(Image credit: Future / Britta O'Boyle)

Samsung's next TriFold phone might have a shorter and wider design, better placed to challenge incoming "wide" devices like the iPhone Fold. And so, even though the first TriFold phone from Samsung has already been discontinued, it seems the concept could live on.

Samsung announced the Galaxy Z TriFold in late 2025, but it was a limited run that sold out quickly with no plans to restock. While many thought that was the end of the idea, rumours then surfaced that Samsung was looking at a new hinge design for a thicker device and now we have a patent for a revised use of a dual-hinge foldable.

In an extensive patent filing, the company outlines new details of a folding phone, exploring different modes of use – and there's even the appearance of the S Pen, with an explanation of how it might magnetically attach to the frame.

The patent details were uncovered by Network Right, along with concept images from @xleaks77, with a filing date of 12 March 2026, with the original source focusing on the appearance of a wider folding device.

Much of the patent appears to show a design of a dual hinge device that's the same as the Z TriFold, but the purpose of the filing isn't to showcase a new format of phone, it's to talk about how the device will operate "in a multi-folded state".

In some of the images the device appears like the Z TriFold, in others, it's clearly a wider and shorter TriFold.

That might come down to the fact that these are patent drawings not engineering drawings, so the proportionality of the device isn't to scale. That raises a question of the validity of a "wide fold design" – however, it certainly looks like it.

What's really interesting about this patent is how the phone is presented in a tent-style folded shape, or "prism shape" as Samsung refers to it. It appears to be to enable a bedside mode, with subsequent illustrations displaying on-screen widgets, a clock, timers and so on.

Reading into the details, Samsung describes that in this state the folding display could also be illuminated, providing a nice ambient lighting effect. There are details of using different materials to support the prism shape, so it doesn't slide flat. That might appear in the form of a rubberised part in the corners, for example, so there's friction against the frame.

In other images, Samsung displays how it could connect with magnets or slot into a groove to support the prism shape.

This all points to Samsung looking for expanded use cases, in this instance, changing the design to support them. If nothing else, this propagates the idea that Samsung is still looking at TriFold phones, rather than just abandoning it completely.

While it's a bit of a leap to take this as evidence of a wider folding phone, it definitely tells us something about Samsung's intention to keep working on this type of device.