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Cellphones

Samsung Debuts Its First Trifold Phone (bloomberg.com) 64

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-shiny dept.
At an event in Seoul on Tuesday, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z TriFold, a dual-hinged smartphone that unfolds into a 10-inch tablet (source paywalled; alternative source). It launches on Dec. 12 in Korea for about $2,450. The company plans to sell the phone in the U.S., but hasn't shared pricing. Bloomberg reports: Samsung's device has a different hinge design, folding inward from two sides whereas the Mate models take on a Z shape when being folded. When closed, the TriFold's outer screen offers similar dimensions to a regular smartphone. But when unfurled, it provides a tablet-style experience with a 10-inch display, larger than the panel on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. In the tablet-like mode, each of the device's screens can independently run a different app. This provides the equivalent of three separate 6.5-inch bar-style handsets side by side.

Using Samsung's DeX software, which has been tweaked for this particular hardware type, you can also run a desktop-like experience directly on the large inner display. (Other Samsung phones must be plugged into an external monitor to activate DeX mode.) In DeX, the TriFold can operate as many as four distinct workspaces that can each run five apps simultaneously. To preempt concerns about potential breakage, Samsung said it has refined the phone's hinges, aluminum frame and display technology to improve long-term durability. The company will also offer a one-time 50% discount on display repair costs should one eventually be needed.

At its thinnest point, the TriFold measures 3.9 millimeters (0.15 inch). Inside, it contains a 5,600 milliamp-hour battery, marking the largest capacity that Samsung has used in a folding phone so far. The battery provides as much as 17 hours of consecutive video playback with the TriFold display fully open. However, in specifications shared with Bloomberg, the company didn't say how long it expects the battery to last with typical usage.

Samsung Debuts Its First Trifold Phone More | Reply

Samsung Debuts Its First Trifold Phone

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  • Tim Cook responds (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 02, 2025 @01:29AM (#65829539)

    CUPEERTINO, CA —In a manic, sweat-drenched press conference barely fifteen minutes after Samsung unveiled their new "Galaxy Z Tri-Fold," Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage, kicked over a podium, and announced that Apple was immediately ceasing all current operations to focus solely on the "iPhone Atlas," a revolutionary new device that unfolds seventeen different times into an unwieldy, 16-inch digital topographical map.

    "Listen to me, and listen good, because I’m done playing grab-ass with these Korean amateurs," screamed Cook, pacing the stage and loosening his tie until it looked like a noose. "Samsung thinks they’re hot shit with three screens? Three? What is that, a brochure for a dentist's office? That’s baby stuff. That’s weak sauce.

    "You want folds? You want screen real estate? Fine. Fuck everything we’re doing. We are pivoting 100% to the iPhone Atlas. It doesn't fold twice. It doesn't fold three times. It folds in a complex, confusing, non-Euclidean grid pattern that you will never, ever be able to fold back correctly again."

    Cook then pulled a prototype from his pocket—which appeared to be the thickness of a substantial deli sandwich—and began frantically clawing at it. The device groaned audibly as he snapped open hinge after hinge, the unit expanding wider and wider until Cook was holding a massive, crinkled 16-inch display spread across his entire torso like a panicked tourist in midtown Manhattan.

    "Look at this glorious bastard!" Cook bellowed, slapping the expanse of the screen, which flickered dimly. "We engineered a proprietary 'Crease-Max' polymer OLED that doesn't just bend; it actively resists being straightened, retaining the authentic, infuriating texture of a gas station road map that’s been shoved in a glove box since 1998.

    "Why sixteen inches? Because when you're looking for a Chipotle, you don't want convenience. You want to block the wind with your phone. You want to smack passersby in the face with your directions. You want the sheer, tactile anxiety of trying to wrestle a digital tablecloth while standing on a subway platform. That’s immersion. That’s magic. That’s Apple."

    Cook confirmed the iPhone Atlas will not fit in any known pocket, will require two people to hold open steadily on a windy day, and that once fully deployed, it is functionally impossible to return it to its original shape without creating bulky, permanent protrusions at the corners.

    "Samsung gave you a neat little triptych. We’re giving you a fucking cartographic nightmare that demands its own card table to operate," Cook yelled over the stunned silence of the tech press, before hurling the giant device into the crowd. "The iPhone Atlas. It’s enormous, it's inconvenient, and it costs four thousand dollars. Buy it, you pigs."

  • Folded it's nearly 1/2" thick. Perfectly fine for an inside jacket pocket. but where I live you only wear jackets about half the year. The rest of the time you have to shove it into a pants pocket, no thanks. My S23-Ultra is already bulky enough with the Otterbox around it.

    Also, one more hinge point is one more mechanical thing to break.

    It would be nice to have on an airplane flight though.

    • When folded, the Z-flip is also about twice as thick as a non-folding Galaxy phone, but it's actually more comfortable in a front pants pocket if you climb stairs often enough.

      I've experimented with this. It's because the tradeoff lets the folded phone slide around more freely (compared with a larger phone), and that's the key to comfort.

      By the same argument, the Z-fold design combines the worst of both the regular, non-folding phones (namely their height is comparable to a pants pocket) and the extra t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dbialac ( 320955 )
        I've had 4 z-flips (original, 3, 4 and 5) and at least as far as comfort goes, they're significantly better than a standard phone. They also fit in your pocket a lot better. Yes, I just said that. The problem with the z-flip is the 5 and later have a screen on the outside of the phone. The huge advantage of the flip phones is the case protects the interior screen, so there's no need to buy a screen case. The 5 did away with that because Samsung was busy listening to reviewers instead of the people who actua

        • I've had 4 z-flips (original, 3, 4 and 5) and at least as far as comfort goes, they're significantly better than a standard phone. They also fit in your pocket a lot better. Yes, I just said that. The problem with the z-flip is the 5 and later have a screen on the outside of the phone. The huge advantage of the flip phones is the case protects the interior screen, so there's no need to buy a screen case. The 5 did away with that because Samsung was busy listening to reviewers instead of the people who actually use them. I was in the hospital for 5 weeks, had nurses pull the table causing my phone to fall over and over. I still use the phone. It has minimal damage. Do that with a standard phone and you'd be screwed.

          The critical thing is how can people drive and text with these things? If people can't text and drive the phone market will collapse as those critical group chats have to happen! Validation is no joke, my friend.

      • " but it's actually more comfortable in a front pants pocket if you climb stairs often enough. "

        Is that a Trifold phone in your front pocket or are you just happy to see me?

    • Anyone remember though that we used to carry around 0.9"-thick MPx220 and Treo 650. Not that we're totally regressing, but yeah, it's regressing.

      Begs the billion dollar rhetorical question: How exactly is a folded screen device protect-able from drops with a "case" apart from not dropping it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      Looks like it's time to give up the skinny jeans.

    • They invented cargo-pants and shorts for exactly this purpose.:-)

    • That's about the same as my Fold4. Which I will admit is a bit thicker than I'd like (had a MS Surface that was half as thick but even more fragile than this thing is, I think the latest Fold is half as thick but loses stylus support). I do like it opened up, particularly when using the stylus to take notes, but have been thinking I'd switch to the Ultra when it comes time for a new phone due to that this one has needed repaired once a year so far.

  • Samsung multi-fold accordionZ.

    And then - the A1, A2 and A3 tablet versions.

    The loooooooooooooooong iphone meme can finally have a break.

    • Only if they can be snapped together to form a virtual wall.

      • With a file, a hammer and a pair of pliers and a blowtorch they can be shaped into just about anything.

      • Only if they can be snapped together to form a virtual wall.

        You joke, but why is nobody building a clip-together of add-on screens for phones? Seriously, have the base phone with all the guts, then magnetized clip-ons for either side that you can expand as far as you're willing to go. That way we could go back to reasonable sized phones, and the "look at me, I have a full-fledged desktop pressed to my face" crowd could still have what they want.

  • So many questions, so many dollars. (Score:3)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2025 @01:34AM (#65829553)

    So many questions, so many dollars.

    And wham, pre-reviews show folding and creases, like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    Thick and heavy for a phone, but if you want something that can be an actual tablet, you gotta make some serious trade-offs. When when using it as a phone OR tablet on a table, there is that bulge with the cameras so it can't sit flat. And that inner big screen is soft and scratch-prone. Hmm.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      The crease isn't a big deal. You don't actually notice it at all when using it. Source: I've owned 4 Z-flips.
    • The camera bump is only noticeable on a Fold if you don't have a case on it, which you should have because they're less durable than slab phones, as you'd probably guess.

    • And wham, pre-reviews show folding and creases

      I actually know quite a few people with Fold phones and precisely zero of them think the creases are in any way a discouragement from the real-estate you get when using it. A perfectly flat screen isn't everyone's deal breaking feature. Make no mistake these phones are not designed for everyone, they are a niche product for a minority.

      there is that bulge with the cameras so it can't sit flat

      Literally every Samsung Fold phone has a 1st party case (as well as 3rd party cases) that are designed specifically to cause the phone to sit flat with the camera bulge. Even

      • >"I actually know quite a few people with Fold phones and precisely zero of them think the creases are in any way a discouragement"

        My point (which probably wasn't clear) was that the links and info provided for this article didn't show anything about how it folded or that there are creases or that it didn't lay flat, etc. But the youtube review did show that useful info (and a lot of the positives too).

        >"Make no mistake these phones are not designed for everyone, they are a niche product for a minori

  • Don't they know English?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by mozzgb ( 1074084 )
      Trifold is a printing term relating to a landscape(usually) sheet of paper folded twice into three equal panels. Do an image search for trifold on your favourite search engine to see examples. The galaxy z Trifold is roughly the same size as a sheet of A5 paper when unfolded.
    • Seeing your low id there, so you obviously know the bifold and trifold forms of a classic wallet. The terms have been set long before you were born.

      The number is for the sections and not the hinges. Bifold doors are another example.

    • Don't they know English?

      Tri-fold

      meaning folded and result in three sections. So Tri is accurate

      Bifold and bisect use the same principle

  • ...Moore's law [wikipedia.org] to foldable phones, in the next future smartphones will look like crumpled paper balls...

  • Samsung: a company on fire (Score:3)

    by RUs1729 ( 10049396 ) on Tuesday December 02, 2025 @07:57AM (#65829875)
    They keep coming up with the most explosive products.

    • They keep coming up with the most explosive products.

      I see what you did there.

      • They keep coming up with the most explosive products.

        I see what you did there.

        What did I do?

        • They keep coming up with the most explosive products.

          I see what you did there.

          What did I do?

          Wait, you didn't make a pun about all the exploding Samsung phones? Or did you just bamboozle me, good sir?

  • I like a nice big screen as much as anyone, but after years and years of owning an iPad I'm using it less and less. And I honestly can't figure out why you'd want to tote around something that big all the time. Flights, I guess? A lot of traveling? I don't begrudge anyone buying one if they want it or they actually do have a day to day use for it, but I want my phone to get SMALLER.

    The only folding phone I'll consider is the flip style, to reduce the carrying size. That would be handy to me, even if the fol

    • I find that my phone is just too damn small to read on a long-term basis.

      Receiving a text message, reading a single article on a website, looking at a picture, that's all fine and good. But reading all of this morning's news? I want something that's big enough that I can sit back in my chair and read comfortably, without squinting at the tiny print on my phone screen.

      • Sure, I get that, but iPad? Laptop? PC?

        Is your phone the thing you're going to be doing it on? And if it is, I guess it's nice that they're making $2500 morning news devices, but it still seems a bit crazy for the price.

  • Make me a 30 or 32inch trifold display, Mac compatible. I can pack it next to my MBP. Give it a shock absorbent case. Just shut up and take my money!

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