There have been two notable developments in the world of Samsung in the past few days. Firstly, the brand unleashed the eye-wateringly pricey Galaxy Z TriFold without seemingly much fanfare. Secondly, said device quickly sold out – in a few hours, in fact.
That’s pretty unusual for Samsung devices – especially because there wasn’t any of the typical trade-in deals that you usually see on these devices. It seems that a lot of people were happy to lay down $2,899 right off the bat for the Galaxy Z TriFold without even having to hand over an old device to get a discount.
The Galaxy Z TriFold was an unusual launch
The TriFold launch played out like a soft-launch, or even a beta-run
One of the telltale signs that Samsung was planning something a little different with the TriFold’s launch is that the brand didn’t run its usual reservation campaign for the device.
It’s one of Samsung’s signature moves to run an email registration campaign in the run-up to a launch to drum up hype for the new model. It usually teases a few features here or there without revealing any concrete details. Of course, everyone knows what models are going to be released – like Apple, Samsung always keeps to its usual release schedule.
The TriFold was kind of unusual in that Samsung announced the device, gave press hands-on time, and even told us the price before launch. The device wasn’t even put up for preorder this time – although I believe a select few potential customers received early access via the Samsung App.
The whole TriFold launch has played out like a soft-launch, or even a beta-run, in my opinion. I can’t imagine the brand sold a lot of these devices at the heady sum of $2,899, so it was probably a fairly limited run to prove the TriFold concept has legs.
I expect Samsung will stick to the plan for the S26
What I’m expecting
Trade-in rebates usually range $800 to $1,100
On the topic of the upcoming Galaxy S26, I expect Samsung to revert to its tried-and-tested methods. There might not be a reservation campaign, but the brand will almost certainly have a small preorders window with big trade-in rebates – and, unlike the TriFold, you can expect the devices to be available from the major carriers, too.
As of writing, Samsung hasn’t confirmed any prices, but I imagine it will be somewhere in the rough $800 to $1,299 ball-park if you buy a device outright unlocked. For rebates, they usually range from $800 to $1,100, with the biggest discounts being tied to 24 and 36-month unlimited plans at major carriers.
The Galaxy TriFold is, to my knowledge, the only phone launch from a major brand in recent times to deviate from the usual trade-in scenario. I would be shocked if there wasn’t some kind of big discount on the device for potential preorders. Of course, if the Galaxy S26 releases and there’s no big trade-in rebate, then you can email me in a few weeks and quote this article.
More Galaxy S26 content at TechRadar
If you’re looking to get a fantastic summary of the most likely features and specs of the upcoming phones, I highly recommend checking out our Galaxy S26 rumors rated page. As a brief overview, we think the most likely upgrades will be a new privacy display, chipset, and magnetic wireless charging. There’s also an outside chance the devices may debut at a higher price due to the ongoing RAM shortage crisis.
Expect plenty more updates and reports as we head closer to late February, which is when we’re expecting these devices to drop, including the best deals to preorder once the devices are finally available.
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alex.whitelock@futurenet.com (Alex Whitelock)
