Is it safe to say that the foldable wars are finally on? After Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, more eyes are looking towards foldables, and Apple’s foldable isn’t even out yet. Despite still being in the iPhone Duo’s preorder phase, Samsung has already laid a bold claim over the market. According to the South Korean brand, demand for the Galaxy Z Fold8 family has increased since the debut of the Duo.

As reported by Forbes, Richard Chang, Corporate Vice President for the Mobile Division, said, “Customer demand for the Galaxy Z Fold8 family has increased 16 percent since launch, and with a 300 percent increase in active Google searches for Samsung foldables in the last month alone.”

To be fair, Chang did not attribute the recent spike to Apple. However, the timing is more than just a coincidence. A few weeks ago, Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, the company’s first foray into the foldable market. Almost immediately, the Duo turned heads for its novel approach to its foldable interface. Unlike its competitors, it transitions seamlessly when folding between the two modes.

However, Apple’s efforts might not be enough, at least not before the Duo actually launches. Samsung is still on an upward trend, thanks to the more convenient passport-style form factor of the Galaxy Z Fold8. Still, regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, it’s a win for consumers that the two biggest names in the smartphone space are finally feuding over foldable supremacy. We might be in for a golden age of foldables in the next few years.

SEE ALSO: Apple iPhone 18 Pro Series review

vivo has introduced the vivo V80, a smartphone featuring a 50-megapixel ZEISS telephoto camera, a 7,200mAh battery, and a 144Hz display. The device also introduces a cold-carved glass design and OriginOS 7, with new AI-powered photography and productivity features.

ZEISS cameras take center stage

The vivo V80 features a 50-megapixel ZEISS Super Telephoto Camera with 3x optical zoom and up to 10x digital zoom. It uses a 1/1.95-inch Sony IMX882 sensor and optical image stabilization to capture detailed photos while reducing blur from hand movements.

The camera supports ZEISS 100mm Center-Stage Portrait, which uses ZEISS Planar Style Bokeh and a low-saturation platinum tone to emphasize subjects. The phone also offers ZEISS 85mm Portrait with Sonnar Style Bokeh and warmer cinematic tones.

For night photography, CCD Flash Portrait combines flash illumination with CCD-inspired color processing.

The main camera uses a 50-megapixel Sony LYTIA 700V sensor with optical image stabilization. Meanwhile, the 50-megapixel front camera features autofocus and a wide-angle lens for group selfies.

AI Best Face lets users change individual expressions in photos captured using Live Photo. The AI Creative Camera also offers lighting effects such as Glow, Sunlight, and Top Lighting. Other editing tools include AI Erase, AI Magic Move, AI Image Expander, and Creative Sticker Collage.

The vivo V80 supports 4K video recording at 60 frames per second on both its front and rear cameras.

Cold-carved glass design and durable construction

The vivo V80 features a one-piece cold-carved glass back that integrates the rear cover with the floating camera module. It also uses an aerospace-grade metal frame and reinforced glass for additional durability.

The device passed SGS drop and impact resistance tests and carries IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance ratings.

vivo offers the V80 in Starwish Purple, Wander Green, Sunrise Orange, and Vast Gray. The Starwish Purple variant uses Laser Holographic Lithography to create a three-dimensional stellar pattern on the back cover.

Large battery and 144Hz display

The vivo V80 packs a 7,200mAh BlueVolt battery that uses fourth-generation silicon anode technology. Its 90W FlashCharge system can charge the battery to 50% in 30 minutes, according to vivo.

The phone also supports Multi-Scenario Bypass Charging, which manages heat during charging while users stream videos or play games.

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 7-series processor powers the device. vivo also lists support for up to 144fps high-frame-rate gaming and 8GB of RAM with an additional 16GB of software-based Extended RAM.

The display features 1.5K resolution, a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, and local peak brightness of up to 5,000 nits. It supports 1.07 billion colors and a minimum brightness of 1 nit. The phone also includes dual stereo speakers, Gaming Hypersense Audio, and Signal Boost technology.

OriginOS 7 adds AI tools and cross-device features

The vivo V80 runs OriginOS 7, which introduces AI-powered productivity tools and expanded personalization options.

Snap Note converts photos of whiteboards or handwritten notes into editable documents. AI Recorder provides meeting transcriptions and six types of smart summaries for lectures, interviews, and calls.

Users can also customize their phones with StickIt stickers, the motion-responsive Wiggle Theme, and Pet Pals animated companions.

OriginOS 7 adds cross-device features through vivo Office Kit, including phone-to-iPad screen mirroring and note synchronization. It also supports Apple Watch health and notification synchronization, Spatial Audio with AirPods, and photo transfers through Shake & Share.

For security, the system includes Security Shield, which helps block sideloading threats, identify malicious USB connections, screen spam calls, and detect unsafe browser URLs. vivo says the V80 will receive six years of annual security updates.

Availability

vivo says the V80 will gradually launch in India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other regions. Pricing, availability, and specifications may vary by market.

The company has not announced local pricing or a confirmed Philippine release date in the provided press release.

I’ve been using foldables full-time for roughly four to five years now.

So I’m well past the “getting used to opening and closing my phone” stage. At this point, folding a phone is one of the most natural things I do with a smartphone. Mileage will vary, of course, but if you’re coming from a regular slab, I’d say give it two to three weeks and you’ll start feeling right at home.

When I wrote about why wide foldables genuinely excite me, I already had a pretty good idea of what I wanted from this form factor. After living with the Galaxy Z Fold8 for a month and change, I can say that hunch was pretty much right.

I’ve always had a thing for mini tablets. I loved the Nexus 7 back in the day. I still have an iPad mini. There’s something about having a small screen with just enough room to do more without committing to carrying around a full-sized tablet.

And the Galaxy Z Fold8 feels like that idea got remixed.

I don’t want a regular smartphone that unfolds into something bigger.

I want a mini tablet that shrinks into a smaller phone when I don’t need all that extra space.

Here are some things I’ve noticed after living with the Galaxy Z Fold8.

1. The Fold8 made regular phones feel too tall

Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy S26 Ultra

After more than a month with the Galaxy Z Fold8, my usage has settled into a pretty healthy 50/50 split between folded and unfolded.

When it’s folded, I use it like a regular phone. Quick chats. Five to 15 minutes of social media. Doomscrolling Reels, TikTok, and Shorts. Checking my bank account. Making payments. When I need more room, I open it up.

YouTube and streaming are more comfortable. Websites have more breathing room. Writing is easier. I can even do some basic video editing without immediately wishing I had a bigger screen.

It’s also made me notice something I didn’t expect.

Regular phones now feel unnecessarily tall to me.

I’ve gotten so used to having a wider screen when I want one that going back to a tall slab feels strange. The Fold8 gives me a smaller phone when I want a smaller phone, then a wider screen when I actually need the space.

2. My desk fits in my pocket now

The Fold8 is my main phone. I still carry a dedicated smartphone for photos when I’m on coverage, and I have an Insta360 Luna Ultra for Reels.

But I can do around 70 percent of my work away from my desk or laptop.

A lot of that is correspondence — email, chats, and the endless back-and-forth that comes with work. I also write scripts, emails, reviews, and articles on it. I’ve even done basic cut-to-cut Reel edits.

I edited the Wolverine PR Package on the Fold8.

I’ve also put together seven to nine fancams of STAYC’s Isa, who currently lives in my head rent-free.

It’s not replacing my laptop. But there are plenty of moments when I don’t need my laptop anymore.

I can pull out the Fold8, open it, and get things done.

3. Actually useful split-screen scenarios

I’ve used split-screen on Android before. But the Fold8’s wider display makes me use it more often.

The useful examples are pretty simple.

I’ll have an address or contact details open on one side while copying them into a delivery app on the other. I’ll copy sensitive financial details from one app while filling out an online purchase on another. I’ll pull up a caption from my documents app and paste it directly into whatever social platform I’m scheduling for.

Then there are the more important use cases.

I’ve watched two Isa fancams at the same time.

2 LOVE: Android 18 Isa and Pink pigtails Isa

Or, you know, watching Momo and Chaewon at the same time. Gotta make sure my Top 3 are all represented.

The wider screen makes these scenarios feel much more comfortable than trying to do the same thing on a regular phone.

4. Landscape mode just makes sense

This is probably one of the stranger things I’ve noticed with the Fold8.

Portrait still works. In fact, the aspect ratio works really well for it. Browsing, scrolling, and plenty of regular phone stuff still feel natural that way.

But when I unfold it, landscape somehow feels more natural.

I think part of it is that the wider screen harkens back to a time before smartphones started becoming extra long and extra tall. It feels closer to the way we used to think about larger screens: something wider, rather than just a really tall phone.

Even on apps and websites that aren’t perfectly optimized for the form factor, landscape just feels right to me.

It’s not that I always want to use the Fold8 that way.

It just feels like the orientation the bigger screen was meant to have.

5. The Fold8 killed my tablet habit

I still travel with a lot of devices.

That’s not going away anytime soon.

What has changed is that I mostly stopped bringing a small or medium-sized tablet with me. The Fold8 covers that particular role well enough that I don’t feel the need to add another screen to the pile.

That’s one less thing to pack and, more importantly, one less thing to take out at airport security.

It has also changed how I wind down at night during work trips.

I usually don’t watch shows or movies when I’m overseas. I don’t really use them as something to lull me to sleep.

But the Fold8 makes catching up on shows easier. The unfolded screen gives me enough room to watch comfortably, while still being easier to hold than a tablet.

I’ve watched Lanterns, Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, The Rookie, and, naturally, various STAYC appearances.

I’m also slowly looking to get into reading comics on it. I’m still figuring out the most economical way to do that, but the screen makes me want to explore it.

The Fold8 hasn’t made me stop traveling with multiple devices.

It has just given me one less screen to bring.

6. The camera hasn’t convinced me to consolidate everything

The Fold8’s cameras are serviceable.

I’ve taken plenty of casual photos with it, and some have turned out well enough that I’ve happily posted them. A recent photoset on Threads even got a nice reaction.

 

View on Threads

 

For everyday shooting, I’m not particularly worried about it.

For work, though, I still bring a dedicated camera phone when I’m covering an event. I wouldn’t rely on the Fold8 as my only camera for coverage.

There’s also a very specific problem I have with it.

I have chubby hands and fingers.

I’ve occasionally covered part of the camera while shooting because of how I’m holding the phone. That’s more of a me problem than a Fold8 problem, but it’s something I’ve had to keep in mind.

So while the Fold8 has replaced my tablet habit, it hasn’t convinced me to consolidate  everything into one device.

7. I just want a case that doesn’t ruin the Fold

Cases have been surprisingly difficult.

What I want isn’t complicated: something thin, back-only, with good hand feel, MagSafe support, and preferably in red.

I’ve tried a few cases from Shopee. CASETiFY was also gracious enough to send me some options.

The problem is that after a few days with the bulkier ones, I kept coming back to the same thought: I like the Fold8’s size and shape. I don’t want to cover that up with something that makes it feel like a completely different phone.

The accessory ecosystem also hasn’t completely caught up.

Most MagSafe accessories are still designed with regular slab phones in mind. That’s understandable. Slab phones have been around forever.

But as more people start using foldables like this, I expect the accessory market to catch up too.

For now, I’m still looking for that one case that gives me the protection I want without getting in the way of the phone I actually enjoy using.

8. This is the kind of foldable I want

I’ve been using foldables long enough to know that I’m not particularly interested in the novelty of a phone that folds.

What I want is a specific kind of foldable.

I want a mini tablet that shrinks into a phone.

That’s what the Galaxy Z Fold8 feels like to me.

Folded, it’s there when I need to answer a message, scroll through social media, check my bank account, or stare at photos of my favorite K-pop girlies.

Unfolded, it gives me the room to write, work, edit, watch, multitask, and eventually, hopefully, read more comics.

It has also meant carrying one less device when I travel.

That’s basically the pitch for me.

Give me the screen when I need it. Get out of the way when I don’t.

That’s the kind of foldable I want.