The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is trying hard to justify its new “Ultra” name.

Don’t be fooled by the new ‘Ultra’ name: The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the next generation of Samsung’s book-style foldable phone, following on from last year’s phone. Z Fold 7. We liked this phone, giving it a Good score in our review and a coveted CNET Editors’ Choice Award. The new “Ultra” model is very much an evolution. Although it looks similar, a few key upgrades address some of our main concerns with the 7 (particularly battery and charging), along with its slightly higher price.

Starting at $2,100, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is $100 more than last year’s model, for the same 256GB of storage. Any price rise will certainly be painful, but considering… Constant lack of RAM And the price hike it causes on all types of technology, I honestly expected the starting price for this year to be higher than that. But let me be clear: There’s no doubt that there’s still a huge amount to pay for the phone.

Samsung launched the phone on Wednesday An unannounced event in Londonalong with the Galaxy Z Flip 8, which is priced at $1,200, and the new Galaxy Z Fold 8, which is priced at $1,900. It was expected that this latest phone would get a “wide” name due to its unique dimensions, but instead, Samsung chose to call it the Z Fold 8 and give “Ultra” to last year’s design.

While the Z Fold 8 gets a new, wider format designed for better video watching and gaming, the Z Fold 8 Ultra remains committed to the foldable, book-style format that Samsung has been pushing since 2019.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: Size and displays

The Z Fold 8 Ultra maintains almost the same dimensions as the Z Fold 7, with a 6.5-inch external screen that can be opened to reveal an 8-inch internal screen. Samsung says it’s the thinnest folding car ever, measuring just 4.1 mm at its thinnest point; Cut a full 0.1mm off the Z Fold 7, which I don’t think you’ll really notice. Those upgrading from an older model, like the 6.4mm Z Fold 3, will benefit most from its slim dimensions.

Samsung says it has continued to improve the hinge mechanism using different shapes Titanium alloys in mechanics And the basic foldable structure under the screen to make the crease less noticeable. I certainly didn’t find creasing to be an issue during my time with the phone, with videos and apps displaying very clearly without any weird ripples due to the flexible screen. I’ll leave the final judgment on that when I can test it under different lighting conditions – especially bright outdoor sunlight.

The phone is running the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 5th generation For the Galaxy chip, which is the same custom processor that Samsung used in its phones Galaxy S26 Ultra. This is a powerful phone, achieving excellent scores in our benchmark tests and more than capable of handling anything from basic web browsing to video and photo editing, and of course the various AI apps on board.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: AI additions

The phone has Google’s suite of AI tools, including Gemini Live and Circle to Search, but there are some Samsung additions on board too. One of my favorites is My FanCam, which automatically re-crops your video to highlight a specific topic. Let’s say you’ve shot some footage of your child in the egg and spoon race, but you don’t want all the other kids to be in the clip when you share it. My FanCam can automatically focus your child in the shot and track them, reframing video that focuses only on them.

It worked well in the demo I saw and I liked that you can recrop in different aspect ratios, including 16:9 for vertical platforms like Instagram Reels. The downside is that it seems to rely heavily on cropping in your footage, so I expect the resulting video may not always look great, especially if you shoot at a lower resolution. I’m looking forward to seeing how this really works when I can test it.

Other new AI additions include Now Nudge, which aims to automatically launch multitasking tools based on what’s on screen — for example, showing the calendar when you’re messaging your friend about an event you’re planning. You’ll find task automation tools too, using agent AI to perform duties like booking concert tickets or local tours for you. Samsung says there are more than 40 supported apps that the agent AI can use and you can control it at any point in the process.

I’m still very ambivalent about these types of AI tools on my phones. It’s not that I don’t like them – although I’m skeptical about giving control of my money to an AI system – it’s just that I haven’t found an app that has had a measurable impact on my life. These tools looked interesting in my demos, but nothing stood out to me as life-changing. It’s also available on the Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8, and will likely roll out to Samsung’s Galaxy S26 as well.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: Cameras and battery

The rear cameras include a 200-megapixel main camera (the same as last year’s model), along with a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera, which is a significant increase over the Z Fold 7’s 12-megapixel camera. I expect camera performance to be at least on par with last year’s foldable model and it should be more than capable of capturing vibrant shots in a variety of conditions.

The phone contains a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the largest battery Samsung has placed inside one of its foldable devices. It claims up to 27 hours of video playback on a single charge, which is certainly an impressive number – if true. Battery life varies widely depending on what you do with your phone, how bright your screen is, and with foldable devices, whether you rely on the smaller external screen or spend all day using that huge internal screen.

I’d be happy if I could get through a hard day’s work on a full charge, because I’m already used to charging my device every night; I just don’t want to run out of juice in the middle of the afternoon. If it’s starting to run low, it now supports 45W wired fast charging, which should put up to 67% of the power back in the tank in about 30 minutes.

The relatively small battery and only 25W fast charging in last year’s model was one of our biggest criticisms, especially since rivals from Oppo and Huawei boast better numbers. So, we are happy to see Samsung working harder this time to remain competitive.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: Should you buy it?

The new 8 Ultra isn’t a complete overhaul compared to last year’s Z Fold 7. But it doesn’t have to be, because the latest model was already a great all-round foldable phone. The 8 Ultra remains sleek and powerful and now includes improved charging and an ultra-wide, high-resolution camera. And with the price increasing by $100 over last year, seeing these improvements is especially important for a device that costs more than $2,000.

Sure, these aren’t reasons to upgrade if you already have a Galaxy Z Fold 7, but for those of you using much older models, it looks like the Z Fold 8 Ultra has a lot to offer. I’ll be spending more time with the phone over the coming days and weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for our full verdict.