I’ve always liked the idea of foldable phones more than actually using them. I have been tracking Samsung foldables for eight years now, and every new generation promised to be thinner, lighter, and more practical. But there was usually one compromise that kept bothering me, despite the whole package being top-tier. The cover screen felt too narrow. However, after spending time with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, I actually do feel Samsung has finally nailed the fundamentals. The Fold 8 doesn’t feel like a yearly refresh; for that, there’s the Fold 8 Ultra. But the Z Fold 8, in my eyes, is the foldable Samsung should have made much earlier.
Also read: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 early review: Lots to unpack!
Here are five reasons why I think the Galaxy Z Fold 8 deserves a spot at the top of your shortlist if you’re planning to buy a premium foldable.
Probably the biggest reason I enjoy using the Fold 8 is its passport-like form factor. Previous Galaxy Fold models always felt a bit awkward when closed. They were tall and narrow, almost like holding a TV remote. Also, because I could, I often opened and used the phone, even for something as simple as reading an article, because the cover display felt cramped.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 changes that perspective.
The wider, shorter design gives me the feel of holding a passport-sized mini notebook rather than an unusually tall smartphone. I remember picking the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for the first time in London and almost immediately, the form factor felt natural. As I use this phone, I realise how comfortably I can browse websites, scroll through Instagram, check emails or read my chats without feeling like I need the larger display every few minutes.
Compared to something like the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Z Fold 8 doesn’t feel like a stranger to me. Let’s put it this way: to me, it simply feels like a premium compact smartphone that just happens to unfold into something much bigger.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is wide, and a wider phone also fixes one of my biggest frustrations with older Fold devices. Typing on the cover screen is finally such a joy that I can’t even properly express it into words. And that too, with just one hand.
The new 10:16 aspect ratio gives the keyboard on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 enough room that my thumbs aren’t constantly fighting each other. I make fewer accidental typos on the Fold 8. And, I know, this may sound like a small thing, but it completely changes how often I actually use the outer display on a foldable smartphone.
While returning from my recent trip to London, there were plenty of moments where I was holding something or the other in one hand and replying to WhatsApp with the other while walking through the airport. With my S26 Ultra, normally, I’d wait until I had both hands free. With the Fold 8, I didn’t have to.
And that’s exactly how the cover display on a foldable phone should work. Quick tasks should stay quick, and the big screen should be more of a choice rather than a necessity.
While the cover screen is a nice 5.5-inch panel, open the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and you’re greeted by a 7.6-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Now, I personally think, and I am sure many would agree, that this size is the sweet spot for an internal display on a foldable phone.
The first thing I noticed was how much better older TV shows looked. Plenty of classic sitcoms and older content were shot in 4:3, and they fill the display beautifully without huge black bars eating into the screen. Even newer films and YouTube videos benefit. Although they’re still presented in widescreen, the viewing area ends up being larger than it was on Samsung’s older, taller foldables because the display itself is much wider.
Reading on the Galaxy Z Fold 8‘s display also feels closer to using a small tablet than stretching content across a narrow screen. Like, even if you compare it with something like the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Samsung’s new aspect ratio feels far more natural for everyday content.
One of the biggest arguments against foldables has always been portability. They’re amazingly thin when unfolded, until you put them in your pocket. That’s not the case at all with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. In fact, this phone has been giving me a lot of anxiety because of its lightweight design. Many times, I don’t even feel like I am carrying a phone in my pocket.
To give the specifics, at just 4.5mm thick when unfolded and weighing only 201 grams, it’s surprisingly easy to carry around all day. In fact, it’s lighter than all traditional flagship phones in 2026, which still feels strange to say about a foldable. Again, I never felt like my jeans or shorts were sagging because of the phone’s weight. Plus, sliding it into a pocket doesn’t remind me that I’m carrying two phones stacked together.
Also read: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra display tested: The most colour accurate foldable screen
One of the biggest selling points for a foldable phone is how well you can multitask or run two or three apps side by side on the main screen without feeling cramped. Samsung has talked about multitasking on Fold phones for years, but I always felt the experience depended heavily on compromise. Let me explain.
Earlier Fold models, or even the latest Fold 8 Ultra, have massive internal screens. But when you run split-screen apps, they often end up looking too narrow to be genuinely useful. The Fold 8, on the other hand, fixes this problem with its wider 4:3 display.
For instance, running WhatsApp beside Chrome feels quite comfortable. For me, I can simply reply to messages while reading a webpage without either app feeling squeezed into an impossibly thin column. The same goes for checking my calendar while responding to emails or keeping YouTube open while taking notes. You see, this phone doesn’t force me to run apps in split-screen; instead, everything comes naturally, and on this phone, I just do a lot of tasks in split-screen because it simply works. I guess this is the biggest compliment I can give to this phone.