{"id":862184,"date":"2026-08-20T16:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/862184\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:18:13","slug":"i-returned-to-samsung-phones-after-a-decade-and-now-i-finally-understand-why-people-love-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/862184\/","title":{"rendered":"I returned to Samsung phones after a decade, and now I finally understand why people love it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m currently using my first Samsung in nearly a decade. My last full-time Samsung was the fantastic Galaxy S8, launched in early 2017, with a 5.8-inch curved Super AMOLED Infinity Display, a 12MP rear camera, 4GB of RAM, and a 3,000mAh battery.<\/p>\n<p>I loved that phone. But for some reason, since then, I&#8217;ve eschewed Samsung&#8217;s smartphones, bar using them on showfloors, for a bit of light testing here and there, and some camera work.<\/p>\n<p>That is, until now. I&#8217;m currently using and loving the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. The wide-foldable form factor is wonderful; it has excellent battery life, a top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, and plenty of other great features.<\/p>\n<p>And, after a long, long hiatus, I finally see why so many folks love their Samsungs.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/ive-just-seen-samsungs-new-one-ui-95-feature-and-i-might-skip-this-update\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img width=\"440\" height=\"248\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra display adjustment\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-display-adjustment.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-display-adjustment.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Related<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/ive-just-seen-samsungs-new-one-ui-95-feature-and-i-might-skip-this-update\/\" title=\"I&#039;ve just seen Samsung\u2019s new One UI 9.5 feature, and I might skip this update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tI&#8217;ve just seen Samsung\u2019s new One UI 9.5 feature, and I might skip this update<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">Leaked One UI 9.5 screenshots show frosted finishes and subtle 3D depth that rethink menu separation and clarity.<\/p>\n<p>                        The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a wonderful device<\/p>\n<p>            Samsung keeps pushing foldables in new directions<\/p>\n<p>Now, it&#8217;s important to note that I&#8217;m not only just upgrading to the Z Fold 8 from the Galaxy S8. I&#8217;m actually jumping ship from the Motorola Razr Fold, another foldable launched in 2026 that I&#8217;ve also been incredibly impressed with.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, at this time, the Razr Fold is still my favorite &#8220;book-style&#8221; foldable this year; I haven&#8217;t used the Pixel 11 Pro Fold yet, mind, and only had a brief moment with the Vivo X Fold 6 (but it looked to be excellent!).<\/p>\n<p>I digress. But Samsung&#8217;s switch to a wider foldable form-factor is what&#8217;s setting it apart from the rest of the 2026 crop.<\/p>\n<p>One UI&#8217;s founding principle back then was built around one-handed use, pushing interactive elements toward the bottom of the screen for reachability, a direct response to phones already getting too big for thumbs \u2014 that same principle holds on the Z Fold 8<\/p>\n<p>The regular Z Fold 8 folds down to a 5.5-inch cover screen and opens into a 7.6-inch inner display running a 4:3 aspect ratio \u2014 it&#8217;s landscape-first and closer to a small iPad than a phone that&#8217;s simply unfurled. It&#8217;s a different experience from the tall, narrow shape almost everyone else in 2026 is still building around, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra included.<\/p>\n<p>I should be upfront about the compromises, mind. The Razr Fold has a 6,000mAh battery sitting under the hood. The Z Fold 8 has a 4,800mAh cell that&#8217;s a fair bit smaller, and there is no S-Pen, either.<\/p>\n<p>I have to admit something, too: I don&#8217;t have huge hands. It makes the smaller form-factor feel more comfortable to use, especially for one-handed operation, and that&#8217;s often how I end up. I haven&#8217;t noticed a single issue switching from a taller screen to a shorter, wider option in terms of my day-to-day use, and it&#8217;s still excellent for watching shows, photography, and more.<\/p>\n<p>                        Everything just works<\/p>\n<p>            It&#8217;s not ecosystem lock-in<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"1100\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"samsung galaxy z fold 8 folded top down view.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-8-folded-top-down-view.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-8-folded-top-down-view.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><\/p>\n<p>I heard for years that Samsung&#8217;s, like iPhones, just worked. The South Korean tech giant thinks of almost everything when it comes to its version of Android, One UI. I actually used One UI 1.0 on my Samsung Galaxy S8 in early 2019, and while it&#8217;s far more polished now, there are still some design concepts threading through the years.<\/p>\n<p>For example, One UI&#8217;s founding principle back then was built around one-handed use, pushing interactive elements toward the bottom of the screen for reachability, a direct response to phones already getting too big for thumbs. That same principle holds on the Z Fold 8, just applied to a screen that makes the S8 look tiny by comparison. It&#8217;s part of why the shorter, wider shape worked for me immediately rather than needing an adjustment period.<\/p>\n<p>One UI 9&#8217;s specific foldable features are also a key part of why it&#8217;s been so fun switching back to Samsung. Seamless Screen adjusts what&#8217;s on the inner display automatically as you rotate between portrait and landscape, so nothing needs re-laying out every time you open or close it.<\/p>\n<p>Multi-tasking with three different apps open simultaneously is also quite the experience. I must admit that I don&#8217;t know quite how often I&#8217;ll use this, but it did make the Z Fold 8 feel like the Samsung Trifold, which is interesting. It&#8217;s also something the more expensive Z Fold 8 Ultra can&#8217;t do!<\/p>\n<p>The flipside is that while I appreciate that apps like Good Lock exist to help customize Samsung devices, it does make me wonder why this isn&#8217;t just built into the device already. The support is technically there&#8230; so why make folks go the extra mile? Otherwise, One UI is a great experience that&#8217;s made jumping from my Razr Fold simple.<\/p>\n<p>                        Build quality is beyond most other manufacturers<\/p>\n<p>            Titanium, aluminum, and more<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"1100\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"samsung galaxy z fold 8 folded side view showing width.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-8-folded-side-view-showing-width.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-8-folded-side-view-showing-width.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is another step up in terms of quality for Samsung&#8217;s foldables. This time around, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 features two layers of what Samsung calls &#8220;Flex Titanium&#8221; under its display, which is what helps to make the crease almost imperceptible.<\/p>\n<p>There is still a slight dip when you run your finger across, but you stop noticing it almost immediately. It&#8217;s also fantastically responsive across the entire screen, including the dip.<\/p>\n<p>The frame is Advanced Armor Aluminum, the cover glass is Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, and the back is Gorilla Glass Victus 2. None of that is new for a Samsung flagship, but assembled together on a foldable, it feels like the premium materials caught up to the premium price, which I have to admit is something that has kept me away from Samsung devices in the past.<\/p>\n<p>What I mean is that, most of the time, I figured the other phones I was using were plenty good, and realistically, they were. And the lightweight-yet-sturdy feeling Z Fold 8 realistically confirms what I&#8217;ve been missing over the years. Really, the 201g weight of the Z Fold 8 makes it feel sublime.<\/p>\n<p>                        The cameras always do the job<\/p>\n<p>            Across the board, Samsung typically excels<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"1100\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"samsung galaxy z fold 8 unfolded showing camera housing.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-8-unfolded-showing-camera-housing.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-8-unfolded-showing-camera-housing.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Z Fold 8 has two rear cameras, not three, and neither of them zooms optically. I&#8217;m actually really happy with how the Z Fold 8 snaps, and the form factor makes it feel more like a pocket-sized handy-cam. You get a 50MP main sensor at f\/1.8 with OIS, and a 50MP ultra-wide at f\/1.9 with a 120-degree field of view; functional but not exceptional.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s actually there is more capable than the spec sheet suggests. too. The 2x crop off the main sensor is close enough to optical quality that most people won&#8217;t notice the difference, and video is also exceptional, with 8K at 30fps, a Log profile, and LUTs for anyone editing seriously,<\/p>\n<p>But across the board, Samsung&#8217;s cameras come very highly rated.<\/p>\n<p>                        Samsung has finally won me back \u2014 but for how long?<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m fully enamored with my Galaxy Z Fold 8, and it&#8217;s fantastic to return to Samsung after all these years.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to ignore one thing when it comes to Samsung, though, and it&#8217;s the high price of entry. The Z Fold 8 starts at $1.9K, which is a high price for a 256GB model; the Razr Fold starts at the same price but with double the storage and a 6,000mAh battery, for comparison.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Samsung&#8217;s foldable ecosystem is far more developed, and the build quality alone helps to ensure that while the price is high, you get what you pay for with the Z Fold 8, and really across the board when it comes to Samsung.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/best-galaxy-phone-longevity\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img width=\"440\" height=\"248\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in hand back-1\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-in-hand-back-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-in-hand-back-1.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Related<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/best-galaxy-phone-longevity\/\" title=\"The best Galaxy phone for the next five years isn&#039;t the newest one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tThe best Galaxy phone for the next five years isn&#8217;t the newest one<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">This Galaxy phone proves older can outlast newer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m currently using my first Samsung in nearly a decade. My last full-time Samsung was the fantastic Galaxy&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,105],"class_list":["post-862184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}