The Galaxy Z Fold 8 could get a bigger battery, and I wonder why Samsung waited so long
What you need to know
- A new report suggests that Samsung may upgrade the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s battery to 5,000mAh, up from the 4,400mAh used in 2021.
- Samsung has not meaningfully changed the battery capacity since the Galaxy Z Fold 3, despite larger screens and higher performance requirements.
- Rumors point to 2,369mAh and 2,485mAh cells, totaling an estimated 4,845mAh capacity, which Samsung will market as a standard 5,000mAh capacity.
Samsung hasn’t changed the Galaxy Z Fold’s battery much in recent years, but that may change. As of 2021, the company has been using a 4,400mAh battery, while rivals such as Honor and OPPO have managed to pack larger batteries into smaller foldable phones.
According to new data seen by GalaxyClub, the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 could pack a 5,000mAh battery, a noticeable jump from the 4,400mAh cell used in the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and several generations before it.
This may not seem like a big change, but it could be the biggest battery Samsung has ever put in a standard Fold model. The company has used roughly the same battery size for years. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 had 4,500mAh, and since the Fold 3, the battery has stayed around 4,400mAh, as screens and performance requirements have grown.
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Why do foldables use two batteries
Like previous Fold models, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will likely use a dual-battery setup. This design is necessary for foldable phones. Each part of the device has its own battery, and works together as a single system.
The leaked specs show one battery rated at around 2,369mAh and the other at around 2,485mAh, giving a rated capacity of around 4,845mAh. Samsung is likely to market that as a standard capacity of 5,000mAh, which is standard practice for smartphone batteries.
If these numbers are correct, that’s about a 13 to 14 percent increase over the Fold 7. It’s not a huge jump, but it should help the phone last longer each day. At the same time, some Chinese brands are already offering foldables with very large batteries, sometimes 6,000mAh or more, in slim phones.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 may not get a battery upgrade this year. That can be disappointing for people who like foldable clamshells.
The battery is not the only thing that is expected to change in the next Samsung folder. Early leaks mean that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 could have a 6.5-inch cover screen, a large 8-inch foldable OLED display, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Galaxy chip, and at least 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The software can also help the battery last longer. The phone is expected to run Android 17 with One UI 9, which would make it one of the first Samsung devices to launch with that version right away.
One thing the leak hasn’t addressed is the charging speed. Samsung Fold phones have used 25W wired charging for years, and some high-end phones, including Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra, now charge much faster.
Samsung is expected to unveil its next foldable phones in mid-2026, possibly alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and other new foldable designs.
Android Central Take
I’m glad to see Samsung is finally improving the Fold’s battery. In a phone designed for multitasking and large screen use, battery life should not be an afterthought. The 5,000mAh battery should mean fewer charges during the day for people using the internal display as Samsung intended. Still, it’s clear that other brands already offer foldables with much larger batteries, so this development feels like Samsung is on the way. I appreciate the change, but to be honest, this should have happened a few years ago.
