"Fold it and it's a smartphone, unfold it and it transforms into a 10-inch-class tablet."
On the 2nd, the biggest strength of the new twice-folding foldable phone unveiled by Samsung Electronics at the Samsung Store in Gangnam, Seoul, the "Galaxy Z Tri Fold (hereafter Tri Fold)," was that it is a new form factor that delivers a tablet-class large screen without sacrificing portability. The first impression when holding it folded was, "It looks thick, but it's lighter than expected." When folded, it is about 12.9 mm thick and weighs 309 g.
It's clearly thicker than a standard bar-type smartphone, but when I slipped it into a front pants pocket, it didn't feel "too cumbersome to carry." With the weight evenly distributed across the three panels, there wasn't much sense of it tilting to one side. Conversely, when fully unfolded, the thinness stood out first. Unfolding the three split panels into a single display leaves the thinnest part at just 3.9 mm, making it the slimmest among the Galaxy Fold Z series so far.
◇ A tri-fold large-screen foldable phone with enhanced durability
Having used it directly, the Tri Fold felt closer to a new type of device that largely blurs the line between a smartphone and a tablet. When the three screens joined by two hinges become one, it's no longer a "big smartphone," but an entirely different user experience.
Unlike the existing "single-fold" Fold series, the Tri Fold uses a tri-fold structure that folds the screen twice. It employs a dual in-folding method that folds the split displays inward from both sides toward the center, delivering an approximately 10-inch large screen when fully unfolded. It uses an Armor Flex Hinge exclusive to the Tri Fold, titanium in the hinge housing, and Advanced Armor Aluminum for the frame to boost durability. Vice President Kang Min-seok of Samsung Electronics' MX Business said, "The Tri Fold went through more than 200,000 folding tests, securing durability robust enough to use for five years even if folded 100 times a day."
Multitasking that leverages the large screen underscores why this product exists. When you unfold the screen and turn on Multi Window, you can run up to three apps simultaneously. In practice, placing the Gallery app on the left, YouTube in the center, and a portal or messenger app on the right let me long-press a photo and drag and paste it to the adjacent screen, and search related information while watching a video—all at once. A Taskbar at the bottom right shows recently used apps, enabling quick app switching like toggling windows on a PC. The aspect ratio is close to 16:10, providing a tablet-like sense of immersion for watching videos or editing documents. However, it was disappointing that, due to the structure, it does not support the so-called "book mode," which uses only two screens by folding one side. You mainly use it either fully folded or fully unfolded, so users accustomed to splitting both screens on existing bi-fold foldables may need some adjustment.
Performance is also top-tier. With the latest Snapdragon chipset, app switching and video processing are fast, and heat is well controlled. During about 10 minutes of continuous use in the hands-on, noticeable heat was minimal. The 5,600 mAh battery is the largest capacity among Galaxy smartphones. Vice President Kang Min-seok said, "It retains about 80% battery after two hours of continuous use based on video playback." That said, power consumption was somewhat faster when the screen was fully unfolded.
◇ A tablet UI with Samsung DeX enables multi-workspace
A standout change is the tablet UI version of Samsung DeX, adopted for the first time in a Galaxy smartphone. Launch DeX from the quick settings at the top, and even without connecting a separate monitor, a desktop user interface similar to a PC expands within the 10-inch screen. In DeX mode, you can create up to four virtual workspaces, and open up to five apps simultaneously in each workspace. It felt possible to realize a "multi-workspace" where you open and edit meeting materials in one workspace, and in another, keep a messenger and browser open to communicate and search for resources in parallel.
Generative AI features also become more useful combined with the Tri Fold's large screen. In the Photos app, you can comfortably use features like "generative edit," which naturally refines subjects and reconstructs backgrounds, and "sketch to image," which turns hand-drawn sketches into finished images, on the expansive screen. The "view original" function that shows before-and-after results side by side is also well suited to the 10-inch screen, where two images can be viewed at once for comparison. Integration with Google's Multimodal AI, "Gemini Live," has also been strengthened. Point the camera at a document or printout and say, "Summarize only this part," and it extracts and shows just that content; at a travel destination, point it at a signboard or menu, and it translates and explains the text on the screen in real time. Using the screen partition feature, you can keep a Gemini chat window and the original web page side by side and go back and forth with questions.
◇ A price north of 3.5 million won is a "burden"
The biggest drawback is, of course, the price. The Tri Fold comes only in a single "Crafted Black" color with 16 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage, and is priced at 3,590,400 won. Compared with the domestic price of Huawei's tri-fold Mate XT (3.77 million to 4.53 million won), it is up to 900,000 won cheaper, but it still amounts to the price of two mainstream flagship phones. Samsung tried to partially offset the price burden by including a carbon shield case, a 45W charger, and a cable in the basic package, and by adding benefits such as a one-time 50% discount on display repair costs, but the perceived price still felt high. It is also disappointing that it is sold only unlocked without carriers, making it hard to expect price cuts through carrier subsidies.
The key is marketability. Inside and outside the industry, many say the Tri Fold, which approaches 4 million won, is likely to remain a niche product for early adopters and high-end demand for the time being. Initial supply is also said to be around only 3,000 units.
Im Seong-taek, vice president and head of Korea at Samsung Electronics, said, "This product is a 'special edition' prepared to continuously supply (the Tri Fold) to customers who want it, not for mass sales." An industry official said, "It remains to be seen whether the Tri Fold, with its innovative form factor and enhanced multitasking and AI features, can move beyond an 'experiment' to establish itself as a new category."