Samsung Sweetens Galaxy Z Fold 8 Pre-Orders With Free Buds and Big Trade-In Credits Ahead of August Launch

Samsung is offering a substantial round of pre-order incentives for its newly unveiled Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup, including free earbuds, discounted smartwatches and trade-in credits worth over $1,000, as the company works to build momentum ahead of the foldable phones reaching customers in early August.

Under the current promotion, buyers who add the current-generation Galaxy Buds 4 to the same shopping cart as a Galaxy Z Fold 8 or Fold 8 Ultra pre-order can receive the earbuds entirely free. Shoppers can also secure the higher-end Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, which normally retail for $250, for as little as $20 when purchased alongside a qualifying pre-order. Samsung had previously offered a smaller discount on the Buds 4 Pro but has since removed that lighter promotion in favor of the bundled pre-order deal.

The offers stem from a broader trade-in and credit program tied to the Fold 8 launch. Samsung is offering up to $1,230 in trade-in credit toward a Galaxy Z Fold 8 or Fold 8 Ultra purchase, along with an alternative option of $200 in Samsung credit for customers who decline to trade in an old device. That flexibility allows buyers without an eligible trade-in device to still access meaningful savings, either by applying the credit toward accessories such as the free or discounted earbuds, or toward other Samsung hardware. Shoppers can also combine their purchase with a separate promotional code that knocks an additional $100 off the price of the phone itself.

The same $200 Samsung credit can alternatively be applied toward the company's new smartwatches. Buyers who add either the Galaxy Watch 9 or the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 to their cart alongside a qualifying Fold 8 or Fold 8 Ultra pre-order can receive up to $300 off the watch's price when combining available credits and promotions.

The promotions apply to Samsung's newly announced foldable smartphone lineup, unveiled July 22 at the company's Galaxy Unpacked event in London. The event marked the first time Samsung has held its summer foldable launch event in the United Kingdom rather than its more traditional venues of Seoul, New York or San Francisco, a shift that industry observers have linked to Samsung's desire to establish a stronger foothold in Europe ahead of Apple's expected entry into the foldable phone market later this year.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup represents a significant departure from Samsung's previous foldable design strategy. For the first time, the company is offering two distinct book-style foldable form factors simultaneously rather than a single Fold model. The standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 features a shorter, wider "Wide" design intended to make the device easier to carry and better suited for media consumption, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra retains the taller, narrower aspect ratio associated with earlier Fold generations, aimed at users who prioritize a larger unfolded display and advanced camera capabilities.

Pricing for the new lineup starts at $1,899 for the 256GB Galaxy Z Fold 8, with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starting at $2,099. Both devices are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, the same chip found in several other 2026 flagship smartphones, and ship with Android 17 pre-installed, along with a new Task Automation feature Samsung says is compatible with more than 40 apps at launch and designed to handle routine tasks such as booking reservations or coordinating plans with contacts. Samsung has also committed to providing up to seven years of software updates for the devices.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra became available for pre-order immediately following their July 22 announcement, with general availability set for the first week of August. Samsung's timing appears deliberately calculated to give the new foldables roughly a two-month head start in the market before Apple is expected to release its own first foldable smartphone, widely referred to in industry reporting as the "iPhone Fold" or "iPhone Ultra," at a rumored starting price above $2,000 when it launches in September.

Samsung's push into a dual-foldable strategy also reflects the company's broader bet that varied form factors, rather than a single flagship foldable, will help it capture different segments of the premium smartphone market as competition in the category intensifies. Apple's rumored foldable device is reported to use a wide, nearly 4:3 aspect ratio similar to the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8's new "Wide" design, suggesting the two companies may be targeting overlapping segments of foldable phone buyers once Apple's device reaches the market later this year.

The current promotions come amid a broader wave of retail incentives across the consumer electronics sector this summer, as major manufacturers compete for consumer spending ahead of the back-to-school shopping season and the winter holiday period that follows. Samsung has not indicated how long the current bundle of trade-in credits, free earbuds and promotional codes will remain available, though similar launch-window promotions from the company have historically lasted several weeks before being scaled back or replaced with updated offers as the sales cycle for a new device progresses.