- A Korean news article suggests Samsung is working on a tri-fold phone
- The rumor follows others pointing to new folding phone models from the tech giant
- No Samsung tri-fold has been confirmed yet
Samsung is seemingly still in the race to be the first phone maker to bring a tri-fold phone to global markets, if a new rumor is anything to go by.
According to a screenshot of an article from Korean news outlet Etnews shared by notable leaker Jukanlosreve on X (formerly Twitter), Samsung are continuing to explore new form factors.
And with the flagship Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 occupying the booklet and clamshell form factors respectively, that leaves the nascent tri-fold category as the most likely candidate.
As the excerpt notes, tri-fold in this instance actually refers to a “double-folding foldable phone” in the style of the Huawei Mate XT, with two hinges that split the phone into three segments.
As a China-exclusive phone with no access to Android or Google apps and services the Huawei Mate XT has little chance of making more than a conceptual impact in most of the world.
This leaves Samsung with the opportunity to establish and potentially lead the tri-fold market elsewhere.
The part of the article Jukanlosreve shared suggests that Samsung may focus on producing the highest quality product, as the company can no longer be the first to produce a phone of this kind.
We think this is a likely strategy, as the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 are some of the best folding phones on the market, and Samsung’s attention to quality is evident in comparison with some competitors.
With that said, here are three things we want to see from a Samsung Galaxy tri-fold:
Less noticeable creases
Samsung’s excellent build quality is renowned, especially in the folding phone market, but the creases on its folding displays are more noticeable than competitors like the OnePlus Open.
This far from a dealbreaker, especially when the screen is divided up for multitasking. However, two noticeable creases on a large 10 or 11-inch screen would likely diminish the sense of scale, and make the display feel more segmented than seamless.
Top-quality cameras
Samsung’s Z Fold series has yet to feature a camera system that matches – or even truly approaches – that of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra slab phone.
We expect any tri-fold Samsung device to be ludicruously expensive at launch, and hope that a high price will allow Samsung to deck out the phone with the best specs – including a camera system that gets closer to flagship grade.
There are some physical space constraints that prevent folding devices from having quite the same camera power as slab phones, but the 200MP camera affixed to the Asia-exclusive Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition shows that Samsung is finding workarounds.
Flexible software
Samsung has always allowed more flexibility with its devices than Apple – its Galaxy phones can be used as desktop devices through the DeX system, and its line of S Tab tablets are commonly marketed more like laptops than mobile devices.
The prospect of a tablet-sized device in your pocket becomes even more exciting in Samsung’s hands because of this flexibility.
We hope that the potential Galaxy tri-fold will come with full keyboard-and-mouse, S Pen, and DeX support at launch, which would take the concept of a tri-fold from “very large phone” to “hyper-portable workstation”.
Previous Galaxy tri-fold rumors
These latest rumors track with recent reports that Samsung is exploring new options for its foldables lineup, including tri-fold designs.
We previously reported on a leaked corporate call that suggested Samsung is exploring new form factors, alongside cheaper versions of the Z Flip and Z Fold,
And prior to that, we covered rumors suggesting the codenames for the mainline Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 had leaked, alongside a third codename that we think is either the suggested tri-fold or a variant of the Z Fold similar to the Z Fold Special Edition.
We’d love to welcome some new folding phones to our list of the best Samsung phones, but for the moment the above is almost entirely based on rumors and leaks.
For the latest official updates as we hear them, be sure to check out our Samsung phones coverage.
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
