topic Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability in Fold & Flip Phones

Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:17:03 GMT

While surfing the web this afternoon I stumbled accross this article concerning the lack of durability of the Trifold's hinges. For a device this expensive, this shouldn't be an issue. Buying this device without Samsung Care+ is NOT a good idea!

https://samsung.gadgethacks.com/news/samsung-galaxy-z-trifold-fails-durability-tests/

Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

Mujibar — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:21:21 GMT

They don't even offer Care+ for it. If something happens, you can either get it fixed (which can take up to 3 weeks) or get a refund. This is not meant to be a mainstream device.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/first-galaxy-z-trifold-screen-issues-appear-samsung-offers-refunds-or-fixes

Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:24:06 GMT

That's what I thought. It's simply too soon to purchase this phone until the design is more mature and Care+ is an option, like on the other ZFolds.

Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

Mujibar — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:29:55 GMT

It's purely a "look at me" device at this point.

Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

IraqVet04 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:34:27 GMT

Personally, I would never consider this item as a option. Other than a laptop,anything electronically that folds spells trouble.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:34:50 GMT

Yes, and a very unusual marketing strategy. If there are widespread hinge problems, Samsung will have egg on their face. Hopefully, things will turn out well for those that spent close to $3000 for these phones.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

Mujibar — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:35:42 GMT

🤷

Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:36:34 GMT

I've had the ZFold 5, and now the ZFold 7. They work well and are very impressive devices.

Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

IraqVet04 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:40:49 GMT

I have played around with them at Best Buy they are impressive. I don't fault anyone owning them,just not my style.

Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:58:35 GMT

I coincidentally just received an email from Phone Arena with another article about the Trifold's screen problems: https://www.phonearena.com/news/galaxy-z-trifold-display-defect_id178304?_sc=NTMyMzUzNyM4ODA2Ng%3D%3D

Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

Robin621k — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:22:32 GMT

That's I think 4 units so far that I am aware of so far. If they sold 40-50k units, that is 1 in 10K which by manufacturering standards is an acceptable failure rate.

Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:34:23 GMT

I would agree with you, but the four failures are on very new devices. It will be interesting to see how this works out on six month old devices during the summer when users will be much more active.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

Robin621k — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:37:52 GMT

I would like to know where these damaged units are being used, indoors, outdoors, very cold weather.

One guy had a YouTube short and he was using it outdoors in -15⁰ weather. Not a good idea on any phone, let alone a foldable device.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:39:43 GMT

Good point!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

Robin621k — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:42:04 GMT

I also never believe people when they say they have never dropped their phones!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:44:41 GMT

Yes, Murphy's Law says that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. It's just a matter of time.😮

Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

MrGhoul — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 08:03:23 GMT

I would never consider buying a foldable. To many problems & issues with them.

Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

CEParsons — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 13:39:45 GMT

A pricy, high maintenance device is a hard sell for a lot of people.

They're absolutely incredible though. I had a Flip 5 and switched back to a slab because it was more practical and had better specs, but man I really miss the form factor.

I can't tell you how many times I tried to "close" my S24+ after I got it.

Really want to try a Book style fold... Rumored Fold 8 Wide is on my radar at the moment.

Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

userS7l1xdTTAY — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 18:32:02 GMT

Do any of you actually own this device? I gather from the tenor of the discussion that you probably don't. It is far from being a first generation device. Samsung has been making folding phones for nearly a decade, and tablets for even longer. Many reviewer's speak about this as feeling very much like a mature product, and that is certainly what it feels like to me There are supposedly 30 to 40,000 of these devices around, and the total number of people reporting screen problems appears to be about 3. Hardly an example of the sky falling. I've owned my trifold for about 6 weeks, and had 0 problems. With respect to the hinges, these are also pretty mature, as Samsung is now into their 7th generation of hinges. I'm not really sure what supposed to tell us about the durability of product is someone is capable of smashing it by using full force. Would you conclude that if I drove my car into a wall at 40 miles an hour and it was totaled that Volkswagen or BMW or whomever don't make a reliable product?

Re: Re: Doubtful Trifold Durability

neilth — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 19:09:41 GMT

I don't own the Trifold, I currently have the ZFold 7, which I'm very happy with. The Gadgethacks article I provided a link to last night states that the Trifold hinges need to be improved to provide better durability. Shortly after I posted this, I received an email from Phone Arena with a link to another article about the reliability of the Trifold's screen and hinges. The Trifold is a first generation device due to its having two hinges, one of which folds over the opposite third of the screen, adding some complexity to the design. In addition the device is susceptible somewhat to the intrusion of dust and sand. It will take a while for Samsung to get this fully worked out. Having successfully manufactured and sold foldables for almost a decade, they did a great job with their first generation Trifold. I am hoping that future versions of the device will be more durable and less expensive to purchase. We'll just have to see how this works out.