The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is an interesting phone in a time when most phones are aggressively boring.
Flip it open in front of someone for the first time, and they will inevitably ask questions about it or ask if they can hold it.
When the pink colorway first appeared on the Galaxy Unpacked livestream, the Mashable group chat blew up — and we’re a bunch of phone snobs with most of our feet firmly planted in Apple-land.
But the Z Flip 8 is more than a pretty face. While the new $1,199.99 price tag is definitely a big pain point, it’s an easy recommendation unless you need Ultra or Pro-level cameras for creative or professional reasons. And if you do, you’ll be paying a lot more for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, or Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra anyway.
Galaxy Z Flip 8: By the numbers
Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group
This phone has mostly iterative upgrades over last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 7, and despite rumors to the contrary, it does have a new Snapdragon chipset.
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Inner display: 6.9-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate
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Outer display: 4.1-inch HD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate
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Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset
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Colors: Pink, cream, graphite, mint
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Unfolded dimensions: 166.9 x 75.4 x 6.1 mm
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Folded dimensions: 85.7 x 75.4 x 13.1 mm
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Weight: 180 grams
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RAM: 12GB
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Storage: 256GB, 512GB
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Battery: 4,300mAh
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Cameras: 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP selfie camera
Galaxy Z Flip 8 review: Design
Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group
The new Samsung flip phone is lighter and thinner than its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Flip 7. It still has ultra-thin bezels, and while it’s not quite as thin as the excellent Galaxy Z Fold 8 (or the Z Fold 8 Ultra), Samsung did shave off 0.6mm.
When unfolded, it feels nice and light in your hand, and even when it’s folded, it slips right into your pocket like a flip phone should. I’m one of the few phone reviewers who has hated the trend of bigger and bigger phones, which is why I held onto my iPhone SE as long as I could. I love the way phones like the Z Flip 8 and the Motorola Razr Ultra feel in my pocket compared with iPhone or the oversized Galaxy S26 Ultra.
For the Galaxy Z 8 series, Samsung also added flex titanium hardware, which results in a more durable hinge and less visible crease. The phone certainly feels solid, and the crease on the flexible display really does disappear.
Credit: René Ramos / CNET Group
Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group
The phone also won me over with its charming good looks. This is a smartphone with good vibes. I love the pink color (which is more of a purple-pink than a bubblegum or millennial pink), and I really like the white color as well.
For a lot of reasons, I think this would be the ideal phone for a young person or college student, or as a starter phone for a cool teen, if your parents love you enough to splurge on a $1,199.99 device.
Galaxy Z Flip 8 review: Performance
Credit: René Ramos / CNET Group
Last year, we complained about the Z Flip 7’s Exynos processor, but this year, Samsung opted for the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset found in the Z Fold 8 Ultra. When we ran the Geekbench 7 benchmarking test, the phone received a single-core score of 2,658 and a multi-core score of 7,157.
That single-core score is actually a little higher than the Z Fold 8, though the Z Fold 8 had a higher multi-core score of 9,919. Its scores are also significantly higher than those of the Motorola Razr Ultra, the flagship entry in the Razr lineup this year.
What this means is that the phone can handle basic AI processes on the device without breaking a sweat, and you can run tons of apps at the same time without slowing it down. The processor is also critical for photo processing, which is one of the few pain points with this phone. I found the color and light balance to be much better on the Z Fold 8, but the Z Flip 8 actually performed better with digital zoom (we’ll come back to this in the camera test section).
Samsung also redesigned the outer display experience from the ground up, and it’s now easier to access apps and widgets when the phone is closed (though not all apps will work on the front display).
Galaxy Z Flip 8: Setup, migration, and software
Setting up the Z Flip 8 was incredibly easy. Assuming you already have another Galaxy device, you can quickly transfer the contents. You do have to scroll through and accept a lot of terms of service and other screens when you first boot up the phone, which was annoying. Samsung was also keen to stress that it has made it as simple as possible to migrate from iOS to Android, and overall, the phone has better compatibility with Apple devices.
Crucially for me, Samsung has introduced Quick Share, an AirDrop-like feature that lets you quickly and wirelessly send photos, videos, and other files to nearby devices, including Apple devices. I was able to select all of the photos and videos I took for this review and send them to my MacBook Pro work laptop in seconds.
Like last year, the phone is also equipped with a fingerprint sensor.
Setting up the phone
Credit: Screenshot by Timothy Werth
Credit: Screenshot by Timothy Werth
Galaxy Z Flip 8: The cameras are just OK
There’s a simple reason that the Z Flip 8 couldn’t be my everyday phone: the cameras.
The Z Flip 8 has a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP selfie camera. By comparison, I got good results with the larger Z Fold 8, which has dual 50MP cameras. The Z Flip 8’s cameras suffer in comparison, especially for a phone that costs over $1,000.
Samsung redesigned the outer display experience for the Z Flip 8.
Credit: René Ramos / CNET Group
If you’re a professional who depends on high-quality pictures and videos (like, say, a tech journalist), this phone won’t meet your needs. Likewise, even if creators love the design of this phone, it won’t suit their video needs the way the iPhone 17 Pro Max would, for example.
However, for the vast majority of people, I think the cameras are good enough. Hence, why I think this phone makes sense for young people, or folks who prefer a small phone that disappears in their pocket.
The results of my camera test
Ultimately, I found that the Z Flip 8 sometimes oversaturated my photos, as you can see in this New York City park scene. The sky wasn’t quite so blue that day, I’m afraid.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
I also found that in bright sunlight, some of the photos looked a little overexposed. The highlights were too bright in some cases, giving the photos a glossy sheen.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Strangely, the digital zoom on the Z Flip 8 seemed to work better than on the Z Fold 8, for reasons I don’t understand. Both phones lack a telephoto lens for high-quality zoom shots. Still, it worked well enough, and better than expected in some cases.
Left:
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Right:
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
However, I did get great results with selfies, so long as I didn’t rely on the front-facing 10MP selfie camera. One of the coolest features of the Z Flip 8 is that you can see a live video of the camera preview when the phone is folded, letting you line up the perfect selfie. This is so handy that I don’t think you ever need to use the inner 10MP selfie camera, and I don’t know why it’s included at all. The drop-off in photo quality is very apparent.
Left:
A selfie taken with the main camera.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Right:
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Fortunately, Portrait mode works well, so long as you’re using the main cameras.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
A full suite of AI features
If you’re an AI user, there’s a lot to love about the Galaxy Z Flip 8. Thanks to the Snapdragon processor, you can get a lot accomplished on device.
With the Z 8 series, users get access to Gemini LM, which is a great perk. On top of that, you can get free six months of Google AI Pro, unlocking a ton more AI features (just be sure to cancel after six months if you don’t want to be charged!).
However, the only AI feature I really find myself using on these devices are the AI photo editing tools, which work very well.
The AI eraser can help you eliminate unwanted pimples, photobombers, or other details from your shots. The tool easily erased a tote bag strap from one of my selfies, and eliminated people in the background of photos I took at a dog park.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
You can also have more fun with your photos, by adding fantastical details. Crucially, when you edit photos with AI, an AI content watermark is added automatically to your photo (in addition to a digital watermark), which I very much appreciate.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Is the Galaxy Z Flip 8 worth it?
While this isn’t the right phone for me, I’m a big fan of foldable smartphones, and I had a lot of fun testing this phone. If you don’t need a 200MP camera or 8K video recording (and who does, really?), then this phone will suit your needs just fine.
I do resent the $100 price increase for the new generation of Samsung foldables, but the global memory crisis has driven up prices on almost everything this year. If you can take advantage of trade-in offers from your mobile carrier, that should help offset the cost.
