Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Got hands-on with the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra at Samsung's Unpacked watch party in Dubai Mall, this is my first impressions video and a preliminary camera test to give you a sense of what this camera setup can do. This is a beautiful and premium device.
If you're prioritizing camera performance and raw power, this is the one to go for. You're getting the 200MP main sensor, a new 50MP ultrawide (upgraded from last year) capable of 8K video, and the only telephoto lens in the entire Fold 8 lineup with 3x optical zoom (unchanged from last year), on top of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy (same as the S line). The hinge is also a genuine step forward, Samsung's answer to the competition, and they've finally closed most of the gap on crease visibility with the new titanium construction.
I go through some early camera samples, front and rear, so you can get a first look at the actual output. You can get excellent shots with this phone, it's the better choice for camera performance compared to the passport-style Fold 8, which genuinely surprised me in terms of form factor. The telephoto is a must-have for me, and it's present here in the Ultra line, though it remains unchanged from last year at 3x optical zoom.
The ultrawide camera got a decent upgrade too. Samsung claims a sensor with 34% improved brightness compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
On battery, I was a bit disappointed, but the caveat is this is on paper. Samsung bumped the cell up from 4,400mAh last year to 5,000mAh this year, a modest upgrade, but they're claiming up to 27 hours of video playback, genuinely impressive if it holds up in real world use. They also finally made the leap to silicon carbon batteries, putting them on par with the competition there. Still behind what Oppo and Honor are shipping this year on paper, but sometimes the mAh number alone doesn't tell the full story.
Charging speed also got bumped up, to 45W wired and 20W wireless, a decent upgrade, though I wish it matched the competition at 60W or more. For reference, Samsung's own S26 Ultra already charges at 60W, so this 45W jump on the Fold 8 Ultra is welcome, but there's clearly room to go further.
Also worth noting, and something I forgot to mention in the video itself, this is still IP48 rated rather than IP68, so keep that in mind if water resistance matters to you at this price point.
Yes, other manufacturers have caught up, and in some areas even surpassed Samsung on hardware alone. But software is still Samsung's golden goose, One UI, along with its built-in AI capabilities, is still a step ahead of what Huawei, Honor, and Oppo are offering, and that's a big part of the day-to-day experience that specs alone don't capture.
One more thing I forgot to mention in the video, the elephant in the room, price. Samsung's increased prices across the board this year, in line with what Apple has already done, largely due to the memory shortage hitting AI data centers. My guess is this sticker shock isn't going away anytime soon. That said, if you've got the budget, and yes, $2,100 is a tough pill to swallow, this is a beautiful, premium device that can genuinely get a lot done. You may be able to find good deals online later.
#GalaxyZFold8Ultra #SamsungUnpacked #FirstImpressions #CameraTest.
#GalaxyZFold8Ultra #SamsungUnpacked #FirstImpressions #CameraTest
Got hands-on with the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra at Samsung's Unpacked watch party in Dubai Mall, this is my first impressions video and a preliminary camera test to give you a sense of what this camera setup can do. This is a beautiful and premium device.
If you're prioritizing camera performance and raw power, this is the one to go for. You're getting the 200MP main sensor, a new 50MP ultrawide (upgraded from last year) capable of 8K video, and the only telephoto lens in the entire Fold 8 lineup with 3x optical zoom (unchanged from last year), on top of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy (same as the S line). The hinge is also a genuine step forward, Samsung's answer to the competition, and they've finally closed most of the gap on crease visibility with the new titanium construction.
I go through some early camera samples, front and rear, so you can get a first look at the actual output. You can get excellent shots with this phone, it's the better choice for camera performance compared to the passport-style Fold 8, which genuinely surprised me in terms of form factor. The telephoto is a must-have for me, and it's present here in the Ultra line, though it remains unchanged from last year at 3x optical zoom.
The ultrawide camera got a decent upgrade too. Samsung claims a sensor with 34% improved brightness compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
On battery, I was a bit disappointed, but the caveat is this is on paper. Samsung bumped the cell up from 4,400mAh last year to 5,000mAh this year, a modest upgrade, but they're claiming up to 27 hours of video playback, genuinely impressive if it holds up in real world use. They also finally made the leap to silicon carbon batteries, putting them on par with the competition there. Still behind what Oppo and Honor are shipping this year on paper, but sometimes the mAh number alone doesn't tell the full story.
Charging speed also got bumped up, to 45W wired and 20W wireless, a decent upgrade, though I wish it matched the competition at 60W or more. For reference, Samsung's own S26 Ultra already charges at 60W, so this 45W jump on the Fold 8 Ultra is welcome, but there's clearly room to go further.
Also worth noting, and something I forgot to mention in the video itself, this is still IP48 rated rather than IP68, so keep that in mind if water resistance matters to you at this price point.
Yes, other manufacturers have caught up, and in some areas even surpassed Samsung on hardware alone. But software is still Samsung's golden goose, One UI, along with its built-in AI capabilities, is still a step ahead of what Huawei, Honor, and Oppo are offering, and that's a big part of the day-to-day experience that specs alone don't capture.
One more thing I forgot to mention in the video, the elephant in the room, price. Samsung's increased prices across the board this year, in line with what Apple has already done, largely due to the memory shortage hitting AI data centers. My guess is this sticker shock isn't going away anytime soon. That said, if you've got the budget, and yes, $2,100 is a tough pill to swallow, this is a beautiful, premium device that can genuinely get a lot done. You may be able to find good deals online later.
#GalaxyZFold8Ultra #SamsungUnpacked #FirstImpressions #CameraTest.
#GalaxyZFold8Ultra #SamsungUnpacked #FirstImpressions #CameraTest
