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I've tested my fair share of thin and foldable phones over the years, but something about Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold struck me as particularly notable when I held it for the first time at CES 2026 in Las Vegas on Sunday.
At last, it seems foldables are approaching their long-desired goal: a two-in-one device that fits neatly in your pocket.
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The trifold -- which technically folds twice but has three panels -- feels like a true phone-tablet hybrid that stands well apart from its bar-style counterparts. Its value appears to lie less in flashy specs about its thinness and more in its utility and practicality.
Watch this: Hands-On With the Galaxy Z TriFold: A True Phone-Tablet Hybrid
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Yes, the Galaxy Z TriFold feels impressively sleek when open: It's just 3.9mm at its thinnest point and 4.2mm at its thickest, not accounting for the camera bump. It feels wonderfully normal in my hands, to the degree that I didn't really think about its weight of 309 grams as I used it. But the trifold doesn't inspire the same awe as Samsung's book-style Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the bar-style Galaxy S25 Edge, which primarily lean on showcasing an ultra-thin, lightweight design.
The Z TriFold's 6.5-inch cover display is spacious enough to feel like using a non-folding phone.
Celso Bulgatti/CNETInstead, the Galaxy Z TriFold is all about getting things done on a portable scale. Need to shoot off a quick text or check an email? The 6.5-inch cover display feels remarkably close to using a non-folding phone -- minus the slightly chunky 12.9mm thickness when the trifold is closed. And when it's time to watch a movie, multitask or type up a paper, the expansive 10-inch internal display offers plenty of real estate.
That duality makes the Galaxy Z TriFold feel like a true hybrid device that can fill a niche that book-style foldables have yet to satisfy, despite their many efforts.
Folded shut, the Galaxy Z TriFold is 12.9mm thick, which can feel slightly beefy.
Celso Bulgatti/CNETComparing the Z TriFold and the Z Fold 7 at a glance
Placing Samsung's Z TriFold and its two-panel Galaxy Z Fold 7 side by side underscored just how different each phone is.
Yes, you can watch videos at a larger scale on the Z Fold 7's inside display, but that experience pales in comparison to the true tablet-like feel of the unfurled Z TriFold. You can open up to three apps simultaneously on both phones, but doing so on the trifold feels like less of a compromise thanks to its bigger screen. And with Samsung DeX, turning your phone into a mini computer of sorts has never felt more practical, since there's more room to work with.
One of the biggest indicators of how far foldables have come is the fact that both the Z TriFold and the Z Fold 7 pack pretty impressive cameras: a 200-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto camera on the back, along with two 10-megapixel selfie cameras. So if you're choosing between the larger and smaller Samsung foldables, that's one key factor they have in common.
There's a 200-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto camera on the back of the Galaxy Z TriFold.
Abrar Al-Heeti/CNETTwo hinges on the trifold means double the screen creases, but they're thankfully less visible than the Z Fold 7's, which is already pretty subdued. Learning how to close the trifold correctly can be a bit of a learning curve, especially if you're right-handed like me; you'll need to close the left panel first. But each time you (I) mess up, the phone gives haptic feedback and an alert that you (we) are doing it wrong, which is helpful.
What's perhaps most assuring is the trifold's 5,600-mAh battery, which can hopefully allow the phone to power through a full day's use, and then some. The Z Fold 7 has a 4,400-mAh battery, which lasted all day in my initial testing, but without much juice to spare. Hopefully, the Z TriFold remedies that. The trifold's 45-watt super-fast charging is a nice perk, too.
Speaking of charging: Samsung told me the Z TriFold will come with not just a charging cable in the box, but also a charging brick. Nature is healing.
The Galaxy Z TriFold has launched in some parts of the world, but not in the US yet.
Celso Bulgatti/CNETUS release and price
The Z TriFold is already available in Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, my colleague Prakhar Khanna beat me to the punch and got his hands on the phone in Dubai last month.
Samsung has said the Z TriFold will launch in the US in the first quarter of this year. It'll be interesting to see if people in the US respond similarly to those in other countries like Korea, where the phone reportedly sold out in minutes.
Another looming question remains: the price. Samsung didn't share the US price at CES, but we'll likely learn more as we approach the (also unknown) release date. Given the Z Fold 7's $2,000 price tag, though, you might want to start saving up now.
