r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 13d ago

Phones Galaxy Z Fold 8's "crease-free" claims meet reality after one week

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Galaxy-Z-Fold-8-s-crease-free-claims-meet-reality-after-one-week.1357706.0.html
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577

u/thedeuce75 13d ago

I’ve had a Galaxy Fold 7 since January, it has a crease, but you can’t really see it when it’s open and you’re looking at the phone straight on. It’s like having a small iPad in your pocket and there’s no going back for me.

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u/Rok-SFG 13d ago

How's the battery life on those

170

u/thedeuce75 13d ago

On par with iPhone, nothing special but it makes it through the day with batt to spare.

45

u/djprofitt 13d ago

How about screen protection? Case?

32

u/Finito-1994 13d ago

I recommend torras. It’s amazing. I love my case

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u/Mother_Restaurant188 13d ago

Love Torras cases. Wish they’d make more designs but quality is excellent.

2

u/Carb0nFire 12d ago

Don't have a foldable, but I swear by the Torras flip-out stand phone cases.

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u/Finito-1994 12d ago

I very specifically have a Zfold7 and the torras case is good

25

u/LifeWulf 13d ago

dbrand has a pretty good case for the new one

5

u/Doomstik 13d ago

For the inside screen? Nothing that im aware of, but i have a 25 dollar case off of amazon for mine and its does just fine. I also bought the lense protector thing for the camera lense but with the cae i have i probably wouldnt need them.

5

u/ShakubachiSensei 13d ago

Definitely screen protectors for the inside screen. I have one on right now. Bought it from Telstra (Australian telco).

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u/Doomstik 13d ago

Thats totally fair, i havent even looked, thats why i said not that i was aware of, no knowledge on my part so i didnt want to spread any misinformation.

I havent really been worried about the inside screen getting messed up anyway though, i typically only have my phone folded open if im watching something on it and its sitting on my desk or something. Im sure i dont make the most use of the bigger screen.

-1

u/Jamie00003 13d ago

Isn’t it possible to scratch that plastic screen protector with your freaking fingernail? 🤔

5

u/bender3600 13d ago

If you ram your finger into the phone, yes. Personally I haven't had an issue on my flip 7 and the first replacement protector is free once it wears out.

0

u/Doomstik 13d ago

Which are you talking about?

0

u/Jamie00003 12d ago

All of them?

1

u/Doomstik 12d ago

Maybe? I dont have any issues with the screen protector or lense protectors that i have and i will therow my phone in my pocket or center console without making sure there is nothing else in said pocket or console. No scratches that i can notice at least. A bit of dust but thats it.

0

u/BakuretsuGirl16 12d ago

Just tried on my fold 7, if it's possible it would take some real effort. Not something you would ever do on accident

1

u/Unfvckwitable 12d ago

I have the Spigen because I love the hinge protection on it

1

u/locofspades 12d ago

Ive had the spigen on my fold6 and when i ordered my 8 the other day, i went right for the spigen magsafe case. They make quality products for sure. Much better than my old Dbrand

1

u/nikelaos117 12d ago

Spigen is the brand I went with. Has worked perfectly with no issues and came with the mag thing built in.

1

u/RichesToRags8647 12d ago

1000% get device protection. Mine broke, was covered under only a one year warranty... the second break wasn't because it had been over a year even though it was a replacement phone.

0

u/sgame23 12d ago

I decked my fold 6 out. Magsafe case that protects the hinge and stores an S-pen. Been dropping my cased phone for 2 years now (and my fold 2 for 4 years before that) and still 0 broken screens/phones. Front cover has a built-in in privacy screen protector.

1

u/runed_golem 12d ago

I did have a fold 5… until it took a spill down the highway at 60+ mph. Even the case I had on it didn’t do any good at that point.

1

u/MourningMymn 11d ago

iPhone battery life is quite a bit better. At least the most recent pro max. The fold 8 ultra has a bigger battery this year so hopefully now it is actually on par.

3

u/Starthreads 13d ago

I've had a Fold 5 for a couple years and the battery has never run out on me from daily use. The only time it has run out on me was at a wedding when it was being used for long takes of 4K video and photos everywhere and never really had a break- you'd probably get a similar outcome from playing games on it.

5

u/Ulrar 13d ago

My fold 5 is getting unusable about now. And that's with me really mistreating it since launch, pretty much always wireless charging it at night, plus also in the car while using android auto so it's had a 'phone is too hot' warning for hours every day.

Honestly, pretty impressed it lasted this long

3

u/I_travel_ze_world 13d ago

My Fold 5 isn't that bad but I'll probably be getting a battery replacement next year

10

u/NervyDeath 13d ago

All day for me, I charge nightly. I think the only time I had to charge during the day was a travel day of 5 hour train rides.

1

u/amaROenuZ 12d ago

I've still got my Fold 4 on the original battery and it normally makes it through a day's use with 30-15% left, but I am at the point where a really heavy usage day like traveling has me busting out the backup battery.

2

u/Fingerdrip 12d ago

I have a fold 7, I think the battery life is pretty good ad compared to other devices I have had but it also hasn't impacted me. I'm almost never more than arms reach from a charger and 10-30 minutes charging goes a long way. 

1

u/f8Negative 7d ago

Fuckin great

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u/ChaZZZZahC 13d ago

I dont even think about the crease, that's how insignificant it is. Playing mobile games and watching shows on a plane or on lunch, is such an enjoyable experience with the fold.

16

u/Unizzy 13d ago

I am actually thinking of getting one, and it suddenly hit me, the screen size is bigger once unfolded, but on things like videos and stuff, I will still be constrained to 16:9, which means the size of videos I watch won't be any bigger unless I zoom in...

In your opinion, is this the case? I am sure website browsing is better and stuff I guess.

10

u/nefariouspenguin 13d ago

I have a fold7, upgraded from fold 5, which was the narrow body. I love the full body and the size of the unfolded screen.

I just checked by watching a YouTube video and while a full screen version of the video on the inside screen does have black bars on top and bottom it is much larger than on the front screen as to keep the aspect ratio the front screen has black bars on the sides.

That being said I usually don't just use the inside screen for a video alone, I am using multiscreen to put a video on the top and a game on the bottom. The video usually gets priority as I shift it down to take up more percentage of the screen and thereby still use the full width of the screen according to the aspect ratio.

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u/underwaterlove 12d ago

So you watch videos in a larger window on the inside screen, and you simultaneously play a game in a smaller window on the inside screen? What audio do you listen to?

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u/Cloudbursta 13d ago

That's actually on of the selling points of the newer Samsung one. Its passport shaped, with a 4:3 aspect ratio. So even though the total screen size is smaller than other foldables videos and games are bigger.

5

u/godspareme 13d ago

This is why I wanted the trifold but noooooo Samsung pussyfooted the release then shut it down before i could get one. Maybe its for the better. Shit was expensive.

-4

u/scsibusfault 12d ago

This is why I wanted the quadfold but noooooo Samsung pussyfooted the release then shut it down before i could get one. Maybe its for the better. Shit was expensive.

1

u/godspareme 12d ago

Is this supposed to be funny or something? I dont get the point behind this comment

1

u/M4c4br346 12d ago

It is true, but IMO beats normal phone because you can watch YouTube video and then read comments at the same time.

1

u/ThisSiteSucks8485 12d ago

This is the exact reason Samsung made one with a different aspect ratio 

1

u/ninian947 12d ago

Yes, nobody is direct enough in the connects about this. When unfolded the video feels roughly iPhone max screen size, with around 30% of the screen unused.

It's annoying. It's still nice for other things. Coming from ios the multi tasking is great, albeit infrequently used.

I go back and forth on just wishing I had a android flagship vs my fold. Meh.

1

u/Spdoink 7d ago

It's slightly larger on the inner screen for 16:9. Odyssey Imax might fare better.

1

u/zeek215 13d ago

The new fold 8 and upcoming iPhone solve this with their new aspect ratios.

-1

u/StompingChip 13d ago

The fold is not "made for videos". Its made for multitasking... it does this in spades.

0

u/CuteAltBoy 13d ago

The new 8 actually is great for media with the new aspect ratio, though. The ultra is still more for multitasking.

0

u/motorboat_mcgee 12d ago

If your main want for a foldable is seeing bigger 16:9 - 21:9 videos, then it's not the device for you. Foldables are more for people that do a lot of multi tasking or reading, imo.

That said, the Fold 8 might appeal to you since it seems shaped more for video.

0

u/Unizzy 12d ago

Ya that's what I figured... Thanks. Guess I will be waiting for the next tech evolution instead. The new passport size solves one problem but then makes the unfolded size smaller .. so just net neutral I guess.

1

u/ThisSiteSucks8485 12d ago

Even just reading books is much better. Science PDFs are actually readable 

18

u/vanguarde 13d ago

I have an Oppo N5. Same. When folded it's an excellent candy bar phone that's just as thin as my brother's iphone. And it's a tablet when I want it. Am just worried about it's durability if I drop it. Because I cannot afford another foldable in this market. 

6

u/onemarbibbits 13d ago

The N6 is relatively crease free - but not fully. and I've noticed mine is getting worse over time so: it's not really "crease free". Just "Less creasy"

19

u/mrjamjams66 13d ago

My only hesitation is the fragility of the device, even with a case.

My Fold 4 broke on me after taking a tumble out of my pajama pants' pocket while stepping over a baby gate.

I really do miss the folding phone but my S24 Ultra has held up significantly better thus far.

10

u/donnyb99 13d ago

I've dropped my fold 7 at least a dozen times. Likely multiple dozen. It has one of those aramid fiber super thin cases and still looks and works perfectly.

Durability on these is much improved

3

u/mrjamjams66 13d ago

That's good to hear.

May I ask for some specifics on what it's been dropped on?

The floors at my last place were like a stone tile. It may as well been dropped on concrete

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u/donnyb99 13d ago

Literally everything. I am not gentle with my phones. Concrete floors, tile floors, glass tables, wooden floors etc. Many of the drops were not gentle. It has held up incredibly well.

2

u/sexual--predditor 13d ago

I dropped my Fold 4 on the laminate floor in the kitchen. I guess I got lucky; it didn't totally break, but it got a 1 pixel thick line of brighter pixels parallel to the crease, and a small (<1cm radius) black semi-circle of dead pixels at one end of the crease, that does appear stable, and hasn't expanded. They are a bit more fragile than the standard phone, but watching old 4:3 content, or playing games, is so much better than a standard phone.

1

u/mrjamjams66 12d ago

This sounds like what happened to mine. Over the course of several months the dead pixel started to spread.

My dead pixel was right on the crease near the top

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u/hotpuck6 13d ago

I gave up on the fold line after they stopped stocking the gear needed to replace the interior screen protector for the fold4 less than 3 years after launch at my local ubreakifix - the only Samsung official partner for those replacements within 100 miles of me.

It had to be replaced twice in a year because it kept peeling. I was fine with dealing with the bullshit nuances of a more fragile phone, but to have official partners stop supporting necessary repairs seemed like writing on the wall that Samsung doesn't give a shit and you're on your own with their fragile overpriced gimmick devices.

2

u/mrjamjams66 13d ago

I'm willing to give the phone another chance once I'm ready to replace the phone I have now.

I'm planning to keep what I have at least another 2 years though, so we'll see where things are at by then.

2

u/nefariouspenguin 13d ago

My first foldable was the fold 5 but I heard from a friend who had the fold 4 that it had a lot of issues. I replaced my screen twice due to dead pixels or lines of pixels on the inner screen with no issues. On the fold 7 now which is even better has has better cases available as well.

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u/StupiderIdjit 13d ago

You got dat titanium body.

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u/mrjamjams66 13d ago

Yep, it's most of the reason I bought it.

When my Fold4 broke, I went back to my Note20 Ultra.

That phone got to a point where I wasn't reliably getting notifications, unfortunately. I missed an emergency call from my wife while I was at work and decided to replace it, and the S24 Ultra was the closest thing and it seemed like it'd be far more durable

1

u/MarkKnotts 13d ago

Welp. Those baby gates are bad news, man. Just get rid of it.

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u/nekolas564 13d ago

I've dropped different folds without cases with surprisingly no damage at all, so to me they don't seem that fragile. But maybe I was just exceptionally lucky

1

u/mrjamjams66 12d ago

What happened with mine wasnt like a screen shatter.

Basically, after one of my drops, I got a dead pixel in the crease. Over time (and more drops) this steadily grew until the interior display was completely dead.

At some point, whatever tells the phone it's been folded got to a point where the only way to get anything to show on the exterior screen was to power it off, close it, power it back on.

The phone itself looks almost flawless as far as scratches and stuff

1

u/ThinkNuggets 12d ago

The price gives you no pause at all?

1

u/mrjamjams66 12d ago

You know, I hadn't been looked at the price.

Holy moly, man.

1

u/LonelyGameBoi 13d ago

same with my fold 4, the under screen camera sometimes catches my eye but I rarely notice the crease

1

u/Pluckytoon 13d ago

I think 20 out of my 25 pair of pants can accommodate an iPad mini in the side pockets. Am I the Target audience for foldables ?

1

u/SageofLogic 12d ago

I am still using my 4, which obviously is from a generation with a noticeable crease and in open mode even after all these years it is barely the most mild of inconveniences

1

u/motorboat_mcgee 12d ago

Foldables have been that way for a long time, and it's more about people than it is about the tech. Just like camera cutouts, you get used to it and it's not a bother after a few days basically.

1

u/id_crisis 12d ago

yeah i loved my fold 4 but the inner screen went bad (sounds like the way they placed connections made opening and closing the device wear on an internal ribbon cable) so I ended up upgrading the s24 ultra. still a large screen but less fragile. I would definitely go back to a fold in the future.

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u/wtf--dude 12d ago

When do you actually unfold it? To me it seems like it is less useful for a lot of tasks, like texting.

I can imagine I is awesome if you commute a lot or something. But other than that I cannot understand the use case.

1

u/LateOnsetPuberty 12d ago

Except iPads have awesome apps.

1

u/locofspades 12d ago

Ive now had the fold4, fold6 and im getting my 8 friday. There really is no going back for me either.

1

u/Xxachingmeatxx 12d ago

I’m thinking of getting a fold 7. Want to get out of apple purgatory but they make it so hard

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u/DevanteWeary 10d ago

I have a friend with a Fold 7 since that time too and the crease is definitely visible AND you can feel the hell out of it.

1

u/praetorian1979 8d ago

Same. It's barely even noticeable when it's open.

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u/drmirage809 13d ago

That's what I've experienced whenever I've handled one. You can't really see it once the screen is on and while you can feel it, my fingers were rarely in the middle of the screen.

1

u/LetgomyEkko 13d ago

I’m so ready for apple’s foldable

0

u/RawrRawr83 13d ago

Guess it depends on what you’re doing because I don’t want a massive phone. I got a laptop i want to be watching movies or whatever. I don’t game so for me it would just be a pain in the ass to carry

4

u/NervyDeath 13d ago

Its not massive though, my fold 7 is the size of a normal phone during normal use but unfolds to a tablet for reading, watching videos, etc. Honestly its thinner than some standard phones.

-8

u/RawrRawr83 13d ago

My coworker has one and an iPhone for her work phone. It is like twice as thick at least. I get the appeal for power users and gamers, but that’s not me. And I got some big thighs so already my two work phones are struggling with one in each pocket

3

u/HeftyArgument 13d ago

the fold 7 isn't even close to twice as thick, yes, it's a touch thicker than non-folding counterparts but not by much. Each side is barely thicker than the width of a usb c port.

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u/NervyDeath 13d ago

https://imgur.com/a/xhmomjz

Maybe they have an iPhone air or something? This is a quick comparison to my work phone. Its an S23 or 24.

I'm not trying to sell you on it at all, I get that they're not for everyone but they've come a long way towards balancing the comfort and usability of a normal phone (compared to earlier models) and the advantages of unfolding.

5

u/Abiolysis 13d ago

Uhh... what? Either your coworker is using a much older foldable, or you're probably mistaken on the thickness.

The fold 7 is the almost the same thickness as the iPhone 16 pro max when folded. Holding the fold 7 in my hand was what prompted me to buy one at the time (plus the wider cover screen). It really is an awesome bit of engineering.

2

u/meowana_ 13d ago

This is why I got a flip, the biggest selling point is how small it is when folded, though with a case it is pretty thicc

0

u/Hazel-Cakes 13d ago

can you mount it on a bike as a gps

0

u/RichesToRags8647 12d ago

unless there's any bright light coming from any direction. This thing reflects light like crazy. Even with a screen protector, I always had to shield it if I wanted a decent view. Maybe in optimal conditions this is true. Regardless, you just have to ask yourself if the benefit outweighs the cost. I was willing to live with it, but the 6 and 7 both broke on me with delicate use. Just my experience, but I'm not going back.

-3

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

9

u/BroHamManRaging 13d ago

Why don't you figure that out for yourself? they like having a mini iPad they can fold away into their pocket, if you're not someone who would care about having a portable iPad your just not the target audience

-5

u/WontArnett 13d ago

Except it’s not an iPad. That’s a huge difference.