Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Supercharged flip phone is a feat of engineering – you get TWO mobiles in one

IT doesn’t get much better than this – not when we’re talking about foldable phones. I’ve been testing the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which is, admittedly, a mouthful. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a tremendous feat of engineering Credit: Sean Keach The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has a huge interior display Credit: Sean Keach But the name is probably the clunkiest thing about this phone. Everything else seems to tick all of the boxes you’d want from this kind of device. Sign up for the Tech newsletter Thank you! This is Samsung’s highest-end foldable. That means it comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, £1,899 It follows on from last year’s very popular and successful Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra design – Ultra cool This year, the regular Z Fold 8 has a passport shape, but this new Ultra model carries over the old vertical Z Fold 7 design. From the outside, it looks like a regular smartphone. But when you peel it open, you have a very generous 8-inch display that is roughly equivalent to two 6.5-inch panels laid side by side. Most read in Tech And that means you can have two full-size apps side by side too – more on that later. It is strikingly bright at 3,000 nits – about as good as it gets for smartphones right now. The device has a triple-camera array that takes stunning snaps Credit: Sean Keach There’s a high quality cover display on the outside Credit: Sean Keach And the inner display is effectively crease-free when viewed from normal angles. It means you have a fairly respectable Samsung tablet that folds down into your pocket with ease. And what is particularly striking is just how mind-bendingly thin this thing is. When unfurled, the phone is just 4.1mm deep. It’s like no other mobile you’ve ever held. Samsung has managed to shave 0.1mm off last year’s model, and the effect remains tremendous. In fact, it’s so thin that Samsung tells me the USB-C port is now the limiting factor in terms of size. You can’t cut it down flatter than the charging port. The whole thing is thin, light and genuinely delightful as a device. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra specs – power player It’s also a flagship through and through, and so comes powered by Qualcomm’s very nippy Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. But perhaps one of the most exciting improvements is the battery that’s on board. Samsung has fitted this with a very juicy 5,000mAh silicon carbon battery. Silicon carbon batteries are all the rage at the moment, and with good reason. Batteries usually have two ends: an anode and a cathode. The cathode is the source of the energy, so it’s where the lithium ions live when your phone is dead. When you plug in, those lithium ions rush over to store themselves in the anode, which is a kind of holding zone, until the battery is 100%. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is one of the best looking devices out there Credit: Sean Keach The phone is ultra-thin in tablet form Credit: Sean Keach Typically, this anode end was made of graphite, which is a kind of carbon. Normally you’d need six carbon atoms to hold a single lithium ion – but just one silicon atom can bond with about four lithium ions. That means silicon can pack a lot more lithium ions in than graphite. But silicon swells up massively when it absorbs energy while charging, which would eventually ruin the battery. So scientists effectively use a blend of silicon with a carbon scaffold, so you get the best of both worlds. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra – the key specs Here's what you need to know... Main Display: 8 inches (3,000 nits brightness) Cover Display: 6.5 inches cover display Thickness: 4.1 mm Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Battery: 5,000 mAh silicon carbon battery Battery Life: Up to 27 hours of video playback Rear Cameras: 200MP main, 50MP ultra-wide, 10MP camera Video Recording: Up to 8K resolution Operating System: Android (Samsung skinned) Starting Price: £1,899 And it means Samsung was then able to pack significantly more juice into its phone. Samsung reckons its new model will deliver 27 hours of video playback on a single charge, which is impressive given the high-resolution, ultra-bright screens on board. I had no problem getting it through a day of use, so foldables are very clearly viable as proper daily driver phones. The camera set-up is suitably elite. There’s a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera (up from 12-megapixel), a 200m-megapixel main camera, and a 10-megapixel snapper to boot. The device opens and closes like a book Credit: Sean Keach The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is as thin as its USB-C port Credit: Sean Keach You can record in 8K resolution, and general snaps are very attractive. The camera performs well with portraits, low-light capture, and handles dynamic range (like when there’s a mix of very bright and very dark parts of an image) very well. The phone runs on Samsung’s version of Google’s Android, so you can get all of the apps that you need. There are some special AI tricks, including a Now Nudge feature that will suggest actions for you based on what you’re doing. So if you’re planning a dinner, it might pop up with a nudge to add something to your calendar. None of the AI is particularly intrusive, and you can ignore it if you like. But in any case, it’s probably not the reason you’re buying this phone. No, you’re probably buying it because it bends, and that is a perfectly good reason to bag this exceptional device. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra – should you buy it? So is it a better buy than the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8? The main difference, honestly, is the shape and size. The Ultra version does have some improvements, not least to battery tech and the camera system. But really, it’s the shape and size of the phone that will have the biggest impact on your daily use. And I personally think the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 might have the edge in terms of design. But it really does come down to buyer preference, and I suspect many people out there will prefer, by far, the Ultra model. The other question is whether you actually need a foldable phone. This device, you should know, starts at £1,899. That is a lot of money. More money than many people would ever be willing to pay for a phone. But if you do have the money, and the idea of a foldable appeals to you, you won’t be disappointed with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The Sun says: A masterclass in phone engineering. After years of making foldable phones, Samsung is now showing off. A technical feat that would’ve seemed like lunacy a decade ago. Bravo. 5/5 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra – contract deals The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which costs £1,899, is stuffed with high-end tech Credit: Sean Keach The inner display is equivalent to have two 6.5-inch screens side by side Credit: Sean Keach SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 8 ULTRA – PROS & CONS Pros: Stunningly bright Exceptional displays Gorgeous design and almost impossibly thin Genuinely impressive battery life Practical and easy to use Solid Android OS Flagship-level performance Cons: Will be out of budget for many shoppers The very tall cover display might not suit people with small hands All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed. Always do your own research before making any purchase. Comment now