Why Samsung’s new ultra smartphone doesn’t deserve its name
Although Samsung's new premium foldable is the first to carry the "Ultra" branding, promising top-tier features and true flagship ambitions, it falls short of those expectations in several areas.
With the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, the manufacturer has defined the absolute cutting edge of foldable technology within the Z series and, with an eye on the competition, has built a top-notch foldable phone. However, despite its high price (starts at around $2,000 on Amazon.com), the foldable flagship falls short of the “Ultra” standard when compared directly with the company’s own elite smartphone, the S26 Ultra.
Our biggest criticism by far concerns the lack of stylus support. We find it incomprehensible that a smartphone with an extra-large 8-inch display, which clearly aimed at productive users, does not offer S Pen support. This means it lacks a key feature that has defined Samsung’s Ultra models for years and one that would be especially useful with this form factor. Instead of making the successor to the Galaxy Z Fold7 slightly thinner, Samsung should have reintegrated the digitizer layer into the screen.
Why doesn’t the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra come with Corning Gorilla Armor 2?
A closer look at the Fold8 Ultra’s smaller external display also reveals a compromise. Although Samsung uses the new Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 for the external display, the screen is not matte and is highly reflective. Only the internal display, with its new special film, has a slight anti-glare coating. The outer display lacks the anti-reflective coating found on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which features Corning Gorilla Armor 2.
For an Ultra foldable, a dust-tight enclosure meeting the IP68 standard would have been desirable
Despite the new titanium hinge, the Fold8 Ultra only achieves an IP48 rating and thus remains vulnerable to small dust particles. For an Ultra model, a dust-tight housing would have been desirable to avoid restrictions on use, for example, at the beach.
Another everyday drawback for Fold users is the rear camera system. Compared directly with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Fold8 Ultra lacks a second telephoto lens, causing it to underperform, especially at high magnifications. This omission cannot reasonably be attributed to a lack of space, given the size of the camera modul. It is huge and makes the Fold smartphone very unstable when placed on flat surfaces.
Read our review to find out why the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra has nevertheless turned out to be an excellent foldable phone.
Source(s)
Review: Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra
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