Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, first impressions. Samsung’s most ambitious leap in foldables has fine print
Imagine carrying a cell phone in your pocket that can transform into a 10-inch tablet when you fully deploy it. That is the promise of Samsung Galaxy Z TriFoldan idea that was already on the table and that really makes sense as soon as you have it in front of you. Closed, it behaves like a bar format phone with a 6.5-inch screen, something familiar and relatively comfortable, but just start opening it to understand that the South Korean company wanted to go one step further. I think it’s not just about gaining inches, but about materializing a complex idea. After the initial impact, my first reading of the Galaxy Z TriFold is that of a device that surprises with its degree of maturity within a still young category. It is noticeable that Samsung has focused on the solidity of the whole, on how the pieces are assembled and on conveying a certain confidence when handling it, something that, as my colleague Javier Lacort commented in 2024, has not always been evident. Before moving forward, it is worth remembering that we are dealing with first impressions, they are clear sensations, open questions, but without a thorough approval in search of definitive conclusions. Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold technical sheet Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold dimensions and weight Folded: 159.2 x 75.0 x 12.9 mm Unfolded: 159.2 x 214.1 x 3.9 mm (screen with SIM tray) / 4.2 mm (center screen) / 4.0 mm (screen with side button) 309 grams indoor screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X 10 inches 2160×1584 269 ppi 1600 nits peak brightness 120Hz (adaptive) outdoor screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X 6.5 inches 2520 x 1080, 21:9 422 ppi 2600 nits peak brightness 120 Hz (adaptive) processor Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3nm) memory and storage 16 GB of memory with 1 TB of internal storage 16 GB of memory with 512 GB of internal storage Not compatible with microSD rear camera 12 MP Ultra Wide Angle, Dual Pixel AF, F2.2, 1.4 μm, 120° 200 MP wide angle, autofocus, OIS, F1.7, 85˚, 2x optical quality zoom 10 MP PDAF telephoto, OIS, F2.4, 1.0 μm, 36˚, 3x optical zoom, up to 30x digital zoom front camera 10 MP F2.2, 1.12 μm, 85˚ selfie (outdoor screen) 10 MP F2.2, 1.12 μm, 100˚ selfie (indoor screen) battery and charging 5,600 mAh QC2.0 and AFC connectivity 5G LTE Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 5.4 operating system Android 16 One UI 8 others IP48 resistance price From 3,594,000 won The promise of a 10-inch tablet, and the price you pay for it To fully understand what this Galaxy Z TriFold proposes, we must stop at its physical approach. We are not looking at a conventional folding device, but rather a device with three panels and two folds that only supports two real ways of use: closed, like a phone, or completely open, “like a 10-inch tablet.” Unlike the approach we have seen in the Huawei Matewhere it is possible to use the device partially deployed with two active panels, there is no middle ground here. When you use it unfolded and the interior screen becomes the center of the experience, the TriFold begins to justify its approach. We are talking about a 10-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with 2160 x 1584 resolution, 120 Hz and a density of 269 ppi, figures that explain why it feels so visually solid indoors. My contact with the device has been in the Samsung offices, in the evening and with artificial light, and in that context the experience has been excellent, with vivid colors and constant fluidity. It is true that the maximum brightness of the interior panel is 1600 nits, compared to 2600 nits for the exterior screen, but I have not had the opportunity to test it outdoors. When you leave content consumption, the TriFold lets itself be loved in multitasking scenarios. The screen offers real margin to maintain multiple applications open at the same time without the experience feeling limited, something that marks a distance from smaller folding products. Everything is more comfortable and less compressed, and the whole thing conveys a sense of order that is appreciated. It also seems relevant to me that it allows executing Samsung DeX directly on the screen itself, without an external monitor, because it reinforces your productivity focus. Now, in the hand, the Galaxy Z TriFold makes it clear from the first moment that it is not a light or discreet device when closed. With its 309 grams and a thickness of 12.9 mm when folded, it feels powerful, even more than one would expect when reading the technical sheet. That said, it is also worth putting it in perspective, because in numbers it does not go to the most extreme part of what we have seen in first generation folding devices. Opened, the perception changes noticeably, the weight is better distributed and the whole is surprisingly manageable for a 10-inch screen. One of the elements that caught my attention during the test was the way in which the TriFold manages its own folding. It is not just a question of hinges, but of how the device conditions the user’s gesture to protect itself. The route is clearly defined and if you try to close it incorrectly, the phone responds with a vibration and a warning on the screen that tells you not to continue there, something that reinforces the feeling of being in front of a product designed to avoid errors. Although the interior screen is the TriFold’s great attraction, it is also its most delicate part. When unfolded, the two folds are there and are part of the experience, although not in an intrusive way. It is not something that is constantly obvious and, in many moments, you can forget about them, but when you change the angle or the light hits it in a certain way they appear. In my case, for years the folds have bothered me a lot in folding ones, but over time I have learned to … Read more
