Samsung's next wide foldable could be the screen breakthrough Apple's iPhone Ultra won't have

Published Aug 17, 2026, 1:30 PM EDT Chandra Steele has been writing about tech for the entirety of her journalism career. She loves making tough topics easy to understand. Before joining Android Police, Chandra was senior features writer at PCMag where she did everything from interviewing Jeff Goldblum to explaining crypto. Sign in to your Android Police account The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the it phone of the moment. And now its popularity has seemingly inspired Samsung to add another wide foldable to its 2027 lineup. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is doing record-breaking sales and earning praise. The wide format seems to speak to what people have been looking for when it comes to foldables: an easily pocketable, perfectly sized device to consume media on. South Korea’s ETNews reports that because of this, Samsung’s next foldable line will include five devices. It would be made up of successors to the three models released this year—the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Flip 8, and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra—as well as a tri-fold, and another wide fold. While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a much better aspect ratio for watching videos than other Samsung foldables, it’s not optimal. The new, wider Fold would address this, according to industry sources quoted by ETNews. "The plan is likely to be to create a screen aspect ratio optimized for video viewing, rather than the 4:3 aspect ratio released this year,” they said. While there’s no word on what size exactly Samsung is pursuing, 16:9 is the standard for viewing. A timely success Samsung’s sudden enthusiasm for foldables that acknowledge that their primary purpose is media consumption may be because Apple is reportedly about to get into the game with an iPhone Ultra. Ever since the iPod, Apple has been the leader when it comes to making devices that have entertainment at their forefront. Most rumors about the aspect ratio of the first foldable iPhone put it at 4:3, making it a direct threat to what’s been Samsung’s best-received foldable. Samsung one-upping itself next year might save it from any sales loss it suffers because of the iPhone Ultra and put it ahead of Apple.