I spent 2 weeks with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Now I want every foldable this wide

It's not every day that I use a smartphone that changes the way I think about this product category.

We've seen devices like the OPPO Find X9 Ultra with a native 10x telephoto camera and phones adopting high-capacity silicon-carbon batteries.

However, I've always seen those as iterative upgrades rather than fundamentally changing how you use the device.

It's hard to innovate smartphones in 2026, especially with brands battling rising RAM prices and higher component costs.

So when the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 debuted with its wider form factor, I didn't think it would make much of a difference.

After all, we've already seen similar passport-style foldables with devices like the OG Google Pixel Fold and the first-generation OPPO Find N. I didn't expect making the phone shorter and wider to change the experience.

But after using the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for the past two weeks, particularly for reading and watching videos, I've completely changed my mind.

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Samsung made a bold move with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series. Instead of offering one book-style foldable, the company has split the lineup into two devices.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra continues the design philosophy of last year's Galaxy Z Fold 7, while the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 introduces a new form factor at a lower price.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is noticeably shorter than the Ultra but much wider. The cover display uses a 10:16 aspect ratio, while the inner display opens up a 4:3 canvas.

For comparison, most smartphones today, including the Google Pixel 10 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, use much taller displays that sit closer to a 20:9 aspect ratio.

As an Android fan, I was excited about the idea of this new form factor. But I was also worried.

Android apps have never been optimized for every screen size, and unlike iOS, Google doesn't have nearly as much control over how third-party apps scale.

My biggest concern was whether apps would feel awkward on the Galaxy Z Fold 8's unusually wide cover display.

Thankfully, that hasn't been the case. On the contrary, I've grown to like using the outer display. It's compact enough to use one-handed, but wide enough that apps don't feel cramped. Most of the apps I use every day have scaled well.

I've enjoyed scrolling through my feeds in apps like Twitter (X) and Reddit, whereas using YouTube Music on the cover display reminds me of the old iPod days. Some of Samsung's first-party apps, like Calendar, make excellent use of filling the whole cover screen.

Unoptimized vs. optimized apps on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

Still, it's not perfect. I came across a handful of apps that don't scale properly, and a few still need to be restarted after unfolding the phone. But for most of the apps I use every day, the wider cover display has been a non-issue.

The benefits become even clearer when you unfold it

Watching videos and reading books and articles feels natural

The advantages of the wider design become more obvious when you unfold the phone.

Watching videos on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a better experience than on traditional book-style foldables. Because the inner display is closer to a tablet's aspect ratio, horizontal videos take up more of the screen, leaving small black bars above and below the content.

To see how much of a difference this made, I played the same set of videos and visited the same websites on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the OPPO Find N6.

On paper, the Find N6 has a larger display by about 0.4 inches, and it feels bigger in person. But when you watch content on both phones, Samsung's design makes more sense.

The black bars above and below the videos are narrower on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 thanks to its wider, more tablet-like aspect ratio (4:3). There's not as much letterboxing (the black bars that appear above and below the video) as on the Find N6.

Some would argue that you could rotate a taller foldable like the Find N6 into landscape to get a larger viewing area. While that helps, you still end up with noticeably more letterboxing than on the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Samsung's display makes better use of the available screen for landscape content.

That same advantage carries over to reading. For example, I pulled up a website with book-like text, and you can see a few extra lines towards the bottom of the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Beyond that, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has more of a familiar book-like feel than the Find N6 does because of its form factor.

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By  Hamlin Rozario

Every other foldable should come with this design

The last two weeks with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 have given me a new perspective on foldable phones.

I didn't have big expectations with the wider design, but using the phone has turned me into a believer. Now I feel every book-style foldable phone should be heading in this direction.

Not because the inner display is larger, but because Samsung has properly balanced the two screens. The cover display is compact and feels easier to carry around than a taller foldable. The inner display delivers on the promise of a foldable.

To me, this is the first foldable that solves the biggest compromise of the category: giving you a tablet-sized screen without making the phone experience worse.

While wider foldables have existed before, the technology has matured. Other factors, like excellent battery life, a less noticeable crease, and an anti-reflective inner display, make the whole feel more mature than it did a couple of years ago.

I'm sure taller foldables will continue to exist. But if Apple's rumored foldable adopts this wider form factor, I wouldn't be surprised if more Android makers start moving in the same direction. After using the Galaxy Z Fold 8, I'd be all for it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy
RAM
12GB / 16GB
Storage
256GB / 512GB / 1TB
Battery
4,800mAh
Operating System
Android 17 / One UI 9
Front camera
10MP main / 10MP cover

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a 4:3 aspect ratio open screen, making it great for video and reading books, and when closed the device is compact, with apps on the cover screen appearing normally. It joins Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which has a more traditional tall-and-thin design.

$1900 at Samsung See at Amazon
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