I have always believed that foldable smartphones are not only practical but also romantic. The " Galaxy Z TriFold " announced by Samsung in Korea on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 (local time) is a larger version of the foldable smartphones currently on the market, a tri-fold product that can be folded into three pieces. I visited Seoul, Korea on the day of the announcement to cover the media briefing so that I could get an early look at the actual device.
When closed, it looks like an ordinary smartphone.
About a year ago. When I visited Shenzhen, China on the launch day of the "Mate XT Ultimate Design," the world's first tri-fold smartphone announced by Huawei in September 2024, and touched the actual device, I wondered "Did such a smartphone really appear? I was so impressed that my whole body went numb at the moment I touched the actual device.
Since a year has passed since then, Samsung's product does not seem so fresh. However, the Galaxy Z TriFold is a model that adopts a folding structure different from Huawei's, and since the Galaxy Z Fold7, a two-fold model released this year, has performed well, we can expect a high level of perfection from this Galaxy Z TriFold as well.
First, let's meet the Galaxy Z TriFold in its closed state. From the front, it looks like a smartphone with a wide (21:9) vertical display, the same as the Galaxy Z Fold7. In this state, it can be used for everyday use, and can be used freely with one hand even when it is difficult to open the main body.
Thickness and weight are a bit of a concern.
The size of the main body is 159.2 x 75.0 x 12.9 mm in the closed state. As expected, it is thick. However, perhaps because the width is a few millimeters narrower than that of a typical large smartphone, it was a thickness that became unnoticeable as I held it.
What was more interesting was the weight. The Galaxy Z TriFold weighs 309g, which is about 1.4 times heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold7 at 215g or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship at 218g. However, considering the convenience of being able to expand from here to a horizontal tablet, we felt that the weight was acceptable.
Exquisite design for easy opening
When opening the main unit, the back is first opened to the right. Then the left side, which should be opened next, is slightly raised from the display surface. This slight gap makes it easier to insert fingertips and open the device smoothly. I felt that this is indeed a design unique to Samsung, which has been releasing folding smartphones for six years.
This folding type is called "G-type. Incidentally, Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate Desing is a "Z-type" phone that folds in three layers, so it does not have this mechanism.
Comfortable 10-inch display, amazing thinness
Fully open to reveal a 10-inch display. The aspect ratio is 4:3, so any content can be comfortably displayed in full screen. For example, in the case of a two-fold smartphone, the top and bottom margins (hidden area) become large when trying to display a video, but the Galaxy Z TriFold eliminates such viewing difficulties.
When open, the Galaxy Z TriFold is an astonishingly thin 3.9 mm. When closed, the Z TriFold is quite thick for a smartphone, but when opened, it is extremely thin for a tablet. No tablet is thinner than this, with only the Mate XT Ultimate Desing at 3.6m, which is also tri-fold. If it is this thin, it will not get in the way at all even if you put it in your bag while it is open.
Ideal for creative use with three applications at your disposal.
Considering it as a thin 10-inch tablet, the Galaxy Z TriFold can be comfortably used as a gaming machine. The chipset is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform for Galaxy. Although it is inferior to the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, it still boasts high performance. With the Galaxy Z TriFold, you can " carry a 10-inch tablet in your pocket for gaming.
With split-screen display, up to three apps can be displayed side by side. In addition, multiple apps can be switched freely, such as a pop-up display of a calculator or other apps. This split-screen display is possible even when the screen is in portrait orientation.
In addition, the desktop mode can also be used. Samsung calls it "DeX mode. Samsung tablets have supported DeX mode, but smartphones (including bifolds) have only been able to use it with an external display connected via USB cable or Wi-Fi. The Galaxy Z TriFold is a fusion of a smartphone and tablet device, which means it can display a desktop on its own.
If it can do all this, we can say that the 309g weight is not a concern. However, if you are currently using a regular smartphone and do not feel dissatisfied with it, or if you are using a bi-fold smartphone and find it troublesome to open it, a tri-fold smartphone is not for you. The product is suitable for those who "want to use the large screen of a tablet anytime, but want to use it as a smartphone when on the move. The price in Korea is about 380,000 yen. This price may be reasonable if you consider it as an up-front investment that will give you a sense of the new evolution of smartphones and tablets.
▼Photo & Written by Yasuhiro Yamane/Yasuhiro Yamane Blog: http://www.hkyamane.com/ X: https://x.com/hkyamane/ Note: https://note.com/hkyamane/
Sorry, this article is only available in Japanese and 繁體中文. at the moment.
