5 Android phones you should buy instead of the Galaxy Z TriFold

The Galaxy Z TriFold, Samsung’s long-awaited tri-folding smartphone, is now available for purchase in the United States. It’s one of the most technologically innovative foldables we’ve ever seen and is truly pushing the boundaries of what a folding smartphone can be.

That said, it’s also extremely expensive. The Galaxy Z TriFold costs $2,900 in the US, making it the most expensive mainstream Android phone currently on the market. Innovation comes at a price, and in this case, it’s a really big price.

There’s no doubt that the TriFold is an impressive piece of tech, but as a phone you should actually spend your hard-earned money on, it’s hard to justify — especially when you could (and should) buy these five other Android phones instead.

My first recommendation is perhaps the most obvious: the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It may not be as flashy or new as the TriFold, but it’s unquestionably a more sensible purchase for anyone looking to buy a foldable Samsung phone.

As cool as the TriFold’s 10-inch inner display is, it comes at the expense of making the phone extremely cumbersome — we’re talking 309 grams and 12.9mm thick when closed. By comparison, the Fold 7 weighs just 215 grams and measures 8.9mm thick. In practice, that means the TriFold will feel like a brick, whereas the Z Fold 7 feels like a traditional slab phone.

What’s more impressive is that the Fold 7 matches so much of the TriFold’s spec sheet. The phones share the same chipset, camera system, software experience, and update policy. And even with all of that, the Z Fold 7 costs $900 less than the TriFold.

That’s the real kicker here. Unless you absolutely need the TriFold’s larger display, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 just makes so much more sense. It’s significantly more comfortable to use, has an excellent (and still very big) 8-inch inner screen, and a very similar spec sheet. Getting all of that while saving $900 makes the Fold 7 a no-brainer compared to the TriFold.

Your options for book-style foldables in the US are pretty limited, which makes finding TriFold alternatives tricky. Outside of the Fold 7, the only other real option is the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. It’s not a tri-folding phone, and it’s not a Samsung handset, but I still think there’s a good argument for it as a TriFold alternative.

Like the Z Fold 7, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has a much more practical design. It’s heavier than the Fold 7, but still considerably lighter than the TriFold. It also offers a big 8-inch inner display that looks fantastic. The Pixel also has a notable durability advantage. While the TriFold and Fold 7 are limited to an IP48 rating, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has an IP68 rating, making the phone fully dust-tight, unlike Samsung’s phones.

Samsung’s software on the Z Fold 7 and TriFold is better at taking advantage of the larger displays, but Google’s Pixel software is still my personal preference. Whether it’s the Material 3 Expressive UI or features like Now Playing and the At a Glance widget, so many little aspects of the Pixel experience are so outstanding — and they aren’t available on either foldable Samsung phone.

And, unsurprisingly, price is another big advantage here. Compared to the TriFold, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is $1,100 cheaper. Google’s phone isn’t perfect, but for that big of a price difference, I’d choose it every single time over the TriFold.

At first glance, the Galaxy S25 Ultra may seem like a silly alternative to the Galaxy Z TriFold. It’s not a foldable and is arguably one of the most tepid Galaxy S upgrades in recent years. Why should you bother with it? It all comes down to practicality.

Does the S25 Ultra fold? No, but it does have an exceptional 6.9-inch display that’s sharper than both TriFold screens and features an anti-reflective coating. The design may be boring, but Gorilla Armor 2 and an IP68 rating mean the phone is incredibly durable. The S25 Ultra has the same chipset and primary camera as the TriFold, plus significantly better telephoto and ultrawide cameras. And, unlike the TriFold, the S25 Ultra works with the S Pen.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra isn’t as cool as the TriFold, and it never will be. But for a traditional slab phone, it has basically everything you could ask for — especially if you’re a Samsung fan, which you probably are. And with a price tag that’s $1,600 cheaper (!!!) than the TriFold, it’s a no-brainer financial decision, too.

This is evident in nearly every regard. The OnePlus 13’s display is a large 6.9-inch AMOLED panel that looks every bit as good as the S25 Ultra’s. Its 6,000mAh battery is among the largest for a mainstream Android phone, and its 80W charging speeds are some of the fastest, too. It also has incredible performance, outstanding cameras, and a stylish, comfortable design. Is it a Samsung phone? No. If you’re a die-hard One UI fan, that’s going to be an issue. But if you can live without Samsung’s software (and you probably can), the OnePlus 13 is a near-perfect purchase.

Price is another big factor here. You may have to shop around to find remaining inventory, but at the time of publication, Best Buy is selling the more expensive 512GB storage variant for $800 — making the OnePlus 13 a whopping $2,100 cheaper than the Galaxy Z TriFold. At that price, you could buy a OnePlus 13 and a Galaxy Z Fold 7 and still spend less than what you pay for a single TriFold. Wild stuff.

The Motorola Razr Ultra is, of course, a different type of foldable than the TriFold. Instead of transforming from a phone into a 10-inch tablet, the Razr is a normal slab phone that folds in half to become a small, pocketable square. It’s essentially the exact opposite of what the TriFold represents, and there’s real value in that.

When unfolded, the Razr Ultra operates like any other non-folding Android phone. It has a 7-inch AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip (the same one used in the S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13), tons of RAM and storage, great cameras, good battery life, and fast 67W wired charging. They’re the specs you’d expect from a flagship Android handset.

The magic, however, is that you can fold the Razr Ultra shut whenever you want, making it perfect for one-handed use or slipping into a tight pocket or bag. It’s a level of portability the TriFold will never be able to offer, and if you haven’t considered this side of foldable life, I highly recommend it — especially since doing so will cost you $1,600 less than the TriFold.