What do you want from a flip phone when it\u2019s closed? A simple interface, perhaps notifications and a widget or two, for handling the basics? Or a fully fledged Android experience shrunk down for the Flip form factor? For years, Samsung has insisted on the former, even as some fans \u2014 and Razr rival Motorola \u2014 have pushed for the latter. With the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Samsung has given in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Although the Z Flip 8\u2019s hardware is almost unchanged year-on-year, Samsung has fundamentally rethought how this phone is meant to be used when shut. The cover screen feels more like a regular Android phone, with easier access to the full versions of every single app, letting you browse social media, watch movies, and play games without ever opening the phone. Not every app works well on a tiny square screen with two cameras in the middle of it, but even when they don\u2019t, that friction between me and the distractions of my phone still feels as much a feature as a bug.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a><\/div>\n$1200<\/span><\/p>\n Everything exciting about the Z Flip 8 lies in its 4-inch cover screen, which is now more versatile than ever thanks to a homescreen redesign. Swiping down from the top left now brings up your notifications, while swiping from the top right instead shows a cover-screen-optimized version of the Quick Settings panel. Immediately, this feels more like a phone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n More exciting is what happens when you swipe up from the bottom: you get an app drawer. By default, this is populated with a selection of Samsung\u2019s own apps that are optimized for the square screen, plus a \u201cLabs\u201d section with third-party options including Netflix and WhatsApp. But right below that<\/em>, Samsung has included an easy prompt to install MultiStar, the Good Lock module that lets you run any app you\u2019d like on the outer screen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Samsung used to bury the option deep in the phone\u2019s settings, only to be found by those who knew to look for it. The bottom of the app drawer isn\u2019t quite front and center, but it\u2019s much more prominent than it used to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You can still run apps in three forms: full-screen, with the cameras blocking part of the software; a square display that stops just above the level of the cameras; or a thin portrait-aspect ratio that letterboxes the sides. A small virtual button at the bottom of the screen lets you cycle through them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Good performance isn\u2019t guaranteed. Some apps, like Withings\u2019 health tracker companion app, are almost impossible to use on the cover screen, with no configuration that leaves enough space for its graphs to fit. Google Maps is only a bit better \u2014 I love the idea of quickly checking my walking route without opening the phone, but there are so many floating interface elements that it\u2019s unwieldy at best. Others work smoothly, but feel pointless: I can<\/em> stream HBO Max on the tiny outer display, but I\u2019d never want to.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But for other apps, the new cover screen options feel genuinely freeing. I can open Todoist and tick off a task, dip into WhatsApp to send a message, or open MyFitnessPal to log the snack I just ate. They\u2019re quick actions that work well enough on the small screen, and because other <\/em>apps \u2014 *cough* Instagram *cough* \u2014 don\u2019t, I can dive into them without the risk of getting dragged into doomscrolling. That little bit of friction is just enough to save me from wasting 20 minutes I\u2019ll never get back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for the hardware, little has changed. The Z Flip 8 is 0.6mm thinner and 8g lighter than its predecessor. This is the thickest of Samsung\u2019s three current foldables, but it\u2019s more compact than Motorola\u2019s Razrs<\/a>, its only real rivals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Samsung didn\u2019t upgrade the Z Flip 8 with the thinner, tougher titanium display stack found in the two new Z Fold 8<\/a> phones, which also means this has just as visible a crease as ever. It rarely bothers me, and is hard to see head-on, but you may feel differently. The IP48 rating is a more objective issue, and means that while this phone is mostly safe from water, it\u2019s still vulnerable to dust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On the inside, you\u2019ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 if you\u2019re in the US, though my UK model runs Samsung\u2019s Exynos 2600. Exynos chips get a bad rep, but performance has been smooth so far, and I have no real complaints.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As with the Z Fold 8 phones, Samsung switched to more energy-dense silicon-carbon batteries for the Z Flip 8. Unlike those phones, it didn\u2019t actually increase the battery capacity, but instead used smaller cells with the same 4,300mAh capacity \u2014 the key to shrinking the phone itself. Still, battery life is solid, reliably lasting the full day with battery to spare. The charging \u2014 25W wired, 15W wireless \u2014 is relatively unimpressive, and the only way to get Qi2 charging is still by using a compatible magnetic case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Storage and RAM remain the same as on the Z Flip 7; the screens do too apart from small bumps to peak brightness, and the cameras are also identical to last year\u2019s. The 50-megapixel main camera is impressive, and especially helpful since the form factor means you can use it for selfies too. The 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel inner camera aren\u2019t remarkable, but they get the job done. A slab phone at this price would have better cameras, and most likely a telephoto lens, but the lenses here are good enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 1\/13<\/strong> The question is whether it\u2019s all good enough for the price, given Samsung has bumped the Z Flip 8 up to $1,199.99, a $100 increase. Z Flip 7 owners certainly shouldn\u2019t upgrade, and anyone else should consider buying that phone instead, since the difference between the two is slight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After all, the big upgrades are software, and unlikely to remain exclusive. Last year\u2019s Z Flip 7<\/a> hasn\u2019t yet been updated to One UI 9, but since its outer screen is almost identical, it seems likely to get the upgraded software, giving one less reason to opt for the new model. The Z Flip 6 <\/a>and earlier, with their smaller cover screens, seem more likely to miss out. I\u2019ve asked Samsung about its upgrade plans, but haven\u2019t yet heard back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Most of the other software upgrades aren\u2019t even Flip-specific. Customizable, AI-powered cards have been added to the daily Now Brief; My FanCam lets you crop video to focus on a specific subject; and Audio Eraser can now dim background noise and highlight dialogue in apps like YouTube and Netflix. You\u2019ll find those features across all of Samsung\u2019s new foldables, plus the new Galaxy S26 FE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Modest as the Z Flip 8\u2019s hardware upgrades are, it feels like a turning point for Samsung, which is mostly done trying to limit the ways people use the cover screen. Given the speculation<\/a> that the short, wide Z Fold 8 could replace the Flip form factor as Samsung\u2019s \u201csmall phone that unfolds to a big phone,\u201d it makes sense to close the gap between them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Z Fold 8 is a more capable phone than the Z Flip 8 when closed, its squat screen more usable than the Flip\u2019s tiny one, despite Samsung\u2019s software upgrades. But I have a real soft spot for the Flip form factor, which is tiny and pocketable when closed and a normal, almost compromise-free flagship phone when open \u2014 and endlessly satisfying to flip shut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n More than that, I enjoy its frictions. I welcome Samsung\u2019s move to make it easier to use full apps on the cover screen, but I also welcome that it will never be entirely successful. Some apps simply don\u2019t work on a screen this size, and the Z Flip 8 is all the better for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photography by Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it \u2014 contracts that no one actually reads. It\u2019s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit \u201cagree\u201d to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don\u2019t read and definitely can\u2019t negotiate.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n To use the Galaxy Z Flip 8, you must agree to:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s also a variety of optional agreements, including:<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Good<\/h4>\n
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The Bad<\/h4>\n
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<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAgree to Continue: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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