I just want to keep unfolding the Samsung Z Trifold

Holding up the Z Trifold confirmed my suspicions: it’s a tablet with a phone attached. After spending an hour folding and unfolding it, I was ready to replace the single-hinge folding piece I’d been carrying around for the past two weeks.

I used the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold over the holidays as a daily driver and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve opened it. No one in my family even realized it was detected for at least the first 24 hours when I used it on the ride home. On a different kind of trip, in different circumstances, I might have exposed it more. But after spending some time with the Trifold, I started to wonder if there was another hinge I needed.

You know the deal with the Trifold: it’s been released in Korea but isn’t officially on sale in the US yet. It contains two hinges that close inward, unlike the Huawei dual foldable phone. It will be available in the US sometime during the first quarter of this year. The price is not known yet, but I think we can safely say that it will almost reach the “expensive” price tag, given that the single-hinge Z Fold 7 is priced at $2,000. But if it lives up to the promise I saw in the demo before CES, there might be a fair number of people interested in paying that price.

The Trifold is surprisingly springy. I removed it from the stand as it was propped up and not fully open; It flipped to the fully open position in my hand. When folding it back up, you’ll need to put the left panel down first since the camera bump is on the other side. If you try it in the reverse order, you’ll get a strong haptic buzz and a stern notification on the internal screen berating you for doing it the other way.

When closed, the Trifold has early Galaxy Z Fold vibes. The cover screen is slightly longer and narrower than a traditional phone screen. It fits in the wide pocket of my pants but I bet it would look pretty silly in the side pocket of some yoga pants. I’ve tried using the external screen, I actually have, but the urge to unlock this phone is strong.

I’m not usually a fan of tablets and was never interested in using a Bluetooth keyboard with a phone, but the Trifold begs to be decked out with accessories. I want to support it and use a neat little keyboard with it. Maybe even a mouse! If I had access to all of that over the holidays, I probably wouldn’t have had to lug my computer through three airports while having a toddler fight. I was definitely going to have my flip phone open before the end of the first day.

The thing that makes the Trifold seem like it could finally be The One — the only device you can carry with you, leaving all the others behind — is none other than DeX. In Trifold, DeX isn’t just a desktop environment when you pair it with an external display. It’s a completely standalone mode with a window to your heart’s content.

When Samsung’s smartphone product lead, Blake Gaiser, told me there was a specific version of Adobe Lightroom for the Trifold, everything started to click. If there’s a gray area somewhere between tablet, smartphone, and computer, that’s where you’ll find Trifold. You’ll also likely find me folding it, unfolding it, and watching it transform into something new.

Photography by Alison Johnson/The Verge