I have always been a fan of the Samsung Galaxy S Ultra series. Like many Samsung fans, I see it as the company’s ultimate smartphone.
It has everything I want in a flagship: a large display, a large battery, Samsung’s fastest charging speed, excellent cameras with impressive zoom, and all the premium features that Samsung has to offer.
The Galaxy Z Fold series is Samsung’s most ambitious smartphone series. Every year, it’s the phone that grabs the headlines and shows what Samsung engineers are capable of.
But despite its high price tag, it never felt like a true replacement for the Galaxy S Ultra.
The Galaxy Z Fold takes big steps forward this year
I’ve complained about the Fold’s cameras before, especially the zoom camera. Compared to the Galaxy S Ultra, the Fold has always asked consumers to accept compromises. But over the years, that hasn’t been the end of the consensus.
The battery lags behind the Ultra for years. It’s a very wide camera and it doesn’t match Samsung’s best hardware. Even when the Fold supported the S Pen, it wasn’t built into the phone and had to be purchased separately.
The Fold has always been an amazing device, but it’s never matched the Galaxy S Ultra when it comes to providing the perfect Samsung experience.
Don’t mistake this for a lack of experience with Samsung folders. I’ve been using the entire Galaxy Z Fold for a year, long after the review was published.
Whether it’s testing One UI features, using Flex mode to take hands-free video calls and photos, or testing how well games run on a larger display, the Fold is a regular part of my life.
I know exactly what it does well, and it’s still a foldable that I would recommend to anyone looking for that form factor. It’s just not the phone of my choice.
That’s why I’m excited about the many rumored improvements to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. A larger 5,000mAh battery is something that Fold fans have wanted for years, and it looks like Samsung has finally delivered.
Fast charging is another welcome improvement, as is a new 50MP ultrawide camera that replaces the 12MP one on the existing Folds.
For me, this is a much more exciting list of developments than in previous years. The problem is that the Fold isn’t the only Samsung phone to take a step forward this year.
But the Galaxy S Ultra lineup did not stop
I’ve spent enough time using the Galaxy S26 Ultra to realize that I’m surprisingly attached to one of its new features: Privacy Display. It wasn’t something I expected to care about when I first started using it. But now it’s one of those features that I can’t miss when I switch phones.
Unfortunately, current rumors suggest that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series will not get the same feature. Samsung also seems to be sticking with the 3x telephoto camera, which still can’t compete with the higher zoom capabilities of the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
The Fold 8 Ultra’s wired charging speed will go up to 45W, while the S26 Ultra can go up to 60W. So while Samsung finally fixed one of the Fold’s biggest weaknesses, it also introduced new reasons for me to stick with the Galaxy S Ultra.
Combine all that with what could be another price hike, and my decision to buy hasn’t changed. The Fold takes big steps forward, but so did the Galaxy S Ultra earlier this year.
Until Samsung stops asking Fold buyers to give up some of the best features found in its traditional flagship, I’ll have to recommend the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra from afar while keeping the Galaxy S26 Ultra in my pocket.