My first 36 hours with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8: I was wrong about the passport screen (but that $1,899 price still stings)

(Image credit: Future)

You may have seen that Samsung showed me all of its canceled prototypes of the Galaxy Z Fold 8. That moment combined with my time flying to China and checking out this future of passport foldables that the iPhone Ultra looks set to adopt made me nervous that this stubbier size isn’t quite right.But after my first 36 hours with the Z Fold 8, I’m coming around to the idea of this aspect ratio choice. Maybe the weight of my previous experiences clouded my judgement, but now out in the real world, it’s starting to click and make sense.Throw in a strong camera, good battery life and beasty internals, and this has been a great first day of using Samsung’s new blower. I’ve seen a bunch of questions and thoughts in our comments, so these 24 hours have been more focused on answering these.What’s the aspect ratio like?

(Image credit: Future)We’ve been used to taller foldables that open out to a much more squared-off display for years now. Of course, other companies have tried the squished form factor like this, but this is Samsung’s first stab at it.And honestly? At first I was feeling weird about it. Don’t get me wrong here, the smaller design does feel great to hold, and the one-handed operation feels like a blast from the past when small phones were cool.That being said, the aspect ratio choice made here is a tough one to make — forming an awkward balance that black bars vertical content on the outside screen, as well as landscape on that 4:3 screen on the inside. Given the way “The Odyssey” is filmed in 70mm IMAX, this phone must be Christopher Nolan’s dream come true.