Samsung doesn’t seem done experimenting with tri-fold phones just yet. A new patent suggests the company could be working on a different take, something that looks a bit more usable day to day.
The concept, referred to as the Galaxy Z TriFold Wide, leans toward a wider form factor. Closed, it would behave more like a regular phone, just slightly wider than usual. Unfold it, and it turns into a larger, tablet-like screen that’s better suited for video and multitasking compared to the first-generation TriFold.
That alone makes it feel like a response to one of the bigger complaints around early multi-fold devices, the awkward aspect ratio.
Samsung’s first tri-fold launched at a very high price, somewhere around $2,899, and didn’t stick around for long due to production challenges. Even so, demand didn’t exactly disappear. Limited restocks reportedly sold out quickly, and resale prices went much higher, which says something about the level of interest.
So while the first version may not have been practical to produce at scale, it clearly got people’s attention.
The wider approach also lines up with other rumors around Samsung’s foldables. There’s been talk of a Galaxy Z Fold 8 moving in a similar direction, with a more balanced display. If that happens, a wider tri-fold doesn’t feel like a stretch.
Of course, this is still just a patent, and those don’t always turn into real products. But it does give a sense of where Samsung’s thinking is right now.
At the same time, competition in this space is starting to pick up. Huawei has been experimenting with wider-style foldable form factors for a while, and Apple is expected to enter the category by the end of this year.
For Samsung, the challenge is probably less about building something new and more about making it usable and scalable. The idea of a tri-fold phone is already there. The next step is making it feel less experimental and more like something people would actually carry every day.
That’s where something like a “Wide” version could make a difference, if it ever makes it past the concept stage.
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