Is there a silver lining to the Galaxy Z TriFold's broken display?

If ordinary phones no longer trigger that dopamine hit, I guess you have long since moved to greener and foldable pastures.

But what if "traditional" foldables – I mean those who fold just once – also can't make you smile? Well, my friend, I hope you have really deep pockets, because that means you're on tri-foldables already. That's the slippery slope for you (and it's very much real).

Going further down the logic tree, you don't have too many options to choose from:

• Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design
• Galaxy Z TriFold
• Huawei Mate XTs

Huawei was first to the party in 2024, while the Galaxy Z TriFold by Samsung and the second-gen XTs launched last year.

All three of the above are expensive, sleek, shockingly thin and provide that near-tablet experience.

But… tri-foldables might not be the go-to choice for people who favor durable gadgets.

Yeah, as it turns out, these bijoux might have a nasty display problem.

Not fun at all

Reports are piling up that the display on the Galaxy Z TriFold, a phone that can cost you nearly $3,000, goes black never to light up again.

What's more, Samsung may stop selling its most ambitious phone just months after launch even though buyers want it badly. Now, this is rumored to be mainly because of two factors:

• Samsung never intended to mass-produce the Z TriFold; it was meant as a show-off move.
• The production cost is getting higher by the day (chips are going through a crazy price inflation).

But people love it and regardless of the microscopic production quantities (~30,000 units were made for global shipments, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 received well over 1 million units of pre-orders), it sold out in minutes.

A quick search on the web shows that the Huawei Mate XT isn't doing that well, either. You don't need to search Google's page two to find dozens of complaints about this phone's problematic display.

Now, I don't want to rain down on your parade: it's certainly not every tri-foldable unit (it doesn't matter if we're talking about Huawei or Samsung) that comes with a defective screen. So if you've already decided to pull the trigger and get a tri-foldable, who am I to stop you? You're a grown person. That's your own money you're spending. I hope so.

OK, but which way to go – Samsung or Huawei? Which brand will take better care of your phone, should it go dark?

Your common sense might suggest going with Samsung (but…)

Generally speaking, Galaxy phones may come at a higher price than their Chinese counterparts, but Samsung succeeds at convincing people that the peace of mind factor is not to be neglected. Besides the super-reliable and sleek One UI experience, there's also the customer service moment. Samsung is among the best-known brands in the world, it has a reputation and global reach. People have had negative experiences with Sammy's customer service – of course! – but that's valid for any other company out there.

That's why it's probably tempting to go with the Galaxy Z TriFold.

But the aforementioned rumors about how Samsung has made only ~30,000 units of it and will soon discontinue it really don't make me feel secure. Sammy may have stockpiled spare parts, but the mere fact that the company is ready to give up on its most ambitious phone speaks volumes.

So this could very well turn into a shortage of parts and super-long waiting times.

And nobody wants to wait, right?

What about Huawei?

Given that Huawei is among the most heavily sanctioned companies by Washington, it's easy to see why counting on getting adequate customer service (if you're in the US) might be the pipe-iest pipe dream ever.

But here's the thing: maybe spare parts for the Mate XT models would be easier to get. Sure, you'll have to pay for those – and then pay your local repair guy some more – but at least you could (in theory) get a screen replacement quicker… and somewhat easier.

This will surely cost you, but, hey, you're the big shot that bought a tri-foldable in the first place!

Give it some time

Tri-foldables won't go away – that's my bet right here – but it's obviously too early to embrace them, even if the price wasn't an issue. "Traditional" foldables are doing so well, they get sturdier and sleeker by the day. No need to ignore them over the tri-foldables. At least not yet.