Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8: Does an unconventional display justify a $2,000 price tag?
Another shape of Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 smartphone. Image by Cybernews
I got the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 to try to understand the divided reaction among users.
With every phone release, it seems harder to find things to get excited about. Especially if you’re not that into AI.
When I got my hands on the latest Samsung Galaxy Z foldable lineup, like many, I was mostly intrigued by the Galaxy Z Fold8. Why? Because of its new form factor.
One of the main selling points of this smartphone is that it’s suited for users who spend a lot of time creating and consuming content, since it's small enough to carry around yet can be expanded to a size large enough for multitasking.
Before testing the Fold8, I decided to review online discussions to see what users liked and disliked about the new smartphone and whether I would find the same insights to be true.
Love or hate the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 display
One of the main aspects that draws attention to this particular Samsung Galaxy foldable is its dimensions.
The almost square-shaped smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch cover display alongside a 7.6-inch main inner folding screen.
At first, I found the new form quite cool, since the screen was larger than the flip phone's. However, I soon learned that many found the display to be uncomfortable.
It seems the main screen is meant to be used when you want to find specific apps quickly and easily. However, it might be inconvenient for watching content.
One user online questioned how useful the display is if you’re using it to actually get some work done rather than watch YouTube or Netflix.
I’ve also stumbled upon complaints that some users had a hard time watching Instagram Reels because they didn’t show up all the way.
Another user shared that they couldn’t fully see their WhatsApp chats, and since they use a translation feature, those messages weren’t shown either.
This is when I decided to see if the new display was really that bad, as I’d noticed users recommending going through settings to adjust screen dimensions for certain apps.
While I found the display fine when scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, once I was on Messenger, I realized what the user had in mind when they talked about the WhatsApp display.
The conversation window was quite small, so I could only see the last message I received, with the rest of the display being taken up by the keyboard. Of course, I could’ve opened the device and used the bigger screen.
But if you want to quickly reply to a message without opening the phone, it can be frustrating not to see the whole chat window.
Users report other inconveniences
When it comes to the phone’s other specifications, it has the same processor as the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, so the phone runs quickly and smoothly.
The device also includes a 4,800 mAh battery, which allowed me to use it all day. However, when charging the device, I noticed that it started to heat up, an issue that I learned other Redditors noticed too.
Among the things that drew users' attention to the $1,900 device was also its sound.
There seemed to be no issue when I was using the phone with the screen closed, but when I watched a video with the screen open, it seemed as if the sound was coming only from the left side.
“Probably that both speakers are on the left side when unfolded, so you’re not getting stereo sound,” explained one of the Redditors.
Is it worth it?
Besides the new form, it seems that Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 is your average smartphone with a long-lasting battery, high resolution, and refresh rate.
But the device quickly became notable for its display, which caught my attention, too.
I quite enjoyed it, as it’s bigger than Samsung’s regular flip phone, though the main display was sometimes too small to show the whole conversation. Nevertheless, in this case, I could use the bigger screen, even though it would’ve made it harder to use it with one hand.
However, for some users, this was a deal-breaker, which is understandable given that the smartphone’s starting price is $1,900.
Pros and cons of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
