Samsung could move to a new hinge design for the Z Flip 8 to make the phone lighter.
It could also reduce the crease to make the phone more attractive against Motorola rivals.
Samsung could be preparing a lighter Galaxy Z Flip model with a new hinge as it tries to reassert itself in the face of competition from the Motorola Razr.
With Motorola just launching the 2026 version of the Razr, Samsung is said to be making changes to its own flip phone as it tries to claw back some market share. According to a report earlier in 2026, Motorola has 50% of the market in the US for folding phones.
As I highlighted in my side-by-side comparison of the new Motorola and incumbent Samsung flip phones, there's quite a difference between these devices – and Samsung's moves will increase that gap.
According to a leak from Lanzuk on Naver (via 9to5Google), Samsung is going to be using a new hinge on the Z Flip 8. This brings the weight down from 188g to 180g. The Razr 70 Ultra is 199g, so that's a substantial difference.
Not to mention that Samsung's phone is already slimmer, but Samsung could be shaving a fraction of a millimetre off here too.
Along with the new hinge, the crease is going to be reduced, so the display should appear flatter when you look at it and hopefully feel less undulating when running your fingers across it.
Can the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 beat the Motorola Razr 70 Ultra in 2026?
The question is whether this is going to be enough to draw in customers. With Motorola setting out its stall already, we've seen that the 2026 Razr phones are now more expensive, while they still only offer three OS updates and five years of security updates compared to Samsung's seven years of updates.
Motorola offers a better external display experience, where you can place and open full apps, so it will do a lot more, while the screens are brighter than Samsung's.
However, Samsung offers a better user experience, with One UI more refined that Motorola's Hello UI which is slowly getting polluted with bloat and distractions.
Motorola is pushing the Razr very much from a design point of view, focusing on colours and materials, to good effect, but Samsung's design is tighter and looks more technically proficient.
Where the 2026 Razr models surprise is that much of the hardware remains the same as it was before, with only a few tweaks – and it sounds as though Samsung is going to do much the same. It may well be the case that if Samsung undercuts Motorola on price, it will stand a greater chance of having an impact.
