The Fold8 is Samsung’s latest foldable phone, with capable productivity tools.
There are plenty of reasons to buy a foldable phone. You can show it off, watch videos on a bigger screen without actually carrying a tablet, and multitask in ways a conventional smartphone simply can’t. But after the novelty wears off, there’s a much more interesting question: can the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 actually replace two devices I already carry — my phone and my laptop?
That’s the test I wanted to put it through. I wanted to know whether I could genuinely live with the Fold8 as my everyday phone while also relying on it for the kind of work I’d normally reach for a laptop to do. And, perhaps surprisingly, the answer is much closer to “yes” than I expected.
Phone Experience
The first thing you have to get used to with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 is that, folded up, it’s simply your phone. You can check notifications, reply to messages, look at your calendar, send an email, browse the web or take a photo without ever unfolding it. That matters because a foldable only makes sense if you don’t feel compelled to unfold it every time you want to do something. Otherwise, you’ve essentially bought a fidget toy that costs AED 7199.
The outer display is good enough for the Fold8 to behave like a conventional smartphone. It feels impressively engineered, although there’s still a difference between being compact and being comfortable. With smaller hands, I found it somewhat chunky to hold, whereas in my husband’s humongous hands, it felt surprisingly natural.
The Internal Display
The 7.6-inch internal display is where the Fold8’s proposition really changes. It isn’t simply a larger version of the outer screen — it changes what you can comfortably do. The 4:3 aspect ratio creates a more tablet-like canvas that works particularly well for reading, watching and multitasking. More importantly, the larger display makes these activities feel less like compromises you’re making on a phone and more like things the device was designed to handle. The question is whether that extra space actually replaces another device, and for me, it did surprisingly often.
Productivity and Work
For everyday work, I found myself reaching for the Fold8 far more often than expected. Email, communications, calendar appointments, browsing, research, presentations and documents were all comfortable, while creating and editing text was surprisingly easy. The larger screen means you’re no longer trying to squeeze a desktop workflow into a conventional phone display, and multitasking makes particularly good use of that space. I could keep a browser beside my notes, check my calendar while keeping email open, or research something without constantly switching apps. The keyboard took some adjustment, but once I got used to the different key size and spacing, it wasn’t the limitation I expected, and the Fold8 was more capable than I anticipated.
The Limitations
The Fold8 has limits, particularly when you move beyond everyday productivity into specialised desktop workflows. WordPress is a good example. While I can access it from the Fold8, complicated publishing tasks involving desktop-oriented interfaces, plugins, support tools and other technicalities are still better handled on a laptop. That doesn’t mean the Fold8 fails at productivity. It simply reaches a point where a proper computer offers a more efficient and comfortable environment. For email, documents, presentations, browsing, research, meetings and general office work, I rarely felt like I was working from a phone.
Entertainment
Once work is finished, the same screen that made documents easier becomes a very good entertainment display. Netflix, reading and browsing are all better on the internal screen, and I particularly appreciated having that larger display without having to carry another device. During a weekend getaway, the Fold8 handled work, browsing, photography, video and general phone use throughout the weekend.
On a single 100% charge, it lasted 48 hours and more, which meant the battery was one of those things I rarely had to think about. I even watched the 70-minute finale of House of the Dragon. That was particularly reassuring on a device that’s constantly switching between being a phone and a miniature computer. I could use it heavily throughout the day without immediately wondering where the nearest charger was.
Camera
The regular Fold8 has a dual 50MP rear-camera setup, which is more than capable for everyday photography, work-related images, travel and casual shooting. And there’s something particularly convenient about being able to take a photo, unfold the phone and immediately have a larger screen for reviewing, editing or sharing it. Once again, the appeal comes back to one device doing several things well.
The Fold8 vs Reality
The Fold8 is surprisingly easy to carry around, and the bigger screen makes everyday work feel pretty natural. Emails, documents, presentations, browsing, calendars — even multitasking — all make more sense here than they do on a regular phone. It doesn’t feel like Samsung is showing off a feature just for the sake of it. And that’s really the appeal of having two screens: you get the big display when you want it, but when you don’t, the Fold8 is just a normal phone.
So, can it replace both the laptop and your regular smartphone? The short answer is: almost. As a phone, the Galaxy Z Fold8 is excellent, and as a laptop replacement, it’s surprisingly capable, covering the majority of what I’d normally use both devices for in a way that makes carrying them separately feel increasingly unnecessary. There are still specialised workflows where I’d rather sit down at a proper computer, but honestly, that’s okay.
The Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 doesn’t completely replace a laptop — and I don’t think it needs to. What it does is blur the line between a phone and a computer enough that you start questioning why you were carrying both in the first place. And if I could also convince my boss to leave his laptop at home once in a while, we might really be onto something. At the moment, though, his laptop remains his favourite accessory. 9/10
Contact: https://www.samsung.com