The Galaxy Z Fold 7 took many Android fans by surprise last year, when Samsung — a company typically dedicated to making small changes over the course of many generations — finally leapt ahead to compete with its foldable competition. While it would be silly to expect the same result with this year’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung does appear to be making one change no one saw coming: a thicker design.
Our first renders for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 come courtesy of OnLeaks in partnership with Android Headlines, revealing a device that isn’t radically different from the Fold 7 you might be reading this on right now. Now, it’s important to note that this isn’t the rumored “wide” foldable we’re expecting Samsung to bring to market to rival Apple’s rumored folding iPhone, which helps to explain these relatively familiar renders and dimensions. If you’re looking for something more exciting, you’ll need to wait for that device — especially now that the first-gen Galaxy Z TriFold is as good as gone.
According to today’s leak, the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s folded dimensions measure in at 158.4 x 72.8 x 9mm, and 158.4 x 143.2 x 4.5mm when unfolded. That’s just .1mm thicker when the device is closed, although it arrives at a .3mm difference when using that expansive display. Judging by these numbers, though, the Fold 8’s height and width, however, are completely unchanged from its predecessor — again, perhaps with Samsung looking to its planned wider sibling model for anyone looking for a refreshed design.
So why the change in thickness to begin with? We’re apparently looking at our first 5,000mAh battery in a Samsung foldable (again, not counting the larger, limited TriFold). That’s a big jump from the 4,400mAh battery this lineup has relied on since the days of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 way back in 2021 — and that device actually lost 100mAh of its overall battery capacity compared to the Z Fold 2. In comparison, the rest of the industry has completely left Samsung behind here, and I’m not just referring to the massive silicon-carbon cells relied on by Honor and Oppo. Even Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold — a device with, admittedly, a bulkier, heavier design — includes a 5,015mAh battery.
It’s been a long time coming, but that jump in capacity should help rectify one of the last big complaints surrounding the Z Fold series. I’ll leave it to die-hard Fold 7 fans to decide whether a slight bump in overall thickness is worth the improved battery life, but it certainly seems worth it to me. Pair it with a reported shift to 45W fast-charging — mirroring increases we saw on the S26 series — and power concerns might suddenly be a thing of the past.
As you might expect from those dimensions, there aren’t a ton of massive changes coming to the overall experience. Both displays appear unchanged, and Samsung isn’t returning to the days of its under-display camera for its inner screen. The ultrawide sensor appears to be getting a bump up to 50MP, but the rest of its cameras are returning from last generation. Android Headlines also theorizes that the thicker chassis could mean the return of a digitizer for S Pen support, but considering the relatively minor change in bulk and the increased battery capacity, I’m assuming the latter has more to do with this new shape and size than the return of a fan-favorite feature.
This report also includes some price speculation, with Samsung potentially hoping to hold strong at its current $2,000 price point. But we live in topsy-turvy times — have you tried to buy a stick of RAM lately? — so unfortunately, don’t expect the rumor mill to have any more insight on what product launches that are months away might cost. Hell, I wouldn’t even be surprised if Samsung doesn’t know what the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will cost. No matter what, expect to see it arrive on store shelves later this summer.
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