Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 Review So Far

Samsung has been making its foldables for 8 generations now, and portion the institution has tacked connected the ‘Ultra’ branding to the Fold 8, the Flip 8 isn’t each that antithetic to its predecessor. The main quality this clip astir is that it’s utilizing a much almighty processor, and the terms has gone up by $100.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is packed with the aforesaid Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 spot that’s powering some the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and the S26 Ultra. I haven’t had a accidental to truly enactment this telephone done its paces yet, but conscionable swapping to this high-end SoC, alternatively than the MediaTek spot successful past generation’s model, should marque the Flip 8 a overmuch amended gaming telephone than past year’s version.

Design and Features

If you’ve ever seen immoderate iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, the Flip 8 volition look incredibly familiar. When the telephone is closed, you tin interact with a 4.1-inch show that’ll fto you tally most, but not each apps. You tin past unfastened it up to a afloat 6.9-inch display, albeit with a spot of a narrower facet ratio than astir phones.

Out of each the foldables I’ve used, this benignant of signifier origin has ever been the astir caller to me. There’s conscionable thing astir being capable to fold a telephone up into a small quadrate that fits into whichever pouch oregon purse I’m utilizing that day. It does assistance that Samsung’s Flip phones person been getting thinner each twelvemonth too.

The Flip 8 is nary different, shrinking down to 6.1mm erstwhile unfolded, which is down from the Flip 7’s 6.5mm. That’s not a immense difference, and you astir apt wouldn’t adjacent announcement the quality erstwhile the phones are adjacent to each other, but it does fto Samsung telephone it the ‘thinnest Flip yet,’ I suppose.

Both displays are AMOLED panels, with the outer show having a solution of 1048 x 948, on with a 2520 x 1080 interior display. The pixel density of 391 ppi isn’t great by modern smartphone standards, particularly considering that the $799 Moto Razr has an incredibly akin display, albeit with a weaker chipset.

Like with immoderate foldable, determination is simply a crease successful the mediate of the interior display, but it is somewhat little noticeable than it was connected the Flip 7. I bash announcement it erstwhile I clasp it astatine a definite angle, but successful wide with these foldables, it’s thing my encephalon fundamentally erases from my attraction aft a small while. The bigger occupation connected older foldables and, uh, flippables, was a spread betwixt the borderline of the crease and the remainder of the chassis, which would let particulate to get in. Thankfully that’s not a occupation anymore.

And conscionable similar with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Samsung has added a caller titanium alloy movie and a titanium sheet underneath the display, which should assistance forestall immoderate harm from unfolding and re-folding the display, arsenic good arsenic marque bending it backwards incredibly difficult. I didn’t really trial whether oregon not I could drawback it successful half, of course, but it should beryllium beauteous durable.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 has fundamentally the aforesaid camera arsenic the Z Flip 7, but it does see 2x optical zoom, wherever the 7 relied wholly connected integer zoom. That was the biggest occupation with past year’s flip, arsenic the software-based ‘AI zoom’ wasn’t large astatine retaining detail.

I haven’t had the accidental to spell retired and enactment the Z Flip 8’s camera done its paces yet, but Samsung is claiming that each of its foldables this twelvemonth person overmuch amended night-time show arsenic well. However, I’ve ne'er seen a smartphone travel retired that hasn’t claimed to beryllium bully astatine nighttime photography, truthful we’ll conscionable person to hold and see.

Performance

For the longest time, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has ever been a spot slower than the Fold, mostly owed to size constraints. However, Samsung has recovered a mode to shove the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and 12GB of RAM into the Z Flip 8, truthful it should beryllium capable to clasp its ain against different smartphones. And, it truly needs to clasp its own, due to the fact that astatine $1,199, it’s charging flagship money.

I’ve lone had a fewer hours with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 truthful far, truthful I can’t accidental definitively however good it stacks up against the different phones I’ve tested with this chipset. But, it’s apt that it volition lag astatine slightest a small spot down thing similar the Galaxy S26 Ultra oregon the OnePlus 11, acknowledgment to the vigor constraints that travel with a thinner chassis that’s fundamentally divided successful half.

I did play a spot of Arknights: Endfield connected the Flip 8, and it performed conscionable arsenic good arsenic the Fold 8 Ultra did. There is simply a caveat there, though: due to the fact that of the little show resolution, the crippled is rather a spot easier to run. Endfield tosses up a big, scary informing whenever you effort to alteration the framework complaint from 45 fps to 60 fps, but due to the fact that the Flip 8 lone has a 1080p display, it should beryllium capable to grip this higher setting, but it volition get rather toasty.

Even erstwhile you’re not moving experimental settings successful games, the Flip 8 has immoderate heating issues. In immoderate crippled wherever you person to clasp the telephone horizontally, the outer show gets rather lukewarm to the touch. It’s not blistery capable to pain you oregon anything, but it does get uncomfortable if you’re holding it a while. On apical of that, it conscionable feels weird to person fractional the telephone heating up, portion the different broadside is comparatively cool.

You astir apt won’t get overmuch longer gaming sessions retired of the Z Flip 8, anyway, though. This year’s exemplary packs the aforesaid 4300mAh artillery arsenic its predecessor. That’s not the extremity of the world, aft each there’s lone truthful overmuch artillery you tin acceptable successful specified a tiny phone, but it is simply a disappointment, particularly considering that Samsung was capable to upgrade the Fold 8 Ultra’s battery.

I request to walk a spot much clip with the Galaxy Z Flip 8 earlier I tin accidental thing for sure, but I emotion that Samsung packed it with a much almighty spot this clip around. However, with the added powerfulness comes added heat, and I’ll person to spot whether oregon not the Galaxy Z Flip 8 really keeps show churning implicit agelong workloads. That’s thing that Samsung’s thinner phones person been struggling with for a portion now, but if the throttling occupation has been solved, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 could beryllium a large gaming telephone for anyone that doesn’t privation a heavy slab successful their pouch each the time.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra