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