Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. News

The Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8 let you ditch your laptop’s grainy webcam

Samsung's new foldables inherit USB webcam mode from the Galaxy S26, and their hinge lets you put it to better use.

Add as a preferred source on Google
USB webcam mode on Galaxy Z Fold 8 featured
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
galaxy unpacked 2025
This story is part of our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 coverage
Updated less than 9 hours ago

Samsung’s latest foldables can double as a USB webcam for your laptop. The Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8 all support the USB webcam feature, which first debuted on Pixel phones back in 2023 before Samsung brought it to the Galaxy S26 series earlier this year.

How webcam mode works

Android Authority has confirmed the USB webcam option is available on all three new Galaxy Z series devices, making them the first Samsung foldables to offer the feature. As with the Galaxy S26 series, the option appears in the USB settings menu that can be accessed by tapping the notification that pops up when the phone is plugged into a PC.

Selecting the Webcam option under the “Use USB for” list routes the phone’s camera feed directly to the video calling app running on the connected computer. No extra apps or drivers are required on either end.

The hinge gives foldables an edge

Using webcam mode on a Galaxy S26 requires users to prop up the device on a holder or lean it against something to keep the camera angled correctly. Samsung’s new foldables make things easier, as they can be folded halfway so the hinge holds the phone upright and angled toward the user, no stand or case required.

That built-in stand functionality removes a step Galaxy S26 owners still have to work around, either by buying a separate phone mount or improvising with household items. It’s a small difference, but one that makes the feature more practical on a foldable than it ever was on a standard slab phone.

Recommended Videos

Convenience set aside, webcam mode offers users a real jump in quality compared to built-in webcams. The main camera on all three models comfortably outclasses most laptop webcams on the market, so users will notice a major improvement in video call quality the moment they switch over. If that sounds like a feature you’d like on your phone, you can preorder the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, or Flip 8 right away, or buy them when they go on sale on August 7.

Pranob Mehrotra
Pranob is a seasoned tech journalist with over eight years of experience covering consumer technology. His work has been…
After Google, Apple may quietly turn iCloud+ into a tiered AI subscription
iOS 27 beta 5 reveals that Apple Intelligence feature limits now scale with your iCloud+ storage tier.
apple-icloud+

iOS 27's fifth beta quietly shows something Apple only hinted at during its last earnings call: paying for a higher iCloud+ tier unlocks more access to Apple Intelligence features, starting with your smart home cameras.

So how is this actually showing up right now?

Read more
Beeper just solved the headache of messaging the same person on four different apps
Beeper's newest update merges conversations with the same contact across apps into one thread.
Text, Person, Text Message

During a regular workday, I text the same handful of people across three or four different apps. It’s mostly Teams or Slack for work, WhatsApp for sharing locations or personal stuff, and Instagram for Reels (mostly memes). On lighter days, it’s manageable, but when things get busy, keeping track of different conversations has genuinely thrown me off more than once.

Beeper just shipped an update that solves that mess. The universal chat app can now compile conversations with the same person from different apps into a single chatbot. While this isn’t the only update that the platform has announced, it's perhaps the most important one.

Read more
Grok Bot wants to take work off your plate, not just answer your queries
SpaceXAI and Cursor's new Grok Bot app treats AI as a working teammate.
File, Webpage, Page

SpaceXAI and Cursor just released Grok Bot. It's built around AI agents called Bots or "teammates," if you will. 

Designed to complete real work and only check in with you when something is in the final phase and needs your approval, Grok Bot is currently available in beta on Mac, iOS, Windows, and Linux. An Android version, as well as an enterprise version, are coming soon.

Read more