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Marques Brownlee
Samsung Galaxy Z Tri Fold Impressions: NOW It Makes Sense!
Samsung Galaxy Z Tri Fold Impressions: NOW It Makes Sense!
Marques Brownlee
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13:04 · Dec 17, 2025
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0:01
Okay, so this is it.
0:03
Welcome to a hands-on and first impressions of a multifolding smartphone.
0:09
This is the Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold.
0:12
And it might sound crazy,
0:13
like there's already so many comments
0:15
that I've seen about how this looks ridiculous
0:17
and pointless and looks like a gimmick
0:18
and all that,
0:19
but now that I've used this phone,
0:22
this is a device that's actually starting to make foldables make sense to me.
0:27
Hear me out.
0:27
So, this is the shape of most other foldables we've seen.
0:31
Looks, you know, like a single phone
0:32
when it's closed and
0:33
then you open it up to a larger maybe 8 in square,
0:37
which is super cool.
0:38
But this is the trifold.
0:41
It opens not once
0:42
but twice to give you a massive 10-in tablet basically
0:46
that can fit in your pocket.
0:47
And the difference between an 8 in screen
0:49
and a 10-in screen might not sound like much.
0:52
Hold your jokes.
0:53
But it's the shape of that screen,
0:55
the rectangular aspect ratio that's what's making all the difference here.
0:58
Now, this is technically not the first trifold smartphone.
1:01
Uh, this is this is the Huawei Mate XT
1:04
that I made a video about back in 2024.
1:06
This one, though, folded like a Z.
1:09
So, what you have here is this super large display that's folded over the
1:13
outside.
1:13
So, you could use either a single pane
1:15
or a dual pane
1:18
or all the way open
1:19
as this trifold with a huge screen.
1:21
and it's always on the outside exposed to the elements.
1:24
So, this Samsung trifold is a little different.
1:26
It folds a little more like the letter U.
1:28
So, there's a cover display on the outside
1:31
or you can flip it over
1:32
and fully unfold everything to reveal a second interior display,
1:37
which is the one that folds twice.
1:39
So, while you use that,
1:40
the cover display is just kind of sitting unused on the back.
1:44
So, this is really interesting.
1:46
Clearly worse in some ways, but clearly better in some other ways.
1:50
I have a lot of thoughts.
1:51
Uh, but let's just get the specs out of the way first.
1:53
So, it's a Snapdragon 8 Elite 4 Galaxy inside.
1:56
So, it's technically not the absolute latest and greatest 8 Elite Gen 5,
2:00
but it seems like they've been working on this phone for long enough
2:02
that this is the most recent flagship chip they could use,
2:04
and it's obviously only a year old,
2:05
so still a really great chip. 16 gigs of RAM
2:08
and 512 gigs of storage.
2:10
Then there's the triple cameras on the back.
2:12
They're essentially the same ones as the ZFold 7.
2:15
So, a flagship grade 200 megapixel primary camera,
2:17
but then some pretty mid other cameras,
2:20
a 10 megapixel 3x zoom and a 12 megapixel ultrawide.
2:23
The cover display up front is also essentially the same as the ZFold 7,
2:28
6 1/2 in, 21x9, 120 Hz, and 2600 nits.
2:33
The biggest difference, of course,
2:34
is how much phone you're holding
2:36
when you use it in single screen mode
2:39
because you can see all of
2:40
that metal and those hinges.
2:42
This phone is a heftier 12.9 mm thick
2:47
and it's also over 300 gram.
2:49
So, it feels like it's about 50% more phone you're holding than the regular
2:53
Fold.
2:54
Now, looks crazy on camera and looks crazy on paper.
2:58
Those are big numbers, but holding this phone and using it,
3:03
it doesn't it's not sleek by any means, don't get me wrong,
3:06
but it doesn't feel that ridiculous.
3:08
For some perspective, this is actually thinner than the ZFold one
3:14
and the ZFold 2
3:15
and the ZFold 3
3:17
and the ZFold 4
3:18
and the ZFold 5.
3:20
Something to think about.
3:21
Either way, it does mean, you know, while using this phone closed,
3:23
it is a little bit clunky.
3:25
The bezels are pretty thin and all,
3:26
but this is obviously not why you're getting this phone.
3:29
You're getting this phone
3:30
because you can unfold everything
3:32
and you end up with this massive tablet- sized 10-in display.
3:36
So now when it's open,
3:38
this tablet is 3.9 mm thin at its thinnest point,
3:42
which is over here on the left,
3:43
and 4.2 mm at its thickest point.
3:47
So it feels really thin and easy to hold.
3:50
And suddenly 309 g is not so heavy after all.
3:53
And I think context again helps so much with this.
3:55
Most like 10-in tablets are around 500 g, so they're heavier than this.
4:00
But also, most roughly 10-inch tablets, including Samsung's own,
4:04
have like 8,000 milliamp hour batteries.
4:08
Not this one.
4:09
This battery has to be squashed into this super ridiculously thin form factor.
4:13
And it's also split into three separate columns.
4:16
So, this one totals 5600 mAh, which technically, yes,
4:20
is the largest ever in any Samsung folding phone,
4:23
but it's also definitely on the small side for something with a 10-in tablet
4:26
size screen,
4:27
if that makes sense.
4:27
I feel like I've hammered this home so many times this year,
4:29
but silicon carbon battery, maybe maybe the next gen.
4:34
It just feels like the the perfect phone for that.
4:36
Obviously, being super thin like this,
4:38
but it is also still it's actually the fastest charging uh foldable Samsung's ever
4:42
made is 45 watt charging now with a charger included in the box.
4:48
So, that's pretty nice.
4:49
And they also kept 15 watt wireless charging along with the IP48 rating from
4:54
the ZFold 7.
4:55
So, the specs are pretty solid.
4:56
Sure.
4:57
But the reason I'm saying
4:59
that this phone is making foldables make sense now is
5:02
because the screen that you get
5:04
when you unfold it,
5:05
this widescreen 10-in tablet is a massive difference from all the regular folds here.
5:10
I think this really says it all.
5:12
This is a full screen video on a regular slab phone.
5:15
And we're all used to this right now.
5:17
This is the same full screen video on the inside screen of a fold.
5:22
You know, it's a big screen technically.
5:24
It's an 8 in square,
5:25
but the video frame that you're watching is not that much bigger.
5:30
There's just a bunch of blank pixels around it.
5:32
So, this is the same video on the trifold.
5:36
And you see how much better that is.
5:40
That's the main theme here for why this is worth exploring this widescreen aspect
5:45
ratio thing.
5:46
In this case, it's 16 by1
5:48
and it just really makes for a way more expansive canvas. full screen videos.
5:52
Also, full screen games feel really nice.
5:54
There's a ton more real estate for them.
5:56
And while we're at it,
5:57
here's a few more nicely optimized things I noticed
5:59
while playing with this large horizontal display.
6:01
The files app lets you see multiple columns at once,
6:04
so you can fit a whole three layers of the file system deep
6:07
and see it all.
6:08
The YouTube app also looks really nice, basically,
6:11
because it's just the tablet YouTube app,
6:13
so you can scroll related videos
6:15
or read comments while the video still plays in a pretty big window.
6:19
Web browsing is also just better from having a sheer ton of real estate.
6:24
I keep using that phrase, but I actually enjoyed a lot of regular apps,
6:28
just like the web browser
6:29
or social media apps in portrait mode
6:31
and landscape mode just
6:32
because they feel huge.
6:34
Also, sidebyside apps, whether you split them top, bottom, or left, right,
6:38
you can do three apps side by side,
6:40
they all just have way more room to breathe instead of being compressed
6:43
and tiny.
6:44
Oh, and this just happens to be the only Samsung phone
6:47
that they'll let you run Samsung Dex on its own.
6:50
So, without being connected to a monitor,
6:52
it will do the multi-wind
6:53
and multiple spaces with different setups with a connected mouse
6:57
and keyboard.
6:58
And if you do connect it to a monitor,
6:59
you can have it act as a second screen, which is smart.
7:02
I also got to say,
7:02
I've only spent a little bit of time with this phone,
7:04
but I I do feel like you can see
7:06
that it is very well considered.
7:09
Like I I can almost feel like the different variations
7:12
and versions that they went through to get to this point.
7:14
Like for example, opening the phone, you always pull from the same spot.
7:18
They made the bottom leaf of this trifold just a little bit longer than
7:22
the other two.
7:23
So it actually sticks out a little bit.
7:25
And that is super convenient to just grab
7:27
that little lip to open it up.
7:30
And then the strength of the magnets
7:31
that hold it together are really nice
7:32
and solid.
7:33
Then you pull the lip, it opens.
7:35
Then the leftmost hinge also springs nicely open
7:38
because there's a lot of nice force to it.
7:40
It all just feels very solid to open and close.
7:42
Then the nice smooth fiberglass composite on the back.
7:44
You know, this is the only color available for this phone,
7:46
but I also think it makes a lot of sense
7:48
because it's touching screen on the back here.
7:50
It's also a huge finger magnet, so that's too bad.
7:53
But then, you know, you can only fold it a certain way.
7:56
Left side first, then right side, which wraps around it.
8:00
So, if you try to fold the right side first,
8:03
it gives you this little message. and vibrates and tells you, "No,
8:06
don't do that.
8:07
That's not how you fold this phone."
8:09
Also, without a case, I noticed that just like the Fold 7,
8:12
this is one of the biggest rockers on a table the world has ever
8:14
seen.
8:15
But alongside that charger,
8:16
this phone also comes with a case that basically fixes that.
8:19
So, what's the catch?
8:20
There's got to be a reason why not everyone's doing this.
8:23
There has to be downsides, right?
8:25
Well, yes, but there's not that many.
8:28
Like, the middle screen is the obvious one.
8:30
This is going to be the most delicate part of the phone having a
8:32
display that not only folds twice,
8:35
but also folds in two different directions and with two different radi.
8:40
Like you can obviously see these creases if you're looking for them,
8:43
but you can also see
8:45
that the crease on the left is a little bit smaller than the crease
8:49
on the right because it is a tighter curve radius
8:51
when you fold it up versus folding the right side around the left side.
8:55
I also obviously don't have any long-term data on using this phone,
8:58
but I would I would consider this a firstgen device
9:01
when thinking about durability
9:03
and how that might go.
9:04
I mean, it's nice that it is fully protected on the inside,
9:06
but it's just it's going to be a delicate screen.
9:08
It's also not the brightest in the world.
9:09
So, the outside screen is full 2600 nits.
9:12
The inside uh is only 1,600,
9:15
so kind of limits like the outdoor use and super high brightness stuff.
9:20
Stuff that I guess I expect with firstg.
9:22
You could also totally say
9:23
that the thickness and weight
9:24
while using it closed is a con
9:26
because obviously it's worse than normal folds today.
9:30
But then again, I really I just I don't know how much thinner this
9:33
thing can actually get.
9:34
I mean, they they still have to get a decent battery in there
9:37
and decent speakers and still a USB type-C port.
9:41
This is starting to feel pretty close to the dimensional limit of a trifold
9:46
setup.
9:46
So, it will be interesting to see, you know,
9:48
how they evolve it from here and what a second generation actually looks like.
9:52
But then, of course, the elephant in the room, price, obviously.
9:55
I mean, this is two screens,
9:57
so twice as many screens as a normal phone.
10:00
It's twice as many parts.
10:01
Obviously, twice as many hinges as a regular Fold.
10:05
It's like 50% more screen
10:06
and then also 50% more thickness
10:08
and 50% more weight.
10:11
So, 50% more price.
10:13
Now, Samsung in the US has not given me an official cost for what
10:16
this is going to retail for here,
10:17
but I bought this one uh and I imported it from Samsung Korea.
10:22
And this cost the equivalent of about $2,500 US there.
10:28
So, I'm just doing the math.
10:30
I expect it to probably be in the same range,
10:32
$2,500 to $3,000 here, which is a lot.
10:35
It's pricey.
10:36
It's the top of the range, but also maybe maybe not insane.
10:40
You know, I think my take is for the right person who knows what
10:43
they're getting into,
10:44
this can be worth it.
10:45
I really think this would be a nice fun phone to use
10:48
and daily for having a legit 10-in display,
10:52
a tablet in your pocket wherever you go.
10:54
Like, that's such a game.
10:56
And it's interesting now to see different approaches to the trifold thing with the
11:00
Z that folds to the outside.
11:02
And sometimes the ability to use half open is kind of interesting,
11:07
but again it's just the square
11:08
when I just feel like the rectangle huge thing is way more interesting.
11:12
So yeah, I don't know.
11:14
This is this is really cool.
11:15
And it's also just hilarious that this exists from Samsung, isn't it?
11:18
Like the same company
11:19
that is ridiculously slowm moving
11:21
and chill and conservative on their Galaxy S phones.
11:25
Like they don't want to change too much.
11:26
They don't want to rock the boat or do anything crazy.
11:29
But they'll also try this this completely insane trifold thing
11:33
and just throw stuff at the wall to see
11:35
if it sticks and maybe it'll stick.
11:37
I think people are going to get this phone
11:38
and are going to really like it.
11:40
Obviously the asterisk still is durability.
11:43
We'll see.
11:44
But yeah, it makes sense now.
11:47
Also, did you know Christmas Eve is literally a week from now?
11:51
That's 7 days from when I'm publishing this video.
11:53
So, if you're still gift shopping and haven't found anything great,
11:56
you need to pay attention because Ridge, the sponsor of this video,
11:58
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11:59
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12:02
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12:05
So, if you're not sure where to start,
12:06
I would recommend Ridge's 5in-1 magnetic power bank.
12:09
It's what I use, and pretty much everyone at the studio uses one, too.
12:12
It charges multiple devices at once with USB type-C, lightning, and Mag Safe,
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and has a built-in kickstand.
12:19
And it's sold out multiple times this year.
12:21
It's really good.
12:21
Another personal favorite though is ridges tracker card.
12:24
So instead of having an air tag everywhere,
12:27
it's a slim card
12:28
that fits right into your Ridge wallet
12:29
and works with Apple's fine
12:31
and charges wirelessly.
12:33
And of course, there's the new Ridge 2.0 wallet.
12:35
It's lighter, more modular,
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12:41
So head over to ridge.com/mkbhd for up to 47% off
12:45
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12:46
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12:48
So don't be the one that forgot to get a great gift this year.
12:51
Thanks for watching.
12:52
Let me know what you think of the Trifold in the comments below.
12:55
I think it's a pretty polarizing phone,
12:56
but I'm curious to see what you guys think.
12:59
Peace.
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