u/IrezumiHurts

Maybe some perspective (or consolation) to those with FOMO that lament not getting their hands on the Trifold - yes it is an impressive piece of technology, yes I use the shit out of the beautiful wide screen, yes it is stunning and AWESOME, and while I would not sell mine today if someone offered me $4k (or maybe even 5?) I have come around to believe there was probably a lot of decisions beyond manufacturing costs that led Samsung to not persue this iteration further...it's not just that the phone is niche, not for everyone, (or just for power users), the form factor just isn't superior to the bifold design for 90% of daily use tasks, even though it can do everything bigger and better.

Im coming into this from a slightly EDC perspective also - someone who daily carries other things like firearms, knives, and have pretty much sold my soul to wearable smart technology. When Cyberpunk 2077 becomes a reality I'm going to be chrome'd the fuck out. Technology and tools that are useful and increase the user experience are fascinating to me. But like a pocket knife, practicality prevails - your favorite is the one that just "feels right" to carry and use the most for most tasks, not the one that looks super cool and can do one task really well but kinda a pain for everything else.

However I've been surprised to find that for most tasks, subconsciously I still reach for my trusty old ZFOLD 5. Its just a breeze and so effortless to use bifold ergo's - it quickly expands and collapses like a retractable pen, ready to wield and sheathe on moments notice. The trifold takes probably 1 second longer, but that one second is all it takes to make you subconsciously second guess if you really want to go through the hassle of opening it, or just keep it in collapsed format. That mental dilemma shortcut never occurs with the bifold. Expanded the Trifold also just feels "unwieldy" at times - are there other things going on around you that could cause you to drop it, etc? There is a larger mental calculation that takes place due to the size of the trifold whether you realize it or not, and that's not entirely hinged on its price tag. The net effect is that I use my ZFOLD5 expanded probably 90% of the time, but my Trifold expanded only about 20% of the time. I can also open up the ZFOLD 5 sitting at a bar not feeling like a complete weirdo for having a tablet like some 5 year old. There are certainly times where opening such a large phone just feels less...socially appropriate, or even like you are trying to flex on people when you are really just trying to improve their viewing experience for showing them something. It's not "here, look at this", it's "your phone is huge! What is that?". Im not always in the mood for those types of discussions.

Typing on the expanded trifold is also a much less intuitive process, and ive tried both the giant and split keyboard. The first issue is that without a magback finger grasp (and even with one), its just awkward to hold and type, and Ive taken for granted that being able to reach both thumbs to the middle of the screen of the ZFOLD 5 gives a certain sense of command over the keyboard that is easy to lose when you split it or substantially widen it, not to mention the disruption it causes for swype typing. The ergonomics of the smaller phone just fit better in the human hand relative to the dexterity our thumbs provide, but as things like text-to-speech etc improve this point may eventually lose relevance.

The weight is also something to behold, it actually hurts my wrist and and elbows in certain situations like lying in bed holding my phone expanded. I do have a berfy case and a UAG Monarch magsafe stand , so I've taken my chonk up to a chonker, but this isnt just about protecting the phone, because being able to reliably get purchase on the phone is just as important. These accessories do well at that. But its amazing when i switch tasks from the expanded Trifold to the expanded ZFOLD 5, just how damn light and free my old phone feels. And its in a MILSPEC type CASEBORNE case, much beefier than the BERFY. Speaking of cases my CASEBORNE holds the S-pen in the spine...as a Note user from ever since it was introduced, I feel like the lack of S-pen digitization is a really big miss for the Trifold for a lot of people like me who have been buying the biggest power user phones since the beginning. Such a missed feature for arguably one of the best use cases for the trifold, but i respect the design team was probably against price and technology constraints in their choice of ommission.

The Trifold is not without its upsides though. "There is no replacement for displacement" is an adage long used for engines, and it fits well here - you just cant deny the impressive interior screen makes ALL content consumption better. And lets be honest, when we arent doing mundane tasks like texting and typing, we are probably watching video or looking at visuals. Its just...awesome. More often than not I simply won't even use my TV anymore, because the viewing experience on the Trifold is just so damn good relative to it's distance from your face.

Anyways, just some thoughts from someone who has a data plan on both devices and still finds themselves using and appreciating the flexibility of the smaller design, even though I want to like the Trifold better. Hopefully one day they will meet in the middle by making a Widefold that builds on both strengths, but I heard the dimensions rumors and it sounds like its not going to provide what I would hope for.