There are a lot of foldable screen mobile phones attracting attention this year. Samsung alone has the super popular Galaxy Z Fold8 with a wide folding screen. For customers who want better photography performance and an external screen experience more like a regular smartphone, the brand still has the upgraded Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra to choose from.
After testing the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra for a period of time, since the size and layout of the phone have not changed significantly, the experience is quite close to the Galaxy Z Fold7, which was a major refresh of the previous generation. However, when the two machines are used interactively, it is not difficult to notice the improvement in the main screen image quality.
The main screen resolution has been increased to 2,504 x 2,256 QXGA+ image quality, making the Z Fold8 Ultra picture more detailed than the previous generation. The sub-picture clarity is significantly enhanced during split-screen operation, and multi-tasking is smoother with the new chipset.
▲ Increase the pixels of the main screen to make multi-window operations look better than the previous generation
In addition, Z Fold8 Ultra retains the Flex suspension mode, which is more convenient than Z Fold8 in handling productivity applications, such as detailed photo retouching or video editing. We hope that brands will add it back to the wide folding screen in the future.
▲ Retain Flex suspension mode to facilitate document processing
When folded to use an external screen, the Z Fold8 Ultra is more mainstream direct-screen than the Z Fold8. It can be used as an ordinary mobile phone for daily use, and the size, thickness and weight of the body do not pose any hindrance.
▲ The 2,520 x 1,080 pixel external screen can be completely operated as an ordinary mobile phone
As mentioned during the previous trial of Z Fold8, when the virtual keyboard needs to be displayed for a long time such as IM conversations, the remaining screen can display longer conversation messages, which has its own advantages compared to the wide folding screen.
▲ With a folded width of 72.8mm and a weight of 215g, the operation is similar to that of a straight-screen mobile phone.
In terms of gaming experience, the main screen of Z Fold8 Ultra has a square ratio. Screen cropping may occur when executing some games. It can be adjusted through the “aspect ratio”, and the high-definition experience is still good with the Galaxy version 8E5.
▲ The field of view of the square external screen may be cropped, but the current generation Galaxy version 8E5 is very smooth
If you use the Z Fold8 Ultra external screen to play mobile games, the good news is that with its reduced thickness of 8.9mm, weight of 215g and aspect ratio, the gaming experience is completely similar to that of a straight-screen large-screen phone, and there is no need to readjust.
▲ After folding, the thickness is 8.9mm. When playing mobile games on the external screen, the feeling is the same as that of an ordinary straight-screen mobile phone.
Unlike the Z Fold8, which only has dual lenses, the Z Fold8 Ultra retains a three-mirror design, equipped with a 200MP OIS main lens, a 50MP wide-angle and a 10MP 3x telephoto triple camera, corresponding to 30x digital zoom.
▲ Adopts 200MP OIS triple zoom lens with better image quality
Aspect ratio relationship: When shooting on the external screen of Z Fold8 Ultra, the experience is more similar to that of Galaxy S series phones than on Z Fold8. When shooting on the main screen, the device also supports a paging mode that allows you to preview while shooting.
▲ Due to the screen ratio, the shooting experience using an external screen is more similar to that of Galaxy S series phones
▲ The main screen camera interface has an excellent field of view and also supports “paging mode” (red frame) to preview while shooting.
▲ My FanCam makes it easy to customize portrait videos
Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra photo test (click on the image to enlarge):
▲ 0.6x focal length test shot
▲ 10x focal length test shot
▲ 30x focal length test shot
▲ 50MP resolution test shot
Equipped with 3x telephoto and supporting 30x digital zoom, Z Fold8 Ultra has more shooting flexibility than the Z Fold8 widescreen with only dual lenses. The excellent image stabilization performance also allows for good handheld telephoto photo output.
Mobile Magazine’s short review: The biggest difference between Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Fold8 is that the three lenses are more flexible, and the design is the same as a straight-screen phone when folded, or it is more suitable for users who use an external screen and use the main screen as an extra large screen.
