When it comes to tri-fold phones, the recent limelight has been all on Samsung, which is set to launch its first triple-folding smartphone by the end of 2025. However, Chinese smartphone brand Techo has managed to steal Samsung's thunder with the unveiling of its Phantom Ultimate G Fold.
Although officially announced, Tecno's Phantom Ultimate G Fold is still a concept smartphone. However, this is the closest to reality an inward folding tri-fold smartphone has ever reached.
The tri-fold features a large 9.94-inch main display, which is almost as close to the screen sizes we get on tablets. It will also feature a left-aligned punch hole selfie camera. On the outside, there is a single usable cover display, whose details are still under wraps.
As mentioned before, the Phantom Ultimate G Fold is an inward folding tri-fold. Hence, it features a dual inward flexing hinge mechanism that folds twice on the inside to bring the "tablet form factor" to a usable smartphone dimension.
The primary hinge forms a small teardrop-shaped curve when it folds inward, leaving a small gap between the midframe and the main screen. On top of that, the second large hinge folds with a self-locking mechanism to help the smartphone remain closed.
This design helps the smartphone protect the fragile folding display on the inside. Although this means one less usable screen on the outside, this is still practical compared to the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design, that completely exposes a part of the main display when folded.
Tecno claims that this is the "thinnest triple folding smartphone in the world". When folded, it is 11.49 mm thick, which is sensible since it folds twice. However, when unfolded, the device is impressively slim at 3.49 mm.
For context, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design, which is the only other tri-fold in existence, measures 12.8 mm when folded and between 3.6 mm to 4.8 mm when unfolded.
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Image Credit: Tecno
Apart from this, most of the details about the Tecno Phantom Ultimate G Fold remain unannounced. For instance, from the video it is evident that the smartphone will feature a horizontally aligned triple rear camera setup, housed within a pill-shaped module. However, the lenses used, and the megapixel values remain unannounced.
It is safe to assume that the smartphone will have a primary camera accompanied by a telephoto sensor and an ultra-wide angle lens. On the outer display, it is very likely that the smartphone will have a centre-punch hole selfie camera. The details about that are also not revealed.
In terms of design, the smartphone has a dual-tone finish with a textured back panel, that houses the rear cameras. The other half of the back is completely clean because it folds on the inside and hence cannot accommodate any other component.
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Image Credit: Tecno
The device has been showcased in a blue and gold colourway. Tecno claims that it is using an ultra-high-strength steel (2,000MPa) and a thin and durable Titan Fibre plate (measuring 0.3mm) for the back cover.
The Phantom Ultimate G Fold will also bring Tecno's suite of AI features like the Ella AI assistant, AI Auto Call Answer, AI Call Summary, and more.
Other than that, Tecno has confirmed that the smartphone will pack a battery capacity of “over 5,000mAh”, but the actual mAh value has not been revealed yet.
With that said, Techno will officially showcase the Phantom Ultimate G Fold at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026. We can expect Tecno's tri-fold to enter mass production after that. So, keeping that in mind, although Tecno has sprinted away with its tri-fold unveiling, Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold could still be the first inward triple folding smartphone to land on consumer's hand.
