{"id":863307,"date":"2026-09-28T08:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/863307\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T08:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:04:29","slug":"deals-galaxy-z-fold7-vs-galaxy-z-fold8-and-z-fold8-ultra-plus-galaxy-s26-fe-alternatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/863307\/","title":{"rendered":"Deals: Galaxy Z Fold7 vs. Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra, plus Galaxy S26 FE alternatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week<\/a>, we focused on the iPhone 18 Pro series launch. This week we\u2019ll have a look at what has been going on with Galaxy phones. Let\u2019s start with the foldables.<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 \u2013 last year\u2019s book-style foldable \u2013 is available for $1,350. This is $550 less than what its replacement costs, the Z Fold8 Ultra. Both are surprisingly thin (8.9mm) and light (215g) for foldables, but the new one brings a tangible increase in battery size \u2013 600mAh over the 4,400mAh battery of the Z Fold7. And it increases both wired (25W to 45W) and wireless (15W to 20W) charging. The other major upgrade is the chipset (Snapdragon 8 Elite to 8 Elite Gen 5) and the ultra-wide camera (12MP to 50MP). The 200MP main cameras and 10MP 3x telephoto cameras are basically the same.<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, Samsung sees the Galaxy Z Fold8 as the true successor to the series \u2013 hence the naming. The Z Fold8 is a wide foldable \u2013 its inner screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of the nearly square displays of the Z Fold7 and Z Fold8 Ultra. This also affects the cover display, which is a 5.5\u201d panel with a close-to 3:2 aspect ratio. The bigger Z Folds, meanwhile, have 6.5\u201d 21:9 cover displays.<\/p>\n

The Z Fold8 is even lighter at 201g, though a bit thicker at 9.7mm. And it has a bigger battery than the Z Fold7 at 4,800mAh with the faster charging of the Ultra. The Z Fold8 uses the same Elite Gen 5 chipset as the Ultra, but it pays for its smaller size in other ways. For starters, it only has a 50MP main (with a smaller 1\/1.56\u201d sensor) and a 50MP ultra-wide camera. There\u2019s no dedicated telephoto, not even a 200MP 1\/1.3\u201d sensor in the main camera like on the Ultra. Also, the phone measures 81.9mm wide when closed, compared to 72.8mm for the bigger folds (well, \u201ctaller\u201d would be more accurate). This makes it tricky for one-handed use.<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra \u2013 its name leaves little doubt that it\u2019s the flagship of the series. We already covered its specs above, the only question that remains is whether you want the extra size and are willing to pay the extra cost for it.<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Taking a break from Samsung for a moment, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is a $450 phone that packs a lot of hardware. It has a large 6.83\u201d 144Hz OLED display (a sharp 1260p+ panel at that), a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset and a 5,080mAh battery with 50W charging. The cameras are interesting \u2013 the 50MP main (1\/1.56\u201d) is joined by a 50MP 3.5x\/80mm periscope and an 8MP ultra-wide. Most phones in this price class omit the telephoto.<\/p>\n


\n \"Nothing
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Case in point, the Galaxy A57. The base model costs the same as the (4a) Pro, but it comes with a smaller 6.7\u201d 120Hz OLED (1080p+), a slightly slower Exynos 1680 chipset and a 5,000mAh battery with 45W charging. As for its cameras, the 50MP main has the same size sensor (1\/1.56\u201d), but there\u2019s only an 8MP ultra-wide next to it. The A57 does have better water resistance (IP68 vs. IP65) and it will get twice as many OS updates \u2013 6 vs. 3 (both phones launched with Android 16).<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Looking at the A57 reminded us of the Galaxy S26 FE \u2013 it launched earlier this month and kind of disappeared. What happened to it? Nothing happened \u2013 there\u2019s no discount and its MSRP is too high. Unless you\u2019re willing to spend $700 on a phone with only 128GB storage, you\u2019ll want the $800 256GB one.<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Except you\u2019d be better off with a Galaxy S26+ for $100 more. The S26+ has the better 6.7\u201d screen (1440p+ LTPO vs. 1080p+ LTPS), better chipset (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs. Exynos 2500) along with slightly better cameras and charging. We think these differences are worth the $100.<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

But if you don\u2019t want to spend extra, why not spend less? The Galaxy S25 FE is a lot cheaper and it\u2019s mostly the same phone, except it uses the even older Exynos 2400. The only problem is that the 256GB version is over $100 pricier than the 128GB model. It\u2019s still a lot cheaper than a 256GB S26 FE, though.<\/p>\n


\n \"Samsung
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, TCL introduced the P80 series, which is the first to feature OLED-based NxtPaper displays. The TCL NxtPaper 70 Pro uses an older style LCD-based NxtPaper setup, but that is still more eye protection than most displays have to offer. It\u2019s a 6.9\u201d IPS LCD (1080p+, 120Hz). The phone is powered by the Dimensity 7300 and has expandable storage. It has a 5,200mAh battery with 33W charging. The cameras include a 50MP main (1\/1.56\u201d) and an 8MP ultra-wide.<\/p>\n


\n \"TCL
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

We may get a commission from qualifying sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, we focused on the iPhone 18 Pro series launch. This week we\u2019ll have a look at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[165,74],"class_list":["post-863307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}