After a few months of whispers, Samsung has finally pulled back the curtain on its next smartphone, and it could have the chops to outstage the firm’s incredibly impressive Galaxy Z Fold 7. At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Tuesday, Samsung for the first time showed off its upcoming first trifold phone, a device that has a huge 10-inch folding display.

The Android phone, which according to reports will be called the Galaxy Z Trifold (though I’m not so sure about that), folds not once down the middle of the screen like the Z Fold series, but twice, even though ‘trifold’ suggests it will fold three times.

The phone was displayed unfolded and folded, appearing to fold in a ‘G’ shape, unlike the concertina or ‘Z’ shape of rival Huawei’s Mate XT trifold phones, an alternative design that would ironically befit Samsung’s ‘Z Fold’ branding.

The idea behind this expensive device is you can have an ultrathin 10-inch OLED screen that folds twice inwards into a regular smartphone shape. Though displayed behind glass, the device reportedly looked similarly thin when unfolded as the 4.2mm Z Fold 7, though necessarily thicker when folded down at about 1.5cm. Most regular smartphones are less than a centimetre thick.

Samsung told SamMobile the impressive device will be available “this year”.

“Samsung continues to advance innovative technologies, including next-generation form factors in the era of mobile AI, to deliver meaningful user experiences. The recent showcase reflects ongoing R&D efforts, and we plan to bring this next generation device to users within this year,” Samsung said.

Industry analysts expect the phone to be released in Korea at first, with possibly China to follow. A release date is unclear, as is a price, though expect it to far exceed the already toe curling £1,799 asking price for the Z Fold 7.

Samsung has, for the past few years, announced its flagship Galaxy S series of phones early in the calendar year in either January or February, with the Galaxy S25 range its current best slab style phones. In July this year the firm launched the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, as is also routine.

But in May it released the Galaxy S25 Edge, an ultra-slim take on the S25 that beat the thin iPhone Air to market. Throwing in a trifold launch before the year is up would represent a busy year for Samsung launching several high-end smartphones.