{"id":316411,"date":"2025-12-15T00:52:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T00:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/316411\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T00:52:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T00:52:15","slug":"the-galaxy-z-trifold-is-an-impressive-feat-of-innovation-but-heres-why-it-leaves-me-concerned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/316411\/","title":{"rendered":"The Galaxy Z TriFold is an impressive feat of innovation, but here’s why it leaves me concerned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beyond the Alphabet<\/p>\n

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\"Android\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

Beyond the Alphabet<\/a> is a weekly column that focuses on the tech world both inside and out of the confines of Mountain View.<\/p>\n

On paper, the Galaxy Z TriFold sounds like practically the perfect upgrade for someone who has been using foldable phones for years. It’s thin, fast, has a solid camera system, and has an even larger screen when unfolded.<\/p>\n

When it was announced, my excitement obviously boiled over, as is usually the case when new foldable phones<\/a> are announced. Since then, my excitement has slowly been diminishing to the point that I don’t know if I’ll actually try and buy one at launch. (Who am I kidding, of course I am.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Even if I do fork over one of my kidneys to pay the likely even more exorbitant price tag, I’m kind of unsure how long it’ll remain my daily carry. And frankly, I have Harish to blame for this, as he recently got some hands-on time with the Galaxy Z TriFold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

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\"Click\n<\/p>\n

Enjoy our content? Make sure to set Android Central as a preferred source<\/a> in Google Search, and find out why you should<\/a> so that you can stay up-to-date on the latest news, reviews, features, and more.<\/p>\n

Odd design choice<\/p>\n

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\"Samsung\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

Leading up to the announcement, something in my head just told me that Samsung would adopt a design similar to the Huawei Mate XT<\/a>. Instead of just two screen sizes to choose from, the Mate XT lets you keep one screen closed, giving you a total of three screen configurations.<\/p>\n

This adds another layer of versatility, as there will likely be times when I don’t want to use a 10-inch tablet but would be okay with using an 8-inch one. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the way Samsung decided to go, and I’m really curious as to why.<\/p>\n

DeX Mode should’ve been the default<\/p>\n

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\"Galaxy\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

Something else that left me a bit confused is that if Samsung is only going to give us two configuration options, why isn’t DeX Mode the default layout<\/a> when unfolding the phone? It’s the same question I’ve been asking for years whenever a new Galaxy Tab is released, as Android just isn’t well-suited for larger displays without a boatload of tinkering.<\/p>\n

Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android<\/p>\n

And it’s not like you can just seamlessly install a different launcher<\/a>, because of API limitations, resulting in a very broken experience. Technically, it is possible, but installing and using different launchers requires a bit of tinkering with Bixby Routines or something like Tasker. Instead, I’ll unfold the TriFold and be greeted by a home screen with more wasted space than you can shake a stick at.<\/p>\n

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\"External\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

To be clear, I’m not talking about the “old” DeX Mode, which more closely resembled that of a desktop-like interface. I’m talking about the “New DeX,” revamped with One UI 8<\/a> and built on Android 16 Desktop Mode<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Basically, it’s a hybrid launcher that can look like a more traditional desktop, with added benefits like widgets, something that wasn’t possible before. Now would’ve been the perfect time to introduce such a change, especially with the release of a (mostly) new product category.<\/p>\n

Last-gen<\/p>\n

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\"Snapdragon\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

Originally, this was the part when I was going to complain about a potentially $3,000 phone not having the latest flagship processor. And to a certain extent, I still feel that way, and not just because I’m a sucker for the latest and greatest. But it’s for the same reason that I harp on Samsung and Google<\/a> for not including flagship cameras in their most expensive phones.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy<\/a> is an extremely performant processor, and will definitely last for as long as those trifold screens do. But I also think it would’ve been pretty damn awesome to see the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5<\/a> at the helm.<\/p>\n

That being said, doing so would have likely meant an even higher price tag. Not to mention that the current DRAM shortage gives phone makers enough of a reason to charge higher prices, not just to boost profit margins.<\/p>\n

Even higher prices are looming<\/p>\n

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\"Samsung\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

It’s also possible that the Galaxy Z TriFold will be among the first phones to suffer from such issues, since we still don’t know how much it will cost in North America. Samsung launched pre-orders for the TriFold in its home country of South Korea, with an asking price of KRW 3,590,400. When converted to dollars, that equals about $2,400.<\/p>\n

Which is surprising enough in its own right, as it’s only $400 more than the base model Galaxy Z Fold 7<\/a>. Considering that this is going to be a niche within a niche kind of device, that’s actually a lot better than I was expecting.<\/p>\n

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\"Huawei\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

What’s crazy is that Samsung reportedly sold out of the TriFold “in minutes<\/a>,” but so did the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition<\/a>. So I’m not really sure if it’s a testament to excitement about the phone, if it’s just because that’s the brand loyalty Samsung has at home, or if the first product run is just a small one.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned before, I’ll probably still try to get the Z TriFold once it’s officially released here in the States. But I’d be lying if I said that Huawei’s Mate XT might end up being the better implementation of this new form factor.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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\"samsung\n<\/p>\n

A new beginning<\/p>\n

After years of mostly recycling the same design over and over, Samsung finally shot for the moon with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It’s ultra slim, ultra powerful, and of course, ultra expensive, but it’s still the best book-style foldable for most. <\/p>\n

FAQWhen is the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold being released?<\/p>\n

Currently, Samsung has only made pre-orders for its upcoming Z TriFold smartphone available in South Korea. However, the company has confirmed it will be bringing the phone to more markets in 2026. <\/p>\n

How much does the Galaxy Z TriFold cost?<\/p>\n

Samsung has yet to reveal global price information regarding the Galaxy Z TriFold. In South Korea, pre-orders were priced at KRW 3,590,400, which converts to $2,434.20 USD. <\/p>\n

How large are the Galaxy Z TriFold screens?<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Z TriFold has a 6.5-inch Cover Screen and a 10-inch inner screen when the phone is completely unfolded. Unfortunately, you can’t fold over just one portion of the display and use a smaller main screen.<\/p>\n

Does the Galaxy Z TriFold bring back S Pen support?<\/p>\n

Sadly, it doesn’t appear as though the Galaxy Z TriFold offers S Pen functionality, a feature that was removed with the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition and subsequently the Galaxy Z Fold 7. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beyond the Alphabet (Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich \/ Android Central) Beyond the Alphabet is a weekly column that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2306,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-316411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}