Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Early Hands-On: 2 Weeks Later

I’ve had the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 in my hands for two full weeks now, using it as my primary daily driver. Samsung took a pretty noticeable shift with this model, changing up the overall footprint and pushing One UI 9.0 right out of the box. While the daily carrying experience is a massive leap forward, there are definitely a few trade-offs you should know about before making a decision.

​Here is my early take on 5 things that I like, and 5 things that I don’t about Galaxy Z Fold8, after 2 weeks.

What I Actually Liked

​1. The Hand-Feel is Genuinely Good

The absolute first thing I noticed was how light it feels in hand. Foldables usually come with that heavy brick especially at the top camera part, but Samsung stripped enough weight off this one that even after 14 days of constant use, picking it up still gives me that “wow” reaction.

How about in the pocket? Well while it’s very wide, but it is significantly shorter. So it allows me to move freely when the phone is in the pocket. I don’t feel the need to bring it out when I want to get on a bike while wearing tight jeans.

​2. Better Aspect Ratio = Less Wasted Space

When I unfold the screen to watch content, the black letterbox bars at the top and bottom are surprisingly minimal. Let’s just be honest here, the inner display isn’t massively larger than the previous Folds, but because the aspect ratio is tuned better, I actually utilize all the screen estate rather than carrying around extra and unnecessary border.

To be honest the external display able to show more screen compare to what is shown on my Galaxy Z Fold7.

3. One UI 9.0 Multitasking Just Works

Finally, with One UI 9.0, Samsung can match how other brands implement their multitasking. While it’s still not as easy as how OPPO do in its Find N6, but the result is as good, if not better. The wide ratio of Galaxy Z Fold8 is actually helps allow running three apps a possible, and no longer a gimmick. Although I have to admit if I want to work on each apps, two apps is more practical than three. But if that one or two of the apps are just for views or as reference, then it’s convenient enough.

Not to mention, I can drag and drop content across apps, and use features like Now Nudge without the software getting confused or stuttering.

4. 50MP Main Camera Holds Its Ground

Look, Samsung put the shiny 200MP sensor on the Z Fold8 Ultra this year, which is a bit of a bummer for this base but I believe is a more popular model this year. But the 50MP main shooter on this regular Fold8 is honestly pretty decent for my everyday photos. Colors look clean and detail is sharp. Video recording is smooth, with nice details. But the night shot is a bit weak with strong and uncontrolled flare from the lens.

I know this round Samsung reserved the flagship 200MP sensor for the Z Fold8 Ultra, but I hope future foldable phone, regardless of base models or flagship, still get the absolute top-tier sensor setup, to justify the price tag.

​5. Battery Endurance

Battery performance has been surprisingly solid throughout full workdays of messaging, media consumption, and camera tests, easily getting me through without low-battery anxiety. At 4,800mAh, the battery is not as big as other china-manufactured foldables with silicon-carbon battery, I am happy Samsung is finally taking the right step.

The Downside & Compromises

​1. No Telephoto (Zoom Drops Off Fast)

Because there’s no dedicated telephoto lens, I have to rely entirely on digital zoom off the main 50MP camera. Up to 3x, shots look fine. Anything past 3x? The quality drops off quickly into soft, noisy territory. I really love taking zoom portrait shots, so I doubt I can use Galaxy Z Fold8 as my primary phone when my pre-order unit finally arrive. Most probably I need another slab phone with good telephoto portrait camera such as Galaxy S26 Ultra with its nice 5x zoom.

​2. Weird Unfolded Speaker Setup

In folded mode, the stereo sound is totally balanced. But when I open the phone up, both speaker grilles end up sitting on the left side. It’s acceptable for scrolling TikTok or casual YouTube videos, but if I’m watching a movie and a character speaking on the right side of the screen has their voice come out exclusively from the left speaker, it feels completely off.

Of course this isn’t an issue when I use my headphones or TWS.

3. One-Handed Use? Not Happening

Even with One UI’s scaled-down keyboard or one-handed mode, trying to use this phone comfortably with one hand unfolded is an exercise in frustration. The trade-off, however, is that two-handed typing is fantastic, the wider layout gives my thumbs plenty of breathing room.

If you’re wondering how that shorter display affects typing messages, yes, the keyboard does take up about half the screen out of the box. It bothered me a little bit at first, but after I scaled down the keyboard size in both Samsung Keyboard and GBoard settings, it became much easier to work with. I do have to scroll a bit more to read back through conversation history, but it’s really not a dealbreaker. Honestly, in a weird way, typing on this wider display takes me right back to my teenage years using a BlackBerry.. good old time.

​4. Flex Mode Retractions

Samsung tweaked the hinge and software behavior here. The Galaxy Z Fold8 no longer holds free-stop angles at literally any position, and dedicated Flex Mode UI controls (like the bottom-panel media controls in YouTube) are gone. To be fair, Flex Mode isn’t a feature I rely on every single day, but it’s one of those unique, signature tricks that makes you appreciate having a foldable in your pocket in the first place. Stripping it away slightly diminishes that special foldable magic.

​5. Still Sitting at IP48

While other brands like Google, Honor, and Oppo are shipping foldables with proper IP58 or even full IP68 water and dust ratings, Samsung stuck with IP48 here. Water resistance is fine, but fine dust particle ingress remains a bit of a worry long term. Samsung was one of the earliest manufacturers to push IP water and dust resistance on flagship devices, so having their 8th generation of foldables still sitting at IP48 feels a bit weird coming from a industry giant like Samsung

My Verdict

​Despite the quirks, my daily experience using the Z Fold8 over the last two weeks has been really enjoyable. The hardware lightness combined with One UI 9.0 makes it a super fun device to carry around.​

That said, if you’re currently on the fence or debating whether to upgrade, my honest advice is to wait. To me, this feels like Samsung testing out a brand-new design direction, but also slightly rushing things to preempt and counter the upcoming foldable iPhone in this exact wide form factor.

It’s a promising first attempt, but Samsung will almost certainly refine the camera, speaker alignment, and hinge in the next iteration.

In the meantime, have a look the camera comparison between these Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra in our YouTube video below.