Samsung patent outlines tri-battery design for three-panel foldable

Samsung appears set to release its first trifold smartphone this year, and a recently published patent reveals an unusual internal design that places separate battery cells inside each of the device's three folding segments. The patent, filed with South Korea's patent office KIPRIS, sketches a phone with three distinct batteries labeled T1, T2 and T3 and suggests Samsung is engineering the device to balance capacity, thickness and weight across the three panels.

The patent sketches position the smallest battery, T1, in the segment that houses the rear camera array, with the largest cell, T2, in the central segment that becomes sandwiched when the phone is folded. The middle-sized cell, T3, sits in the panel that contains the cover display. The document does not list individual battery capacities, total capacity or charging speeds. Industry observers have noted the design could allow higher total energy storage while keeping each section thin, but specific performance claims remain speculative.

Separately, leaks and industry reporting over recent weeks have filled out other likely characteristics for the device, often referenced under the working name Galaxy Z TriFold. The phone...