Earlier this week we heard news that Samsung’s rumored tri-fold phone finally has a name. According to leaker Yeux 1122, the phone will bear the name “Galaxy G Fold” which is, erm, certainly something.
It’s definitely not the name I would have picked if I were heading up Samsung’s marketing department. Then again, the name I would have picked has already been taken.
The main selling point of the tri-fold phone is the fact that it has three screens. Technically “tri-fold” is a misnomer, because there are only two hinges, and thus two folds, but that hasn’t stopped the name from sticking. Unfortunately, it’s a design that would have benefitted from being called “Z Fold” far more than the actual Galaxy Z Fold series.
What’s in the name?
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I never understood why Samsung chose “Z” as the letter to differentiate its foldable lineup. I get the reason why Samsung added a letter after the release of the original Galaxy Fold. All Samsung phone lines have a letter associated, from the flagship Galaxy S series all the way to the dirt-cheap Galaxy M series — formerly known as the Galaxy J.
The letter is the identity of the phone, or at least it is for Samsung. That’s all perfectly reasonable, but it still doesn’t explain why Samsung chose Z, of all things, when there were much more fitting options available.
Galaxy V Fold, or V Flip, for example. Both phones have a single hinge, and at some point during the unfolding process they would look like the letter V. Design is half of what makes a foldable phone unique, and having a name that matches the aesthetic would have been a pretty smart move by Samsung.
But instead someone chose Z, reportedly because the letter “intuitively communicates the idea of a fold while delivering a dynamic, youthful feel.” Honestly I don’t even know what that last part even means.
The only “youthful” association with the letter Z is Gen Z, though I don’t recall that term being widely used before the pandemic. From everything I remember, if you were under 40 you were considered a millennial — regardless of whether that was true or not.
Maybe Samsung was more in tune with the cultural zeitgeist than I was back in early 2020. Or maybe it just picked Z because it’s a very foldable-looking letter. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that Z is the letter that stuck around for the long haul — namely thanks to the Z Fold and Flip series being some of the best foldable phones around. So things haven't quite worked out in the G Fold’s favor.
Galaxy G doesn't fit at all
The name “Z Fold” is a much better fit for a phone with two hinges, and two folds in the screen. We don’t know for sure what the design will be right now, but there’s a good chance that you will be able to safely fold the phone into a Z shape. Or an N, which is basically a Z that fell over. But I’m not sure “N Fold” would work as a phone name, least of all are the potential issues with Nokia who produced phones like the “N-Gage”.
Right now it’s unclear whether the G Fold name is legitimate, and if the Samsung tri-fold will be released under that name. Nothing is official right now, as I understand it, and that means plenty of things could change between now and the official launch.
Admittedly none of Samsung’s phone names make much sense. There’s no rhyme or reason to the Galaxy S series relating to flagships, or the A series standing in for mid-range. These letters don’t actually mean anything, so the fact that a Tri-fold phone may be marketed with the letter G shouldn’t be an issue. There’s just as much logic being used with that name as there is with all the rest — i.e. none at all.
And yet I can’t help but wonder why Samsung couldn’t be a little meta with its naming conventions. Current foldables have one hinge, and look like a V, while dual-hinge phones can look like a Z. Sometime in the future if we see phones with three hinges, Samsung could call them “W Fold” if they so desire.
Or maybe we can just keep it simple and use Z for everything — opting for the slightly less letter-intensive way of naming phones. After all, if the Z Fold and Z Flip can co-exist, there’s no reason why even more foldables could join the party. I’m not a marketer though, so don’t try and ask me to come up with any actual names for them.
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