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.
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