iPhone User's First 168 Hours With Galaxy Z Fold 8 - Honest Thoughts

This is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung's biggest redesign of the fold since the original. Thinner, lighter, a wider cover screen, and those passport-like dimensions everyone keeps talking about. I've spent the last 168 hours with it, reading, working, shooting, really putting it through its paces. So let's see how this redesigned foldable actually holds up. My name is Jossi, I'm a tech and lifestyle creator here in New York City, and Samsung was kind enough to fly me across a pond for the Z Fold and Galaxy Watch launch. Literally 168 hours ago in a hotel room in central London, I unboxed the most talked about phone of the year, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. And off first impressions, just holding it in hand, I had a feeling this would be the one that changes everything. So one thing I did notice when using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 this past week, is I'm not able to prop it up and put it in flex mode, which is essentially making the foldable like a laptop where you're essentially opening it up about like 90 degrees, maybe a little bit more. So you can just like prop it up on a table and listen to whatever content you want to in the background, whether it's like music, Netflix, like I was trying to do on a flight from London to New York. But because this thinner hinge is spring loaded, you can't really do that because it just springs open like that. Now I know that can be a deal breaker for those of you all coming from a device like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. However, I can't say it is a deal breaker for someone like myself. It is inconvenient that you're not able to utilize flex mode and enjoy content with the phone propped open like this. And thinking about this pretty hefty price tag of being basically like $1,900, that is something that I could see being a deal breaker for a lot of people. One of the loudest fights that I've also seen on the internet is that this phone doesn't have a telephoto lens. Now for me, I could honestly care less. There are so many photo editing tools, especially AI tools that make it really easy for you to reframe your photographs. My biggest issue is the lack of consistent quality that comes out of these lenses. Now in the right lighting, the photos really pop. Punchy, good saturation, sharp with solid depth of field. Not great depth but solid depth of field. And one thing I noticed when I was out in London filming with other creators is when we're looking at the 7.6 inch, 120 hertz AMOLED inner screen, the videos pop so well. And a big part of it is because this is still technically a very small and saturated viewfinder compared to watching videos that have been processed on YouTube on a larger screen like monitor or a laptop. Nonetheless, in the right lighting, photos and videos really hit. And instead of just blabbering on about specs, I can just show you some clips that I took from London. So in terms of the crease coming back after a week, well, this is a week old unit. Let's settle this right here. When the phone has light hitting from the side, yeah, you could subtly see the crease. Straight on, it's basically gone. And swiping, I only really feel the crease when I go hunting for it. The real question is, did I ever really notice a crease this past week? And the most part, no. In terms of battery life, I did do a full day in a life with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. If you want to check it out by clicking this card, I had a full London tourist day. Off the charger at 7 a.m. Good morning guys. So it is 11 a.m. Today we're doing a camera immersion experience. So I'm really going to be putting camera to the test for the Z Fold 8. It is currently 11.04 a.m. I want to do a quick battery life check-in because it's been four hours. It's currently 11 a.m. Been using the phone since seven. We're at 82%. And let's see if it could last a full day because we're really going to be putting this camera to the test. Using the camera all day, maps, split screen, and by 6.30 p.m., I was just under 30%. On a foldable this thin with this small of a form factor, I'll take that every single time. Now, when it comes to a big deal breaker from those going from iPhone to the Z Fold 8 and not having face ID. Thoroughly enjoyed the side fingerprint reader. And it might be one of my favorite things about this phone. It's unlocked before it's even facing me. I could literally unlock it while I'm taking it out of my pocket before I've unfolded anything. And as you can see, it's a little bit faster than face ID. It's not that I wouldn't want face ID on the Z Fold 8, but I'm totally fine with touch ID and actually love to see that on the iPhone Fold. Both speakers on the left, IP 48 and not IP 68. And of course, no S-Pen, none of them a deal breaker for myself, but are all real pain points depending on what matters to you. Now, here's the thing. I think the form factor is the biggest selling point when it comes to this phone. And sometimes as creators, it's hard to put ourselves in shoes of someone who just wants a phone for the sake of maybe multitasking, battery life. They really liked the design. Maybe they haven't had an upgrade in a very long time. And in this phone could be a major step up from, let's say maybe an iPhone 12 or even 13, if you're thinking about switching from iPhone to Android. But in all seriousness, this is my favorite form factor when it comes to a foldable. I pulled out the Z Fold 7 and the Oppo Find and 6 Ultra, and these devices feel massive. I've thoroughly enjoyed my viewing experience, even with the four by three ratio, which I know is more of a letterbox style. But when comparing it to my iPhone, of course, since this phone has a four by three ratio, has four by three dimensions, you're going to get a more height than width when compared to something like an iPhone 17 Pro Max. But when I do zoom to feel, it just feels so immersive. And sometimes it doesn't even feel like this is the same phone when folding and unfolding. Do you see how small this cover screen is? This is crazy. It's almost night and day using the cover screen versus this phone unfolded. And I love how discreet it is, especially living in a place like New York. And I prefer my tech to be a bit more discreet, a bit more lightweight because I'm always lugging so much on feet. This passport size has been a major selling point for me. The main thing that I would love to see when it comes to the Z Fold 8 is an upgraded camera system, which is tricky because it is not an ultra device. And that's where you're going to go for something like a Z Fold 8 or a Z Fold 7. Now I know there's a bunch of talk about the iPhone fold and having the same dimensions. And did Samsung copy Apple? And why did they release this right before Apple's supposed to release their iPhone fold? When you really think about it, I think it's a win-win for both ecosystems. Because if you're an Android user and want a foldable with this type of dimension, imagine if there wasn't this option, then you would probably have to consider the iPhone. And then if you're an avid iPhone user and also interested in this passport-like dimension, you'd have to switch over to the Z Fold 8. So I'm curious to see if this is the future for foldables. Is this the size and the dimensions that most users would want? Because if so, I think it's a win-win. I think it's a win-win because Samsung is obviously a leader when it comes to Android and obviously Apple is in a lane of their own.