Updated Dec. 4 with more details of release date and pricing.
The next Samsung smartphone has been revealed. The Galaxy Z TriFold is a folding phone with two hinges so its internal screen opens out to be the size of a 10-inch tablet. Here’s when it will arrive and how much it’ll cost.
Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold Release Date: Friday, Dec. 12
That’s the date that the new phone will go on sale. But there’s a catch: it’s in South Korea only, where it will be available to view from Dec. 9 in 20 stores.
It will be available more widely, but no date has yet been attached. “Samsung Electronics will launch the ‘Galaxy Z Trifold’ in Korea on the 12th and then launch it sequentially to global markets such as China, Taiwan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States,” Samsung said in a newsroom post.
No exact date yet, then, though I’d be astonished if it was before 2026. A report from Bloomberg comments that it will ship in very limited volume.
And a more recent update from Tom’s Guide claimed that while no actual date has been set, there is at least a clue. “As for the U.S., Samsung says it’ll be coming sometime in Q1 2026,” it reported.
“Given that January or February could also see the next Galaxy Unpacked event for the Galaxy S26 series, it’ll be interesting to see if Samsung will wait to release the TriFold later in Q1, just to make room in between releases,” it went on.
Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold Price
“ ‘Galaxy Z Trifold’ is released as a single model of ‘Crafted Black’ color in 512GB storage with 16GB memory, and the price is 3,594,000 won,” Samsung said, which is around $2,450.
That’s not cheap, but there’s a lot in the box, it seems. “The ‘Galaxy Z Trifold’ package includes ‘Carbon Shield Case’, ’45W Fast Charger’, and ‘Data Cable’ as basic components,” Samsung added.
It’s worth adding that the U.S. price is not expected to be an exact translation of the Korean price and there have been rumors that the price could be as high as $2,999. We’ll see. I suspect Samsung will pick a price that’s high, to confirm this is a premium product, but not impossible.
As to what else to expect from the phone, there are neat details in the Bloomberg report. “At its thinnest point, the TriFold measures 3.9 millimeters (0.15 inch). Inside, it contains a 5,600 milliamp-hour battery, marking the largest capacity that Samsung has used in a folding phone so far. The battery provides as much as 17 hours of consecutive video playback with the TriFold display fully open,” it reads. You can also read details about the phone on Prakhar Khanna’s post here on Forbes.
The phone will close by folding left and right parts in to the middle — so not a Z shape at all. Mind you, two folds doesn’t sound like “trifold” to me either. I fear it’s too late for sensible minds to get hold of this and rename phones with two folds as Bifold, but the name is irksome, to say the least, or am I just being pedantic?
“In a brief hands-on session, the TriFold was intuitive to use. If the user begins to fold it incorrectly — by closing the right side before the left, for instance — the phone quickly warns them with on-screen notifications and physical vibrations,” Bloomberg comments.
More than that, we know that the Galaxy Z TriFold will have three cameras, matching the Galaxy Z Fold7, meaning the new phone will include a 200MP main camera.
Read the full article here
