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What does ultra really mean? I was curious, so I had a look. Ultra means beyond, extreme, or surpassing ordinary limits. And I think someone needs to remind Samsung of that. I'm Paul, and Usually when reviewing a phone, I like to take a few weeks to really use it, find out its quirks, and just play with what is new. But the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, I didn't need that much time with it at all because this is very familiar. To me, this is the foldable that most people won't be picking up this year. For one, it's $2,100. And the Fold 8, it's probably quirky enough to tempt a few people, but I can't really get on board with that cover display. I'm just not sure about that yet. If you have a Z Fold 7, then
there's just not enough here that's new to make you want to switch. And here's the problem with this phone. Samsung have called this ultra, but where's the ultra? I don't want to come in and complain about this phone because it's a good folding phone, but Samsung, they called it ultra, so it kind of left me with no choice to compare this to the competition. One of my biggest gripes with the Fold 8 Ultra is it has a terrible IP rating. Oppo has IP56, 58, and 59. Honor and Google, they have IP68, so it's protected from dust. Samsung, this is still chilling back in 2024, the Z Fold 6, because this has an IP48 rating. And this annoys me a little
bit, mostly because I got sand in my Z Fold 7 hinge a couple of weeks ago, and I was just thinking, if I had bought that phone and I was going to use it for a couple more years, I'm not sure it would last. Most folds are pretty durable, especially if you just drop them in water, you should be okay. And if you drop them, like my Z Fold 7 is proof that it should be okay. But I asked Samsung in person why they not have a better IP rating, and the answer I got was pretty bad. Like they told me that Samsung, they don't chase numbers, but this is the exact number that you need to chase. While I'm on of I've got one more, which is cheesy magnets. I know Google is the only one
that does this in a fold at the moment, and maybe it's not possible with how thin the Z Fold 8 Ultra is, but the constant need for a case drives me insane. And even when you do put a case on it, it's pretty pointless if you have a MagSafe battery pack. Moving on to the three cameras, and I'm going to use the word pointless again, especially for one of these lenses. The one you won't catch me complaining about is that 200 megapixel main. This is practically the same sensor that is in the S26 Ultra. You want a good punchy Samsung-looking shot, then this is your go-to. The improved nightography for both photos and videos, I like this.
I'm not complaining about it. It's actually quite good, as long as you're not in like pitch darkness, then it'll give you something decent. Using the main lens for photos and videos, this gives you a flagship camera in a phone that's barely thicker than my passport, if you ignore the massive camera bump that has been put onto the back of the phone this year. I would absolutely rather pick this over a main camera than in an Oppo or an Honor fold. Like, for me, this is the main camera that you want on a foldable. It stands out by miles. I kind of love the video that this main lens can produce as well, especially now you can use log and those cine lots. Like, I'm all for this.
There's also the my fan cam feature, which I'm sure I will never use after this review, and that's mainly because that this doesn't work on pets. Like, Samsung, come on. Update this so I can use it on my dog. There was an upgrade to the cameras this year, and this is where I was a little disappointed. The ultrawide lens is now on par with the Chinese foldables. It's a 50-megapixel f/1.9 lens, and Samsung said that this can let in up to 34% more light than last year. In good light, this is a very good ultrawide. At a quick glance, if you focus on it a bit more, you'll see that the details, they are a little soft. But, compared to last year's on the Z Fold 7, I'm happy. Where this lens
isn't so great is video. I just think it's a little weak. The details aren't great. There's lots of quality loss around the edges. So, I would just use that main camera. Having the upgraded ultra-wide is great, but I'd rather Samsung have upgraded the three times telephoto lens because this one, it's still not very good. Just remember what ultra means. It means being better than everything else. And this telephoto camera is not the one. It's the same 10-megapixel three times lens that we saw in the Galaxy Z Fold 4. I just feel that the camera you should really be upgrading here is not the ultra-wide, but it's the telephoto lens because it's so far behind. There hasn't
been a Fold that's released in the last few years that's had a telephoto camera as bad as the Z Fold 8 Ultra. The pictures, they're mostly fine. You can get some nice-looking images out of them, but the details are so far off the competition. Like, look at this. Where did all the detail go? Even for video, this is weak, and I just don't love it. You're paying almost $2,100 for this, and Samsung think it's okay to give you the same weak camera from 2022. And for me, this is just a huge letdown, especially when you call your Fold ultra. Let me move past my complaints because I have most of them out of the way because there are some upgrades that Samsung have made that I really like. The new
hinge is much easier to open and just feels smoother. And because of the new hinge, it means that the ultra can finally open flat, which is what the Z Fold 7 couldn't do. Although, this is not a one-handed open just yet. Like, I have tried a few times, and every time I do it, it just feels like I'm going to break the hinge. It will open eventually, but I wouldn't want to do that every day. I love the in-display. Granted, it's the same size as last year, but I will never not be in love with this. I will try and use this open all day, like for everything. And putting an anti-reflective coating on this is a dream. I don't think it's as good as the
one on the S26 Ultra, but I mean, small steps. I just wish that this was also on the cover display, like Honor have done on theirs. While we're talking about that display, this might be one of the biggest upgrade Samsung have made this year, and it's the fact that crease is almost not there. I would say like 95% has gone. Like, this is good. I love an almost creaseless foldable, and I fell in love with the N6 a couple of months ago for that. And I think this is what foldables are all about. Only 12 months or so ago, I said that foldables would always have a crease, but how wrong was I?
Samsung have removed about 95% of that crease, maybe 90%, but you really have to look to see and feel this one. And I'll be honest, I've just forgotten that there's a crease at all. Compare it to last year, and you can see the difference. Even comparing it to one of my favorite foldables of the year, the N6, this is almost as good. I've only been using this for a week or so, so we'll see how that crease holds up in a couple of weeks or a couple of months down the line, because yeah, when you first take a foldable out of the box, the crease is never there. But I've got high hopes for this one. I think that titanium plate's going to do wonders for
Samsung, but let's come back for like the proper long-term review in a couple of months and see how this one's holding up. One of my biggest complaints on Samsung foldables over the last few years was battery. It just wasn't great. But in the week that I've been using it, Samsung, I feel like have kind of smashed this now. It's not in the ultra category of the V6 or the N6. In fact, it's miles behind them, but at least Samsung have tried here. And remember I said baby steps? This is one of them. It's the same 5,000 mA battery as the S26 Ultra. So, alone, that would have been a nice upgrade, especially when you throw in that quicker charging. I love it. When Samsung told us though in a briefing that the battery in this had silicon
carbon, you should have heard the gasp in the room. Everyone was like just looking at each other for a second, because I don't think anyone expected Samsung to do that this year, but it kind of makes sense. They made the phone thinner than last year, and they couldn't keep using the same 4,400 mA hour They had to improve it. So, silicon carbon was kind of the only way. This is also the first silicon carbon battery Samsung have ever used in their phones, and that mixed with the bigger battery, I barely been hitting 20% on this, and that's a mix of pretty much the main screen, the cover display, gaming, the battery. Like, I've tried to push this. So, I feel like Samsung have listened here, cuz it was my biggest complaint on
the Z Fold 7. And granted, this is not the biggest battery on any fold in the world, but I'll take it. Here's the thing. After a week of using this, in terms of hardware, the Z Fold 8 Ultra, it's not an Ultra. There's just too much missing. I mean, Samsung haven't even been able to fix that wobble on the table. I really hate this. Having said that, and despite all my complaints, I know that this will be the foldable in my pocket this year. There is something about Samsung Fold that I just love. I have better folds to pick from, but One UI and its multitasking and good luck, I'm kind of all in on it. I can't really decide whether I'm disappointed in the upgrades
that Samsung gave this, or I'm just disappointed that they went down the Ultra name, especially when it's not an Ultra phone. If Samsung had just called this the Z Fold 8, I'd probably be sat here praising it a little bit more, but they decided to call it Ultra. And Ultra is supposed to mean better than everyone else. And while this is a good foldable, it isn't the best. I'm curious on your thoughts though of this, the Z Fold 8 Ultra, and whether you're going to be picking one up. I feel like the price upgrade this year to $2,100 is a lot, especially when it starts at 256 gigs of storage and 12
gigs of RAM. I think the Oppo and Honor phones, they all give you 16 gigs of RAM. So, I'm not sure that this is the best buy this year, but let me know in the comments below. Before you head off, if you could subscribe to the channel, I would massively appreciate it. And if you do that, then I'll see you in the next one. See you later.
