The Samsung Galaxy Z8 foldables and new smartwatches are now available globally (the official launch was on Friday). Another major event happening soon is the unveiling of the Google Pixel 11 series next week.
First, the foldables. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 is the new hotness – it accounted for 40% of all Z8 pre-orders in Europe and a whopping 70% of pre-orders in Korea. Is it actually that good? Check out our Galaxy Z Fold8 review for our thoughts on the new wide form factor Galaxy.
Note that Amazon briefly had a “€400 off at checkout” offer for the Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra, but that is gone now.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra may now have an “Ultra” tagged to the end of its name, but this is the device that traces back to the original Galaxy Fold. It has some improvements over its predecessor, the Z Fold7, like a larger 5,000mAh battery. More on the battery life, the faster charging and the other improvements in our Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra review. But which one should you get – the Galaxy Z Fold8 or the Z Fold8 Ultra? Our versus article goes into the pros and cons for each model.
Then there’s the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 – this one uses an Exynos 2600 chipset, unlike its Z Fold siblings above. Yes, select regions get a Snapdragon-powered Flip, but Europe is not among them. Anyway, unlike the Folds, the Z Flip8 has a solid €340 straight up discount, which is still available.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch9 also has a new chipset – the Snapdragon Wear Elite replaces the Exynos W1000 of the Watch8. The 40mm model gets a decent bump in battery capacity (from 325mAh to 390mAh), but the 44mm model only gets 10mAh extra.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is the proper sequel to the 2024 original (last year we only got a refresh). This one also replaces the Exynos W1000 with a Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset. Better yet, it bulks up the water resistance with an IP69K rating and a EN13319 certification (a European certification for diving tools). The battery got a sizable upgrade thanks to Si/C tech from 590mAh to 800mAh.
The Galaxy Watch9 has a “€100 off at checkout” offer, while the Watch Ultra2 is €150 off, but there is a catch – these offers are only available for Amazon Prime subscribers (the Galaxy Z foldables didn’t have this condition).
The Motorola Razr Fold goes up against the Z Fold8 Ultra. It’s thicker (10.1mm vs. 8.9mm) and heavier (243g vs. 215g) than the Galaxy, though it does have a larger battery (6,000mAh vs. 5,000mAh). And it shows – the Razr scored an Active Use Score of 16:03h, compared to 13:06h for the Galaxy. The Moto foldable is powered by the non-Elite Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.
While its main camera has 50MP resolution to Samsung’s 200MP, the sensor sizes are comparable (1/1.28” vs. 1/1.3”). And the 3x telephoto has a 50MP sensor, while Samsung is still using a 10MP sensor. Both phones can expect 7 years of OS updates, but the Galaxy launched with Android 17, while the Motorola comes with Android 16 out of the box.
Motorola doesn’t have wide foldables, but it does have flips. The Moto Razr 70+ combines a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset with a 4,500mAh battery. The Motorola is chunkier than the Galaxy once again – 15.3mm vs. 13.1mm and 189g vs. 180g, though this is with a 200mAh bigger battery.
The Plus model is already cheaper than the Z Flip8, but the Razr 70 costs even less – just keep in mind that this is a Dimensity 7450X powered mid-ranger in a flip foldable body.
By the way, the Razr 70 and 70+ above come with a free Moto Watch Fit and Moto Buds Loop. The same freebie pack is available for the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion. While the phone itself has no discount at the moment, its €350 price tag is already pretty reasonable.
That buys a good quality 6.78” OLED display (1272p+ resolution, 10-bit colors with HDR10+, 144Hz refresh rate), a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset and a 5,200mAh battery with fast 68W wired-only charging. It has stereo speakers (with Dolby Atmos), a 50MP main camera (1/1.56” sensor, OIS) and a 13MP ultra-wide. It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s a solid mid-ranger and the free watch and buds allow you to refresh your whole kit.
Google will unveil the Pixel 11 series next week – however, we don’t expect to see a new a-model yet. The Pixel 10a was unveiled in February of this year, while the other Pixel 10 members are from August 2025. So, the Pixel 10a will remain the cheap option for at least a few more months.
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