Samsung’s latest foldable brings improvements to last year’s models – including a new device with a wider screen – but also carries a favorite trend of the industry: higher prices.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 each cost $100 more than last year’s Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, while the new, confusingly named Galaxy Z Fold 8, falls in between them in price. Folds have always sat at the top of the smartphone price ladder, and none of Samsung’s new ones match that trend. Increasing prices on some of the most expensive phones you can buy pushes them further into niche territory.
Samsung says the higher prices reflect the increased costs of memory and components, which have affected phones, PCs and other products across the technology industry. The company also pointed to improvements from last year’s devices, including new Titanium Flex displays, larger batteries and better 50-megapixel ultra-wide cameras on the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra.
That price pressure is not unique to Samsung. Almost all of the 2026 phones cost more than their predecessors or came with so few upgrades that the price remained low, and Samsung’s foldable also faces similar price competition from Motorola’s Razr lineup.
The big picture is the RAM shortage, fueled in large part by the AI boom, which has driven memory prices higher and left manufacturers with a choice: increase prices or reduce specs. The hot demand for AI data centers and models has pushed chip makers to prioritize high-bandwidth memory for AI workloads, leaving less room for conventional DRAM and NAND used in phones and PCs. Fees and other costs may add to the squeeze, but the demand for AI-driven memory is the main reason behind the widespread increase in phone prices.
Read more: Samsung Wants Us to Pay $2,000 for a New Galaxy Phone. It’s ‘No’ To Me
Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8 prices
The Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung’s new foldable, is the company’s new foldable version of the book style. In addition to its wide, short format that opens to reveal a 4:3 internal screen, the device lacks a few features of its flagship. The IZ Fold 8 starts at $1,900 for 256GB of storage, goes up to $2,100 for 512GB, and goes up to $2,500 for 1TB.
| 256GB | 512GB | 1 TB | |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 | $1,900 | $2,100 | $2,500 |
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, by comparison, is a book-style foldable phone with more premium features — namely, a 10-megapixel camera phone and a larger 5,000-mAh battery. It starts at $2,100 for 256GB of storage, then goes up to $2,300 for 512GB and reaches a staggering $2,700.
| 256GB | 512GB | 1 TB | |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra | $2,100 | $2,300 | $2,700 |
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is a new foldable clamshell from Samsung and it has a slight improvement over its predecessor: it is lighter, it has a smaller design, and, like other Samsung flips released alongside it, it runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. It starts at $1,200 for 256GB and goes up to $1,400 for 512GB.
| 256GB | 512GB | |
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 | $1,200 | $1,400 |
Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8 colors
The new wide-format Galaxy Z Fold 8 debuts in lavender, graphite and cream colors, with a pistachio color available exclusively at Samsung’s online store.
The colors of the more premium Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra are shades of violet and graphite cream, with an online-only green color available at the Samsung store.
The clamshell colors of the Galaxy Z Flip 8 are pink, graphite and cream, with mint available exclusively at Samsung’s online store.
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