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I’ve tested quite a few thin, foldable phones over the years, but something about Samsung Galaxy Z tri-fold seemed particularly remarkable to me when I first held it up CES 2026 in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Finally, it seems that foldable devices are getting closer to their long-desired goal: a two-in-one device that fits perfectly in your pocket.
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The triple – which technically folds twice but has three panels – looks like a true phone-tablet hybrid that stands out well from its bar-style counterparts. Its value seems to lie less in flashy specifications about its thinness than in its usefulness and practicality.
Watch this: Getting started with the Galaxy Z TriFold: a true phone-tablet hybrid
Yes, the Galaxy Z TriFold looks incredibly sleek when opened: it measures just 3.9mm at its thinnest point and 4.2mm at its thickest point, excluding the camera bump. It feels completely normal in my hands, so much so that I didn’t really think about its 309 gram weight when I was using it. But the tri-fold book doesn’t command the same respect as Samsung’s book. Galaxy Z Fold 7 or bar style Galaxy S25 Edgewhich mainly relies on presenting an ultra-thin and lightweight design.
The Z TriFold’s 6.5-inch cover screen is spacious enough to make it feel like you’re using a non-foldable phone.
Instead, the Galaxy Z TriFold aims to get things done on a portable scale. Need to send a quick text or check an email? The 6.5-inch cover screen feels remarkably close to using a non-foldable phone – minus the slightly bulky 12.9mm thickness when the tri-fold is closed. And when it’s time to watch a movie, multitask, or type a paper, the expansive 10-inch internal screen provides plenty of real estate.
This duality makes the Galaxy Z TriFold feel like a true hybrid device capable of filling a niche that book-style foldables have yet to satisfy, despite their many efforts.
Folded, the Galaxy Z TriFold measures 12.9mm thick, which may feel slightly beefy.
Comparison of Z TriFold and Z Fold 7 at a glance
Placing Samsung’s Z TriFold and its two-panel Galaxy Z Fold 7 side by side was just highlighted how different each phone is.
Yes, you can watch larger-scale videos on the Z Fold 7’s interior screen, but that experience pales in comparison to the true tablet feel of the deployed Z TriFold. You can open up to three apps simultaneously on both phones, but doing so on the triple feels less of a compromise thanks to its larger screen. And with Samsung DeXTurning your phone into a sort of mini-computer has never been more convenient, because there’s more space to work.
One of the biggest indicators of how far foldable devices have come is the fact that the Z TriFold and Z Fold 7 pack some pretty impressive cameras: a 200-megapixel wide, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera on the back, as well as two 10-megapixel selfie cameras. So if you’re choosing between the larger and smaller Samsung foldable devices, that’s a key factor they have in common.
There is a 200-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera on the back of the Galaxy Z TriFold.
Two hinges on the triple mean double the screen creases, but they’re thankfully less noticeable than those on the Z Fold 7, which is already quite discreet. Learning how to properly close the tri-fold can be a bit of a learning curve, especially if you’re right-handed like me; you will need to close the left panel first. But every time you (I) make a mistake, the phone gives haptic feedback and an alert that you (we) are making a mistake, which is helpful.
Perhaps most reassuring is the triple’s 5,600mAh battery, which will hopefully keep the phone going for a full day of use, and then some. The Z Fold 7 has a 4,400 mAh battery, which lasted all day in my initial tests, but without much juice to spare. Hopefully the Z TriFold remedies this problem. The triple’s super-fast 45-watt charging is also a nice bonus.
Speaking of charging: Samsung told me the Z TriFold will come with not only a charging cable in the box, but also a charging brick. Nature heals.
The Galaxy Z TriFold has launched in some regions around the world, but not yet in the United States.
US release and price
The Z TriFold is already available in Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, my colleague Prakhar Khanna beat me to the end and got hold of the phone in Dubai last month.
Samsung has announced that the Z TriFold will launch in the United States in the first quarter of this year. It will be interesting to see if Americans react the same way as those in other countries like Korea, where the phone apparently sold out in minutes.
There remains another looming question: the price. Samsung did not share the US price at THESEbut we’ll likely learn more as the (also unknown) release date approaches. Considering the Z Fold 7’s $2,000 price tag, you might want to start saving now.
