We sat down together to watch the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra unboxing before it went live, and this covers what’s actually in the $1,799.99 box, how the fold feels in hand, and whether Samsung’s headline camera feature works as advertised.
Inside the box: the phone, USB-C cable, SIM tool, and paperwork – no charger, standard for Samsung’s last few generations. First reaction from the team was the weight; this is noticeably lighter than the Fold7 despite the larger 8-inch inner display.
The crease is where we split. Samsung’s new Flex Titanium layer visibly reduces the shadow line down the middle – under normal lighting, it’s genuinely harder to see than on last year’s model. But running a finger across the display still produces the same bump you’d feel on the Fold7. One of us calls that a real fix; the other calls it a cosmetic one. We’re leaving both takes in, because that’s the honest answer.
The feature we spent the most time on was My FanCam; Samsung’s new AI tool that tracks one person in a video and automatically reframes the footage around them. We tested it on a video with three people walking across a room, and it locked onto the chosen subject and held the crop steady, no manual editing required.
One caution worth flagging: this phone carries an IP48 rating, not full dust resistance, and Samsung itself warns against sand and grit near the hinge. If you’re the type to use a foldable at the beach, that matters more than the spec sheet number.
Full performance and camera testing goes up next week, this is our first-hours read.
