It’s easy to write new technology off as a gimmick, but give it a chance, and things may turn out to be a pleasant surprise. The Huawei Mate XT, as the first multi-fold smartphone on the market, was met with scepticism at launch, and the same treatment is only expected for the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, the Korean giant’s answer to the competition.

A step up from its Fold lineup, the device narrows the gap between the smartphone and tablet form factors, folding (and unfolding) not just once, but twice. It measures 12.9mm in clamshell mode, making it slightly thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at 12.1mm, and weighs a slightly heavier 309 grams — open it up fully, and the 3.5mm-thin body puts it on equal footing with the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s profile.

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the hybrid offering can be configured up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The hardware is complemented by two viewing options: a 6.5-inch FHD+ cover display (2,520 x 1,080 pixels), and a 10-inch QXGA (2,160 x 1,584) main panel in its unfolded state. The additional screen real estate turns multitasking into a breezy, convenient affair, and that’s not the only perk, as gaming performance also gets a welcome upgrade.

Barring Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, Genshin Impact, and Delta Force all ran smoothly on the Galaxy Z TriFold, tackling particle-heavy scenes and hectic action with ease. Thermal management proved to be the surprise standout, however, keeping temperatures in the green zone even after 27 minutes of consecutive gameplay.

Check out the video above to see how well it performs, featuring short bursts of high-intensity gaming and temperature checks. The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold is available in Crafted Black and retails for S$3,988 for the 16GB RAM / 512GB storage model.