| COVER: 4.1", 120Hz, LTPO Super AMOLED, 342 PPI, 3000 nits | MAIN: 6.9" LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, 400 ppi , 3000nits | Exynos 2600 |
| 50MP Main + 12MP UW | 10MP Selfie | 4300 mAh + 25W Wired + 15W Wireless |
Samsung’s Flip phones have traditionally been the easier entry point into foldables. Instead of chasing the tablet-like experience of the Fold series, they took a familiar smartphone and made it smaller, more pocketable and considerably more fun.
The Galaxy Z Flip8 is perhaps the best execution of that idea so far. It is slimmer and lighter, packs more powerful hardware, and its FlexWindow has become useful enough that I could handle several everyday tasks without unfolding the phone.
But Samsung has complicated matters this year.
The new Galaxy Z Fold8 adopts a much more compact passport-style design, making the Fold experience considerably easier to live with. Having used both, the gap between Samsung’s two foldable philosophies suddenly doesn’t feel quite as wide.
That leaves the Flip8 facing an unusual question. It might be Samsung’s most polished clamshell yet, but with the Fold8 stealing some of its compactness advantage, is the Flip still the more appealing foldable?
There is very little about the Galaxy Z Flip8 that immediately separates it from its predecessor. Samsung has largely retained the same clamshell aesthetic, so the improvements here are less about how the phone looks and more about how it feels once you start using it.
Weight makes the biggest difference. The Flip8 comes in at 180 grams, compared to 188 grams for the Flip7, while its unfolded thickness has dropped to 6.1mm. Close it and you’re looking at 13.1mm. Individually, these changes sound fairly modest, but together they make the phone noticeably more comfortable to carry. I especially appreciated the reduced heft when using it one-handed, while its compact footprint makes slipping it into a pocket remarkably easy.
The Armour FlexHinge has been improved too. When folded, both sides meet cleanly without leaving a gap, and the mechanism itself has a reassuring amount of resistance. It stays firmly in position at different angles, which makes Flex Mode particularly handy for taking photos, joining video calls or simply propping the phone up for a video.
Samsung has also continued its assault on the infamous foldable crease. It hasn’t disappeared entirely, but it is now subtle enough that I stopped paying attention to it fairly quickly. You’ll still spot it with the display switched off or under certain lighting, and your finger can detect it when scrolling across the centre.
Materials remain suitably premium. The frame uses Armour Aluminium, the exterior gets Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and IP48 protection provides some reassurance against dust and water. My Pink review unit also hid fingerprints surprisingly well, with Mint, Graphite and Cream completing the colour choices.
The side-mounted fingerprint scanner remains quick and conveniently placed. Connectivity covers USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC and eSIM.
It may look familiar, but the Flip8’s physical refinements make a meaningful difference where it counts.
The FlexWindow has gradually evolved from a glorified notification panel into an important part of the Flip experience. On the Flip8, it measures 4.1 inches and uses a Super AMOLED panel with a 948 x 1048 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It is sharp, fluid and bright enough to remain perfectly usable outdoors.
More importantly, there’s now plenty you can do without opening the phone. Notifications, quick settings, calendar appointments, weather updates, Now Brief and music controls are all accessible here, while Gemini works directly from the cover display. I frequently used the FlexWindow for quick replies, navigation and controlling music, although some apps still struggle to adapt properly to its unusual dimensions.
Open the Flip8 and you’re greeted by a much more conventional 6.9-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. It has a 1080 x 2520 resolution and an adaptive refresh rate ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz.
As expected from a Samsung flagship, there’s very little to complain about. Colours look rich, contrast is excellent, HDR10+ content has plenty of impact, and visibility remains strong under bright sunlight. The elongated 21:9 format also works particularly well for reading and endlessly scrolling through social media.
Flex Mode adds another dimension by splitting supported apps between content and controls across the two halves. Interestingly, Samsung’s passport-style Galaxy Z Fold8 doesn’t offer the same feature. The crease, meanwhile, becomes surprisingly easy to overlook once the display is showing content.
Stereo speakers complement the screens nicely, offering good volume, clear vocals and respectable separation. Dolby Atmos broadens the presentation slightly, although bass remains limited.
Neither display needed a dramatic overhaul, and Samsung wisely hasn’t forced one.
Samsung has equipped the Indian Galaxy Z Flip8 with its new Exynos 2600, a flagship chipset built on the 2nm process. It is accompanied by 12GB of RAM, with either 256GB or 512GB of speedy UFS 4.0 storage.
There’s certainly no shortage of raw performance. The Flip8 managed 2,727,135 points in AnTuTu, while Geekbench 6 produced scores of 3,080 and 10,668 in the single and multi-core tests respectively. Away from benchmarks, that translates into a suitably slick experience. One UI runs smoothly, apps are quick to open and juggling multiple applications doesn’t cause any noticeable slowdown.
The more revealing result comes from 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme Stress Test. Its strongest loop reached 7,094, but that figure eventually fell to 2,813, giving the Flip8 a stability score of only 39.6 per cent. In other words, peak GPU performance drops considerably once the phone is pushed continuously.
That’s hardly surprising given the hardware Samsung is working with. When unfolded, the Flip8 is just 6.1mm thick, leaving precious little room for an extensive cooling solution. Throttling becomes necessary once enough heat builds up.
In practice, however, I didn’t find this particularly troublesome. Games ran well, everyday performance remained consistently responsive, and those benchmark limitations rarely surfaced during normal usage.
The Flip8 isn’t the phone I’d choose for hours of sustained gaming or demanding workloads. But for its intended audience, there’s easily enough performance here to deliver a flagship experience.
The Galaxy Z Flip8 ships with One UI 9 on top of Android 17, bringing Samsung’s familiar combination of extensive features and deep customisation. The interface remains easy enough to navigate despite everything packed into it, while Samsung’s long software support gives the Flip8 another advantage for long-term ownership.
But One UI becomes far more interesting when you start using the FlexWindow. Straight out of the box, the cover screen handles notifications and offers widgets for weather, calendar, music and Now Brief. Gemini is available here as well, so simple questions and tasks can be handled without opening the phone.
Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn’t let you freely run regular apps on the FlexWindow by default.
To do that, I had to download Good Lock from the Galaxy Store, install the MultiStar module, and then choose apps through its Launcher widget. None of this is particularly difficult, but it feels needlessly complicated for such an important part of the Flip experience. It’s also something I’ve complained about with previous generations, so seeing the same restriction again is frustrating.
Go through the setup, though, and the FlexWindow becomes significantly more useful. I could reply on WhatsApp, follow directions through Google Maps, browse Spotify and access several other apps without unfolding the Flip8. Not everything scales neatly to the compact display, but having that freedom makes a huge difference.
Galaxy AI adds the usual collection of photo editing, writing and translation features, alongside Now Brief.
One UI 9 is excellent overall. It’s just baffling that Samsung still keeps the FlexWindow’s best functionality tucked behind additional software.
Camera hardware isn’t where Samsung has spent its upgrade budget this year. The Galaxy Z Flip8 carries forward a 50MP f/1.8 primary camera with OIS, accompanied by a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide and a 10MP selfie camera on the folding display.
Thankfully, the 50MP main camera remains dependable. In good light, it captures plenty of fine detail, handles highlights and shadows well, and delivers the saturated colours typically associated with Samsung’s processing. Skin tones are handled naturally, while portrait mode produces convincing separation around subjects. Without a dedicated telephoto, the 2x crop becomes the only option for getting closer, and the results hold up surprisingly well.
Low-light performance is respectable too, although darker scenes expose some of the hardware’s limitations. Fine textures become softer and noise starts creeping into shadow areas.
The ultrawide follows a similar pattern. Daylight results are good, with colour tuning that remains fairly close to the primary camera. Once lighting deteriorates, however, detail takes a more noticeable hit. Autofocus would have made this camera considerably more versatile as well.
Where the Flip8 gets genuinely interesting is how you can use these cameras. I particularly like turning the FlexWindow into a viewfinder and shooting selfies with the 50MP primary instead of relying on the 10MP inner camera. The improvement in quality is substantial.
Flex Mode effectively provides a built-in tripod for hands-free shots, while Camcorder Grip offers a dedicated Zoom Rocker. Super Steady’s Horizontal Lock also helps keep moving footage level.
The sensors may be unchanged, but few conventional phones can match the Flip8’s sheer shooting flexibility.
The Galaxy Z Flip8 retains the same 4,300mAh battery as the Flip7, which seems rather small by modern flagship standards. However, the efficiency gains from the 2nm Exynos 2600 help Samsung make surprisingly good use of that limited capacity.
With WhatsApp, social media, photography, YouTube, music streaming and occasional navigation thrown into the mix, I could comfortably make it through a working day. Most days ended with enough charge remaining that an evening top-up wasn’t necessary.
Charging is where the Flip8 feels decidedly behind the curve. Wired speeds remain capped at 25W, with a full charge taking just over an hour during testing. You also get 15W wireless charging and Wireless PowerShare.
I would certainly prefer faster charging, but dependable all-day endurance is ultimately the more important win for a compact foldable.
The Galaxy Z Flip8 isn’t trying to reinvent Samsung’s clamshell. Instead, almost every improvement is aimed at making an already successful formula better to use.
The slimmer, lighter body makes it more pocketable, both displays are excellent, performance is suitably flagship-grade, and battery life reliably lasts through the day. Its folding design also continues to give the familiar camera hardware capabilities that conventional phones simply cannot offer.
I particularly enjoyed using the FlexWindow, although requiring Good Lock and MultiStar to unlock regular apps still feels unnecessarily cumbersome.
At ₹1,24,999 for 12GB + 256GB and ₹1,44,999 for 512GB, the Flip8 is undeniably expensive. The 25W charging and performance throttling also leave room for improvement.
Its toughest competition, however, comes from the excellent Galaxy Z Fold8. But for anyone specifically looking for a compact clamshell foldable, the Flip8 remains Samsung’s most accomplished effort yet.