Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold Hands On: this is the phone-tablet hybrid you’re looking for

You can run three apps side by side, two apps at once, or a single large app across the entire screen.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Julian Chokkattu

There are two titanium hinges and they open three panels. You can place a full-size app on each of the three panes, use a larger version of split-screen, or expand an app on the vast screen. It was easy to set up these configurations and I can definitely see myself enjoying having three apps open at once. It’s still a bit heavy to hold, but that’s not unusual for a 10-inch tablet. The TriFold is very thin when unfolded, which helps.

Fold it and you get a thickness of 12.9 millimeters, which is just a bit bigger than the Galaxy Z Fold6 (12.1mm). The fact that it’s about the same thickness as a previous generation fold, but with a considerably larger screen, is impressive. This makes the volume a little more palatable. There is a correct way to fold it and an incorrect way. Luckily, if you start folding it the wrong way with the correct screen first, the phone will vibrate violently and you’ll see an alert on the screen asking you to fold the other screen first. However, I can still imagine someone ignoring this and continuing to live.

The hardware is exquisite and the specs are top-notch, closer to Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra; there is a 200-megapixel primary camera on the back and the phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. The screens are protected by ceramic glass and there is even a IP48 dust and water resistance rating.