Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Galaxy Z Fold 7: What’s New?

Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra builds on the foundation laid by last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, adding the Ultra branding to its premium foldable lineup while introducing several hardware upgrades and adding a new, more affordable model, the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Rather than revamping the device, Samsung has focused on improving the display, camera system, battery, charging speeds, and creative tools, making the Fold8 Ultra a more capable productivity and content creation device.

The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra starts at $2,099.99, while the Galaxy Z Fold8 starts at $1,899.99. Both models are available with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB of storage.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

Design: Thinner When Unfolded and More Durable

The Z Fold8 Ultra introduces a new Flex Titanium display structure designed to improve durability while reducing the visibility of the crease. The device also uses Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 on the cover display, replacing Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the Fold7, while the rear continues to use Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and the frame remains Advanced Armor Aluminum.

Samsung also managed to shave another fraction of a millimeter from the unfolded thickness, reducing it from 4.2mm on the Fold7 to 4.1mm. Folded thickness remains unchanged at 8.9mm, while the weight stays at 215g.

Although these are incremental refinements, they contribute to making the Fold8 Ultra feel even more premium without changing the overall form factor.

Displays: higher resolution and brighter with smaller crease

Galaxy Z Fold 7

Samsung keeps the large 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner display and 6.5-inch cover display, but both panels now reach up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness, improving outdoor visibility.

The Fold8 Ultra also benefits from the new Flex Titanium display structure, which Samsung says contributes to a flatter folding area and a less noticeable crease.

New Flex Titanium display structure

Both displays continue to support adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, delivering smooth scrolling and gaming while conserving battery life when high refresh rates are not needed.

Cameras: New 50 MP Ultra-wide sensor and 8K Ultra-wide Video rRcording

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra camera system

One of the most significant hardware upgrades comes from the rear camera system.

Samsung retains the excellent 200MP main camera introduced on the Fold7, but the 12MP ultra-wide camera has been replaced with a much larger 50MP sensor, representing one of the biggest imaging improvements in this generation.

The 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom remains unchanged.

Galaxy Z Fold 7 camera

Beyond the hardware upgrade, Samsung also expands the camera’s video capabilities. The Fold8 Ultra can now record 8K video using the new 50MP ultra-wide camera, while also adding HDR capture in full 200MP mode, an improved Nightography mode for low-light photography, the new APV codec for higher-quality video recording, and Cine LUT support for more advanced color grading. Additional tools such as My FanCam further expand the phone’s creator-focused capabilities.

The phone still features Dual Recording, which simultaneously captures video from two cameras at once. Depending on the shooting mode, users can record both the front and rear cameras or capture the same scene from two different rear cameras, making it usef

New Software Features

The Fold8 Ultra ships with Android 17 and One UI 9, bringing Samsung’s latest Galaxy AI features to the foldable platform.

Among the new additions are Now Brief, which delivers personalized information throughout the day, Now Nudge, contextual AI suggestions based on user activity, and expanded Gemini Intelligence integration across Samsung applications.

Samsung has also introduced an AI Assistant Activity dashboard, allowing users to review AI-generated actions while giving them greater control over privacy settings through Samsung Knox.

Many of these features are designed to take advantage of the Fold’s large inner display, making multitasking and productivity better suited for the foldable form factor than for the traditional smartphone.

Hardware and Battery: New Flagship Processor and Better Battery

The Fold8 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, replacing the Snapdragon 8 Elite found in the Fold7.

With the new battery capacity, this is the most significant hardware upgrade. Qualcomm claims +20% CPU performance, +35% CPU power efficiency, and +23% graphics performance while using 20% less power than the previous Snapdragon 8 Elite generation. For more details, check my comparison article.

While RAM and storage configurations are still the same at 12GB or 16GB with up to 1TB of storage, Samsung has significantly improved battery life by increasing capacity from 4,400mAh to 5,000mAh.

Charging also receives a welcome upgrade. Wired charging increases from 25W to 45W, while wireless charging rises from 15W to 20W.

Samsung has also enlarged the graphite cooling system, allowing the processor to sustain high performance for longer periods during gaming, video editing, and AI workloads.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra vs. Galaxy Z Fold7 Specifications

Filed in General. Read more about Android, Android 17, Foldable, Foldable Smartphones, Galaxy Z Fold 7, Qualcomm, Samsung, Smartphone, Snapdragon, Snapdragon 8 Elite and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.