Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra Debuts: Samsung’s Thinnest Foldable Starts at $2,099

Samsung has made the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra the star of its July Galaxy Unpacked event in London, unveiling the first-ever “Ultra” foldable alongside the Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Flip8, a new Galaxy Watch, and a pair of Android XR smart glasses. It is Samsung’s clearest signal yet that the foldable has graduated from novelty to flagship.

Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra: thinner, bigger, pricier

The headline is the hardware. The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra measures just 4.1mm when unfolded and weighs 215 grams, making it the thinnest and lightest Fold Samsung has ever shipped. It opens to an 8.0-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X main display and carries a 6.5-inch cover screen for one-handed use.

• Chip: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, with up to 16GB of RAM.
• Camera: a 200MP main sensor, 50MP ultra-wide, and 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.
• Battery: a 5,000mAh cell with 45W wired fast charging.
• Storage: options up to 1TB.

Pricing starts at $2,099 in the US and €2,199 in Europe, climbing to $2,699 for the top 1TB configuration. That makes the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra one of the most expensive mainstream phones on the market.

Gemini and agentic AI baked in

Software is where Samsung is pushing hardest. The phones ship with Gemini Intelligence, a set of agentic features that can chain steps together and automate tasks across apps. Gemini Notebook — the rebranded NotebookLM — now comes preinstalled, turning the wide inner display into a research and note-taking canvas.

The bet is that a screen this large only matters if the AI can fill it usefully, and Samsung is leaning on its deepened Google partnership to do exactly that.

Samsung’s Android XR glasses arrive

Beyond the foldables, Samsung introduced “Intelligent Eyewear” — Android XR smart glasses co-designed with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. Running a Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 chip, the glasses pack a camera, speakers, and microphone, deliver up to nine hours of battery life, and use Gemini for hands-free help like live translation and message summaries. They are due to ship within the year.

Price and availability

Pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and its siblings opened July 22, with general availability from August 7 across major markets. Full specs and regional pricing are laid out in Samsung’s official Unpacked announcement.

With a thinner body, a 200MP camera, and Gemini woven through the experience, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is Samsung’s most aggressive foldable yet — and a direct answer to a market where AI features increasingly sell the phone.

Related on DAILYSIM: Snap’s $2,195 Specs AR glasses and the Gemini-powered Google Home speaker.