Android Authority Review Praises Galaxy Z Fold 8 Screen, Faults IP48 Rating

The review follows Samsung's July Unpacked event, where the company launched three foldable phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 stood out for its short yet wide form factor, different from the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and earlier Galaxy Folds. The reviewer noted that Google, OPPO and HUAWEI have offered wide foldables before, but Samsung's model is the most popular Android one, arriving as Apple prepares its first foldable, the iPhone Duo.

After two weeks with the long-rumored Wide Fold, the reviewer said they came close to pre-ordering but did not. They described the phone as small: 123.9mm tall, shorter than the Galaxy S26, Google Pixel 11 and iPhone 13 Mini. It measures 9.7mm folded and 4.5mm unfurled, a little thicker than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. At 201 grams, it is lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and significantly lighter than the iPhone Duo.

The hardware includes an aluminum frame, flat edges, a Flex Titanium hinge for crease control and impact resistance, and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back. The reviewer accidentally dropped the unfolded, unprotected phone 1.2 meters onto a tiled kitchen floor and said it suffered no damage and kept working. They disliked the sharp corners, though they preferred them to the iPhone Duo and Xiaomi 18 Fold, which have sharp corners on the left and rounded corners on the right when folded. The camera bump also makes the phone wobble when tapping either screen on a table; the reviewer would have preferred a Pixel-style camera bar.

The biggest hardware complaint was the IP48 rating. The phone can be immersed in fresh water but is not rated for dust resistance. The reviewer said Samsung's rivals offer IP58 or IP68 ratings for full water and dust resistance, and that the IP48 rating made them uneasy about taking the phone to the beach and about long-term reliability as dust accumulates.

The 7.6-inch folding screen was the reviewer's favorite part. Samsung has used a square-like aspect ratio for years, which helps split-view multitasking but leaves letterboxing for 16:9 and 4:3 video. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 moves to a 4:3 aspect ratio, which the reviewer said is ideal for older and non-widescreen content. Episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Columbo filled the screen completely, and 16:9 video had smaller letterboxing than on a conventional Fold, though the actual video window was roughly comparable.

The reviewer also highlighted software and emulation use. The Amazon Kindle app defaults to a two-column view on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, as it did on the original Pixel Fold and OPPO's first couple of foldables, making ebooks look like physical books. Nintendo DS emulation in portrait mode puts one screen on the top half and another on the bottom half, similar to the real console. Games that require button inputs do not work as well, according to the review. The article's headline also states the reviewer is more excited for the Galaxy Z Fold 9.