January 10, 2026
Triple-fold or triple-fail?
Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold hands-on
Pocket laptop vibes, fragile-phone fears
TLDR: Samsung’s TriFold turns a pocket phone into a 10-inch tablet with desktop-like mode. Commenters are dazzled by the wow factor but split hard, warning Samsung’s foldables feel fragile and advising most people to wait a few generations until durability and reliability improve.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Z TriFold is a pocket phone that unfolds into a 10-inch screen, and the crowd went full popcorn mode. Early hands-on at CES has people split between swoon and doom. One camp is dazzled — it’s like carrying a tiny laptop: unfold, run DeX (Samsung’s desktop-like mode), pair a keyboard, boom. Commenters dubbed it “CEO showpiece” and noted it’s only the second tri-fold ever, after Huawei’s China-only try. The hype is real, but the trust? Not so much. A veteran warns Samsung’s ZFold line is “fragile,” with their unit lasting a year, and says first-gen buyers are basically beta testers.
Then there’s the thickness fight. Closed at 12.9mm, fans joked it’s a “triple-decker tech sandwich,” while defenders point out it’s slimmer than the old Z Fold 5 and comfy thanks to a 6.5-inch cover screen. Camera talk? Meh — same setup as the Z Fold 7. Processor nitpicks? Eye-rolls. Meme-lords declared “cargo pants supremacy,” minimalists asked where their pockets went. Final vibe from the thread: massive wow, cautious wallets. The TriFold looks wild, but commenters want Samsung to prove durability before they fold their cash.
Key Points
- •Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold unfolds to a roughly 10-inch display with a ~4:3 aspect ratio.
- •The device supports Samsung DeX, offering a windowed, desktop-like interface on the phone.
- •Closed thickness is 12.9mm; compared to Z Fold 7 at 8.9mm and Z Fold 5 at 13.4mm.
- •Cover screen is 6.5 inches and designed for comfortable typing, improving on pre-2025 Folds.
- •Shares camera setup with Z Fold 7 (200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto) and uses Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy.