Samsung has been the dominant name in folding phones since the first Galaxy Fold in 2019, but the company is now betting that a new shape will better serve the way people actually use their devices. On Wednesday at its second Galaxy Unpacked event of the year, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold8—a passport-shaped, book-like fold that sits between the larger Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and the compact Galaxy Z Flip8.
The design shift is driven by changing consumer behavior, according to Drew Blackard, Samsung's senior vice president of Mobile Product Management. "One of the things we're seeing, in the past few years, is an explosive growth in mobile video watching," Blackard told WIRED. "Consumers watch 80 percent of their video on mobile devices now, not in front of a TV screen or tablet. The actual shape of the content has changed—you've gone from landscape view format for things like Netflix to vertical orientation for a lot of social media."
A Display Tailored for Content Consumption
The new Fold8 features a 10:16 aspect ratio for the front cover screen, and when opened, reveals a 4:3 inner display. Both aspect ratios are designed to handle a wide range of video formats, from YouTube clips to Instagram Reels. The unfolded 7.6-inch inner screen, held in vertical orientation, is also ideal for reading websites or ebooks, making it more familiar and comfortable for the majority of smartphone use cases than the taller, narrower Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra.
Blackard explained that with last year's seventh-generation folding phones, Samsung felt it reached an inflection point where the hardware was light, slim, and offered few spec trade-offs compared to traditional smartphones. For instance, the Galaxy Z Fold7 shipped with the same 200-megapixel camera as the flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra. This hardware parity, Blackard believes, opens the door to more diverse folding phone designs tailored to "consumers' different needs."
Portfolio Expansion and Market Timing
The new Fold8 resembles what Apple's first folding device is rumored to look like, as well as the original Google Pixel Fold and the Microsoft Surface Duo. Samsung is expanding its portfolio to cover different use cases: the Fold8 Ultra for productivity, the Flip8 for portability, and the new Fold8 for content consumption.
Earlier this year, Samsung launched the Galaxy Z TriFold, a larger device that expanded to tablet size with a $2,899 price tag. It was a limited-run product, with only about four drops in the US, each selling out in minutes. The new Fold8 is priced at $1,900—still expensive but more accessible.
Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for data and analytics at IDC, noted that the move is strategic. "When Apple launches the device, and it becomes popular, then they can also offer the same kind of format to their customers," Jeronimo said. "They have nothing to lose in launching a new format because it's just another offering. If someone says, ‘I don’t like the book style,' then they have the passport style. We will probably see more form factors and devices coming next year."
Addressing the Crease with Flex Titanium
One persistent complaint about folding phones is the visible crease where the hinge sits. Samsung is tackling this with a new titanium display layer called Flex Titanium in both the Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra. While the source text does not provide specific measurements, the company claims this reduces the crease, potentially making the device more appealing to mainstream users.
| Model | Price | Form Factor | Target User |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra | Not specified | Larger book-like | Productivity-oriented |
| Galaxy Z Fold8 | $1,900 | Passport-shaped | Content consumption |
| Galaxy Z Flip8 | Not specified | Compact flip | Portability-focused |
| Galaxy Z TriFold (limited) | $2,899 | Expands to tablet | Niche, limited run |
Samsung's willingness to experiment with form factors, from the limited TriFold to the new Fold8, signals a maturation of folding phone technology. As Blackard noted, the time for such experimentation is ripe, and with hardware now on par with flagship slab phones, the company can focus on meeting consumers' different needs rather than one-size-fits-all designs.
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