The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold is cool and impressive, but it’s not perfect 

I’ve seen a lot of great products in my 14 years as a technology journalist. I’ve watched smartphones replace compact cameras, smartwatches become more serious health trackers and computers move from desktops to headsets. But there’s still something special about folding phones.

I have fond memories of the first time I saw the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. It had its faults, but its reveal in 2019 will go down as a defining moment in smartphone history. A little like the MacBook Air being pulled out of an envelope by Steve Jobs in 2008.

When I saw the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold in a back room of the Consumer Electronics Show at the beginning of this year, then, a feeling of déjà vu swept over me. It was a little different to the Galaxy Z Fold, because as some of you will know, this is not the first tri-fold smartphone to launch. That’s a medal hanging on Huawei’s wall following the launch of its Mate XT Ultimate Design phone back in October 2024. 

But, Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold is the first to fold in this format, and the first to offer access to all apps through the Google Play Store – something poor Huawei can no longer deliver.

You will be impressed 

I wanted to come out of that room at CES with the opinion that the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold was just silly and nothing more than a marketing stunt, but it’s impossible not to be impressed. Unfolded, it measures just 3.9mm at its slimmest point, putting the Apple iPhone Air (5.6mm), Apple iPad Pro (5.4mm) and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge (5.5mm) all to shame. 

It’s also very light for what you’re getting. Compare its 309g weight to a phone and the odds are not in its favour, but compare it to a tablet and it’s 150g lighter than the Apple iPad Air, which given you get almost the same size screen when open is really quite a feat. 

When folded, it’s thicker than most phones and devices of course, measuring 12.9mm, though I didn’t feel like it was that much more cumbersome than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Especially not when you consider you’re getting an extra panel of display here when you unfold it. The 6.5-inch external display is always exposed, but the size is what I consider to to be the sweet spot in phones, while the internal display is always protected when folded, which can’t be said for Huawei’s tri-folding alternative.

The software is smart too, allowing you to have three apps running side-by-side that effectively give you the same experience as having three phones side-by-side. Use one app on its own on the main internal display and you have plenty of space to play with, from watching a movie to diving into a spreadsheet. The keyboard also automatically splits to account for typing with both hands, because let’s be clear, this isn’t a one-handed device when open.

Samsung doesn’t scrimp on the cameras too much either. It used to be that folding phones compromised in this department, but the Galaxy Z TriFold has the same main sensor as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which takes excellent photos. The ultrawide and telephoto lens do take it down a notch, but only to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 so there’s still a flagship offering here.

But, there are some things you should know

The Galaxy Z TriFold isn’t perfect, however, though nor should you expect it to be. Just look at how far the Galaxy Z Fold has come in the last seven years and you’ll perhaps be more forgiving of its flaws. Still, there are a couple of things that struck me as odd. 

Firstly, the Galaxy Z TriFold runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which for all intents and purposes is last year’s hardware. Yes, it powers some of the best smartphones of 2025 and does a sterling job of that, but it isn’t the latest processor (that’s the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) and given the price we will likely be looking at here, that feels mean. 

Secondly, to me, it felt like it folded the wrong way. When open, the left panel of the Galaxy Z TriFold needs to be folded inwards first, before the right panel folds over the top. Do it wrong and it vibrates angrily, while a warning appears on the screen telling you how you should be doing it. The software warning is excellent and will no doubt save a number of screen breakages as this product launches, but the number of times it came up for me told me that I’d have been better with right first, followed by left.

It’s something that will always be an issue with a dual-folding device, but it’s still something I noticed. Perhaps in a future iteration, it won’t matter which way you choose to fold it.

Thirdly, there’s no support for the S Pen, not even the S Pen Pro that is sold separately and supported by the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Folding phone fans probably won’t be too surprised by this given the Galaxy Z Fold 7 also dropped support for the stylus last year to achieve its thinner design, but with Samsung’s tablets pretty much all coming with an S Pen included in their box and the internal display of this device matching the likes of the Galaxy Tab S11, it does feel like a big omission.

Lastly, and this was perhaps my biggest gripe, you can’t use the folds of the Galaxy Z TriFold for a different viewing angle. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 both allow you to fold them at various angles so you can watch something on half the screen, while the other half supports the device for hands-free viewing. Not here, friends.

I’m sure it’s probably something to do with weight distribution but it was a shame not to be able to use two-thirds of the screen for watching or reading, while the bottom third supported the device.

Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold launched in South Korea in December 2025, priced at 3,590,400 KRW. It is due to be made available in the US soon, but there is still no word on when, or indeed if, it will come to the UK. 

If it does, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it priced around £2,000, given the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at £1,799. It comes with 512GB or 1TB of storage and 16GB RAM and there is just one colour option currently, which really loves a fingerprint so if you’re considering buying this, make sure you have your cloth ready.