Samsung unveiled three foldables at once — and bet the lineup on "agentic" AI

At its Galaxy Unpacked event on July 22, 2026, Samsung unveiled three new-generation foldable phones at once — the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold8, and Galaxy Z Flip8 — and tied them together with a single idea: AI should act on the user's behalf, not just answer questions.

Three Models, Three Different Approaches

• Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra — starting at $2,100, the first-ever Ultra model in the foldable Galaxy line: an 8-inch unfolded display, 4.1mm thickness, a Flex Titanium alloy body, a 200MP triple camera setup, and a 5,000mAh battery
• Galaxy Z Fold8 — starting at $1,900, a new horizontal form factor (wider than tall) with a 4:3 aspect ratio, a 7.6-inch display, and a 4,800mAh battery (up from 4,400mAh on the Z Fold7)
• Galaxy Z Flip8 — starting at $1,200, with the biggest change being the FlexWindow cover screen, which now surfaces AI summaries and launches Gemini actions without opening the phone
• All three run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip; pre-orders opened July 22, with sales starting August 7, 2026

The Bet on "Agentic" AI

Samsung Mobile eXperience President TM Roh described the lineup's underlying philosophy this way.

“AI no longer merely answers. It is entering an agentic age, taking action on our behalf while the person carries the final decision.”

— TM Roh (President, Samsung Mobile eXperience), July 2026

Quote source: Samsung Newsroom.

He said Samsung plans to bring AI features to 800 million devices by the end of 2026. On the new foldables, that shows up as a pre-installed Gemini Notebook with a six-month Google AI Pro trial, Gemini Intelligence task automation across more than 40 apps, and a Fan Cam feature that automatically tracks a subject in video.

Why It Matters

Samsung isn't betting on one new feature, but on the device's physical form itself as an AI platform: the company's logic is that the more actions AI can juggle at once, the more useful a screen becomes when it can fold or unfold to match the task. It's part of a broader shift of AI moving from apps into hardware itself — a logic we've already seen from voice startup Wispr Flow, which is betting on voice as the primary interface instead of a keyboard or screen. A full rundown of everything announced at Unpacked, including the Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2, is available via Engadget.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.