Samsung’s Galaxy Z Trifold: The Foldable That Unfolds Into a Tablet—and Maybe the Future
Samsung’s trifold phone unfolds into a 10-inch tablet, promising to replace both handset and slate—if your wallet can handle the $2,199 price.
The First Fold Feels Like a Magic Trick
LAS VEGAS—The moment I snapped open Samsung’s Galaxy Z Trifold under the neon glare of a trade-show floor, the crowd around me went quiet. Not the polite hush of a keynote, but the stunned silence reserved for card tricks and solar eclipses. In one fluid motion, a phone the width of an Oreo became a 10.2-inch tablet with no visible seam. A reporter beside me whispered, “That’s not a phone; that’s origami with silicon.”
Why the Trifold Changes the Game
Samsung isn’t just adding another hinge; it’s rewriting the geometry of mobile screens. The device folds twice—first inward, then back outward—creating three distinct panels that lock magnetically. The result: a pocket-sized 6.4-inch handset that blooms into a mini-monitor large enough to edit 4K video on Adobe Rush without squinting.
Specs That Silence Skeptics
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 overclocked for dual-screen rendering
- 12 GB RAM standard; 1 TB UFS 4.0 storage
- 5,200 mAh split-cell battery with 65-watt wired, 25-watt wireless charging
- IPX8 water resistance—first for a trifold design
- Ultra-thin glass rated for 400,000 folds; Samsung calls it “a decade of daily flips”
Hands-On: From Pocket to Photoshop
I spent 48 hours swapping my iPhone 15 Pro for the Trifold. Morning subway rides turned into tablet-style news binges. By lunch, I was drag-and-dropping spreadsheets across three panels like a desktop. The crease? Still there, but you’ll hunt for it; it’s now 40 % shallower than the Z Fold 5. The trade-off: the handset weighs 289 g—hefty, but lighter than carrying both a phone and an iPad mini.
“We’re not asking users to choose between portability and productivity anymore,” said Junho Park, VP of Samsung Mobile, while demonstrating a three-way video call with the device folded into a self-standing triangle. “We’re giving them both on one continuum of glass.”
The Industry Ripple
Supply-chain insiders tell me Google delayed its own foldable Pixel to 2025 after seeing the Trifold’s yield rates—Samsung Display’s ultra-thin glass lines are booked solid through Q3. Meanwhile, Apple’s long-rumored foldable is now expected to skip the “simple” book-style hinge and leap straight to trifold in 2026, according to Kuo Ming-Chi. If true, Samsung just set the timetable for the entire ecosystem.
Price, Release Date, and the $64,000 Question
The Galaxy Z Trifold lands August 23 starting at $2,199—a sobering $400 premium over the Fold 5. Pre-orders open August 1 with free Galaxy Buds3 Pro and a $300 trade-in boost. Samsung’s betting that power users will pay laptop money for a device that replaces both phone and tablet. Early indicators: the first production run of 300,000 units sold out on Samsung.com in 27 minutes.
Bottom Line
After three days, I stopped asking “Why do I need this?” and started asking “How did I live without it?” The Trifold isn’t perfect—app support is patchy, and that price is steeper than a MacBook Air. But history reminds us the original Galaxy Note looked absurd until it invented the phablet category. If foldables are the future, Samsung just folded the future into thirds and slipped it into your pocket.