Samsung's Trifold Design Concerns: Will It Match Huawei's Versatility?

Samsung is about to release a trifold phone on December 5, and after watching footage of the device at a tech exhibition in South Korea, I'm worried it won't deliver what the form factor promises. When I first used Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate, I was struck by how well it worked—three distinct ways to hold and use a phone, all in one device. I wanted Samsung to build something similar. The company seemed ready. In August, Samsung's leadership teased the trifold on an earnings call, positioning it as proof of their commitment to "innovative form factors." But the video from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit showed me something different from what I'd imagined, and the gap between the two phones is larger than the marketing suggests.

Both devices have two hinges, which is why they're called trifolds, even though they only fold twice. That's a naming quirk worth noting upfront. But the similarities end there. Huawei's hinges fold in opposite directions, creating a Z-shape. Samsung's fold inward, forming a G-shape. More importantly, Huawei uses a single flexible screen that expands as you unfold it. Samsung has added a separate cover screen—a practical choice that comes with a real trade-off. Once Samsung's inner screen is folded closed, you can't see it. You're left with the outer display, much like the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Huawei's screen is always exposed, always ready, which means it's more vulnerable but also more versatile.

The functional difference is what troubles me most. With the Mate XT, you get three genuine usage modes. Fully folded, it's a phone with a 6.4-inch screen. Unfold one hinge, and you have a 7.9-inch mini tablet—perfect for reading or browsing during a commute. Unfold both, and the display expands to 10.2 inches, nearly the size of an iPad. Samsung's trifold will likely offer two modes: phone or tablet. That's useful, but it's not the same thing. It's not the three-in-one device that makes a trifold worth carrying.

Aspect ratio matters more than it sounds. When the Mate XT fully unfolds, its screen hits a 16:11 ratio, closer to a laptop than a traditional tablet. Watch a movie, and there's minimal letterboxing—the black bars that plague most foldables. The Galaxy Z Fold 7, by contrast, leaves you staring at those bars constantly. I find myself propping it up on the hinge just to use half the screen. With the Huawei, I unfold it completely because the screen actually works for what I want to do. Samsung's trifold, with its 10-inch display, will likely face the same aspect ratio problem. It's built for content consumption, which is valuable, but it's not built for the full range of tasks a trifold could handle.

Durability is Samsung's argument for this design. A protected inner screen lasts longer. I haven't seen scratches on my Mate XT after a month of heavy use—the creases hold, the hinges are solid—but I've been careful with it, using the included case. The exposed screen is a vulnerability. Samsung's approach is safer, more conservative. But it's also a choice to prioritize longevity over the flexibility that makes the form factor interesting in the first place. You can't have both. You choose protection or versatility, and Samsung has chosen protection.

The irony is sharp: Samsung makes the Z-series of foldables, yet it didn't adopt the Z-shape for its trifold. Huawei, without that legacy, built the more ambitious device. Samsung's trifold will launch in two weeks, and it will likely be impressive in its own way—a tablet-size screen in your pocket is genuinely useful. But it will be a different product than what Huawei built. It will be a phone that becomes a tablet. Huawei's is a phone that becomes a tablet that becomes a larger tablet. That's the difference between a two-in-one and a three-in-one, and after living with the latter, the former feels like a step backward.