Samsung's tri-fold phone tipped for summer launch — but one downgrade might fold your excitement

Samsung Tri Fold Foldable phone concept
(Image credit: Samsung)

It sounds like tri-fold phones are about to be the next big thing in the foldable phone business. Huawei’s Mate XT has now been released outside of China, and according to a new report we could see the Samsung Galaxy G Fold arrive this summer — alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

ETNews’ latest report has a bunch of tantalizing details about the G Fold, which is the rumored name for Samsung’s long-rumored Tri-Fold phone. Sources claim that the phone is set to go into production at some point in April, alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, and it looks like all 3 phones will be released at the same time.

Samsung always holds a Galaxy Unpacked at some point during the summer, and it’s here that we expect to see the next generation of Galaxy Z foldables. We can’t say what the exact date might be right now, since it tends to fluctuate during any given year. But, should this report prove accurate, then the tri-fold Galaxy G Fold could be on sale before the end of August.

However the fact that this phone has a new and somewhat unique form factor means it may be difficult to get your hands on. One source claimed that “only a small quantity will be produced in some countries, just like when the Fold SE was released last year." Hopefully it won’t be quite that limited, since the Z Fold Special Edition was only released in China and South Korea.

What will the Galaxy G Fold look like?

There’s a lot more to ETNews’ report than possible release information. Sources speaking to the Korean outlet also mentioned various details about the phone’s design — including what kind of foldable it’s going to be.

Unlike the Huawei Mate XT, which folds outwards to form a single display panel, Samsung will apparently retain the inward-folding design we’ve seen on the Z Fold series. If you’ve seen Samsung’s “Flex G” prototype, then you’ve got a good idea of what the interior display might look like.

This choice of design also means that the G Fold should also come with a cover display, separate from the folding panel. This will apparently be the same size as both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Z Fold Special Edition that was released last year — 6.49-inches. Meanwhile the larger folding display is expected to be 9.96-inches.

Sadly, Samsung has copied another Z Fold SE feature that’s bound to be a lot less popular. ETNews’s sources claim that Samsung will not be including a digitizer layer, which would mean the G Fold won’t support the S Pen stylus. No doubt this was done to shave off a few extra millimeters of thickness, since that tri-fold design will have to be significantly thicker than a single-hinge foldable.

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Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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