Samsung’s next Unpacked event is widely reported for 22 July 2026 in London, though Samsung has not officially confirmed the date. Two foldables are expected to headline: the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the direct successor to last year’s Fold 7, and a brand-new model the leaks are calling the Galaxy Z Fold Wide. This is the most significant foldable launch of the year, and it lands just weeks before Apple is rumoured to enter the category for the first time.

Below is everything the corroborated leaks tell us: the specs, the new wide-screen model, how the two compare, what is still guesswork, and whether you should buy a Fold 7 now or wait the six weeks.

• Event date: widely reported as 22 July 2026 in London, awaiting official confirmation from Samsung.
• Galaxy Z Fold 8: thinner, lighter, bigger camera. An iterative but real upgrade on the Fold 7.
• Galaxy Z Fold Wide: a new model with a wider 4:3 inner screen. This is the surprise, widely read as Samsung’s pre-emptive answer to Apple’s first foldable.
• Also expected on stage: Galaxy Watch 9 and a set of Galaxy Glasses.
• Should you wait? If you want the newest hardware, yes, six weeks is a short wait. If you want the best price, the Fold 7 will drop the day the Fold 8 lands.

To understand why the Fold 8 matters, it helps to know how far the line has come. Samsung launched the first Galaxy Fold in 2019 as an expensive, fragile proof of concept. Every year since, the formula has improved: stronger hinges, tougher screens, slimmer bodies and cameras that finally match Samsung’s mainstream flagships. By the Fold 7, the line had become a genuinely mainstream premium phone rather than a novelty, thin enough to carry every day and durable enough to trust.

That history matters for buyers because it tells you what kind of upgrade to expect. Samsung is no longer solving basic problems. It is refining a mature product. The Fold 8 leaks reflect exactly that: thinner, lighter, better camera, rather than a reinvention.

The specs circulating across Korean supply-chain sources, Android Authority and Tom’s Guide point to a focused set of upgrades.

Thinner and lighter. The Fold 8 is reported to measure 4.1mm thick when unfolded, which would make it one of the thinnest foldables ever made, and weigh around 210g. For context, that is lighter than many ordinary slab flagships, despite the Fold carrying two screens and a hinge. The practical effect is a phone that feels less like a folded brick in the pocket and more like a normal phone that happens to open out.

A 200MP main camera. The headline hardware change is a 200MP main sensor, matched to the camera in Samsung’s top Galaxy S-series phones. Foldables have historically lagged their slab siblings on photography because the folding design leaves less room for camera hardware. If the 200MP leak is accurate, the Fold 8 closes most of that gap, which removes one of the main reasons people held off buying a Fold.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The Fold 8 is expected to run Qualcomm’s newest flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. In day-to-day terms this means faster performance and, more importantly on a foldable, better efficiency, which helps with the battery and heat constraints that come from packing everything into a thin folding body.

A 5,000mAh battery. Battery has always been the hardest constraint on foldables because the folding design eats into the space a normal phone uses for a bigger cell. A reported 5,000mAh battery would be a meaningful step up and should translate into comfortably all-day life for most users.

None of this is official until 22 July, but the thickness, weight and camera figures have appeared across multiple independent leaks, which is usually a sign the broad strokes are right.

If you cannot wait: the current Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 remains an excellent foldable with an 8-inch inner display, and its price will be the first thing to move when the Fold 8 is announced.

The more interesting leak is a second, separate foldable. Reported by NotebookCheck and others as the Galaxy Z Fold Wide, it is said to use a new 4:3 aspect ratio for the inner screen, making the unfolded device closer to a square than the tall, narrow panel on the standard Fold line.

This sounds like a small detail. It is not. Here is what changes in daily use:

• Reading and documents. A wider, squarer screen shows more of a web page or a PDF at a sensible text size, with less scrolling. It is closer to holding a small paperback than a long strip.
• Split-screen multitasking. Two apps side by side each get a more usable, more square window, rather than two thin columns. This is the single biggest practical benefit of a foldable, and a 4:3 screen makes it noticeably better.
• Video and gaming. A squarer screen is a trade-off here. Films shot in widescreen will have larger black bars top and bottom. For video-first users the standard Fold shape is arguably better.

Why is Samsung doing this now? The widely-held read is timing. Apple is rumoured to launch its first foldable iPhone in September 2026, and the leaks suggest Apple is going with a wider, squarer inner screen. A Galaxy Z Fold Wide on shelves in July would put Samsung’s version of that idea in front of buyers two months before Apple’s even launches.

Treat the Fold Wide as the least certain item here. The aspect-ratio detail is corroborated, but pricing, exact dimensions, battery and UK availability are all still unknown.

A rumour-stage comparison, to be confirmed on 22 July. The Fold 7 column is current and confirmed; the other two are based on leaks.

If the leaks hold, Samsung will be offering two distinct foldables for two distinct buyers, which is worth thinking through before the event.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is for people who want the classic foldable experience, refined. It keeps the familiar tall inner screen that works well for video and one-handed scrolling, and adds the thinner body, lighter weight and 200MP camera. If you have wanted a Fold but felt the camera or the bulk held it back, the Fold 8 is aimed squarely at you.

The Galaxy Z Fold Wide is for people who would actually use the bigger screen for productivity: reading long documents, running two apps side by side, and working on the go. The wider 4:3 shape is better for those tasks and worse for widescreen video. If your reason for wanting a foldable is to replace some of what you would otherwise do on a tablet, the Fold Wide is the more interesting of the two.

For many buyers the honest answer will still be the discounted Fold 7, which does most of what either new model does at a lower price. The new features are real, but the core foldable experience is already mature.

Two more products are expected to share the stage.

Galaxy Watch 9. This is the routine annual wearable refresh. Expect the usual generational improvements: updated health sensors, a faster chip and incremental battery gains. It is tied to the same 22 July Unpacked but has not attracted the same leak volume as the foldables, so keep expectations measured.

Galaxy Glasses. Samsung’s smart-glasses play is the wildcard. If it appears on stage it would be the most forward-looking product of the event, and a signal of where Samsung sees wearables heading after the watch. There is far less corroborated detail here, so treat any specifics with caution until the event.

A simple way to decide.

Wait if you want the newest hardware and can hold out six weeks. The Fold 8’s thinner body and 200MP camera are real reasons to wait, and the Fold Wide may suit you better if you read or multitask a lot.

Buy now if you want the best price. The moment the Fold 8 is announced, retailers discount the Fold 7. A six-week-old flagship at a lower price is one of the strongest value buys in phones.

Buy now if you need a phone today and do not want to gamble on launch-day stock, which is always tight on foldables in the first few weeks.

A useful rule: if the difference between the Fold 7’s post-launch price and the Fold 8’s launch price is small to you, buy the new one. If that difference matters, the discounted Fold 7 is the smarter spend, because the core foldable experience is mature and the year-on-year gains, while real, are incremental.

When is the Galaxy Z Fold 8 release date?
Samsung’s Unpacked event is widely reported for 22 July 2026 in London, where the Fold 8 is expected to be announced. Samsung has not yet officially confirmed the date. Phones usually go on sale one to two weeks after a Samsung announcement, so an early-August on-sale date is likely, though Samsung has not confirmed this.

How much will the Galaxy Z Fold 8 cost in the UK?
UK pricing has not leaked. As a guide, the current Fold 7 sits around the £1,800 to £2,000 mark depending on storage. Expect the Fold 8 to launch in the same bracket.

What is the Galaxy Z Fold Wide?
It is a rumoured new foldable with a wider 4:3 inner screen, better suited to reading and multitasking than the taller standard Fold. It is widely read as Samsung’s response to Apple’s rumoured first foldable iPhone. Pricing and availability are unknown.

Should I wait for the Fold 8 or buy the Fold 7 now?
Wait if you want the newest hardware and can hold six weeks. Buy the Fold 7 now if you want the best price, since it will be discounted the day the Fold 8 is announced, or if you need a phone immediately.

Will the Galaxy Z Fold 8 come to the UK?
Yes. The standard Fold line has launched in the UK every year, and the reported 22 July event is expected to be held in London. The Fold Wide’s UK availability is less certain.

Does the Galaxy Z Fold 8 support the S Pen?
Recent Fold models have supported the S Pen, though Samsung has changed the implementation over time. S Pen support on the Fold 8 has not been confirmed by the leaks. We will update this once the specs are official.

• UK pricing for either foldable
• Whether the Fold Wide launches in the UK at all, or starts in select markets
• On-sale dates, which usually trail the announcement by one to two weeks
• Final colour options
• S Pen support and storage tiers

We will update this article on 23 July with the confirmed specs, and again when UK pricing goes live.

Read next:

• iPhone Fold: everything we know about Apple’s first foldable iPhone
• Google Pixel 11: rumoured specs, UK release date and whether you should wait

Sources: Samsung Unpacked date and Z Fold 8 specs via Tom’s Guide; Galaxy Z Fold Wide aspect-ratio leak via NotebookCheck. All specifications are unconfirmed until Samsung’s 22 July 2026 event.