There have been two notable developments in the world of Samsung in the past few days. First, the brand released the conspicuously expensive Galaxy Z TriFold without seemingly much fanfare. Second, said device sold out quickly – in a matter of hours, in fact.
That’s pretty unusual for Samsung devices – especially since there weren’t any of the typical trade-in offers that you usually see on these devices. It seems a lot of people were happy to drop $2,899 right off the bat for the Galaxy Z TriFold without even having to hand in an old device to get a discount.
The Galaxy Z TriFold was an unusual launch
The TriFold launch unfolded as a soft launch or even a beta run
One of the telltale signs that Samsung was planning something a little different with the TriFold’s launch is that the brand didn’t run its usual pre-order campaign for the device.
It’s one of Samsung’s signature moves to run an email registration campaign in the run-up to a launch to drum up hype for the new model. It usually teases a few features here or there without revealing any concrete details. Of course, everyone knows which models will be released – just like Apple, Samsung always keeps to its usual release schedule.
The TriFold was somewhat unusual when Samsung announced the device, gave the press hands-on time and even told us the price before launch. The device wasn’t even up for pre-order this time around – although I believe a select few potential customers got early access via the Samsung app.
The entire TriFold launch, in my opinion, has played out like a soft launch or even a beta run. I can’t imagine the brand sold many of these units for the whopping sum of $2,899, so it was probably a pretty limited run to prove the TriFold concept has legs.
I expect Samsung to stick to the plan for the S26
What I expect
Trade-in rebates are usually $800 to $1,100
As for the upcoming Galaxy S26, I expect Samsung to return to its tried and true methods. There might not be a pre-order campaign, but the brand will almost certainly have a small pre-order window with big trade-in discounts – and unlike the TriFold, you can expect the devices to be available from the majors too.
At the time of writing, Samsung hasn’t confirmed any pricing, but I imagine it will be somewhere in the rough $800 to $1,299 ballpark if you buy a device outright unlocked. For discounts, they usually range from $800 to $1,100, with the biggest discounts tied to 24- and 36-month unlimited plans on major carriers.
The Galaxy TriFold is, to my knowledge, the only phone launch from a major brand in recent times that deviates from the usual trade-in scenario. I would be shocked if there wasn’t some kind of deep discount on the device for potential pre-orders. Of course, if the Galaxy S26 is released and there is no big trade-in discount, then of course you can email me in a few weeks and quote this article.
More Galaxy S26 content on TechRadar
If you want to get a great overview of the most likely features and specifications of the upcoming phones, I highly recommend checking out our Galaxy S26 rumors rated page. As a brief summary, we think the most likely upgrades will be a new private screen, chipset and magnetic wireless charging. There is also an outside chance for the units May debut at a higher price due to the ongoing RAM shortage crisis.
Expect many more updates and reports as we move closer to the end of February, which is when we expect these devices to drop, including the best pre-order deals when the devices are finally available.
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