Samsung has revealed its first tri-fold phone, and it runs the Korean giant’s DeX desktop environment without the need for an external monitor.
DeX debuted with 2017’s Galaxy S8 range and allowed users to connect their smartphones to a monitor, keyboard, and pointing device. The software presented a WIMP interface that more closely resembled ChromeOS than Windows.
The Register tested DeX and found it impressive, but also a solution in search of a problem. Samsung has kept DeX alive ever since, and some of its tablet computers can run it natively in addition to offering a standard Android interface.
Now DeX can also run natively on a smartphone – or at least on the Galaxy Z TriFold that Samsung announced today.
Like Huawei’s Mate XT , Samsung’s three-screen-machine can face the world in a form factor that looks like a conventional single-screen smartphone – the 6.5-incher, 2520 x 1080 “cover screen” – or fold out to offer a tablet-like experience in which three panes combine into a 10.0-inch 2160 x 1584 “main screen”.
The phone weighs 309 grams and hides a 5,600 mAh three-cell battery under each of its leaves.
When folded so only the cover screen is visible, the phone measures 159.2 x 75.0 x 12.9 mm. After opening, it measures 159.2 x 214.1 x 3.9 mm.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold – Click to enlarge
A Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile does the driving, helped by 16GB of memory. A trio of rear-facing cameras offer 12MP ultra-wide shots, 200MP wide-angle snaps, and a 10MP telephoto unit that can achieve 30x digital zoom. Identical 10MP selfie-cams are available from the Main or Cover screen.
Samsung is trying to talk up this device as more than just a large phone, as the inclusion of DeX means “users can access up to four workspaces that can each run five apps simultaneously.”
“From there, they can review and edit a meeting presentation in one workspace and then quickly navigate to another to chat with friends and shop online.”
If you fancy one, buy a ticket to South Korea as that’s where it will be on sale from December 12th for around $2400.
Samsung promises “other markets” including China, Taiwan, Singapore, the UAE and USA will follow at an unspecified time.
The Korean giant has made much of the clever engineering that went into the phone, and made it resilient. “The folding mechanism has been precisely engineered for easy opening and closing, with an auto-alarm alerting the user of incorrect folding through a series of on-screen alerts and vibrations,” gushes the company’s launch announcement.
The company has nonetheless also introduced an “exclusive display repair benefit” for buyers that gives them “a one-time 50 percent discount on display repair costs.” ®
