Some Samsung Users Are Already Reporting Dead Screens on Their $2,900 Galaxy Z TriFold Phones

Late last month, Samsung finally began selling its first tri-fold phone in the United States. Customers willing to spend $2,900 were able to get a 10-inch screen that folds to fit in a pocket, but as with many first-generation devices, it turns out there were some growing pains. Two users who took the plunge with the Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold shared on Reddit that their screens were already unresponsive, but to Samsung’s credit, the company isn’t leaving them hanging.

The first user, who had his phone for about a month and a half (he bought his device overseas) before problems arose, posted three days ago that his internal screen began periodically flashing green before fading to black, after which it would become unresponsive. Sometimes reboots seemed to fix the problem immediately, while in other cases the phone would first have to be left on for a few hours before a reboot fixed the problem.

The other report is a little more concerning and claims that the user’s internal screen completely died within five days of purchase. According to this user, the issue first started appearing as phantom touch or the device recognizing touches when there weren’t any. The next day the screen was pure white and has been unresponsive since. Alongside the white screen, the user also reported hearing a “strange noise” when closing the device and seeing what appeared to be an air bubble under the screen.

Both reports follow a less serious report from a Korean user, who said in mid-January that their phone had a line of dead pixels on the left side of the device. All three users posted photographic evidence alongside their complaints.

For US users, neither said they put their device under any stress, with the former saying their issues arose “during normal use” and the latter saying they “did nothing but baby” with their phone. While we can’t know for sure what happened with these phones without seeing them ourselves, some users have some speculation. For the device that flashed green, one Redditor suggested this indicated a faulty ribbon cable, something I can confirm I’ve seen on other devices. As for the device with the unresponsive white screen, one user pointed out flaws in other first-generation foldables, something that was seen on both the Galaxy Z Fold 1 and the original Pixel Fold.

As for the dead pixels on the Korean phone, the users’ post doesn’t mention how the problem first appeared, at least according to machine translation.

It’s disappointing to see such large investments immediately disappoint these users, but everyone was lucky enough to contact Samsung support. The first user with a dead screen posted an update today saying Samsung is repairing their phone for free, although it will take 1-3 weeks to get the device back. The second said he opted for a return instead and would go back to the cheaper Galaxy Z Fold 7 rather than using the new device. “5 days is a bit silly in case of hardware failure,” they said of their decision. Finally, the Korean dead pixel user said that Samsung replaced his device for free, while taking his old one “for research.”

While these are just a few user experiences, it’s not a good look for Samsung, and it’s a good reminder to be careful if you choose to adopt early. If you choose to go with a Trifold, it might be worth purchasing a Samsung Care+ plan alongside it, to protect your $2,900 investment against accidental damage or keep it eligible for repairs after the warranty expires.

Certainly, you will have at least a day before you have to make this decision. The Galaxy Z Trifold is out of stock again in the US, but a new batch is expected to be released tomorrow. Hopefully this batch will be a little more durable than the last.