I didn’t see the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold the way most people see phones at CES. No crowds. No glass boxes. No security hovering nearby.
This was a closed-door demo at CES 2026, the kind where you’re actually encouraged to use the device instead of just photographing it. And after spending time with it, the private setting made sense. This isn’t a phone Samsung wants judged in five seconds.
The TriFold isn’t flashy in the usual CES way. It’s thoughtful. Almost cautious. And that’s what makes it interesting.
It feels wrong, until it suddenly feels right
Folded shut, the first impression isn’t great. At 12.9mm, it’s thick. Noticeably thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 7. You’re aware of it in your hand, and even more aware of it in your pocket.
But then you unfold it. Then again.
Fully opened, the TriFold is just 3.9mm thin, and that contrast is jarring in the best way. Laid flat, it feels closer to a glass panel than a phone. People nearby noticed too. Not because Samsung told them to, but because the form factor genuinely looks unexpected in real life.
At full stretch, you’re holding a 10-inch AMOLED tablet. Despite the size, it never feels clumsy. Samsung has clearly spent time balancing the weight, because even standing and using it one-handed on a busy CES floor, it doesn’t fight you.
That’s rare for something this ambitious.
The hinge is doing more than you think
It’s easy to describe the TriFold as “a foldable with an extra hinge,” but that misses the point. The engineering here is subtle, not loud.
Samsung uses two different magnet systems that alternately pull and push depending on how the device is opening. You don’t see this happening, but you feel it. The folds guide themselves into place. There’s no hesitation, no stiffness, and no sense that you’re stressing the hardware.
That’s what surprised me most. For something mechanically complex, the TriFold feels calm. Predictable. Confident.
The screen shape finally makes sense
The real unlock moment comes when you start using the display.
Samsung went with a 4:3 aspect ratio for the 10-inch inner screen, and it quietly fixes one of the biggest complaints about large foldables. On the Fold series, the near-square display always felt like a compromise. Good for multitasking, awkward for video.
Here, content fits naturally. Movies don’t feel boxed in. Apps breathe. The screen behaves like a tablet screen, not a stretched phone display.
It’s the kind of decision that doesn’t sound exciting on paper, but changes everything once you’re actually watching something.
Multitasking stops feeling like a party trick
This is also the first foldable where multitasking doesn’t feel like a demo designed for stage presentations.
I had multiple apps open, floating windows layered on top, videos playing, messages popping in, and it all felt usable. Not cramped. Not chaotic. Just functional.
For the first time, a foldable feels genuinely capable of replacing a tablet for work-heavy use cases.
The compromises don’t hide
That said, this isn’t a perfect device.
The 200MP main camera performs well, but the zoom camera doesn’t quite match the ambition of the rest of the phone. Battery life is another reality check. With a 5,600mAh battery powering a near 10-inch display, Samsung’s claimed eight to nine hours of heavy use feels believable, but not reassuring.
And there’s a visual downside too. On a screen this large, lower-resolution content looks worse than it does on smaller phones. Once you’ve seen high-quality video here, 1080p content starts to feel soft in a way that’s hard to unsee.
A concept that happens to turn on
Walking away, the Galaxy Z TriFold didn’t feel like a normal product launch. It felt more like Samsung showing its homework. Proof that triple folding can work, feel refined, and actually make sense.
There’s one catch. Samsung has confirmed that this device isn’t coming to India, at least not this generation. For now, it remains a preview of where foldables are headed, not something most people can buy.
And that’s probably fine.
The Galaxy Z TriFold isn’t trying to win mass appeal yet. It’s Samsung exploring the edges of what a phone can be. And after using it, one thing feels clear: foldables haven’t peaked. They’re just getting started.
