Samsung says seven generations of foldable phones have helped shape the design and engineering behind its latest Galaxy Z Fold8 series, with customer feedback and reliability testing driving changes to displays, durability, performance and battery technology.
Speaking at a media roundtable in London, Sunghoon Moon, executive vice president and senior executive in charge of Hardware at Samsung’s Mobile R&D division, said the company had studied changing consumer behaviour throughout the development of its foldable devices.
“We made our decision by closely monitoring our consumer and changing usage patterns over the past seven generations,” Moon said.
Samsung said users have increasingly called for larger displays, thinner and lighter devices, improved durability and flagship performance. Meeting all of those demands has required engineers to redesign several elements of the foldable structure.
One of the key developments is Flex Titanium, a display support technology designed to make the folding screen thinner and stronger while improving the viewing experience.
Moon said Samsung selected titanium after testing numerous materials during seven generations of foldable development. Using the material in a device that repeatedly bends presented significant engineering challenges because the structure needed to remain both flexible and durable.
Flex Titanium consists of two titanium-based components. A refined titanium plate sits beneath the display, while an ultra-thin titanium alloy film provides additional structural support. Samsung said the film is processed to a thickness measured in tens of micrometers, around one-third the thickness of a human hair.
The company said the design strengthens the display structure and helps reduce the visibility of the crease. Reducing the display module thickness by 10 percent has also created additional internal space for other components, including the battery, thermal management system and camera hardware.
Samsung has fitted the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra with a 5,000mAh battery while keeping the device slimmer. The phone supports 45W fast charging and can reach up to 67 percent charge in 30 minutes.
Moon said the battery improvement involved changes throughout the cell system and architecture rather than relying on a single new material.
The company is also placing greater emphasis on reliability as foldable phones become mainstream devices rather than products aimed only at early adopters. Samsung said its latest Galaxy Z series undergoes more than 100 reliability tests covering drops, repeated folding, pressure, moisture, dust and other everyday conditions.
The changes reflect the growing role of foldable phones in work, entertainment, travel, content creation and artificial intelligence services. Samsung said the latest generation is designed to function as a phone, tablet, productivity device and AI companion in a single product.
Moon said the company believed the engineering advances represented another major step forward for foldable technology.
