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Ready to upgrade your book-style foldable? This year's choice is tougher than ever. You can opt for the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, a wholly new form factor from Samsung, and the first-generation Motorola Razr Fold, which made quite a splash in its own right when it launched just a few months ago.
These phones have different sizes and shapes, different memory and storage allotments, and different camera systems. In fact, the only major similarity is that they're both book-style folding phones. When you compare the spec sheets and prices, one is a clear standout—but spec sheets aren't everything.
We haven't reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 yet, but we spent time with it at Galaxy Unpacked. Here, we use that insight and compare it with our deep experience using the Razr Fold to help you decide which is the better option.
Full Specs
| Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 | Motorola Razr Fold | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | ||
| Operating System | Android 17 | Android 16 |
| CPU | ||
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Dimensions | ||
| Dimensions | — | 6.30 by 2.85 by 0.38 inches folded, 6.30 by 5.69 by 0.20 inches open |
| Screen Size | ||
| Screen Size | 7.6 inches | 8.1 inches |
| Screen Resolution | ||
| Screen Resolution | 2,448 by 1,848 | 2,484 by 2,232 pixels |
| Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) | ||
| Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) | 50MP, 50MP; 10MP, 10MP | 50MP, 50MP, 50MP; 32MP, 20MP |
| Battery Life (As Tested) | ||
| Battery Life (As Tested) | TBD | TBD |
Price: Two Different Deals
The base model of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 starts at $1,899.99 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Samsung is also selling 512GB ($2,099.00) and 1TB ($2,599.99) versions. The Motorola Razr Fold also starts at $1,899, but you get 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM right out of the box. However, there are no alternate versions with more storage. Because you get more memory and storage for the same price, Moto gets the win here.
Winner: Motorola Razr Fold
Design: Short Versus Tall
We've got two different shapes going on between the Z Fold 8 and the Razr Fold, but at their core, they're both book-style foldables. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 opts for a compact, passport-style, wide-format design with a 5.5-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch main display. It's covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 on the front and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the backside for protection. Speaking of protection, it has an IP48 rating to keep out large dust particles and water. It comes in Cream, Graphite, and Lavender, and an online-exclusive called Pistachio. Delicious.
The Moto Razr is narrower and taller with a 6.6-inch cover screen and an 8.1-inch inner display. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 on the outer display and features a titanium-reinforced hinge surrounded by an aluminum frame. It has an IP49 rating for dust and water resistance, making it slightly more protected from water. It comes in Pantone Blackened Blue and Pantone Lily White.
This one comes down to personal preference. Some may desire the smaller footprint of the Fold 8, while others might require the bigger Razr Fold.
Winner: Tie
Size: Only One is Lighter
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 measures 4.88 by 6.35 by 0.18 inches unfolded, with a thinness of 0.38 inches folded. It weighs 7.09 ounces. It is small and comfortable to hold and use.
The Moto Razr Fold is bigger and heartier in comparison. It measures 6.30 by 5.69 by 0.18 inches unfolded and 0.39 inches folded. It's nearly the same thickness as the Z Fold 8, but it's much heavier at 8.57 ounces.
Winner: Galaxy Z Fold 8
Display: Brighter or Brightest?
The Galaxy Z Fold 8's 7.6-inch inner display is an FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It has a thin layer on top to ward off reflections and glare. There's also less visible creasing, in part due to the Z Fold 8's new hinge mechanism.
The Moto Razr Fold's 8.1-inch inner screen is an OLED display running at 120Hz and color-tuned with Dolby Vision. It can hit a higher brightness ceiling on both its inside and outside screens, with 6,200 nits peak brightness on the inside and 6,000 nits brightness on the outside. That's crazy bright. On the downside, its crease is more visible.
Winner: Moto Razr Fold
Performance and Connectivity: Latest Chip or More RAM?
Both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Motorola Razr Fold showcase the latest in silicon. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, but it's capped at 12GB of RAM. The Razr Fold runs on a powerful but older Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, though it's paired with 16GB of RAM.
If AI is your game, the Moto Razr Fold's larger memory capacity makes it slightly better equipped, but for other tasks, the Z Fold 8's faster CPU may be what you need. We have to run benchmarks to determine a winner.
The Z Fold 8 supports 5G (sub-6GHz, C-band, and mmWave), Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and Ultra-Wideband. The Razr Fold supports sub-6GHz 5G with C-band, but not mmWave, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0.
Winner: Too Early to Tell
Battery Life: One Clearly Outpaces the Other
If you're looking at sheer battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Fold 8's 4,800 mAh battery pales in comparison to the Moto Razr Fold's 6,000 mAh battery. Charging is faster with Motorola's offering, too, with a maximum 80W wired TurboPower charging capability and 50W wireless charging. The Z Fold 8 supports 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging. However, it makes a big move from lithium-ion to silicon-carbon, has a more efficient processor, and pushes out fewer nits on the screen. These could help extend battery life.
We haven't tested the Z Fold 8's battery yet, but it's hard to believe it will surpass the Razr Fold.
Winner: Moto Razr Fold (for now)
Cameras: Double or Triple 50?
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 features a dual-camera setup with a 50MP main and a 50MP ultrawide lens. There's also a 10MP front-facing punch-hole camera on the inside, and a 10MP one on the very front of the cover screen. We wish it had the Z Fold 8 Ultra's 200MP main camera and a telephoto lens, but at least it gains the ProVisual Engine of the Galaxy S26 series and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5's ISP.
The Razr Fold tries its best with its 50MP camera system, which includes a standard lens, an ultrawide lens, and a periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. There's also a 32MP selfie camera on the cover screen and a 20MP camera on the inside.
We haven't had a chance to take the Fold 8's cameras for a real spin yet, but we will shortly.
Winner: Too Early to Tell
Software: Android 17, Now or Later?
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 ships with the latest version of Android 17. It also marks the debut of Samsung's OneUI 9 software. It comes with new features like improved window management and agentic Gemini background workflows—Google even used the Z Fold 8 lineup to debut Gemini Intelligence and Gemini Nano 4.
The Razr Fold ships with Android 16 out of the box, though Motorola promises that updates are coming. Its version of Android is what some enthusiasts might call "cleaner" because of the lack of graphic flair. Motorola has been less aggressive with AI features.
Fortunately, both Samsung and Motorola are committed to seven years of consistent software and security updates.
Winner: Tie
And The Winner Is...
Motorola Razr Fold
The Moto Razr Fold is a better deal than the baseline Galaxy Z Fold 8 for the moment. It offers double the base storage, 16GB of RAM, a much brighter screen, and a monstrous 6,000 mAh battery with rapid 80W charging capabilities. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 asks you to compromise a bit, with less memory, a smaller battery, slower charging, and no native optical zoom in the camera system.
Whichever way you cut it, the Motorola book-style foldable gives you more for the same price—as long as you prefer its size and shape over that of the smaller, passport-style Z Fold 8. But there are a lot of unknowns still, and our opinion may change once we have all the numbers. We expect to review the Z Fold 8 in the days ahead and will be able to fill in some of the data above with more concrete findings.
