Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 8 was finally unveiled at Unpacked, and I got to spend some time with the phone ahead of the big reveal. Samsung has been a pioneer of the modern flip phone for years, so it’s no surprise that the Galaxy Z Flip 8 both looks and feels spectacular. It also feels like a bit of a course correction for the flip series after the Z Flip 7 fell short on some aspects.
Still, despite this being a refinement of last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 7, the Flip 8 feels like a solid piece of hardware and potentially a worthy competitor to the Motorola Razr. But with the higher price, it might be a hard sell for some.
If it ain’t broke…
If you’ve seen the Galaxy Z Flip 7, then you’ve basically seen the Z Flip 8. The design is pretty much identical, aside from some refinements like a slightly thinner chassis. Samsung was somehow able to achieve this with the same battery capacity, thanks to a new silicon-carbon battery. The result is probably one of the best-looking and most pocketable phones you can buy, even compared to the rather thick Motorola Razr Ultra.
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There are also some nice new colors, including a nice pink that I’m rather fond of and a green that’s probably my favorite of the bunch, which is why it’s such a shame it’s a Samsung.com-exclusive color.
Nearly everything else about the phone is the same as its predecessor. It comes in the same storage and RAM configurations, the displays are the same size, and even the cameras are the same. The 50MP camera does get a boost with the ProVisual engine for enhanced selfies, so I’m excited to really test that out.
One downside is that unlike the Fold 8 series, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 doesn’t get the new Titanium Flex display. The crease is still pretty minimal on the Flip, and I doubt it will bother anyone who owns it, but it would be nice to see it get the same treatment as its other foldable siblings.
So what’s new?
Fortunately, Samsung made some rather important changes on the inside. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a return to Qualcomm after last year’s model was Exynos-only. I’m curious to see how performance compares to the Razr Ultra 2026, which is powered by last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. This also means you get the same Gemini Intelligence features as on the Fold series, such as screen automation
However, one of the most notable changes made was to the cover screen experience. Samsung revamped the cover screen with One UI 9 in a way that feels somehow more intuitive than even Motorola’s excellent cover screen experience.
You have a main home screen that acts like a more useful Now Brief hub for easy access to things that matter to you, offering a truly useful way to use the cover screen. You can even use AI to generate new Now Brief cards for you based on your interests.
Swiping down now reveals a Quick Settings menu and the notifications panel, and swiping up opens your app drawer. Samsung says the cover screen experience was changed to mimic the UI when the phone is open, which should help reduce friction, while still allowing for various panels when swiping left or right.
I kind of love this new cover screen experience and, for once, think Motorola should take note for future updates to its Razr series. That said, it’s not all gravy because the app drawer only officially supports 16 apps. Fortunately, Samsung adds a button in the app drawer that prompts users to install the MultiStar module from Good Lock, which will enable additional app support, but there’s still more friction here than there needs to be.
(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)
Samsung also showed off some other tricks, like a new mirror mode, dual recording that you can preview on the cover screen, and even Super Steady with Horizontal Lock so you can capture ultra-smooth high-intensity videos on the go.
Is this really the end?
From my first impression, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 isn’t leaps and bounds better than its predecessor, but it feels like Samsung is still somewhat serious about this category of smartphone. That’s why I’m worried that the rumors might be true and Samsung could end the Flip lineup after this year, which would be a shame.
There are so few flip phones on the market now, with Motorola and Samsung as the only serious players. The ongoing RAM crisis isn’t helping things either, as it’s likely the reason for Samsung increasing the price by $100. Granted, it’s still much cheaper than the Razr Ultra 2026, but Samsung may be pricing the flip phone out of our minds and out of the market.
Thinner and stronger
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 takes the best parts of the Z Flip 7 and puts them in a thinner phone with a stronger Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for powerful AI and a new, intuitive cover screen experience.