I took the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Fold 7 outside — and the difference is astonishing

I don't post to TikTok very often, but I was so floored by what I saw when testing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra outside I had to post something.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (and regular Galaxy Z Fold 8) both have an anti-reflective coating on their main displays. That means there's less glare on the screen when you're outdoors compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. A lot less.

As you can see in the above clip, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 maintains wide viewing angles and doesn't suffer from nearly as many reflections as the Fold 7 when showing a photo of a magenta zinnia flower.

This makes a huge difference in everyday utility when you're trying to use your foldable phone outside.

You'll also notice that the crease on the Fold 7 is a lot more prominent. The Fold 8 Ultra employs new Flex Titanium technology to minimize the crease. It's definitely still there, but a lot more subtle.

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It also helps that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's display is brighter than the Fold 7. In our lab tests, the Fold 8 Ultra's 8-inch display reached 2,687 nits of brightness. That's a pretty big jump from the 2,310 nits we measured on the Fold 7.

To be clear, neither display is perfect in super strong direct sunlight. But you can see in this photo, the Fold 8 Ultra's screen indeed looks brighter and the crease is still way less prominent.

I've gotten a ton of comments on my TikTok video, some claiming that the test is rigged. I did use each phone to take the same exact photo of the same flower seconds apart, then displayed them at full screen and maximum brightness.

To be more scientific, I should have used the same exact image, but I don't think the results would have been materially different.

Is this enough of a leap to justify upgrading from a Galaxy Z Fold 7 to a Fold 8 or Fold 8 Ultra? Not really. But the anti-reflective coating is super impressive — and will certainly make Fold 7 owners jealous.

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