trade-in. Or you'll get the same $200 Samsung credit without a trade.

Below I've rounded up all of the best Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra deals you can get. (For more ways to save, check out the Tom's Guide Savings Squad hub).

Quick Links: Galaxy Z Fold 8

• T-Mobile: free w/ trade-in + unlimited
• Samsung: up to $1,200 off w/ trade-in or $200 credit
• AT&T: free w/ trade-in + unlimited
• Verizon: free w/ trade-in or free watch + tablet
• Xfinity Mobile: up to $1,000 off w/ trade-in + unlimited
• Best Buy: up to $1,200 off w/ trade-in + $200 gift card
• Amazon: $1,899 + $350 gift card

Quick Links: Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

• T-Mobile: up to $1,900 w/ trade-in + unlimited
• Samsung: up to $1,200 off w/ trade-in or $200 credit
• AT&T: $5/month w/ trade-in + unlimited
• Verizon: up to $1,200 off w/ trade-in or free watch + tablet
• Xfinity Mobile: up to $1,000 off w/ trade-in + unlimited
• Best Buy: up to $1,200 off w/ trade-in + $200 gift card
• Amazon: $1,899 + $350 gift card

Galaxy Z Fold 8 deals

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra preorder deals

Shop more deals

What’s in a name? In the case of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the “Ultra” part is supposed to signal to buyers that Samsung’s flagship foldable is a higher tier of phone. And in many ways it is, from the super bright display with less of a crease to the silicon-carbon battery (a first for Samsung phones).

But at $2,099, is the Fold 8 Ultra truly an “Ultra” phone? I’ve been testing it for a couple weeks, and while there’s plenty of great upgrades, there are some ways the Fold 8 Ultra falls short of the $1,299 Galaxy S26 Ultra. After testing these two phones side by side, including taking lots of photos, here’s the one I'd buy.

Galaxy Fold 8 Ultra vs Galaxy S26 Ultra: Specs Compared

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Design and durability

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is remarkably light and compact for a phone that unfurls to an 8-inch display. It weighs just 7.58 ounces, which is barely heavier than the Galaxy S26 Ultra that limits you to a 6.9-inch screen.

In addition, the Fold 8 Ultra is only 4.1mm thin when it’s opened, which is even thinner than the Fold 7. Still, when closed the Galaxy S26 Ultra is a millimeter thinner, which is expected for a slab phone.

The Fold 8 Ultra may be thinner, but it’s definitely not ready for a day at the beach. This foldable is once again IP48 rated, which means it can withstand being submerged in water for 30 minutes — but it is not dust resistant.

However, the Galaxy S26 Ultra carries an IP68 rating, which means the phone is dust tight. It’s also worth mentioning that other foldables are rated IP68, including the Motorola Razr Fold and Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Displays

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 packs dual screens: a 6.5-inch cover display that’s fine for running apps (if a bit cramped for typing) and a huge 8-inch main display. And the S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch panel.

The main reason to get the Fold 8 Ultra is the bigger main display. With 8 inches at your disposal, you get a more immersive video watching experience, as well as the ability to run apps side by side.

What you don’t get is the S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display, which narrows the viewing angle for any snoops around you and can even black out just parts of the display.

I really like that the Fold 8 Ultra features an anti-reflective coating that seriously cuts down on glare when you’re outside. Plus, thanks to Samsung’s Flex Titanium technology, the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s crease is much less visible than previous Samsung foldable phones. It’s still there, but more subtle.

Thanks to a brighter screen, I also found using the Z Fold 8 outside in direct sunlight a lot easier, whether I was browsing the web or just taking or reviewing photos. On previous Samsung Folds, I mostly used the external screen for taking pics.

In our lab testing the Z Fold 8 Ultra hit 2,687 nits of brightness with HDR content. That’s considerably higher than the S26 Ultra’s 1,806 nits.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: S Pen

Samsung ditched the S Pen on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in order to make a thinner design and it’s still missing on the Fold 8 Ultra. Without a built-in digitizer for the screen, you simply can’t use an S Pen.

Meanwhile, the S26 Ultra has an S Pen built into the design. So you can use the stylus for taking notes, drawing and making fine edits on the go.

I spoke to Samsung executives about the missing S Pen on the Fold and they’re “open” to bringing it back.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Cameras

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has an Ultra-ish camera setup, starting with a 200MP main camera and 50MP ultraside, same as on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. But the new foldable falls down in the zoom department.

Let’s start with the good news. In most conditions, the main and ultrawide cameras on the Fold 8 and S26 Ultra turned in nearly identical results, whether it was flower close-up ultra-wide shots of Bryant Park or portraits. Panoramas were similar, too.

It’s when you try to get in close that the Fold 8, well, folds. While the S26 Ultra packs dual telephoto zoom lenses at 3x and 5x with a maximum of 100x digital zoom, the Fold 8 Ultra has only a single 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom.

Check out this close-up of an ice cream truck. At 30x, you can make out all of the menu names underneath the pictures of the cones on the S26 Ultra. On the Fold 8 Ultra it’s just a bunch of blobs.

Same thing with this shot of a medieval scholar sculpture on the side of a New York City building. At 10x, you can make out more details in his face, hair and garb. And at 30x the Fold 8’s Ultra’s shot looks like an impressionist painting by comparison.

The S26 Ultra has a slight selfie advantage, too, with a 12MP front camera. The Fold 8 Ultra has dual 10MP shooters. But the results are pretty close in my eyes. The advantage the Fold has is that you can flip around the cover display and take super sharp selfies with the rear cameras.

I’d say the Fold 8 Ultra and S26 Ultra are fairly evenly matched in low-light settings. In this photo of a record player in near darkness, the S26 Ultra delivered a brighter and crisper shot. The colors look more realistic too, especially in the pink macrame.

However, while the S26 Ultra gave me a brighter shot of the bottles in this bar, especially the blue Casa Azul, the text looks sharper through the Fold 8 Ultra.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Performance

Packing the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip for Galaxy, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and S26 Ultra are both multitasking powerhouses, and they’re both great for gaming.

In our lab tests, the S26 Ultra finished slightly ahead in Geekbench, 3DMark graphics and Geekbench AI, but I wouldn’t say it’s a big difference.

The S26 Ultra could be helped by the fact that it has vapor chamber cooling, while the Fold 8 Ultra does not.

I played Wuthering Waves on both the Fold 8 Ultra and S26 Ultra, and it was more immersive on the Fold because of its large display. But I found it a touch smoother on the S26 Ultra.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Battery life and charging

Samsung has made the leap to silicon-carbon battery tech with the Fold 8 Ultra, going from 4,400 mAh on the Fold 7 to 5,000 mAh on its latest foldable. That’s the same capacity as the S26 Ultra albeit with lithium ion.

On the Tom’s Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over 5G, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra lasted an impressive 14 hours and 33 minutes. That’s a huge upgrade over the 11 hours turned in by the Fold 7.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra lasted an even longer 16 hours and 40 minutes, but keep in mind that it was powering a smaller 6.9-inch display compared to the 8-inch screen on the Fold 8.

The Fold 8 offers 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging, compared to 60W wired and 25W wireless on the S26 Ultra. But the phones turned in similar results in our wired charging test.

The Fold 8 Ultra got to 76% in 30 minutes versus 77% for the S26 Ultra. Note that neither phone has built-in magnets for Qi 2 charging, so you’ll have to buy a case with that feature.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Software and special features

Both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy S26 Ultra offer a bunch of AI features that come in handy, including automated actions with Gemini (like helping to book dinner reservations or even vacations), Call Screening and Now Brief for summarizing your daily schedule. They also both let you transform your photos with a simple voice prompt.

However, the Fold 8 Ultra offers a few unique tricks of its own. This includes Now Nudge in Split View, which can give you quick hints for opening a second app on its own screen to save time. And My FanCam can automatically follow a subject in your video, cropping the clip on the fly.

Plus, unlike the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Fold 8 Ultra boasts a Flex Mode for using the foldable like a mini laptop. And when shooting photos and videos you can use the Cover Screen preview feature to let the subjects see themselves in real time.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Verdict

I’m not going to say that calling the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra an Ultra phone is false advertising, but you do have to make a bunch of trade-offs versus the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

With the foldable you don’t get an S Pen or an IP68 rating for dust resistance, and the S26 Ultra offers both a more powerful telephoto zoom and Privacy Display feature. Plus, the S26 Ultra lasted longer on a charge.

However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a very versatile foldable phone that grants you a much bigger display, the ability to run up three apps at once and handy AI tools like Now Nudge with Split View.

But at $2,099, the Fold 8 Ultra costs $800 more than the S26 Ultra. So you really, really want to own a foldable if you’re going that route.

Bottom line: If you want the ultimate multi-tasking powerhouse, get the Fold 8 Ultra. But if you want the biggest zoom, best-in-class privacy and an S Pen, snag the S26 Ultra for less.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is set to launch at the August 12 Made by Google event, alongside the rest of the Pixel 11 series. If past releases are anything to go by, this should be the flagship Google phone for the year, with the largest display, best battery life and all the other things that make premium phones worth having.

But the question still remains, how will it compare to other flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra? Pixel phones typically lag behind their rivals in the hardware department, and while they do make up some of the distance with robust AI and software features, it still feels like something is missing. A new phone is a new opportunity to one-up the competition, but will the Pixel 11 Pro XL actually catch up to the Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Here's our rundown of Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, based on all the rumors and leaks we've heard so far.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Specs

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Price & availability

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is available right now, with a starting price of $1,299 for a model with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. However, given the phone is a few months old, we have started seeing some significant discounts from various retailers — including Samsung itself.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is expected to cost $100 more than last year's model, meaning the phone may start at $1,299. The cheapest model will reportedly come with 256GB of storage once again, but it may feature a memory downgrade with just 12GB of RAM — compared to 16GB in the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

In other words, it looks like both phones will cost the same amount for similar core specs.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL release date isn't known right now, but new Google typically opens pre-orders for new Pixel devices at the end of the launch event, with the release day scheduled one to two weeks later. So expect to have your hands on a Pixel 11 Pro XL before the end of the month.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Design & display

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the larger of the two phones, rocking a 6.9-inch screen, measuring 6.44 x 3.07 x 0.31 in and weighing 7.55 oz. Meanwhile the Pixel 11 Pro XL is expected to come with a 6.8-inch display, measure 6.4 x 30.1 x 0.33 inches and weigh 7.9 ounces. That means, despite being slightly smaller, it is a heavier device — though part of that will come from the Qi2 magnets in the back of the 11 Pro XL.

The 11 Pro XL's screen is tipped to be brighter, with leaks promising a 3,600 nit display, compared to the 2,600 nit S26 Ultra. This should prove beneficial for the 11 Pro XL in bright situations, though it's unclear if it will have an anti-reflective coating the same way Samsung offers. Likewise, it's unlikely we'll see the Privacy Display features from Google anytime soon.

Both phones should offer rounded corners, though Google has the horizontal triple-lens camera bar while Samsung has stuck with the vertical quad-lens system for another generation. However Samsung's phone lacks the "Pixel Glow" feature that's rumored to be coming to all Pixel 11 phones, and is expected to serve as a notification light on the back of the device.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Performance

Performance is not the area Google usually excels at, especially since it moved to Tensor chips. Considering this, and how high the performance benchmarks are for Galaxy S26 Ultra's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, we should not expect to see the Pixel 11 Pro XL topping any benchmark leagues following its release.

That's especially true when you remember some of the rumored changes coming to this year's Tensor G6 chip. The G6 is rumored to drop to seven cores, instead of the usual eight, though it will be built on TSMC's 2nm process — which improves transistor density, and in the process boosts performance and power efficiency. To make matters worse, Google is utilizing a MediaTek M90 modem, which is several years old at this point.

There's more to performance than benchmarks and the latest hardware, but considering Google's track record with weak performance, you'd have thought it would make more of an effort.

The 11 Pro XL is also expected to come with a new Titan M3 security chip, which will supposedly feature a new "Tensor Processing Unit" and offer forwards-compatible protection against whatever future cyberattacks bad actors might develop — though how that compares to the latest version of Samsung's Knox isn't clear.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Cameras

On paper the Galaxy S26 Ultra has the advantage in the camera department. The phone is equipped with a 200MP main camera lens, partnered with a 50MP ultrawide lens, 50MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and a 10MP secondary telephoto capable of 3x optical zoom — plus a 12MP selfie camera on the front.

In contrast, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is expected to come with a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide and a 48MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom (and up to 120x AI assisted digital zoom). There's no word on what sort of resolution to expect from the selfie camera, but you shouldn't expect anything less than the 42MP lens from the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

Obviously we won't know how much better or worse the Pixel 11 Pro XL's cameras are compared to S26 Ultra until we actually get our hands on the phone. Camera hardware only tells you so much, especially with how important software has become to the photography process. So we'll have to do some thorough hands-on testing

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Software & AI

Software is easily the area where Pixel phones excel, especially since the 11 Pro XL will be several months newer than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The phone will have the usual array of software benefits, including first-in-line access to the latest Android updates, quarterly Pixel drops with new features, and the latest and best AI Google has to offer.

Samsung usually isn't that far behind, though. While One UI has had some hiccups in rolling out to everyone, Samsung tends to be pretty good at getting new updates to users fairly quickly. Just not as quickly as Google does with Pixel.

Likewise Samsung has invested a lot in AI, and there's been a lot of crossover between Pixel and Galaxy phones when it comes to the latest features. So we won't know for sure who has the best AI suite until Google actually reveals what the Pixel 11 series has to offer.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Battery & charging

Battery life is another thing Pixels flag on compared to Samsung, but we won't know how much has changed until we actually test the 11 Pro XL's battery life for ourselves. However, the phone has a slightly smaller 5,115 mAh battery compared to the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which doesn't fill us with a lot of confidence.

The 10 Pro XL lasted 14 hours and 35 minutes in our custom battery test, compared to the 16 hours and 10 minutes recorded by the S26 Ultra. If the Pixel 10 Pro XL can't beat the S26 Ultra's 5,000 mAh battery life, then a smaller Pixel 11 Pro XL isn't likely to have much luck.

But you can't always predict these things ahead of time, and we will see what results the lab testing reveals following the 11 Pro XL's release.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is also expected to offer 45W charging, which is slightly below that of the S26 Ultra's 60W speeds. However the two should be equal on the wireless charging front, with 25W Qi2.2 speeds, even if the Galaxy doesn't have the same built-in magnets as the Pixel. That said, the Galaxy S26 Ultra still offers reverse wireless charging, which Google scrapped last year.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Outlook

We know a lot about the Pixel 11 Pro XL, even if the official reveal isn't scheduled until August 12. Sadly everything we've heard suggests that this is a basic run of the mill hardware upgrade from Google, which means it's going to struggle to compete with the Galaxy S26 Ultra — which is our pick for the best Android phone.

That said, we can't make an absolute decision until we have both phones in our possession, and compare their performance side by side. A lot of factors don't show up on the specs sheet, and the only way to figure out which phone is better is with hands-on testing. Performance, cameras and battery life are the main three.

So for now, it looks like Samsung may have the edge in a bunch of areas, even if Google hasn't quite given up yet. Still, for the time being, we're just going to have to be patient to see what Google actually has in store for us.

More from Tom’s Guide

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 vs. Fold 8 Ultra camera zoom test: Don't spend the extra $200 until you see this
• This is the Pixel 11 Pro Fold — and this is when pre-orders officially start
• I asked Siri AI and Gemini a series of increasingly bizarre questions to see how they responded —here's what happened

Samsung’s new foldable phones are almost here, and if you’re planning to get any of them, you should know about their most underrated feature in my opinion: Samsung DeX. This year’s lineup consists of three new foldables — the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra — which all come with the latest version of Samsung’s desktop interface.

Just as before, you can easily access DeX by plugging them directly into a monitor, whether via USB-C, an HDMI port using a USB hub, or even wirelessly on a supported display or TV. I’ve been testing this new Samsung DeX for the past week, and it gains one specific feature that makes it more useful for productivity.

In fact, this new Samsung DeX is exactly like the one I tested on the Galaxy S26 from earlier this year — which inherited it from the now-discontinued Galaxy Z TriFold.

Samsung DeX on Fold 8 and Flip 8: What's new

The only new addition to this year’s Samsung DeX is the ability to create up to four workspaces. Each desktop can support up to five apps, which means I can run 20 different apps simultaneously.

While I don’t need to actively use that many apps at once, having them organized makes a huge difference. For instance, I’ve set up one workspace strictly for work-related apps I frequently access — like Slack, Gmail, Chrome, Google Docs, and Messages. In another, I have my social networking apps, while a third is dedicated to editing apps I use consistently, such as CapCut, PhotoDirector, and PowerDirector.

By clicking the icon with the three vertical lines in the lower-left corner of the interface, I can easily jump to the workspace I need — which functions very similarly to how Windows 11 handles multiple desktops. With access to more workspaces, I can keep my apps organized and stay much more productive.

Samsung DeX on Fold 8 and Flip 8: What’s missing

Apart from that, this version of Samsung DeX is no different from the past few iterations. For example, I like being able to run two apps side-by-side and automatically resize them by adjusting the slider between them. That way, I can make Chrome take up more of the desktop while leaving a smaller window for Slack.

However, there are still a few improvements that could elevate the experience. First and foremost, I’d love to see DeX copy Windows 11’s “Snap” feature, which lets you arrange apps in preset layouts for better organization. While DeX still offers side-by-side multitasking, I want that extended to four apps at once — where each app occupies a quadrant of the display.

Secondly, I would love for Samsung to bring back support for multiple user profiles. Many of the best Android phones offer this feature, but Samsung has left it out for several generations now. It’s a crucial addition because it would allow users to separate work and personal accounts cleanly. For example, I have bookmarks specifically tied to my work account that I can't access in DeX because Chrome is locked to my personal profile.

Samsung DeX on Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra: Bottom line

I can’t deny that I rely on Samsung DeX on these new foldables when I’m in a pinch and forget my laptop. In fact, I can accomplish nearly 90% of my daily workload using DeX alone — though that missing 10% could easily be bridged if Samsung adds the features I mentioned.

DeX is also invaluable to me because I can pair it with my Xreal smart glasses, a wireless mouse, and a Bluetooth keyboard. It makes for the ultimate portable desktop experience, projecting the interface directly in front of me with optional semi-transparency so I can stay aware of my surroundings.

And considering Samsung’s ongoing developments in wearable displays and smart glasses, I’m genuinely excited to see where Samsung DeX goes next.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I’ve tested the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and it proves Apple really needs to solve this one thing
• Gemini Notebook just sold me on foldables — here's why I finally get the hype
• Don't pay full price for your Galaxy Z Fold 8: this preorder deal knocks up to $1,200 off

In the last couple of weeks, Samsung leakers and some news reports have indicated that the Z Fold 8 series is proving super popular and already selling better than its predecessor. This could be great news for the iPhone Ultra, which is supposed to launch next month.

Samsung decided to confirm those numbers itself with a new press release asserting that the Z8 series of foldables is breaking records for pre-orders, especially the new wider Galaxy Z Fold 8. According to the Korean company, pre-orders increased more than 30% compared to last year's Galaxy Z Fold 7.

For the series, the wider Z Fold 8 makes up "nearly half of all pre-orders" with the Lavender color already sold out, though Graphite is apparently the most popular hue. Samsung claims 3x as many Flip users are switching to the bigger Fold this year as well.

Per the Korean version of the Samsung website, the company received 1.44 million pre-orders between July 28 and August 3, a record for any Galaxy phone.

Additionally, the release reveals that the Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Flip 8, the new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy Watch 9 will all be available on store shelves starting Friday, August 7.

Why this is good news for Apple

One of the more solid rumors surrounding the forthcoming iPhone Ultra is that Apple has opted for more of a passport-style design that is shorter and wider than traditional foldables like the Z Fold 8. A slew of dummy units and leaked renders have shown off the squatter form factor.

Samsung will likely never confirm this, but allegedly the company redesigned the Z Fold 8 into the new wider format specifically to rival Apple's purported design.

Apple's take on the passport-style foldable is supposed to feature an inner display measuring 7.8 inches in size or just slightly smaller than the iPad mini, but slightly bigger than the 7.6-inch display on the Z Fold 8. This size is supposed to give Apple's foldable an aspect ratio close to 4:3, just like the iPad.

Apple's device was probably going to prove popular since the tech giant claims around 32% of the global smartphone market share.

But despite a starting price of $1,899, Samsung's wider foldable is proving popular. Early estimates tipped the iPhone Ultra to cost around $2,000, though more recent ones have hedged higher, around $2,400, thanks to increased component costs.

If those prices are true, Samsung and Apple could be in for an interesting rivalry as Samsung's lower prices face Apple's popularity.

More from Tom's Guide

• Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra leak reveals silicon carbon battery leap — but also a camera downgrade
• I trekked the Cascade Mountains with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Garmin Instinct 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 — this is the one I'd take on my next hike
• iPhone Ultra vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 — here's 3 big ways Apple could win

One of the biggest complaints people have about the $1,899 Galaxy Z Fold 8 (myself included) is that it doesn't have a dedicated telephoto zoom lens. You're stuck with just a wide and ultrawide camera. There's just a digital zoom that goes up to 10x.

Meanwhile, the $2,099 Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra packs a 3x telephoto lens with a max digital zoom of 30x. So does having a dedicated optical zoom camera make that big a difference? To find out, I took both of these foldable phones out to shoot a series of photos at various magnifications. And while there's very little difference at 4x, you really start to notice the difference at 10x (in some instances). Here's the results.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Ice cream truck (4x)

At first glance there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in this shot of an ice cream truck. But upon closer inspection, the Fold 8 Ultra's photo has sharper text, especially around the words "Cups" and "Shakes." Overall, the image from the Fold 8 Ultra looks clearer versus the regular Fold 8, whose shot generally looks hazier.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Ice Cream Truck (10x)

Ironically, as we zoom in even further at 10x, the Fold 8 Ultra doesn't offer a clearly superior shot. The digital zooms on both phones struggle to make out the text beneath the ice cream options. For that, you'd either need better AI processing or a longer telephoto lens.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Times Square (3x)

For this shot I wanted to compare the true 3x optical zoom on the Fold 8 Ultra versus the 3x digital zoom on the Fold 8. And I have to say that the Fold 8 more than holds its own. Even upon close inspection I didn't notice much crisper detail from the Fold 8 Ultra. In fact, I prefer the slightly brighter exposure from the Fold 8, especially in the foreground.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Statue (4x)

I give the edge to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in this photo of the José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva statue in Bryant Park. The statue looks a bit sharper, and the string lights in the background are easier to make out. The Fold 8 Ultra's shot is fine but just not as crisp.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Statue (10x)

It's a different story at 10x zoom, as the Fold 8 Ultra pulls ahead. The shirt, tie and jacket on the statue all have more detail through the Ultra. The Fold 8's image is blurrier and loses some of the detail in the shadows.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Street Sign (4x)

I'm a bit torn when it comes to this photo of the Avenue of the Americas sign shot at 4x zoom. The text definitely pops more through the Fold 8 Ultra, both on the sign itself and on the Movie Nights sign to the right. However, the street sign post looks slightly better through the Fold 8.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Street Sign (10x)

Once we start zooming in further you can immediately tell that the 10x zoom on the Fold 8 Ultra produces sharper-looking text in the sign. All of the letters look crisper, though certainly not perfect. The Fold 8 struggles with a blurrier pic. The bronz pole for the lamp post has a lot more detail, too, especially in the ornamental leaves.

Fold 8 vs Fold 8 Ultra: Street Sign (10x vs 30x)

Lastly, this shot shows how you can get really close on the street sign with the Fold 8 Ultra, which would require additional cropping on the Fold 8. And the Fold 8 Ultra comes out on top with more detail in the lettering.

Bottom line

My overall takeaway is that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's telephoto zoom and longer digital zoom are indeed better than what you get from the Fold 8. Having a dedicated telephoto lens certainly helps, but the difference was not as dramatic as I was expecting. And to me this difference alone is certainly not worth paying an extra $200 for.