After months of teasing a triple-display foldable phone, Samsung has launched what it's calling the Galaxy Z TriFold -- because foldables with just one hinge are so last year.
The phone debuted in Korea on Friday with a price tag of around 3.59 million won, which converts to about $2,430 (£1,820, AU$3,650). It's also launching in other locations, including China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates -- my colleague Prakhar Khanna got his hands on the phone in Dubai. The Galaxy Z TriFold won't arrive in the US until the first quarter of 2026.
Watch this: Hands-On With the Galaxy Z TriFold: A True Phone-Tablet Hybrid
To get this caveat out of the way: A trifold phone doesn't actually fold three times. Rather, devices like the Z TriFold have a main screen with two hinges, allowing the phone to fold into three sections. They appear to be more of a hybrid between a phone and, when unfolded, a tablet. The Z TriFold boasts a 10-inch display when unfurled and a 6.5-inch cover display.
"The company's decade-long experience in foldable category innovation inspired Galaxy Z TriFold's unique multi-folding form factor, which uses an inward-folding design to protect the main display," Samsung said in a blog post. "The folding mechanism has been precisely engineered for easy opening and closing, with an auto-alarm alerting the user of incorrect folding through a series of on-screen alerts and vibrations."
The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold places an emphasis on thinness.
SamsungA Galaxy of features comes together
The Galaxy Z TriFold appears to borrow elements from two of its siblings: the Galaxy S25 Edge and the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Both phones are impressively thin, with the Edge measuring 5.8mm and the Z Fold 7 measuring 4.2mm thick when unfolded.
The Z TriFold goes one step further. It's just 3.9mm thick "at its thinnest point," Samsung says. Reading the fine print reveals that measurement excludes "the camera and the preinstalled protective film." The thickest panel is the center one, which measures 4.2mm. The panel with the side button is 4mm thick. Still, that should all help to reduce bulk when the three screens are stacked shut on top of one another.
The rear triple-camera system includes a 200-megapixel wide-angle camera, similar to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, S25 Edge and Z Fold 7. There's also a 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto camera. For selfies, you'll find 10-megapixel front-facing cameras on both the cover and main screens.
Watch this: Galaxy Z Fold 7 Review: Samsung Finally Nailed the Foldable
Like Samsung's other premium phones released this year, the Z TriFold is powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. It also has a 5,600-mAh three-cell battery -- a nice upgrade over the 4,400-mAh battery on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung notes this system "has been placed in each of the three panels of the device for balanced power delivery and all-day endurance." The phone supports 45-watt super-fast charging.
Unlike Huawei's Mate XTs trifold, which unfurls into a Z shape, Samsung's trifold has panels that fold inward, more like a pamphlet.
The Z TriFold has two different-sized hinges, "creating a smoother, more stable fold despite varying weight and components across the device," Samsung notes. This also helps to reduce the gap between the screens. The titanium hinge housing "resists wear over time," and the phone's Advanced Armor Aluminum frame should also help with durability, while preventing the screens from touching when folded shut.
The Z TriFold borrows another trait from the Z Fold 7: an IP48 rating. That means the phone can be submerged under 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes and is protected against solid particles larger than 1 millimeter, but not against dust. Meanwhile, Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold boasts an impressive IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
Samsung's triple-display foldable has Corning's Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the front, while the back is made of ceramic-glass fiber-reinforced polymer.
Multitasking is one of the advantages of a larger main screen.
Samsung/Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNETWhy would someone buy the Galaxy Z TriFold?
So what's the point of a phone that unfolds into a giant 10-inch display? Samsung says the Z TriFold is ideal for multitasking.
"Users can use the screen with endless versatility -- they can create across three different portrait-sized apps side-by-side without interruption, resize apps in multi-window to view the most important information clearly, or hold it vertically when reviewing documents for improved focus," the company notes.
Samsung also says a wider screen can be good for watching movies and TV shows. And if you're watching a YouTube video, you can simultaneously read the comments on the neighboring display. Samsung notes that "minimized creasing on the device keeps content seamless and uninterrupted." That'll be a crucial element.
The phone's AMOLED cover and main screens have a refresh rate up to 120Hz. The cover display boasts a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, while the main screen features a peak brightness of 1,600 nits.
The Galaxy Z TriFold arrives with Android 16 and One UI 8. It's not clear what exactly the phone will cost in the US, but given the Z Fold 7's $2,000 starting price, it'll probably be a pretty penny.
