Samsung Electronics unveiled its eighth-generation Galaxy Z series foldables and ecosystem devices at Galaxy Unpacked in London on July 22, 2026, introducing agentic AI capabilities, expanded task automation, and a new book-style form factor to the flagship lineup.
London Unpacked: Three Foldables and an Expanded AI Ecosystem
Samsung Electronics hosted its Galaxy Unpacked event at Old Billingsgate in London, marking a departure from traditional annual refreshes by introducing three distinct foldable devices simultaneously unveiling its next-generation foldables with agentic AI. Alongside the new hardware, the company showcased intelligent eyewear, updated wearables, and deepened software integrations designed to transition artificial intelligence from a reactive assistant into proactive infrastructure.
The timing of the July rollout places Samsung’s latest hardware directly into the transitional tail end of the current flagship chipset lifecycle. While some industry observers note that buyers are acquiring devices close to when component generations typically rotate, both the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and the Samsung Exynos 2600 power the new release GSMArena.com.
Hardware Lineup: Fold8 Ultra, Wide Fold8, and Slim Flip8
The portfolio restructuring introduces a brand-new book-style foldable form factor alongside a dedicated flagship tier. The first Ultra model in the Galaxy Z series, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, preserves the familiar design language of previous flagship book-style devices while incorporating an expansive 8-inch main display. Measuring 4.1 millimeters thick when unfolded and weighing 215 grams, the Ultra model utilizes Samsung’s proprietary Flex Titanium technology to minimize the display crease while enhancing durability.
By contrast, the standard Galaxy Z Fold8 adopts an all-new wider format. Unfolding the device reveals a 4:3 aspect ratio tailored for media consumption and gaming, while rotating it switches to a 3:4 aspect ratio for reading and browsing optimized aspect ratios enhance content immersion. Weighing 201 grams, the standard model is shorter, wider, and lighter than the Ultra variant and is a lot more comfortable to hold in my hand than the Ultra. Rounding out the phone trio, the Galaxy Z Flip8 features a slim design, measuring 6.1 millimeters when unfolded, alongside a more versatile FlexWindow that permits users to check notifications and access applications without opening the device more versatile FlexWindow.
Agentic AI and Gemini Notebook Integration
Software features at the event centered heavily on agentic AI capabilities designed to handle complex administrative tasks across more than 40 popular services. Google detailed how Gemini Intelligence automates chores ranging from shopping and dinner reservations to event tickets and travel bookings support expands from a few apps to more than 40 popular services.
The workspace allows users to drag documents, whiteboard images, and voice recordings into a side-by-side layout on the main display to generate summaries, quizzes, flash cards, infographics, and audio overviews. To encourage adoption of the advanced feature set, every Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Fold8, and Flip8 includes a six-month trial of Google AI Pro, valued by Samsung at a $19.99 monthly rate alongside 5 terabytes of cloud storage in the U.S market.
Samsung opened pre-orders for the U.S. market on July 22, 2026, with general retail availability scheduled for August 7 Techmymoney. Whether consumers will embrace the confusing nomenclature separating the wide Fold8 from the higher-tier Ultra remains to be seen as retail shipments approach.
Worth a look
