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This probably isn't the first video you're watching about the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, but it is the one that's answering the questions that matter.

Mark goes hands-on with Samsung’s trifold phone to figure out how usable it really is, what the fold and creases are like, how it feels in daily use and who this phone is actually for.

When the hype wears off, is this actually a smartphone you'll want to buy?

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Transcript
00:00This is the Galaxy Z Fold 7. This is the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold, which is actually officially coming
00:05to the U.S. And we want to answer all of your biggest questions about the biggest
00:10phone slash tablet on the market at about 10 inches. Let's get into it.
00:16So one big difference between the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold
00:21is the main display. So 8 inches over here, 10 inches here. But the reason why it seems so much
00:27bigger is because of the aspect ratio. This is more square. So no matter how you hold it,
00:31you're going to have black bars above and below the display. On the right-hand side here, you could
00:36see that the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold is almost all screen. So it's a huge difference in terms of just
00:42the
00:42sheer immersive factor when watching content. Another big difference with the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold
00:48versus the regular Galaxy Z Fold 7 is multitasking. The fact that you have such a large canvas gives
00:54you the ability to run basically three apps at the same time. And you could make the case that
00:59this is like having three candy bar phones in one when you're running those three apps. And you can
01:04save this as a shortcut so you can just pull them all up just with a tap. So if you're
01:08back on your
01:08desktop and you want to go right back into the apps that you had open before, you just swipe up
01:14and then you see it over here saved. And then you're right back in running the three apps
01:20all together. For me, it's just like not having to worry about like running out of real estate
01:25because like sometimes you do with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 because you can run like two apps side by
01:29side and then maybe like having a floating window above it. In this case, you just don't have to
01:33worry. One of the questions that you might have is, okay, so how much better is the multitasking?
01:38Is it just about having like three apps instead of two? Actually, you can have a lot more,
01:43especially when you have Dex mode enabled. So this basically gives you a desktop-like environment
01:47on the tablet portion of the Galaxy Z Trifold. So I could start opening apps like Chrome
01:54and then I can bring in photos. I can then have YouTube. And what's great about this is that you
01:59can also just easily resize apps as well as you bring them in. So it gives you like really the
02:04ultimate in terms of flexibility. And I could just, I could keep going if I wanted to. So if I
02:08wanted to bring in like the phone app, I could do that too. This is basically the closest that you
02:13can
02:13get to a desktop experience right on your phone. If you're worried about folding and unfolding this
02:18phone the wrong way, Samsung actually guides you as you're doing it. So you don't make any mistakes.
02:23So for example, if I try to fold this way, I not only get this notification saying that you're doing
02:28a bad thing, but the phone starts to vibrate as if, hey, you might not want to break this really
02:33expensive foldable phone. The right way to do it is this way. So you fold it over here and then
02:38once
02:38over again. And that brings us to the design and why it actually folds the way it does. The reason
02:43why you don't have access to, let's say two displays and then three, and it's just one in three is
02:48because Samsung was more concerned about making sure that they delivered something that was more
02:53durable when it came to the design. So a display is not always exposed on the outside when the phone
03:00is closed. So the only one that you have access to is this, which is the 6.5 inch. So
03:05when closed, the
03:06Galaxy Z Tri-Fold and the Z Fold 7 both have a 6.5 inch display. So you can use
03:11this as your main
03:12phone if you don't want the big screen. Speaking of size, let's talk about thickness because that's
03:17one of the trade-offs of having the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold. And what you see here is that this
03:21is 12.9
03:21millimeters and this is 8.9 over here. So when closed, you could definitely see and notice the
03:27difference and feel it in your hand and in your pocket. And it's heavier too. So in terms of like
03:32where I
03:33would put this and pocketability, I would say I would put the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold in a breast pocket
03:37and still be fairly comfortable, but I can still feel it like weighing me down a little bit or maybe
03:42in my back pocket without sitting down. Whereas this, I could put in my front pocket without a
03:46worry. So that's one of the things that you have to keep in mind when it comes to this foldable
03:50phone.
03:51But let's give Samsung credit where it's due because when open, the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold is actually a
03:55little bit thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at about four millimeters versus 4.2. And it's just barely
04:01large enough to fit that USB-C port. So that's the design. Are there any other compromises when
04:06it comes to the form factor? Not when it comes to the cameras, because you're getting the same exact
04:10camera system as the Galaxy Z Fold 7. So that means a 200 megapixel wide, 12 megapixel ultra wide,
04:16and 10 megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom. Although with the canvas this big, I wish that you could
04:21zoom in a little bit more. That carries over to the selfie cameras too, because you get a 10 megapixel
04:26selfie camera for the front display, as well as a 10 megapixel shooter for the inside.
04:31So you're probably wondering, how long is this thing going to last on a charge? The good news is
04:34that there's a 5,600 milliamp hour battery on the inside, which is the largest in any Samsung phone.
04:40That includes the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which has a 5,000 milliamp hour battery. And the Galaxy Z Fold 7
04:45has a 4,400 milliamp hour battery. There's actually a battery in each of these panels to give you even
04:50longer endurance than hopefully any Samsung phone on the market, and maybe any phone period. But it really
04:55depends on what screen that you're using. If you're using the main display, you should be able to go all
05:00day.
05:00We'll have to see what happens with the 10-inch panel. And when you are running low on juice,
05:04there's more good news, because the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold has 45-watt charging, which is an upgrade
05:10on the 25 watts for the Z Fold 7. Let's talk about durability. While the displays themselves are just
05:15as durable as a Galaxy Z Fold 7, there is a trade-off in terms of the IP rating. So
05:20this is rated IP48,
05:21as opposed to IP68 for the Galaxy Z Fold 7. And what that means is that while the water resistance
05:27is
05:27just as strong on this particular foldable, the dust resistance is not as good. So particles could
05:33get in here when it comes to folding this device. So now to the burning question that a lot of
05:37people
05:38are going to have about the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold. What's the price, and when can I get my hands
05:42on
05:42one? Samsung is not giving anything official yet, but they have told us that it's coming to the U.S.
05:47this year. And then when you look at foreign markets, it's about $2,400, so about $400 more
05:52than the Galaxy Z Fold 7. So I think it really comes down to, are you willing to pay extra
05:56for
05:57that extra real estate, and in terms of the more power and flexibility when it comes to multitasking?
06:02This might sound glib, but I think if you're willing to spend $2,000 on a phone, I think you're
06:06willing to spend a little bit more to get something that's going to give you the equivalent of a laptop
06:10in your pocket. So that's everything that we know so far about the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold, and stay tuned
06:15for our full review to see if it's worth the premium and carrying around something this big. And for more
06:20tech content,
06:21follow us at Tom's Guide on YouTube, TikTok, and more. For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhour.
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