Probably the biggest selling point of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra over the S26 Ultra is that foldable screen. While the Fold 8 Ultra looks more or less like a normal smartphone when closed, with a 6.5-inch 1080p display, it opens to reveal an 8-inch, almost square, 120Hz AMOLED display with a resolution Samsung calls QXGA+ – roughly 2K along both axes. The screens also feature anti-reflective coatings to reduce glare from light sources. Anti-glare coating is now a welcome feature on many Samsung phones, but it’s notably absent from the S26 Ultra in order to accommodate the privacy display on that device. If you use your phone outdoors very often, you’ll probably find that the Fold 8 Ultra offers a better viewing experience than the S26 Ultra.
This year, Samsung is also using what it calls Display Flex Titanium for the interior display, which uses a titanium alloy film and a metal backplate to enhance durability and reduce wrinkling along the folding axis when opened. Durability has always been a concern on foldable phones. Their ultra-thin, flexible screens are necessarily more fragile than the Gorilla Glass-covered screens on panel-style phones like the S26 Ultra, and the movable hinge can more easily allow ingress of dust and water. Even so, you should still avoid pressing anything too sharp on the screen, which may explain why Samsung dropped S Pen support on last year’s Folds and didn’t bring it back this time around.
This display allows for additional multitasking features, such as the ability to place three apps in split-screen mode. While the S26 Ultra has most of these features, it doesn’t have the screen real estate to take advantage of them. The flexibility of the Fold 8 Ultra offers other advantages. Some apps allow you to partially fold the device to place additional controls on one side of the screen, much like a small laptop. The form factor also allows for some camera tricks, like taking selfies with the 200 MP main lens or propping the camera at an angle to take steady photos without a tripod. If you take a lot of selfie videos for social media, this could be an advantage over the S26 Ultra.
Speaking of cameras, the 200 MP wide-angle main shooter is joined by a 50 MP ultra-wide lens and a 10 MP telephoto lens. The main and telephoto lenses feature optical image stabilization. But for anyone who’s already taken advantage of the so-called Space Zoom features on Galaxy Ultra devices, be warned, you’ll only get 3X optical zoom on the Fold 8 Ultra, compared to 5X on the S26’s dedicated zoom lens. Without the S26 Ultra’s 50MP periscope telephoto lens, it’s a diminished camera package, which is a shame, because you’ll still have to deal with a bulky camera tray.
A minor advantage brought by the Fold 8 Ultra is the latest One UI 9.0 software based on Android 17. This is the first of Samsung’s phones to offer the update. However, the same update will come to the S26 range, and even generation-old devices in the coming months. Samsung’s update schedule has been unpredictable over the past few years, with even the most recent flagships waiting months to receive major updates. There’s a good chance the S26 Ultra won’t come with Android 17 until pumpkin picking season.
The elephant in the room is pricing. While the S26 Ultra starts at an already considerable $1,299 for its base storage configuration, the Fold 8 Ultra will set you back a minimum of $2,099, which is enough to buy a decent laptop alongside the S26 Ultra. The Fold’s soaring price is likely to be a barrier for many consumers.
