$2,200 for a smartphone: Is the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra worth buying?

For the first time, Samsung is introducing an Ultra model in its foldable series to showcase the absolute cutting edge of display, battery, and camera technology within the Z series. Despite the high price (starts around $2,000 at Amazon.com), Samsung’s premium smartphone is also selling very well in Europe.

Since S Pen support remains absent from the Ultra model, this year fold update focuses on battery life, display quality, and performance. Under the hood, the Fold8 Ultra makes the switch to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the “for Galaxy” variant. In our benchmark tests, the 2026 model achieved a substantial increase of over 20 percent in the Geekbench single-core score. We also recorded a 20 percent increase in the multi-core score compared with the Fold7.

Thanks to a new titanium hinge, the inner display of the Samsung foldable phone features a crease in the center of the screen that’s barely noticeable. Based on our measurements, the 8-inch OLED screen is also slightly brighter than that of the Fold7. We measured an increase of about 15 percent.

What was arguably the biggest shortcoming of its predecessor, namely battery life, has been addressed. The combination of the ultra-slim design, measuring just 4.1 mm when unfolded, and the larger silicon-carbon battery has a noticeably positive impact on everyday use. In our battery test, we recorded an increase in runtime of nearly three hours.

Thanks to the new 45-watt fast-charging technology, the Fold8 Ultra also charges significantly faster than the Fold7, even though its battery capacity has increased by about 15 percent. In our test, we recorded a charging time of about 70 minutes, whereas the 2025 model took nearly 1.5 hours to charge.