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A day before Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event in London on July 22 at 9 a.m. local time (8 p.m. WIB), promotional images of its entire eighth-generation foldable lineup leaked online. Leaker Evan Blass posted all three models together: the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Galaxy Z Flip 8, complete with battery and camera specs for each.

The leak is not a fan-made render. According to Gadget Hacks, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 has already turned up in US Federal Communications Commission filings, while the Fold 8 Ultra surfaced in Bluetooth SIG certification. Both regulatory filings typically appear right before an official launch, which lends the leaked images credibility.

What's changing in the Galaxy Z Fold 8?

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the official name for the wide, short-screen variant previously rumored as the "Fold 8 Wide." The tall, narrow shape that has long defined the Fold line moves up to become the Fold 8 Ultra. The Fold 8 Ultra carries a 5,000 mAh battery, up from 4,400 mAh in the Fold 7, with a claimed 27 hours of video playback and 45W fast charging. Its new ultrawide camera is 50MP, and it still records 8K video. The standard Fold 8 has a 4,800 mAh battery, a claimed 26 hours of video playback, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, and two 50MP cameras with no dedicated telephoto lens, relying instead on digital crop through adaptive pixel technology.

The 600 mAh gap between the Fold 7 and the Fold 8 Ultra is the biggest single-generation jump in the line, after years of complaints that the Fold's battery life couldn't match non-folding flagships.

Why is the Galaxy Z Flip 8 being called a disappointment?

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 only swaps out its chipset from the Flip 7. Its 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP selfie camera and 4,300 mAh battery all stay exactly the same. The cover screen now gets native Samsung Health support, including an energy score widget, but the price is reportedly going up even though the hardware has barely moved.

Samsung clearly funneled most of its eighth-generation investment into the Fold, leaving the Flip's hardware essentially untouched. For buyers, that means the strongest reason to upgrade this year is the Fold, not the Flip.

The story behind the overhaul

Samsung opened the foldable era with the first Galaxy Fold in 2019, and every generation since has faced the same criticism: a cramped body when closed and middling battery life. Samsung addressed part of that in the Fold 7 with a slimmer body, but the battery capacity was still seen as falling short. Samsung confirmed the date and location of Unpacked in early July with a teaser tagline, "A new shape unfolds," which The Verge read as a signal that reshaping the Fold would be the event's main focus.

Evan Blass has a track record of leaking Samsung's official promotional images ahead of launch, including Fold 6 marketing material in 2024 that turned out to be accurate, one reason tech media see this leak as credible. Competition in the segment also plays into how Samsung manages its broader product lineup, including its decision to shut down Samsung Messages in the US market earlier this month. On the competitor side, the newly released global version of the Huawei Pura 90s Pro Max is a reminder that pressure in the premium smartphone market isn't limited to rival foldable makers.

The timing also overlaps with rumors of Apple's first folding iPhone, said to carry a 7.8 inch screen and a roughly 4,700 mAh battery, a figure now not far off the standard Fold 8's battery capacity.

Samsung says its 2026 lineup will "build on its leadership in the foldable category while pairing smart capabilities with a new form to deliver a more personal and adaptive AI experience."

What to watch for

Official pricing for each model will be confirmed during the Unpacked broadcast, including whether the Flip 8 price hike actually happens despite hardware that is nearly identical to the Flip 7. How much the crease is actually reduced, and details of the Fold 8 Ultra's contextual AI features, haven't surfaced in any leak yet. The Galaxy Watch 9 series and the Watch Ultra 2 are also expected to appear at the same event, based on regulatory filings. Pricing and availability for Indonesia typically follow a few weeks after the London announcement.