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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Samsung's TriFold feels like the future of foldables.
- The wider 10-inch screen makes multitasking feel more natural.
- It's coming to the US with a starting price of $2,899.
In between the humongous TVs, hypnotic slot machines, and whiffs of smoke and alcohol at CES earlier this month, I slipped into a private showroom to go hands-on with the elusive Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold.
While the foldable is officially launching in the US on January 30, there's little left to the imagination about its specs, design, and capabilities. Customers in South Korea got their units more than a month ago.
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But one thing did catch me by surprise during my intimate hour with Samsung's most premium phone yet. For a split moment, as I fidgeted with the various crevices, buttons, and hinges of the TriFold, I felt a sense of nostalgia. Specifically, in 2019, when the very first Galaxy Fold was released. It was far from being a lavish or refined handset, with its bulky design and oddly sized cover screen.
But to enthusiasts, using a phone that could unfold into something bigger felt like the Holy Grail of devices, as my colleague Matt Miller once honorably put it. Using the TriFold was similar, though much more confidence-inducing.
Gone were the creaks and mysterious sounds of internal components. Instead, I was met with a handset that felt sturdy, thoughtfully put together, and yet still familiar to use.
Most importantly, seeing what once unfolded into a square now transforms into a wider rectangle made it very clear to me that this is truly the endgame for foldables. The wider 4:3 aspect ratio and 10-inch AMOLED screen make browsing in split-screen mode, watching movies and videos, and general interactions feel more intentional.
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As someone who uses a Z Fold 7 daily, the larger foldable display for content consumption is the biggest selling point for me. With the TriFold, the same use cases that have prevented me from switching back to a conventional slab phone are essentially intensified -- mostly for the better.
That's because there were some drawbacks experienced during my first demo of the TriFold, from the realization that it's a two-handed-only device, meaning you'll find yourself with twice the display creases to deal with and twice as many fingerprint smudges to wipe off the back cover and screen, to the lack of a true stylus input system.
What happens next
For the masses, Samsung's pitch for the TriFold should be straightforward. It's not about the specs or visual imperfections; it represents the first true phone-tablet hybrid capable of replacing both devices without much compromise. There's truly been nothing quite like this -- not in the US, at least.
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While it was easy to get swept up in the "shiny new object" syndrome amidst the high-energy atmosphere of CES, the TriFold felt like more than just a fleeting honeymoon phase. It can mark a fundamental shift in how we think about mobile productivity.
I've always recommended that users go hands-on with foldable phones before spending any amount of money, as hand feel and personalized use cases are such a big part of the form factor's appeal. That can't be any more necessary for the TriFold, which Samsung says will officially launch in the US on January 30, with a starting price of $2,899 for 512GB of storage and Crafted Black.
English (US) ·