Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold hands-on

Let me start this off by saying the Galaxy Z TriFold immediately gave me flashbacks to Samsung’s very first Galaxy Fold. Even the unboxing experience feels special.

Inside the box, you get the phone, a case, and a 45W charger, or two more accessories than what Samsung includes with Galaxy phones these days.

My first impression of the phone itself was unexpected. I honestly thought it would be bigger and much thicker. Instead, the TriFold is surprisingly slim when folded, even slimmer than a Galaxy Z Flip that has a case on.

The color and finish are beautiful. The back has a carbon fiber-like pattern that looks stellar, especially when light hits it at the right angle. That said, I’m still struggling to get used to using a case on this device. The phone is already fairly thick when folded, and adding a case makes it noticeably bulkier.

Folding the phone for the first time was genuinely impressive. Holding a device that folds twice still feels a little surreal. You do need to learn which section to fold first, though.

Samsung shows an on-screen animation to guide you, but only if the display is turned on. Thankfully, there’s no risk of folding it the wrong way—even with a lot of pressure, the hinges simply won’t allow it.

The bezels around the main display are thicker than on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. That may feel like a downgrade at first, but it’s important to remember this is Samsung’s first-generation TriFold. Some compromises are expected.

The G-shaped folding design makes a lot of sense, as it protects the inner display when the device is closed. From the side, however, you can clearly see that one part of the phone is wider than the other. That really triggered my OCD.

Samsung likely did this intentionally to improve grip or make unfolding easier, but I personally would have preferred a more symmetrical look.

Booting up the phone felt familiar, just like using any other Galaxy smartphone. But once you fully unfold it, things change completely. While there’s no Flex Mode support, meaning you can’t comfortably use it half folded, the main display makes far more sense than what we currently get on the Galaxy Z Fold lineup.

In landscape orientation, the TriFold genuinely feels like a small tablet display in your hands. Multitasking works exactly as you’d expect (you can run up to three portrait apps side by side), and resizing app windows is smooth and intuitive.

Using it in portrait mode gave me a funny but familiar feeling, like being handed a tablet at a restaurant to place an order. The difference is that this tablet is mine, and I’m scrolling through the web or watching TikToks.

Unfortunately, without Flex Mode, you can’t make the TriFold stand on its own unless you’re using a case, which is a bit of a letdown.

Samsung DeX on the Galaxy Z TriFold is a mixed bag. There is no clear, system-wide toggle to switch DeX on or off. Yes, you can enable DeX directly on the device, similar to how it works on Samsung’s tablets, but the visual differences between DeX and the regular interface are easy to miss.

More than once, I found myself opening an app or diving into the settings menu, only to realize I was suddenly in DeX mode instead of the standard One UI interface. This may become less of an issue over time as you get used to how the device behaves, but out of the box, it’s not immediately obvious which mode you’re in.

App compatibility is another limitation. Not all apps are optimized for the TriFold’s massive main display yet. One notable example is X, which opens and functions normally but is forced into DeX mode on the full display. You can work around this by running it on part of the display as a regular phone app, but it’s a clear sign that developers will need time to adapt their apps to this new form factor.

As for carrying it around, the feeling is magical. The original Galaxy Fold already felt special, letting you carry a large display everywhere. The TriFold takes that feeling to another level, and any foldable owner will understand this.

Being able to fold a display once is wild enough, but folding it twice and ending up with wide-screen Netflix or YouTube is something else entirely. It genuinely put a smile on my face.

Our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold is coming with the next 30 days. It’s a bit later than we originally planned due to the holiday season, but we won’t be sitting still in the meantime. Expect more opinions and impressions as we spend more time with Samsung’s most ambitious foldable yet.