Samsung’s Foldable Future: Is the Smartphone About to Change Shape Again — For Good This Time?

When you first unfold the Galaxy Z TriFold, a specific moment occurs. The device opens once, which is already impressive, and then opens again. A full 10-inch screen that shouldn’t have been in your shirt pocket a moment ago is revealed when the second hinge releases with a soft mechanical click. It’s the kind of thing that causes people to pause in the middle of a sentence. Samsung has been pursuing that response for almost ten years, and with the release of the TriFold in December 2025, it has at last created something that justifies it without an asterisk.

Contrary to the polished launch presentations, the journey to this point has been messier and longer. Concerns about fragility, last-minute delays, and early review units with damaged screens surrounded the 2019 release of the original Galaxy Fold. The device was thick, heavy, and cost $1,980, which seemed more like a proof-of-concept invoice than a retail price. While the rest of the industry watched and waited, Samsung quietly iterated through successive generations and shipped it despite the criticism. More than any one technological innovation, it’s possible that perseverance led to the creation of a foldable that is worth owning.

Launched in July 2025, the Z Fold 7 makes a significant statement about the advancements in hardware. It weighs 215 grams and measures 8.9 millimeters when closed and just 4.2 millimeters when unfolded. These dimensions place it on par with the thinnest competing devices from Honor and Oppo, two Chinese manufacturers who have been aggressively closing Samsung’s design advantage for the past two years. The pressure to compete is genuine. Samsung’s share of the global foldable market decreased from 54% in 2023 to 45% in 2024. This decline is significant because the company’s premium identity is heavily reliant on being the industry leader. Both Oppo’s Find N5 and Honor’s Magic V5 are truly great phones, and consumers are taking notice.

Instead of just matching what’s coming from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Samsung has responded by moving more quickly and farther. The most obvious manifestation of that impulse is the TriFold. It has a 5,600 mAh three-cell battery spread across its three panels, a 200-megapixel primary camera, and two Armor FlexHinges designed to manage the mechanical complexity of folding twice without noticeable give or wobble. When fully unfolded, it measures just 3.9 millimeters at its thinnest point. Delivering portability, performance, and productivity in a single form factor is one of the industry’s longstanding issues, according to TM Roh, Samsung’s head of device experience. That’s a bold assertion that, for once, doesn’t sound like marketing jargon.

Beyond any one device, Samsung is actually attempting to create a new class of use cases. The TriFold comes with a standalone Samsung DeX, a complete desktop-mode working environment that can be accessed straight from the phone. This means that, theoretically, a user can connect a Bluetooth keyboard, open three apps at once in portrait orientation across that 10-inch screen, and work on something substantial without ever reaching for a laptop. It’s still debatable whether the majority of people genuinely want to do that. Compared to the general consumer, the enterprise market appears more likely to be an early adopter; architects, consultants, and traveling professionals who carry both a phone and a tablet are clear targets. Combining those two devices into one is a value proposition that only needs adequate hardware, not a shift in consumer behavior.

As we move forward, Samsung’s plan for 2026 and 2027 becomes noticeably more speculative. According to reports, a “Wide Fold” version—possibly included in the Fold 8 series—is being developed to solve the ongoing issue that existing foldables result in a narrow cover screen with an awkward aspect ratio when closed. Timelines are still unknown, but it has been reported that a rollable device with a 12.4-inch display that extends outward rather than folds is on the horizon. According to several reports, a vertical sliding phone that extends upward to completely remove the visible crease is also being developed for 2027. It’s unclear if all of these ideas are understood by consumers. Samsung has a track record of disclosing advanced form factors in public before discreetly changing or postponing them.

Observing all of this, including product launches, trade exhibitions, and strategically timed leaks, gives the impression that Samsung is juggling two projects at once. At the hardware level, it is truly innovative; the TriFold’s hinge system alone is the result of years of accumulated precision manufacturing and material science. However, due in part to Apple’s anticipated 2026 entry into the foldable market, it is also racing against a deadline it did not set. Apple‘s arrival will likely accelerate consumer adoption in a manner that Samsung hasn’t been able to achieve in ten years. For a business that has spent years developing the category mostly on its own, that is an awkward dynamic.

For about fifteen years, the flat, rectangular smartphone has dominated the market. It functions. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, hand, and charging dock. Samsung is aware that changing that is not an easy request. The TriFold does not prove that the flat phone is complete. However, it does present a convincing case for the possibility of something better for the first time in the foldable era. The hinge makes a click. The screen comes up. For an instant, the gadget you’ve been using daily for the past ten years begins to feel a little dated.

Samsung most likely had that in mind.