# Samsung splits Fold lineup ahead of Apple's foldable debut > Source: > Published: 2026-07-22 13:00:00+00:00 Redesigned Fold8 lowers entry price while new Ultra creates premium tier LONDON — Samsung Electronics on Wednesday made its biggest change yet to its foldable strategy, splitting its flagship book-style Fold lineup into two models for the first time as it looks to broaden its appeal ahead of Apple's expected entry into the category. At Galaxy Unpacked 2026 in London, the company unveiled the redesigned Galaxy Z Fold8, the first major overhaul of its book-style foldable since the original Galaxy Fold debuted in 2019, alongside the Fold8 Ultra, Samsung's first Ultra-branded foldable. It also introduced the Galaxy Z Flip8. "As AI evolves, mobile devices will understand users better, blend naturally into their daily lives and become the closest point of contact with them," said Roh Tae-moon, Samsung Electronics co-CEO and head of the Device eXperience division. "The new Galaxy Z series is our most refined foldable lineup yet, advancing the mobile experience with more personalized services and opening the next era of intelligence." Two Folds, two audiences Rather than replacing last year's Fold7 with a single successor, Samsung has divided its book-style foldable into two distinct models. The Fold8 is designed to appeal to a broader audience with a wider form factor and a lower entry price, while the Fold8 Ultra is Samsung's flagship productivity foldable with premium hardware and imaging capabilities. The split also gives Samsung a wider pricing ladder, lowering the entry point for its book-style foldables while creating a new premium tier above it. Fold8 gets new shape, Ultra adds premium features The regular Fold8 represents the most significant redesign. Its 7.6-inch main display adopts a 4:3 aspect ratio, giving the unfolded device passport-like proportions, while its 5.5-inch cover screen is shorter and wider than the Fold7. The new dimensions reduce unused space around videos while providing more room for e-books, websites and photos. At 201 grams, the Fold8 is also 14 grams lighter than the Fold7 despite carrying a larger 4,800 milliampere-hour battery, up from 4,400 mAh. To reach a lower price point, Samsung simplified parts of the camera system. The Fold8 replaces the Fold7's 200-megapixel main camera and telephoto lens with 50MP wide and ultrawide cameras. New shooting features include Dual Recording, which captures footage from the front and rear cameras simultaneously, and My FanCam, which automatically tracks a selected subject in group videos. The Fold8 Ultra stays closer to Samsung's previous Fold design. It retains the Fold7's 8-inch main display, 6.5-inch cover screen and 215-gram weight while becoming slightly thinner at 4.1 millimeters when unfolded. Instead of redesigning the form factor, Samsung focused on performance. Battery capacity rises to 5,000 mAh, wired charging increases to 45 watts, and the company has enlarged the cooling system to sustain demanding AI workloads. The Ultra also keeps the 200MP main camera while upgrading the ultrawide sensor to 50MP with autofocus and macro shooting. It supports 8K recording, Samsung's advanced professional video codec and cinematic LUT color presets. Both Fold models run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor and introduce Flex Titanium, a new display structure combining a titanium-alloy film with a reinforced plate beneath the panel to improve durability while making the crease less visible. Peak screen brightness rises about 15 percent to 3,000 nits. Flip focuses on refinement The Galaxy Z Flip8 has fewer hardware changes. Its 6.9-inch main display, 4.1-inch cover display, 4,300 mAh battery and 50MP main camera remain unchanged from the Flip7. Instead, Samsung focused on slimming the device, reducing folded thickness to 13.1 millimeters from 13.7 millimeters and cutting the weight to 180 grams from 188 grams. The company also upgraded the processor from the Exynos 2500 to the Exynos 2600. The redesigned FlexWindow allows users to open supported apps, change settings and perform selected Galaxy AI tasks without unfolding the phone. Camera updates include finer zoom controls and horizon leveling for steadier video. Galaxy AI expands its reach Across all three phones, Galaxy AI and Google's Gemini can perform connected tasks across more than 40 apps, including restaurant searches, reservations, food delivery and calendar management. Samsung also introduced Now Nudge, which recommends likely next actions based on what appears on screen. When friends arrange a meeting in a chat, for example, it can suggest adding the event to a calendar or saving the location. Gemini Notebook can combine notes, recordings, images and documents to generate summaries, reports and infographics. Broader lineup, broader pricing The split Fold strategy also reshapes Samsung's pricing. The Fold8 is priced between 2.28 million won and 3.15 million won ($1,540 and $2,130), making its 256GB model 4.3 percent cheaper than the comparable Fold7. The Fold8 Ultra ranges from 2.58 million won to 3.45 million won, creating a premium tier roughly 300,000 won above the standard Fold8 at each storage level. The Flip8 is priced between 1.68 million won and 1.94 million won, reflecting higher component costs as memory suppliers prioritize AI servers over smartphones. Samsung said the three phones will go on sale on Aug. 7, following Korean preorders from July 28 through Aug. 3. New watches, first AI glasses Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 and Galaxy Watch9, both featuring brighter displays, larger batteries and expanded AI-powered health tracking. The company also presented its first AI smart glasses, developed jointly with Google, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. Built on Android XR, the glasses use cameras, microphones and sensors to provide hands-free translation, navigation, messaging and note-taking through Gemini. Samsung plans to launch the product later this year but has not disclosed pricing. yeeun@heraldcorp.com