Samsung has just launched its newest smartphones in South Africa. It’s time to look to the future, then, and that future may include the Galaxy Fold 8 Wide. If the title isn’t enough of a clue, it’s supposed to be a wider version of the Galaxy Fold 8. That one’s supposed to launch later this year, and the Wide incarnation could appear alongside.
As is typical for Samsung, nobody in that hemisphere can keep a secret. Visuals created from the apparently official CAD files for both handsets have appeared on Android Headlines, helped by leaker OnLeaks (it’s in the name).
Fold 8 Wide
The most obvious change to the Samsung Fold 8 Wide would be that it’s.. well, wider. And a touch shorter than Samsung’s main Fold lineup. This will allow the company to field similarly sized screens while offering a very different experience to users. The setup would make the 8 Wide better for media consumption, for a start. Samsung’s handset will measure 123.9 x 161.4 x 4.3mm (up to 4.9mm if you measure bumps) when unfolded, according to the CAD files.
Folded dimensions are 123.9 x 82.2 x 9.8mm, according to the report. That translates to a 5.4in outer display, with a 7.6in interior screen. If you’ve ever held an 8in tablet, you’ll have some idea what to expect.
Other specs are rumoured, but are also fairly easy to guess. They’ll likely also apply, for the most part, to the mainline Galaxy Fold 8. One of Samsung’s custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chips from Qualcomm will live inside. 12GB or 16GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage (we’ll likely only see one variant here, if it launches in South Africa at all), and a 5,000mAh battery are expected. These might as well be guesses, but they’re probably also entirely correct. Once the South Korean company settles on a configuration for the year, its subsequent devices follow the pattern closely.
To make space, the Galaxy Fold 8 Wide may drop one of the rear camera sensors. It’s a toss-up as to whether last year’s 10MP telephoto or the 12MP ultrawide is going, but the 200MP main lens from the Fold 7 is probably sticking around. Hey, at least the camera configuration will be different for this one. A bit.
We’ll probably find out more closer to the middle of the year. Usually, the new Folds break cover in July, but there’s talk of Samsung pushing that back to August 2026. It would make sense if Apple winds up launching its long-rumoured foldable iPhone, and it’s just like Samsung to try to muddy the waters that way.
