Samsung's tri-fold phone and XR headset confirmed to launch this year

It has been rumored for quite some time that Samsung will soon launch its tri-folding smartphone, which will keep it two steps ahead of Apple. After revealing earlier this month that its tri-folding phone will launch this year, the South Korean firm has reiterated that it is planning to launch a tri-folding device and an XR headset this year.

During its earnings call with investors earlier today, Samsung revealed that it plans to launch a tri-folding device and an XR headset in the second half of this year. The devices will likely go on sale before the end of this year. That means the company will launch a tri-folding phone, reportedly in October 2025, before Apple launches its first foldable (dual-folding) iPhone in late 2026.

Unlike Huawei's first tri-folding smartphone, the Mate XT Ultimate, the Galaxy Z TriFold will feature two inward folding hinges, so no part of the foldable screen is exposed to the environment when the device is fully folded. That makes it more durable than Huawei's device. It will reportedly be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 16GB RAM, a camera setup similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and 25W fast charging.

In its earnings announcement, the company said it will “reinforce the AI capabilities of tablets and wearables and expand the Galaxy ecosystem with the launch of products with new form-factors, including extended reality (XR) and TriFold devices, and contribute to maintaining solid profitability despite market uncertainties and rising bill of materials (BOM) costs.“

Coming to the XR headset, it will be the world's first device to run Android XR. It will have a pair of Micro OLED or OLEDoS displays with a 90Hz refresh rate and eye tracking. The device will likely be powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip that can handle up to 12 camera feeds concurrently for near real-life video passthrough. It will be powered by an external battery pack.