Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is an unabashedly bougie reader, but gosh, I can’t put it down

On an ordinary day, if you ask me what’s the best e-reader device out there, my answer would most probably be one of Amazon’s Kindle readers. I will most likely ask about your budget and your preferences before doling out a few recommendations. 

If you tell me that the Kindle is too restrictive, I would point you in the direction of a Boox slate, which comes in multiple sizes across a wide price bracket. In case you are inclined towards a phone-like reader device, the Boox Palma 2 or the DuRoBo Krono would be my suggested picks. And if you’re chasing something light, tiny, and open, the XTEINK X4 would be my go-to choice.

Broadly, I would never suggest that a person spend more than $200 or $300 on an e-reader. In case you are desperately chasing a stylus-based sketching experience, maybe I would tell you to buy an Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft or a slate from Onyx. What I would never do is ask you to spend $1,900 to achieve the finest e-reader experience out there. 

And yet, here I am, holding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 in my hands, and absolutely loving every moment of binge reading comic books on it. In fact, ever since I got my hands on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, I have finished more graphic novels in two months than I would complete in a year with another e-reader in my hands. 

Why on Earth does it even work?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have tried virtually every e-reader from a known brand in all the possible sizes out there. From the giant 13-inch iPad Pro to the tiny iPad mini, a bunch of Android tablets, and, of course, plenty of e-readers from different brands, both in monochrome and color E Ink formats — I’ve tried it all. And yet, none of them have given me the joy of reading comic books and novels as much as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

It’s quite an oddity. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 was never intended to be a device for flipping through comic book pages or swiping past your Kindle library. At its heart, it’s a new breed of foldable phones that is focused squarely on providing a more comfortable-in-hand experience. 

A jack of all trades, and then some.

Heck, the display is not even perfect for reading. There is a visible crease running across the center of its 7.6-inch inner foldable display. It’s also worryingly fragile, with only a namesake IP48 rating for protection against dust and water ingress. And unlike a tablet or a cheap e-reader, a few accidental drops will ruin the innards and leave you with a generous repair bill that’s enough to buy a few Kindles. 

The display is not really the magical part of the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Yes. It’s an OLED screen with vivid colors, rich contrast, and great viewing angles. You can adjust the color profile, temperature, and brightness output to get the best visual experience. The eye comfort mode is the cherry on top. 

But what truly sets the Galaxy Z Fold apart, and has me hooked on it as the preferred e-reader in my life, is the form factor. The phone’s waistline is just 4.5 mm across, and it weighs barely over 200 grams. For comparison, the Kindle Paperwhite has a smaller screen, and yet it’s noticeably thicker with a bigger footprint along both axes. 

It’s the in-hand game that’s unparalleled

When you’re holding the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in your hands, it’s almost as if you are holding a thick sheet of glass. It doesn’t feel like a device in the sense that we perceive an electronic gadget with a screen slapped on top of it. And irrespective of the orientation that you’re holding it in, it just feels incredibly well-balanced in your hands.

So, whether I’m reading a comic book while holding it in portrait mode, or slipping through the pages of a research paper in landscape format, I don’t have to worry about fatigue in my hands. Of course, your pinky finger is still involved as the base support for a secure grip, but you really don’t feel the heft of it. In fact, the thin side profile and the weight help with getting a firmer grasp on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, compared to an average reader device.

And here’s the big trick: The Galaxy Z Fold 8 also moonlights as a tiny, palm-friendly reader. The XTEINK X4 Pro and its ilk are popular for a legitimate reason. Not everyone wants a slate to read books. A lot of bibliophiles out there want a more compact screen that can handle EPUBs without burdening their pockets. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 fills that niche almost perfectly. On qualitative merits, the phone’s 5.5-inch OLED cover screen is arguably the sharpest, most visually immersive, smoothest, and also the sturdiest e-reader panel out there. And, yes, the experience of reading on it is utterly enjoyable and convenient at the same time. 

Every single display woe, solved.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8’s inner and outer screens also solve the fundamental flaw of literally every e-reader out there, save for exceptions like the Daylight Computer DC-1 tablet. Scrolling past pages is buttery smooth, thanks to the 120Hz display refresh rate. You don’t run into the jarring screen refresh and slow page transition issues that plague every single e-reader panel out there.

You don’t have to make any compromise between fast-paced transitions and visual fidelity.  You don’t even have to worry about any display customizations at all, except for adjusting the brightness levels and maybe enabling the eye-comfort mode for nighttime reading. It’s a straightforward pull-out-and-start-reading experience with the best visuals that any e-reader on the planet can provide.

All of this reader goodness costs a handsome $1,800. And, yes, I would absolutely never tell you to buy the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as the preferred device for your reading indulgences. But if you have your eyes set on a foldable phone, appreciate the pocketable, passport-style form factor, and have the funds ready, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is going to provide you with a reader experience that is simply unbeatable. 

Even the mundane chores like opening Outlook and responding to emails are an utter ergonomic joy on this Samsung foldable. I have finished more books and read more graphic novels on this uber-expensive foldable phone than I have in years. And without an iota of doubt, I credit the rediscovery of my bibliophile mojo to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its unique form factor more than my own inclination to read a book and feel smarter than my neighbor.

I have moved on and set another phone as my daily driver at the time of writing this. But the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is still lying on my table, with nearly a dozen tabs of comic books open and a Kindle title waiting in the background. I simply can’t put this sleek reader down, or stop myself from picking it up again and again.