Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 early reviews: The passport-sized foldable is a hit, with a few catches

Samsung has spent years trying to convince us that a foldable phone can replace the phone in your pocket, the tablet on your sofa and, occasionally, the laptop you forgot to charge.

With the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the company appears to be trying something slightly different: Making the foldable feel less like a phone that transforms into a tablet and more like a phone that was designed around the way people actually use screens.

The result is a shorter, wider foldable with a passport-inspired design, a 4:3 inner display and a more compact outer screen. It is a significant departure from the tall, narrow approach Samsung has used for years and early reviews suggest that the change is not just cosmetic.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is already attracting attention for its design, media experience and improved battery technology. But reviewers have also found a few familiar foldable compromises lurking beneath the shiny new hardware.

The biggest change is the shape and reviewers are into it

The Galaxy Z Fold 8's most noticeable difference is its passport-like form factor.

When closed, the phone is compact enough to use one-handed. Open it up and the 7.6-inch inner screen expands into a 4:3 display, giving it a wider, more conventional shape for watching videos, browsing social media and viewing photos.

That is a departure from the squarer interior of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which is better suited to productivity and multitasking.

Several early impressions have focused on how much more natural the Z Fold 8 feels for everyday entertainment. TechRadar noted that the wider screen is better suited to video content, with less wasted space than the taller, squarer display on the Ultra.

PhoneArena was even more enthusiastic, calling the design the most exciting development in foldables since the original Galaxy Fold launched.

The reason is simple: Most of the internet is built around rectangles. Videos are rectangular. Social media feeds are rectangular. Photos are rectangular. The Galaxy Z Fold 8's wider inner display appears to embrace that reality rather than forcing content into an almost-square screen.

In other words, Samsung may have finally asked the question: What do people actually do on a foldable?

The cover screen is smaller, but not necessarily a deal-breaker

The 5.5-inch outer display is one of the more divisive elements of the design.

Compared with the much wider cover screen on the Z Fold 8 Ultra, the Z Fold 8's display is undeniably more compact. Typing can take up a significant amount of the screen, and some reviewers found that the smaller display takes a little getting used to.

But it may not be as restrictive as you might expect.

CNET found the cover screen surprisingly comfortable for everyday tasks such as texting and checking emails. The smaller dimensions also make the phone easier to grip and use with one hand.

The trade-off is clear: The Z Fold 8 is prioritising portability and a more comfortable inner display over giving you a traditional smartphone screen when the phone is closed.

That may not work for everyone. But for users who already expect to unfold their phone for more demanding tasks, it could be a reasonable compromise.

The crease is still there. Sorry.

Samsung's new Flex Titanium display technology appears to have made the crease less noticeable, but it has not performed a vanishing act.

Early reviewers found that the crease is harder to spot than on previous generations, particularly when the display is switched on. However, it can still become visible in certain lighting conditions, and users can still feel the dip while scrolling across the screen.

That makes the Galaxy Z Fold 8 a significant improvement rather than a crease-free revolution.

For most users, the crease may fade into the background after a while. But if you are buying a phone with a screen that folds in half and expecting the fold to disappear completely, Samsung is not quite there yet.

Battery life looks promising, but the Fold 8 is no endurance champion

The biggest question surrounding any slim foldable is battery life.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 packs a 4,800mAh battery, along with silicon-carbon technology and 45W wired charging. On paper, that sounds promising, particularly because silicon-carbon batteries can deliver greater capacity without requiring a significantly larger battery.

PhoneArena's three-day real-world battery test produced an average of around 5 hours and 44 minutes of screen time. The results varied considerably depending on usage, with heavy social media, browsing and email use draining the battery faster.

That puts the Z Fold 8 in an interesting position. It does not appear to match the endurance of a large traditional flagship, but it can still deliver a respectable day of use depending on how aggressively you push the larger screen.

The 45W charging support is also a welcome upgrade, allowing the phone to top up considerably faster than previous Fold models.

The verdict so far? Battery life appears good enough — but the foldable design still comes with compromises.

Performance is not the problem

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, with up to 16GB of RAM depending on the storage configuration.

Early reviewers have not had enough time to conduct full performance testing, but the consensus is unsurprising: the phone is fast.

Gaming performance appears smooth, with demanding titles running at high settings without obvious stuttering or excessive heat. The Z Fold 8 also shares its core performance credentials with the more expensive Ultra model.

That means buyers are not necessarily sacrificing speed by choosing the smaller, wider foldable.

The more important question is what you are willing to sacrifice elsewhere.

The camera is where the Ultra pulls ahead

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a 50MP main camera and a 50MP ultra-wide camera, but it does not include the more advanced 200MP main camera and telephoto hardware found on the Z Fold 8 Ultra.

That difference is likely to matter most to people who care deeply about zoom photography and flagship-level camera performance.

Early impressions of the Ultra's camera have been broadly positive, although some reviewers found that certain close-up shots could be tricky to focus and that the telephoto camera did not always deliver the quality expected from a phone costing more than $2,000.

The Z Fold 8, meanwhile, appears to be making a clear argument: choose the wider screen for content, or choose the Ultra for cameras and productivity.

Samsung has effectively turned its foldable lineup into a choice between two very different lifestyles.

The early verdict: Samsung may have finally found its foldable identity

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is not trying to be everything to everyone. It is not the biggest foldable and it does not have the most powerful camera system in Samsung's lineup. Its cover screen is smaller, the crease has not disappeared and the battery is unlikely to compete with the biggest traditional smartphones.

But the phone appears to have a clearer identity than previous Galaxy Folds.

It is a foldable designed for people who watch videos, scroll through social media, browse the web, read and want a larger screen without carrying around a device that feels like a miniature tablet.