Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra Review: 5,000mAh at 215g, and Rs. 25,000 More
Samsung changed almost everything about its biggest foldable except the number you feel in your pocket: 215g, exactly what the Fold7 weighed. Inside that same weight the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra carries 5,000mAh where the Fold7 had 4,400, a 50MP ultra-wide where it had 12MP, a 200MP main camera, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and up to 7 OS upgrades with security updates until July 2033. It costs about Rs. 1,95,000 for 12GB + 256GB on live listings, against a Rs. 1,99,999 launch price that sat Rs. 25,000 above the Fold7's. What it still does not do: keep dust out (IP48), come with a charger, or work with an S Pen. Buy it if you want the most complete Samsung foldable and the money is already set aside.
Samsung fixed the 2 complaints and kept the weight.
The battery finally matches the screen. The Fold7 asked an 8-inch display to live on 4,400mAh. The Fold 8 Ultra brings 5,000mAh, split across 2 cells, and does it in a body that weighs exactly the same 215g and folds to the same 8.9mm. Adding 600mAh to a foldable without adding a gram is the hard version of this upgrade, and Samsung did the hard version.
The ultra-wide stopped being the spare. Last year's 12MP ultra-wide was the weak link in an expensive camera. This year it is 50MP with autofocus, and both it and the 200MP main camera record 8K at 30fps. The 10MP telephoto is unchanged in kind, a 3x optical lens with OIS. Samsung advertises a 2x setting too; that one is a crop from the 200MP sensor, which Samsung itself calls "optical quality" rather than optical.
7 years is the quiet headline. Samsung India commits to up to 7 OS upgrades and dates the security updates precisely: until 31 July 2033. On a phone at this price, how long it stays supported is part of what you are paying for, and this is as long a promise as any foldable sold here.
It opens to 4.1mm. Samsung's own footnote says that figure excludes the frame around the main screen, so treat it as the thinnest point rather than the whole slab. Either way, it is 0.1mm thinner than the Fold7 when open, with a brighter 3,000-nit peak on Samsung's own measure.
The things Rs. 1,95,000 still does not buy.
IP48 is a splash-and-swim rating, not a dust rating. The 8 means submersion in fresh water, 1.5 metres for 30 minutes. The 4 covers solid objects larger than 1mm only, which leaves out fine dust and sand. On a phone with a hinge, that is the line in the spec sheet to remember on a dusty road trip.
No charger, and no S Pen. The box holds the phone, a cable and a SIM tool; the 45W adapter is sold separately. And despite pre-launch rumours, Samsung India's own answer is plain: the Fold 8 Ultra does not support the S Pen. If you bought a large foldable to write on, this is not that phone.
The price moved before the phone did. The Fold7 launched in India at Rs. 1,74,999 for 12GB + 256GB. The Fold 8 Ultra launched at Rs. 1,99,999 for the same memory, Rs. 25,000 more. Live listings now sit about Rs. 5,000 under that launch price, which is a small mercy rather than a correction.
3 foldables, 3 different answers.
Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold, about Rs. 1,87,000 for 16GB + 512GB, the only memory India gets. It is the only one of the 3 with an IP68 rating, and it is heavier at 239g and thicker at 10.1mm folded, with 4,806mAh and 30W charging. Our Pixel 11 Pro Fold review calls it the durable choice and not the camera choice.
vivo X Fold 6, about Rs. 2,20,000 for 12GB + 512GB, its base model. It goes the other way: 6,900mAh and 80W charging, IP58 and IP59, at 228g and 9.4mm folded. If battery and charging lead your list, it is the one to price against the Fold 8 Ultra's 512GB model, which launched at the same Rs. 2,19,999.
The Samsung sits between them on weight and thickness, lightest and thinnest of the 3, with an update promise dated to 2033, and with the weakest ingress rating.
- You want the lightest, thinnest big foldable on this page
- You keep phones for years: updates dated to July 2033
- You shoot wide: the 50MP ultra-wide is the real upgrade
- Dust and sand are part of your life: IP48 does not cover them
- You want to write on it: no S Pen support
- Battery and charging matter most: 5,000mAh and 45W trail the vivo
Buy, if the budget is already there. On published specification the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the Fold Samsung should have made last year: a battery that suits the screen, an ultra-wide that matches the main camera, a 3nm Snapdragon, and support dated to 2033, all at the same 215g. It is also Rs. 25,000 dearer at launch than the phone it replaces, still IP48, and still sold without a charger. Those are reasons to compare it carefully with the Pixel and the vivo, not reasons to dismiss it.
More battery, a real ultra-wide, the same 215g. The weight held. The price did not.
The price is for the base 12GB + 256GB model, read from live listings at major Indian retailers on 14 October 2026; launch prices are labelled as such. Rival prices are live listings for each phone's base India model on the same day. Specifications are confirmed against at least 2 independent sources each, led by Samsung India's own specification and FAQ. Where sources disagreed or only one spoke, such as memory and storage types, battery chemistry and the reverse charging wattage, we left the claim out. Brightness figures are not compared across brands because makers measure them differently. Our verdict is based on published specification, not hands-on testing: we have not held this phone.
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