You can't be mad at Samsung for joining the passport club with the Galaxy Z Fold 8

Samsung announced its new foldable lineup on July 22, and the device everyone ended up talking about wasn't the one I expected. Next to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which is the tall book-style Fold you already know, Samsung put out the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The Fold 8 is a shorter, wider phone that looks like a passport when it's shut. The format isn't new. Oppo's original Find N did it in 2021, the first Pixel Fold did it in 2023, and Huawei's been at it more recently with the Pura X and the Pura X Max.

Even so, Samsung took a fair number of hits from Apple fans within hours, mostly along the lines of “they copied the iPhone foldable before it even launched.” And those claims amaze me.

Samsung's always been at the forefront of designs, sizes, and categories. From the Galaxy S III mini to the Galaxy Mega 6.3, from the curved Galaxy Round to the leather-backed Galaxy F55, they've tried it all.

The Galaxy Z TriFold last December was more of the same. Samsung's success isn't about picking the right form factor. It's about making sure you never have to say “there isn't a Galaxy for that.”

Did Apple's foldable rumors push Samsung to get a wide Fold out the door this year? Probably, at least a bit. But Samsung's been sitting on multiple form factors at its Suwon HQ for years, and the competition is fierce beyond Cupertino too.

Huawei got to this shape long before either of them, first with the Pura X and then the Pura X Max. And moving quickly when rivals are breathing down your neck isn't cheating.

I think Apple users who've spent seven years calling foldables a gimmick are just jealous. Jealous that Samsung got to a design Apple is expected to sell this fall as its first foldable iPhone.

Jealous that a hardware company can add a whole new form factor to its lineup so quickly. And jealous that Samsung hasn't changed its approach: it still throws everything at the wall and keeps whatever sticks.

I'm not saying the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is going to be brilliant. It starts at $1,899, Flex Mode is missing, nobody's used one for more than a few days, and the long-term durability of the Flex Titanium display still needs testing. I'm just saying people are directing their frustration at the wrong thing.

If the rumors hold, Apple's launching one foldable in September. Samsung just launched three in one day. One company is still entering the category while the other is expanding it.

So what's next, Apple fans: blaming Samsung for existing?

The Fold 8 might end up being a flop. It might end up being Samsung's most popular foldable yet. Either way, I'd rather see a company experiment with different ideas than wait until everyone else has already proven them. That's how we ended up with foldables in the first place.