Why the leaked ‘Wide’ Galaxy Fold is the only Samsung foldable I care about in 2026

It’s taken me a long, long time to fall in love with book-style foldables. Why? Well, for a while, it was because there weren’t any good options in the US, let alone many options at all. But as time passed, the competition grew, the designs became more durable, and the performance began to match what I expected from true flagship phones. The thing is, though, I could barely make myself fall in love with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold, the phone that started it all.

That was, at least, until the Galaxy Z Fold 7 showed up. Samsung finally found a way to make its most ambitious foldable as thin as a standard Galaxy S25 while preserving its capable cameras and solid performance. Suddenly, my problems dwindled to just the fact that I didn’t love the almost-square internal aspect ratio.

I’ve never been ashamed to be called a Pixel fanboy. Half the time, it’s because I love Google’s software and its knack for providing very, very fast updates. The rest of the time, however, it’s because I simply love Google’s current hardware design language. I’ve loved it since the launch of the Pixel 6 series, and I’m an even bigger fan now that the corners have softened and the camera bar is more of an island on the Pixel 10 series.

On top of that, I’ve always felt like its Pixel Fold design was miles ahead of Samsung’s. While the Galaxy Z Fold series has always skewed tall and thin, the Pixel Fold (and the OPPO Find N and OnePlus Open) took the opposite approach. Rather than act as two less-than-phones stuck together, they’re designed more like two short, wide phones joined at the hip. To me, the result is a cover screen you can actually reach across, along with an internal display that feels wide enough for realistic multitasking.

Now, for Samsung to follow suit means I might — just might — finally get a full-sized Galaxy flagship that I don’t have to complain about carrying around. Unlike the OnePlus Open, which still hasn’t received an overhaul now several years on, Samsung is happy enough to show off its technical innovation. The slim frame of the Galaxy S25 Edge bled into the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which has now bled into the Galaxy Z TriFold, and could very easily show up in a wider Galaxy Z Fold.

The result? A foldable with an 8-inch internal display, a la the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but with a total closed thickness of under 10mm like the Galaxy Z Fold 7. And yes, that suggests Samsung shifting to a shorter, wider cover screen. If it doesn’t, and it sticks with something around its current height (around 158mm tall), its wider Galaxy Z Fold could go from my pocket-sized dream to a too-big monstrosity. Thankfully, if the leaked images we’ve seen are accurate (as you can see above), it looks like we’re in for the short and wide treatment.

And then, there’s the software. I respect that Samsung has always treated its internal panel like two halves of one display, but that’s never been my style — creating two interfaces that don’t really have to match. Instead, I much prefer the way apps and widgets adapt to Google’s panel, spreading out and adopting a truly tablet-like interface. Reading a book in the Kindle app actually feels like a book, splitting two pages along the crease, unlike the current Samsung experience of one extra-wide page, like I’m a kid again.

So, if you’re telling me I might just get a Samsung foldable that feels like a tablet, a small flagship, and an e-reader all at once, you better believe I’m opening my wallet.

Beyond the brilliance of Google’s wider, more comfortable design, I’ve always thought that the Galaxy Z Fold missed out on the best parts of being a Samsung tablet. More specifically, I’ve always — and I mean always — praised the Galaxy Tab lineup as being one of the best streaming platforms around. No, it didn’t work for Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, but everything else with a modern aspect ratio has been brilliant.

On the Galaxy Z Fold series? Yeah, sorry, letterboxing everywhere. The small slice of content in the middle of a nearly square display feels even smaller when it’s flanked by thick bars above and below, but there’s not much else to do. If you turn the Galaxy Z Fold 7 on its side, it’s still almost square. This time, though, you have a display crease right down the middle of your movie or show.

So, if Samsung is really going to stretch its Galaxy Z Fold horizontally, it should finally mitigate some of that letterboxing. No, it won’t go so far as the 16:10 ratio we see on most Galaxy Tabs — that would be too wide to carry comfortably — but it’ll definitely be a little better. Pair that up with one of Samsung’s brilliant AMOLED panels, and it’s hard to see how another foldable will be a better streaming option.

And yes, I know you could point to the Galaxy Z Trifold and say that Samsung has already done this. It already has an ultrawide foldable that behaves like a tablet. You’re right, it does. The problem is that the Galaxy Z TriFold must be fully open to use its internal display. That’s way too much display for me, especially when I want to fold it up and get on with my day in a hurry. Oh, and you won’t find me spending almost $3,000 to put a tablet in my pocket, anyway.

Besides, wasn’t this the whole point of a Galaxy Z Fold in the first place? To swap in for a tablet as smoothly as possible? I think a wider Galaxy Z Fold will do just that, and I’m willing to skip the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 8 to prove it.