I was concerned that Samsung’s Galaxy Z Trifold might be too “wired”. It’s too thick and too heavy just to get a 10 inch tablet size display when it’s open. Dual-hinge folding is something it’s chunky, but, oh man, it might be worth it.
At CES 2026, I got a little hands-on time with the Z Trifold, which went on sale in South Korea in December for about $2,400, and had to avoid slipping in my own pool of drool. If you need a refresher, the Z Trifold is Samsung’s biggest foldable phone to date. Closed, it has a 6.5-inch external “cover” screen, which works like a normal touchscreen phone. However, when you open it, the device becomes a 10-inch tablet, giving you more space to watch movies and play games or open multiple applications.
It is truly a sight to behold. This device sounds like the foldable holy grail we’ve been waiting for. It’s a real (not a mini) tablet that fits in your goddamn pocket.
Unlike book-style folds like the Z Fold 7 or the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the Z Trifold’s 10-inch folding screen feels much larger than a regular slab of glass. I watched a few YouTube videos and it felt like I was using an iPad. Reading articles (like our beautiful website) in portrait orientation was much more fun because of the wider real estate screen, too. With DeX mode enabled, I was able to properly open many applications and resize their windows as if I were using a desktop operating system. There was no wireless keyboard or mouse on hand to pair with the demo units, but it’s not hard to imagine how the combination could replace the need for a laptop or tablet and keyboard accessory.
While the Z Trifold is a tank when closed, it’s a bit cramped in tablet mode. However, it did not seem fragile. I did some light flexes, and the device seems solid and sturdy enough. What’s even better is that the two creases on the hinges appear to be less noticeable than previous Samsung folders. I don’t know if this is because these are demo units that haven’t been wrapped up enough times, but the reduced shrinkage is promising, to say the least. The carbon fiber-like finish also has a nice grip to it, which I appreciated.
The IZ Trifold is not perfect, however. When fully exposed, your hands will definitely leave fingerprints on the outer screen. You will definitely need to carry a microfiber cloth if oily prints bother you. There is also the matter of battery life. The IZ Trifold has a 5,600mAh battery, which sounds like a lot, but is actually smaller than the more than 7,000mAh silicon carbide batteries that phones like the OnePlus 15 now ship with.
And the biggest question mark is still the price. Samsung has yet to announce how much the Z Trifold will cost in the US or give a concrete release date. Starting at a price of $2,400-ish after Korean currency conversion, you can expect the wrap to cost at least that much. $2,000 is already a lot of money to swallow for the Z Fold 7. Will consumers be willing to pay more for the Z Trifold to get that big 10-inch screen? I don’t know. What I do know is that Samsung’s first triple-core phone feels more polished than I expected. It apparently uses everything learned from six generations of folding Z Fold and Z Flip.
Now I’m really looking forward to carrying the Z Trifold every day just to see what kind of entertainment and productivity immersion it will open up.
