Samsung’s foldable Galaxy Tab might be real

Rumours of a foldable tablet from Samsung have come and gone over the years, but a tipster has once again claimed it’s coming.

A few months ago, ‘kro’ alleged on X that Samsung was developing a whopping 17-inch foldable tablet that, when folded, becomes an 8-inch device. He added: “Multiple versions and test devices are currently being developed.”

Now, kro has added to the story by stating, quite simply, that “Samsung has already started”.

Started what, exactly, is the question. Development of possible versions was previously mentioned, so perhaps he means that production has officially begun. In that case, it effectively confirms that Samsung will indeed launch the foldable tablet sometime in the future.

The backstory

Rumours of a foldable Galaxy Z Tab stretch back to 2022 and 2023, though nothing came of them at the time.

That is unless you count the Galaxy Z TriFold, which is part phone, part tablet. Early rumours of the foldable tablet mentioned the device coming with two hinges.

One early render shows a device with two hinges enabling the screen to fold both inwards and outwards.

With the number of concepts and ideas a company like Samsung is working on at any given moment, it’s impossible to say whether or not this eventually turned into the Z TriFold, which launched in 2025.

From kro’s posts, it’s unclear whether the device folds down once, like a Galaxy Z Fold 8, or uses multiple hinges.

Will it work?

The number of hinges is a large part of whether the Galaxy Z Tab will work or not. At 17 inches, that’s a lot of screen real estate and weight to manage with just one hinge.

It would also mean the screen would have to fold outwards, leaving it exposed.

Two hinges like the Z TriFold (above) perhaps seems more likely, especially as it seems that having only one hinge wouldn’t allow the tablet to fold down from 17-inch to just 8-inch.

Not the first

If we leave the Galaxy Z TriFold to the side for a moment, even if Samsung does launch the Galaxy Z Tab, Galaxy Z Fold Tab or whatever it calls it, it won’t be the first to market (though getting ahead of any similar Apple launch must be a consideration).

Lenovo has the ThinkPad X1 Fold, which it calls the “world’s first foldable PC”. It has a 13.3-inch screen which can be used with a pen, keyboard, or fingers. It folds inwards like a book, so it doesn’t have a smaller display mode.

Huawei launched the MateBook Fold (above), which has an even larger, 18-inch display. It works effectively in the same way as the Lenovo, so it’s like a laptop where the keyboard section is also a screen. The firm may also be working on a smaller 8-inch foldable tablet.

Whether Samsung can make a model similar to these, but with a smaller display option to make it more versatile, remains to be seen. And if it does, it may not arrive any time soon. Still, we’d certainly be interested to see how it works, what it brings to the market, and if anyone buys it.