I nearly overlooked that the Samsung Z Flip 8 is a foldable device.
Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Flip 8 is designed to feel more like a traditional smartphone than ever before. It’s thinner, lighter, and features a front screen that allows for a wide range of functionalities. Whether this shift is a positive or negative change is still up for debate.
After spending three hours with the Z Flip 8, it’s clear that its design hasn’t strayed far from last year’s Z Flip 7. It retains the 6.9-inch FHD+ AMOLED display on the inside and the 4.1-inch Super AMOLED cover screen on the outside. The specs remain consistent with 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 4,300mAh battery. However, this year, Samsung has introduced additional features that enhance its usability even when closed.
One of the standout additions is the introduction of three new gestures for the outer display. Swiping down from the top left reveals the notification tray, while a swipe from the top right brings up quick settings. A swipe up from the bottom opens a nearly complete app drawer. This means you can use the closed phone for a variety of tasks, which is a significant upgrade from previous models.
In the past, launching apps on the cover screen required Samsung’s Good Lock, which felt more like a workaround. Now, this functionality is built-in. While it’s great to have this option, I can’t help but wonder if the charm of a flip phone lies in its limitations. If the Flip 8 is just a compact phone, will it still deter me from endless scrolling?
Samsung has also managed to make the Z Flip 8 the thinnest and lightest flip phone available, measuring just 13.1mm thick when folded and 6.1mm when unfolded, weighing in at 180g. While it’s still thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which is only 4.1mm when unfolded, it sets a new standard for flip phones.
The reduction in thickness is thanks to Samsung’s new Flex Titanium display technology, which is also featured in the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra. This technology utilizes a thinner titanium film beneath the OLED and a tighter bond between the base plate and display module. While the difference in thickness may be minimal, Samsung claims this display is 20 times more durable, which is a welcome improvement given the number of cracked inner displays I’ve seen in the wild.
New battery technology has also contributed to the phone’s lighter and slimmer profile. Samsung has transitioned to silicon carbon batteries, which allow for denser energy storage compared to standard lithium-ion batteries. Although the Flip 8 maintains the same capacity and charging speed as the Flip 7, the battery cell is now physically smaller.
If you were hoping for a significant camera upgrade, you might be let down, as the Flip 8 retains the same camera setup as the Flip 7: a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide. While these specs are decent, they don’t match the higher-end offerings like the 200MP main camera from the Z Fold 8 Ultra. However, the Flip 8 does include Samsung’s impressive Super Steady Horizontal Lock feature.
One of the most exciting features I experienced was the new “Now Brief” widget generator, which creates widgets to provide proactive information about your day. During my time with the device, Samsung demonstrated how to set it up to show daily pollen levels, generating a custom UI for that information. I’m looking forward to testing this feature further, as it seems to offer a wide variety of widget options, reminiscent of Google’s recent Android 17 feature but tailored for the Flip’s front display.
The Z Flip 8 comes with a higher price tag than its predecessor, starting at $1,199.99 compared to the Flip 7’s $1,099.99 for the same storage and RAM configurations. With the ongoing RAM crisis affecting many devices, if you’re in the market for a flip phone that feels more like a smartphone when closed, the Flip 8 could be the right choice for you.
