what’s new from samsung Flex Titanium Technology aims to define a new generation of truly wrinkle-free folding products, and I can’t wait to see how it holds up over a lifetime of consistent folding. That wrinkle has been a big complaint about foldable phones for years, and it’s been fun to watch companies try new things to try to eliminate it. It’s wild enough that we can bend glass first, but seeing it perform without a worn crease will be the next most impressive thing.
While I’d rather have the smaller phone, Samsung is apparently improving the larger Z Fold 8 with more features from the Galaxy S26 Ultra and calling it Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra that’s why. There have been a mix of rumors about what Samsung’s plan for the “Ultra” moniker on this phone really means, but the company is likely bringing back some of the S26 Ultra’s best hardware features.
My hope is that this means the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra gets the camera hardware of the S26 Ultra. More specifically, I would love to see the 200MP main camera and 5x telephoto ALoP camera that were Galaxy S26 Ultra camera highlights for me. The Z Fold series has never been a camera powerhouse, but perhaps this year’s Ultra entry will finally change that forever.
The only thing that I am No What we expect with the smaller stature of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the rumored downgrade in camera hardware. Samsung is said to be equipping the wider Z Fold 8 with just a couple of cameras on the back. More specifically, these are a 50 MP main camera and a 50 MP ultra-wide camera. Not exactly great-sounding specs for a 2026 flagship.
This means that there is no telephoto lens, which is one of the my favorite ways to get great photos of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. To make matters worse, a 50MP sensor isn’t exactly cutting-edge and will likely just be a repeat of the sensors Samsung has been using in its Z Fold line for years. I hope the official announcement pleasantly surprises me, because this might be the only black mark on the Z Fold 8 spec sheet.
While remembering the Original Pixel FoldIn the design, I wanted to focus on how apps behaved in the phone’s widest aspect ratio. On the outer screen, apps were shorter and wider than on a regular Android phone. This seemed funny at first, but I quickly appreciated it because it was easier to access everything with one hand.
Things got even better when opening the phone as apps opened automatically on landscape tablet orientation. This is a big problem because most apps on modern book-style foldable devices, like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, still open as a giant phone app rather than in tablet format, as they should.
Google did a great job in Android 12L to fix this problem, but a foldable tablet with a landscape shape works better, since it doesn’t require specific app-level code to get things right. I hope the Z Fold 8 works this way since it’s supposed to have a wider aspect ratio.
One thing we can definitely expect from Samsung’s upcoming watches is Blood pressure trends. After years without access to blood pressure tracking features, Samsung finally brought the capability to the US and is taking it a step further by launching Blood Pressure Trends to replace Vascular Load. Blood Pressure Trends will “monitor your blood pressure periodically to show you a trend over time. It will also give you tips to help you maintain healthy habits.”
Samsung says the next Galaxy Watch is built with “all-new internal components,” suggesting the BioActive health sensor is being updated. This could point to more accurate health and fitness tracking, but it could also mean a new chipset. Samsung is expected to use the latest from Qualcomm Snapdragon elite wearwhich will offer faster performance and charging while also improving the AI capabilities on the device. The Watch 9 and Ultra 2 are likely to be among the first to feature the new chip, so we’re excited to see how they perform.
Samsung has I already started making fun what we can expect from its new Galaxy watches, including “real-time AI-based insights.” It’s not surprising that Samsung wants to put more AI into its watches, but I wonder what the company has in store for the Watch 9 and Ultra 2. There’s already an AI running coach, but maybe Galaxy AI will act more like Google Health AI Personal Health Coach? Hopefully, this doesn’t mean we’ll need a subscription.
Along with the renders, the The specifications of the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 have also been leaked. The passport-style foldable will reportedly feature a 5.4 to 5.5-inch cover screen, while the interior screen measures 7.6 inches. In terms of design, it will be just 5.5mm thick when unfolded and 9.7mm when folded. As for the internals, you can expect the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset for Galaxy, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of starting storage. The good news is that Samsung does not skimp on battery with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 supposedly includes a 4,800 mAh cellwhich is larger than last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. In terms of colors, you can expect Cream, Graphite and Lavender, along with a Pistachio option that will be exclusive to Samsung.com.
As always, renders of Samsung’s new foldable phones have already been leaked ahead of launch, giving us an idea of what to expect from this new form factor. Leaked images suggest it will be quite different from the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Of course, it will be shorter and wider when opened, imitating the shape of a real mini tablet. But there are also some other interesting things to keep in mind. First of all, Samsung isn’t abandoning its sharp-edged design for this foldable, and we don’t yet know if that wider-cover screen will dig too deep into your palms. Secondly, you can see on the back that it only features two cameras, compared to the Z Fold 8 Ultra, which will reportedly continue with a triple camera module.
