Samsung Z Fold8 review: The foldable that could tempt iPhone loyalists

Seven years ago, Samsung took a gamble. The Galaxy Fold arrived in 2019 as the first foldable smartphone from a major manufacturer, and the tech world watched to see if consumers would follow. They mostly didn't. The reasons were familiar: durability concerns, a visible crease running down the middle of the display, and a price tag that made even flagship phones look modest. But on the eve of Apple announcing its own foldable device, Samsung has released something that might finally shift the conversation—the Galaxy Z Fold8, a phone designed to answer every objection a skeptic could raise.

The Z Fold8 arrives at $3,099 NZD, which is still expensive, but it represents a meaningful step down from earlier foldables. More importantly, it's a phone that feels genuinely different to hold and use. Closed, it's roughly the size of a passport, light enough at just over 200 grams that you can operate it one-handed. The front screen measures 5.5 inches—smaller than a standard smartphone display, but that's the point. When you open it, a 7.6-inch tablet-style screen unfolds, with a 4:3 aspect ratio that makes it excellent for reading, browsing, and watching video. The bezels are wider than some might prefer, but the trade-off is clear: this phone is built to be used, not just admired.

The physical construction feels premium in a way that matters. Samsung's Advanced Armour Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass give the device a reassuring solidity despite its slimness—just 9.7 millimeters when closed, 4.5 millimeters when open. The hinge, which Samsung calls the Armour FlexHinge, is rated for up to 200,000 folds, which translates to roughly 100 folds per day for five and a half years. Opening and closing the phone feels satisfying and robust, not tentative or fragile. And then there's the crease—the thing that has haunted foldable phones since the beginning. Samsung has made it barely visible. It's only noticeable when light hits the display at a particular angle, a genuine engineering achievement that removes one of the primary objections people have raised for years.

The camera setup includes a 50-megapixel wide lens and a 50-megapixel ultrawide on the back, with no telephoto option on this model (that's exclusive to the Z Fold8 Ultra). Two punch-hole front cameras serve each screen, and they're discreet enough that the one on the larger display effectively disappears when you're watching widescreen content. The cameras themselves are competent rather than exceptional—the main sensor performs well in daylight, the ultrawide captures good landscape shots, and digital zoom works fine until you push past 4x magnification. One clever feature unique to foldables: you can use the front screen as a mirror while shooting with the rear cameras for selfies.

What makes the Z Fold8 genuinely compelling is how it changes the way you use a phone. The smaller front screen handles quick tasks—checking email, replying to messages—without demanding your full attention. But the larger display transforms the experience when you need it. Video consumption becomes the phone's primary use case; YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+ all look impressive on that 7.6-inch screen, though the 4:3 aspect ratio leaves black bars above and below widescreen content. For someone accustomed to reaching for an iPad, the Z Fold8 makes that device feel redundant. Multitasking is where the phone truly excels, with Samsung's interface handling app switching smoothly thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. Battery life is strong—a 4,800 mAh battery delivers up to 26 hours of video playback, and a full charge takes around an hour with 45W USB-C charging.

Samsung's Galaxy AI integration feels genuinely useful rather than performative. The ability to summarize web pages and documents, rewrite text, and translate content proves practical, especially on the larger display. AI-powered photo editing lets you remove unwanted objects or make adjustments without switching apps. Some AI features feel essential; others feel like additions. But the ones that matter feel like natural extensions of the phone rather than marketing checkboxes. One caveat: the unusual aspect ratios of both screens mean some apps aren't fully optimized yet, so you'll occasionally encounter software that doesn't make perfect use of the available space. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's worth knowing.

The real measure of the Z Fold8's success is this: an iPhone user—someone embedded in Apple's ecosystem for years—spent weeks with the phone and found themselves genuinely considering a switch to Android. That's not a small thing. The Z Fold8 isn't perfect. It's expensive. The long-term durability of a folding display and hinge remains uncertain compared with conventional smartphones, particularly when exposed to dust, debris, or accidental damage. But Samsung has built something that makes the foldable form factor feel less like a novelty and more like a legitimate alternative way to use a smartphone. With Apple's own foldable device on the horizon, the question now is whether the company can match what Samsung has achieved—or whether the Z Fold8 has already set a standard that will be difficult to beat.