I used a thermal camera to see how hot the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra gets compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra — here's what happened
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a built-in vapor chamber to prevent heat build-up, and similar features have existed in non-folding flagships for over a decade.The question isn't why hasn't Samsung added a vapor chamber to its foldables yet, it's whether that actually matters. The iPhone 17 Pro Max isn't that far behind, though the Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Fold 7 both seem to be heating up a lot more slowly in their folded state.The S26 Ultra seems to concentrate most of its heat in the top left corner, on the opposite side of the phone to the vertical camera bar. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a large section of heat across its top half, where the raised plateau camera bar is — which makes sense considering Apple designed the camera bar to help dissipate heat.
- ▪The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a built-in vapor chamber to prevent heat build-up, and similar features have existed in non-folding flagships for over a decade.The question isn't why hasn't Samsung added a vapor chamber to its foldables yet, it's
- ▪The iPhone 17 Pro Max isn't that far behind, though the Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Fold 7 both seem to be heating up a lot more slowly in their folded state.The S26 Ultra seems to concentrate most of its heat in the top left corner, on the opposi
- ▪Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a large section of heat across its top half, where the raised plateau camera bar is — which makes sense considering Apple designed the camera bar to help dissipate heat.
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Phones Android Phones Samsung Phones I used a thermal camera to see how hot the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra gets compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra — here's what happened Hands-On By Tom Pritchard Published 4 August 2026 Heat is bad for phones, and the easier it is to push it away the better When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Future) Copy link Facebook X Reddit Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Samsung has packed a bunch of upgrades into the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, but the one noticeable absence is the lack of any sort of active cooling system.
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