iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 — which foldable is best for you?

(Image credit: Future) The world of foldable phones is about to change in a big way, and it's all thanks to the release of the iPhone Duo. Apple's first foldable phone has generated a lot of buzz, and it certainly has the brand recognition going for it, but does it have what it takes to take the crown from Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8?Samsung has almost a decade of experience making the best foldables, and the newly-released Galaxy Z Fold 8 is easily one of its best yet. It may lack some of the features of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, but it makes up for it with a wider, passport-shaped design that is much more comfortable to hold and use — especially for streaming movies and TV shows.The question is, which of these wide foldables is the right one for you? We compare the iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 to help you decide.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Specs Swipe to scroll horizontally Row 0 - Cell 0 iPhone Duo Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Price $1,999 / £1,999 AU$3,499 From $1,899 / £1,699 / AU$2,699 Cover display 5.4 inches (1398 x 2034) 5.5 inches (1248 x 1972) Foldable Display 7.6 inches (1878 x 2670) 7.6 inches (2448 x 1848) Refresh Rate 1-120Hz 1-120Hz Chipset A20 Pro Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy RAM 12GB 12-16GB Storage 256GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB 256GB / 512GB / 1TB Rear cameras 48MP (main), 48MP (ultrawide) 50MP main, 50MP (ultrawide) Front cameras 12MP selfie, Under display camera 2 x 10MP Battery 4,883 mAh 4,800 mAh Charging speed 60W (wired), 25W (wireless) 45W (wired), 20W (wireless) IP rating IP68 IP48 Size (Closed) 117.8 x 84.1 x 11.3mm ( 3.31 x 4.64 x 0.44 inches) 123.9 x 81.9 x 9.7 mm (4.88 × 3.22 × 0.38 inches) Size (Open) 117.8 x 164.6 x 5.2mm (6.48 x 4.64 x 0.21 inches) 123.9 x 161.4 x 4.5 mm (4.87 x 6.35 x 0.17 inches) Weight 254 g (8.96 oz) 201 g (7.09 oz) Colors Night Sky, Star White Graphite, Cream, Lavender, Pistachio iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Price & availability (Image credit: Tom's Guide)The iPhone Duo pre-orders open on October 16, with a release date scheduled for October 23. Prices start at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,499 for a model with 256GB of storage. Higher storage options are available including 512GB ($2,199 / £2,199 / AU$3,899), 1TB ($2,599 / £2,599 / AU$4,699) and 2TB ($3,199 / £3,199 / AU$5,899).The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is on sale now from all major retailers and carriers. Prices start at $1,899/£1,699/AU$2,699 for a model with 256GB of Storage and 12GB RAM. The 512GB model is $2,099 / £1,869 / AU$2,999, and a 1TB model with 16GB of RAM will cost you $2,499 / £2,209 / AU$3,599.While Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB option, it does have the price advantage, with comparable storage costing $100 less in the U.S., with significantly higher gaps in the U.K. and Australia.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Design & Display (Image credit: Tom's Guide)Both phones have the wider passport-shaped design that's currently in fashion in the foldable phone market. Both unfold to produce a larger 7.6-inch display, and have an aspect ratio close to 4:3 — which is the same as a lot of popular tablets. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has the slightly larger cover display, measuring 5.5-inches to Apple's 5.4-inches.Sign up to the Tom's iGuide weekly newsletter with coverage on everything from product launches to software updates, this is your go-to source for the latest updates on all the best Apple content.The Z Fold 8's screen offers an anti-glare coating to improve visibility in bright conditions. The iPhone Duo answers with a nano-texture matte display. Both phones do a good job of minimizing the the crease, though additional time with the Z Fold 8 has proven that the creasing does get more prominent — regardless of how uniform the display is out of the box. However, we will see how the iPhone Duo's screen performs when it is released.The most notable design differences come with size and weight. While the iPhone Duo is thinner than the likes of the iPhone Air, it's not quite as slim as the Z Fold 8, which sits at 4.5mm to the Duo's 5.2 mm when both phones are unfolded.The Z Fold 8 is also noticeably lighter, with a weight of 7.09 ounces, versus the iPhone Duo's 8.96 ounces. That mass actually makes the Duo the heaviest iPhone Apple has released, likely on account of it being a double-sided phone.The iPhone Duo has a major durability advantage, though. Only it offers IP68 durability for water and dust resistance. Samsung's foldable only has water resistance.Both phones feature fingerprint scanners in the power buttons, and hole-punch cameras in the cover display. However, the Z Fold 8 also has a second hole-punch camera in the foldable screen, while Apple has opted for an under-display lens.The Z Fold 8 is available to buy in Graphite, Cream, Lavender and Pistachio coloring, while iPhone Duo is only available in Night Sky (Blue) and Star White.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Cameras (Image credit: Future)Both foldable phones come with a dual rear camera setup, consisting of main and ultrawide angle lenses. Sadly, unlike their non-folding counterparts, there is no telephoto lens here. That means all zooming capabilities are done digitally.The iPhone Duo offers a pair of 48MP cameras, while the Z Fold 8 has 50MP. This seemingly gives the Z Fold 8 an advantage, but we won't know how these two cameras compare until we get an iPhone Duo for testing.The Z Fold 8 managed to produce excellent photos in our testing other than its 10x digital zoom shots. We expect that the iPhone Duo will offer similar quality snaps, though Apple's computational photography could push things a little further.The front cameras are a little different, since Apple hasn't just added identical lenses on both screens like Samsung did. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 features two 10MP hole-punch cameras, one in each of its screens. The iPhone Duo has a 12MP hole punch camera on the cover display and an unnamed "FaceTime Camera" that sits under the display.This camera appears when in use, and has been advertised as useful for FaceTime and other video calls — rather than selfies and photography. That suggests that the quality isn't fantastic, but we will evaluate that in our iPhone Duo review.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Performance (Image credit: Tom's Guide)Apple used to dominate at performance, but in recent years Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips have caught up pretty fast — particularly thanks to Samsung's custom "for Galaxy" chipsets. The Z Fold 8 has one of those chips, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, which offers better performance than you'd find on the standard Gen 5 chip.The iPhone Duo is set to come with the A20 Pro chipset, Apple's latest and best SoC that promises to be 20% faster than the A19 Pro, with a 40% improvement to graphics performance — which is something Apple chips have often struggled with. The chip also contains a second neural engine, which is said to double the AI processing power.We haven't benchmarked the iPhone Duo yet, but we anticipate that the A20 Pro will outperform Samsung's foldable in terms of sheer speed but also sustained performance. That's because only the Duo has a vapor chamber for cooling.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Software & AI (Image credit: Future)Apple has been far behind in the AI arms race, but the new Siri AI that comes with the iOS 27 update is a lot more capable than before. Siri can perform multiple tasks with a single voice prompt; it offers smarter personal context; and you get more expressive voice options. There's also new AI-powered photo editing features like Reframe and Clean up.The iPhone Duo also comes with a new Smart Tracking camera feature, similar to the Z Fold 8's MyFanCam, which tracks users in frame when recording video.The Z Fold 8 comes with all the best Galaxy AI features, including Now Nudge's contextual resurfacing tool, Now Brief to prepare you for different parts of the day, and the advanced version of Circle to Search that can identify multiple things at once.Multitasking might be the clincher between these two devices, though. The Z Fold 8 supports up to four windows at once, as well as floating app windows that can sit wherever you like on screen. However, the iPhone Duo only supports two Split View windows at a time.. Sadly, the iPhone Duo only supports two Split View apps at a time, which puts it at a productivity disadvantage.Then again, the iPhone Duo also supports the Apple Pencil (USB-C) stylus, which is something the Z Fold 8 can not do. Apple's foldable has a feature that detects the angle of the screen, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's Flex View mode. This alters the interface of the app in question to account for the angle of your screen. Sadly, while the Ultra model offers this feature, the regular Z Fold 8 itself misses out.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Battery (Image credit: Tom's Guide)The iPhone Duo is expected to come with a 4,883 mAh battery pack, which is incrementally larger than the Z Fold 8's 4,800 mAh battery. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will last longer based on capacity alone.Apple has worked hard to improve energy efficiency over the years, and that hasn't changed. The A20 Pro reportedly offers a 30% improvement in energy efficiency, while the Apple C2 modem is reportedly 15% more efficient than the older C1X.Combined with the battery, we could see the iPhone Duo jump ahead from the Z Fold 8's 12 hours and 19 minute battery life based on that optimization alone. Though we'll obviously need to do some in-depth battery life testing before we can say for sure.As for charging, expect the iPhone Duo to recharge faster. The 60W wired charging restores 50% charge in just 15 minutes and you get 25W wireless charging. The Z Fold 8 only has 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging, which allows it to regain 43% in 15 minutes.That's not a huge difference, but Apple has the edge. Plus, only the iiPhone Duo offers MagSafe charging.iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: Outlook (Image credit: Future)We sill need to test the iPhone Duo to see how well the software works and how long the battery life is . But based on our hands-on impressions and everything we know so far, Apple should give Samsung some real competition.The iPhone Duo has some notable advantages, including its IP68 durability, powerful A20 chip and, an even less visible crease, MagSafe and Apple Pencil support and faster charging.The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is $100 less than the iPhone Duo; it comes in a thinner and lighter design, and it has better for multitasking. We also can't ignore the fact that this is Apple's first attempt at a foldable phone, while Samsung is currently on its eighth generation.Stay tuned for our in-depth face-of to declare a winner. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. More from Tom's GuideiPhone 18 Pro Exclusive: Apple CEO John Ternus on why the new variable aperture camera is the ‘best of both worlds’iOS 27: 7 features you need to try first after updatingiPhone 18 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: All the differences and should you upgrade? Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.