The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is aimed squarely at anyone looking for a compact foldable phone with an eye-catching design and plenty of power, but not necessarily a professional-grade camera. The review leaves one thing quite clear: this is not the most balanced phone for demanding creators, although it is one of the most appealing clamshell foldables for users who value the format, the cover screen and AI features more than perfect zoom.
With a starting price of €1,249 ($1,199.99) in the original source, the cost matters — a lot. In return, Samsung offers a thinner, lighter and more mature device than its predecessor, with a powerful Snapdragon processor, a more useful external display and a pink design that, curiously enough, seems made to turn heads even among users who have spent years inside the Apple ecosystem.
Foldable design: thinner, lighter and full of character
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 keeps the essence of the modern flip phone, but refines details that matter more in this format than they might seem. Opened up, it features a 6.9-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate; closed, it relies on a 4.1-inch HD+ AMOLED cover screen, also at 120 Hz. That external display is not just decorative: Samsung has redesigned the experience to make it easier to access widgets and apps, although not all of them work from there.
The body has also evolved. Its dimensions are 166.9 x 75.4 x 6.1 mm when open and 85.7 x 75.4 x 13.1 mm when closed, with a weight of 180 grams. It is slimmer than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and slips into a pocket with the kind of ease many large phones lost generations ago, back when every handset seemed determined to become a small emergency tablet.
Samsung also includes flexible titanium hardware to reinforce the hinge and reduce the visibility of the crease. The feel is described as solid, and the fold in the flexible screen is far less noticeable. As for colours, it comes in pink, cream, graphite and mint, but pink is the one that captures much of the device’s visual appeal.
Performance, software and AI: the Snapdragon upgrade shows
One of the key points of the Galaxy Z Flip 8 is its processor. After the criticism aimed at the Exynos chip in the previous model, Samsung uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy here, paired with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB storage options. In Geekbench 7, it scored 2,658 points in single-core and 7,157 in multi-core, figures that place it above the Motorola Razr Ultra in the cited tests.
In everyday use, this means the phone can handle several apps at once, manage on-device AI processes and respond smoothly, without the compact format feeling like an excuse to cut back on power. It also has an impact on photo processing, although the results there do not always shine as much as one might expect from a phone at this price.
The initial setup is straightforward if you are coming from another Galaxy, although there are quite a few terms and permission screens to accept. Samsung has also worked on migration from iOS and coexistence with Apple devices. The Quick Share feature, similar in concept to AirDrop, lets you send photos, videos and files to nearby devices, including Apple hardware, which is very practical if you edit or work from a MacBook.
On the AI side, the package is broad: access to Gemini LM, six months of Google AI Pro and AI-powered photo editing tools. To get more out of Google services, it may also be worth reviewing how to search Google like an expert. The eraser tool lets you remove unwanted elements, from people in the background to small details in a selfie, and edited images include an AI-generated content label as well as a digital watermark.
Cameras and verdict: attractive, but not for everyone
The most delicate point of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is its cameras. It has a 50 MP main sensor, a 12 MP ultra-wide and a 10 MP internal selfie camera. For most users, the results will be good enough, but they do not reach the level someone who depends on high-quality photos and video for work would be looking for. In testing, some scenes appeared slightly oversaturated and, under strong light, images showed a degree of overexposure in the brightest areas.
Interestingly, the digital zoom performed better than expected, even compared with impressions from the Galaxy Z Fold 8, although neither phone has a telephoto lens for high-quality optical zoom. Where the Flip 8 does have an advantage is in self-portraits using the main camera: when folded, the external screen shows a live preview, so you can frame yourself with the better sensors. Once you see that possibility, the internal selfie camera makes much less sense — almost like that port nobody uses but that is still there just in case.
So, who is this foldable for? For anyone who wants a different kind of phone: compact, powerful and with strong AI features, but who does not need a 200 MP camera or 8K recording. Who really needs that every day? The Galaxy Z Flip 8 stands out as a phone with plenty of personality, ideal for younger profiles, users who prioritise style and pocketability, or anyone who wants to move away from the usual rectangular phone without switching to the book-style Fold format.
The price increase over the previous generation weighs on the overall assessment, although carrier trade-in deals could soften the blow. As a design-led foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 is convincing; as an advanced photography tool, it remains one step behind.
