Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Wide Tipped for July 22 Launch: S Pen Return, Expected India Price, and Everything We Know So Far
Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked could turn out to be the biggest foldable moment in years. A fresh report out of Korea Economic TV claims the company is lining up the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Flip 8, and a brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide for a single event on July 22, 2026. And for the first time, Samsung is said to be hosting Unpacked in London instead of Seoul or New York.
That is three foldables in one show. Indian buyers have every reason to follow this one closely, because all three devices have reportedly already cleared BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification, which usually means an India rollout is locked in within the same launch window.
A wider foldable that actually behaves like a tablet
The device getting all the attention is the rumoured Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide. Unlike the current Z Fold line, which uses a tall, narrow inner screen, the Wide variant is said to move to a 4:3 aspect ratio. CAD renders shared by tipster OnLeaks via Android Headlines have already shown us the form factor, and it is clearly built to feel more like a mini tablet than a stretched-out phone when unfolded.
If the leaks hold, the cover display will sit around 5.4 inches and the inner screen will come close to eight inches. In other words, Samsung is finally building a foldable that opens like a book rather than a TV remote that flattens out.
Android Authority also spotted a reference to "WideFoldModel" buried inside a One UI 9 test build, which pretty much confirms Samsung has been working on this internally for a while. The motivation is not hard to guess either. Apple's long-rumoured foldable iPhone is expected later in 2026, and Samsung clearly wants to plant its flag in the landscape-style foldable space first.
The S Pen could finally make a comeback
Here is the bit that Galaxy Note loyalists have been waiting on for over a year. When Samsung launched the Z Fold 7 last July, it quietly killed S Pen support to make the phone thinner. The decision did not go down well with power users who bought into the Fold line precisely for note-taking, markup, and multitasking.
According to a report from 9to5Google, Samsung is now preparing to bring the stylus back, either on the standard Z Fold 8, on the new Wide variant, or on both. The rollout is said to be phased, starting after the Wide Fold is officially introduced. A thinner digitiser layer is reportedly the breakthrough that made it possible without adding bulk.
If this pans out, the Z Fold 8 Wide plus an S Pen is a very serious productivity pitch. It is also a direct shot at Apple before Cupertino even gets its first foldable out of the door.
Expected India price and launch window
Pricing is the part every Indian buyer jumps to first. Based on early tips and the positioning of last year's Z Fold 7, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is expected to land in India in the Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,75,000 range. The Wide variant, being the flashier of the two with a bigger display and possible S Pen support, is tipped to sit slightly higher at roughly Rs 1,70,000 to Rs 1,85,000.
These are leak-based estimates and not official Samsung numbers, so take them accordingly. For reference, SamMobile and SammyFans have both pointed to a US starting price of $1,999 for the 256GB Z Fold 8, with 512GB and 1TB variants at $2,199 and $2,499 respectively. That is identical to Z Fold 7 pricing.
Pre-orders are expected to open the day of Unpacked itself, with global availability reportedly falling between August 5 and August 7, 2026. India typically gets its sale window within the same month.
The crease may finally (nearly) disappear
One more thing worth tracking. SamMobile has reported that both the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Wide will use the next-generation foldable OLED panels Samsung Display showcased at CES 2026, the kind engineered to almost eliminate the visible crease in the middle of the screen. If that tech actually ships on retail units, it fixes the single most common complaint foldable owners have had since the Galaxy Fold first launched in 2019.
Combined with a rumoured 5,000mAh battery on the Z Fold 8 (up from 4,400mAh on the Z Fold 7), 45W fast charging, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, this is shaping up to be the most complete Fold yet on paper.
The catch
None of this is official. Samsung has not sent out invites, confirmed London as the venue, or even acknowledged that a Z Fold Wide exists. Foldable leaks have misfired before, and the stock market news out of Korea this quarter has been volatile enough that Samsung could still shuffle the date.
That said, the sheer consistency of what is leaking from the Korean supply chain, paired with the India BIS listings, makes July 22 feel less like a rumour and more like a soft countdown. For anyone in India eyeing a premium foldable later this year, holding out a few more months looks like the smarter move. And if the S Pen really is coming back, this might be the first Fold since the Fold 3 worth upgrading to in a single generation.
