Tag Archives: Foldable Smartphone

Huawei brings ultra-thin, ultra-light Mate X3 foldable phone to the global market

Posted on by

Huawei launched the newest foldable phone HUAWEI Mate X3 in global markets alongside the HUAWEI P60 Pro. Huawei has released fold phones in different form factors in the past. There is an outward folding Mate Xs and Xs 2, an inward folding X2, and a flip P50 pocket. Adding to the wide range of Huawei’s fold smartphones, Mate X3 packs impressive features in an ultra-thin, ultra-light body.

Designer: Huawei

Mate X3 is remarkably thin and light compared to other folding phones with similar screen sizes. Roughly 21% thinner when folded compared to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Mate X3 is only 11.08mm thick when folded and 5.3mm when unfolded. It weighs 239g, about 9% lighter than Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Mate X3 features a big 6.4 -inch 3D OLED external display with 2,496 x 2,224 resolution and a 7.58-inch foldable OLED internal screen with 2,504 x 1,080 resolution. Both the internal and external displays support 426 PPI pixel density with LPTO 120 Hz refresh rate.

The external screen is equipped with Kunlun Glass to resist breaks and scratches. On the other hand, the internal screen sports a composite layer structure utilizing non-Newtonian fluid material for durability. Huawei claims Mate X3’s external screen offers ten times more drop-resistance than its predecessor, while the internal screen is four times more impact-resistant.

The new-generation multi-dimensional hinge allows the device to stay open from 45 to 100 degrees and close flat when folded. The hinge is made with aviation-grade aluminum alloy for durability and a smooth folding-unfolding experience.

A significant upgrade from the predecessor Mate X2 is the addition of an IPX8 water-resistant rating, which is a rarity on foldable phones, with the exception of Samsung phones.

Mate X3 packs a 50MP primary camera, a 13MP ultrawide camera with macro support, and a 12MP periscope telephoto camera capable of 5x optical zoom with OIS. And there is an 8MP selfie camera on both internal and external screens.

The camera setup is housed in a unique camera module design inspired by the portholes of space stations. The camera module with a circular bump matching the back panel and a contrasting black rectangular bar that nests the cameras gives the device a distinctive aesthetic focus.

Mate X3 comes with a 4800mAh battery and supports 66w wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and 7.5W reverse charging. Huawei says the device can be fully juiced up in 37 minutes with a cable. In addition, the device adapts the cross-hinge graphene cooling system for greater heat dissipation across the screens.

Mate X3 is available in black Feather-Sand Glass and dark green Vegan leather. Getting an ultra-thin capable Mate X3 is costly, and it will cost you 2199 Euros or 1999.99 Pounds.

The post Huawei brings ultra-thin, ultra-light Mate X3 foldable phone to the global market first appeared on Yanko Design.

5 ways the Google Pixel Fold could succeed and 5 ways it could fail

Posted on by

Google has just officially confirmed something that has long been leaked almost to death. With its entry into the foldable phone competition, Google has pretty much validated a device category that manufacturers have started taking seriously, but consumers are still wary of. The Pixel Fold isn’t exactly proof of a successful and thriving niche market, but it is at least an indication that the Android maker is taking it seriously. There are still many variables that could make or break Google’s first stab at a foldable phone, but here are some of the design decisions that the Pixel Fold needs to follow or avoid to survive in this exciting but risky endeavor.

Designer: Google

5 Ways the Pixel Fold will Fly

Ergonomic Design

Samsung might be the leading brand in foldables, but its design isn’t exactly the best in class, especially with the Galaxy Z Fold line that hasn’t changed its basic shape since it first debuted. Disregarding technical considerations like the hinge design and the foldable display panel itself, the biggest design complaint people have is that the device is difficult to use as a regular phone when folded shut.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

OPPO Find N2

The Pixel Fold will seemingly join the likes of the OPPO Find N2 with an external display aspect ratio that is closer to the norm compared to the tall and narrow Galaxy Z Fold 4. Although it does make the device a bit more squarish when unfolded, this design means that the Pixel Fold will be more usable as a regular phone when folded. That will also make the device more approachable to people that do still use their smartphones as phones rather than just miniature tablets.

Killer Looks

Foldable phones, by their very nature, are head-turners already, and some brands seem to leave things at that. While the foldable display is definitely novel, the rest of the phone sometimes ends up being lackluster. With few exceptions, foldable phone designs have simply followed that of their non-folding siblings, making them almost visually indistinguishable from regular phones when they’re folded shut.

The Pixel Fold is bringing something fresh, a trait that it inherited from the current Pixel phone design. While not exactly identical to the “visor” of the Pixel 7, it still carries that distinct horizontal camera bump that you won’t see on any other brand these days. It isn’t trying to mimic the look of a digital camera or any other device and stands proudly on its own with a quirky design that could appeal to a wide range of people, especially younger audiences.

Water Protection

Foldable phones have the image of being fragile luxury items, mostly because of how the first generation of devices lived and died with the slightest accidents. A lot has changed over the years, but that stereotype remains, especially since few of these phones can even boast of the same durability as normal handsets. Where dust and water resistance is common among premium devices, it’s still a rarity among all foldables save those made by Samsung.

Of the many foldables in the market, only Samsung is able to boast of an IPX8 rating. It might be thanks to its hinge, which, unfortunately, still causes a more visible crease. Google could easily one-up the competition with this much-sought-after assurance. It had more time to cook in the oven, so it has little excuse not to get this basic feature down right from the start.

Pixel Perfect Photography

Although not exactly dismal, foldable phones aren’t exactly up there when it comes to photography performance. There is just so much you can cram in such a thin device, and most of the build costs will go toward the R&D and implementation of the hinge and display technologies. That makes foldables less ideal for one of the most important uses for phones these days: taking photos and videos.

This is where Google’s special sauce comes in. Ever since the first Pixel phone, Google has been doing magic with its computational photography, producing astounding results even with what some would consider sub-par imaging sensors. That said, the first teaser for the Pixel Fold hints at a competent array of cameras, including what could be a periscope telephoto shooter. With both hardware and software, Google could possibly pull off a foldable phone that shutterbugs would absolutely love.

Premiere Android Experience

Google isn’t the oldest or biggest phone manufacturer in the market, but the reason that its Pixel phones sell well is because of the software experience it offers. Android is long past its teenage years, but some of its flaws linger around. Although they do offer some added value, custom vendor skins and experiences come with a lot of bloat that creates problems across the board.

It does have its own set of proprietary and exclusive bits, but the Pixel experience is the closest you’ll get to an unadulterated Android experience as envisioned by Google. For the Pixel Fold, we’ll finally see Google’s interpretation of what a foldable phone is supposed to be and do in a way that’s not burdened by bloatware or hampered by late or sporadic updates.

5 Ways the Pixel Fold will Fold

Growing Pains

Although Google has nearly perfected its Android phone experience, it hasn’t seriously dabbled outside that category. Sure, it knows about tablets, but its attitude to these large slates has been anything but supportive. The Pixel tablet may be a sign of the changing times, but that only means that Google is only now acknowledging a device it has long tried to ignore.

A foldable is a cross between a phone and a tablet, and it would be completely uncharted territory for Google. Sure, it actually worked with Samsung on some of the features that would be hidden in Android for years, but it’s one thing to work on things behind closed doors and quite another thing to have a finished commercial product. Hopefully the Pixel Fold won’t feel half-baked like Google’s first attempts to support tablets back in Honeycomb and Nexus days.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Fledgling Ecosystem

Unlike a smartphone or tablet, a foldable phone would need some special attention from developers to get right. Although it’s definitely possible for apps to work as is without modification, the experience wouldn’t be comfortable and may sometimes even break, depending on how well they conform to Android app guidelines.

Even years after major brands like Samsung have been launching foldable phones, only a few apps have taken advantage of this unique form factor. Then again, some apps still don’t support tablets at this point in time. Google will definitely need to do some nudging to get developers to take note, especially those with popular names on phones or tablets.

Limited Edition

Despite their popularity, Pixel phones are not that easy to come by, especially if you live outside the US and EU. The global coverage of Google’s products is still relatively small compared to the network of the likes of Samsung or even OPPO. The Pixel Fold might have an even shorter reach, limited to a few markets that Google would consider “major.”

It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy because sales of such a limited device will definitely be small. Furthermore, it won’t have a chance to be tested by a lot more people, people who could provide important feedback on how to improve the product. It might not be a surprise, then, if Google announces later on that the Pixel Fold is a commercial failure and axes it after just a single generation.

TECNO PHANTOM V Fold

Purposeful Existence

Despite their growing numbers, many people still aren’t convinced there’s ever a need for foldable phones. Most of that is probably due to how expensive and fragile these devices are. More screen space and more productivity have been the common tag lines for foldables, but those might not be the only ways to sell the design.

Google definitely needs to work on how it sends its message across effectively, and it might actually have a bit of trouble pulling that off on its first try. It took almost six generations for Google to make a hit Pixel phone design and a marketing strategy that revolved around creating a personal connection with one’s smartphone. It could try that same strategy with the Pixel Fold, but a clamshell-type foldable might be a better fit for a lifestyle device like the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7.

Google Pixel 7

Google Graveyard

At the end of the day, however, the biggest hindrance to the market embracing the Pixel Fold wholeheartedly is, ironically, Google itself. While the tech giant is famous for its ideas and products, it is equally notorious for killing them off suddenly as well. Google’s past attitude towards Android devices outside of smartphones might not spark much confidence, so it isn’t going to be a surprise if people approach it with some hesitation.

The age of smartphones being one-off novelties is long over. People buy these essential devices with some expectations not only about their longevity but also about their future options. If there is no or little assurance that Google will carry the Pixel Fold forward to future iterations, they might be less willing to invest in an expensive product that might not live beyond the first generation.

The post 5 ways the Google Pixel Fold could succeed and 5 ways it could fail first appeared on Yanko Design.

Galaxy Z Flip 5 might have a unique but slightly questionable design change

Posted on by

Although it was never really the only game in town, Samsung’s lead in the foldable phone market is starting to narrow down. There are now plenty of competitors, both in the book style and clamshell designs, and some of them are even scoring higher than Samsung on some points. Despite the growing rivalry, Samsung’s response so far has been modest or even downright disappointing. That might finally change with this year’s generation of foldables, with some big changes rumored to already be in the works. Based on unofficial 3D renders, it seems that the biggest change will be seen on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, though that much-anticipated upgrade still leaves a few questions unanswered.

Designer: Steve Hemmerstoffer (via Mediapeanut)

Unlike with a large, horizontal book-type foldable phone like the Galaxy Z Fold, you don’t really expect to be able to use the Galaxy Z Flip as a regular smartphone when it’s folded shut. Samsung, however, took that to the extreme and provided only a small window into your phone with a screen that’s barely larger than the two cameras beside it. Not only was it barely usable, but it was also a huge missed opportunity, something that the likes of the Motorola Razr and the new OPPO Find N2 Flip took advantage of.

It was probably only a matter of time, and the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 5 might finally try to get ahead of the race with what may be the biggest Cover Display for clamshells, a good 3.4 inches if the leaks are to be believed. This is only a tiny bit larger than the OPPO Find N2 Flip, which we reviewed a few months back, but it’s plenty big for plenty of content. It almost covers the entire upper half of the phone’s back, which suggests it will have a more comfortable user interface compared to the cramped Galaxy Z Flip 4.

The shape that Samsung chose, however, is quite odd and might not bode well for the experience that people can expect from it. It has a tab-like cutout to make room for the camera, similar to the notch on the first Galaxy Fold. This would suggest that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will still use a custom UX for this external display, and it is unlikely that it will support the use of regular apps, unlike the Motorola Razr.

It’s admittedly a small nitpick compared to finally having a large external display. What the renders don’t show, however, is whether the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be able to fold shut completely flat. That would require a change to the hinge technology that might, in turn, bring undesired regressions, like the loss of water resistance that only Samsung is able to confidently promise.

The post Galaxy Z Flip 5 might have a unique but slightly questionable design change first appeared on Yanko Design.

Motorola Razr 2023 foldable phone might cut some corners for a price cut

Posted on by

The number of brands selling foldable phones has started to rise, but sales of these still niche devices haven’t increased significantly yet. There are a number of factors contributing to this slow adoption, including the hesitation to invest in a still unproven and fragile technology. Perhaps a more important reason, however, is the prohibitive price of these smartphones, with the cheapest going for above your average flagship. Making foldable phones more accessible could also help make them more common, and it seems that Motorola will be attempting to address that problem, but it will be making one critical change to reach that price point, one that loses one of the new Razr’s biggest appeal.

Designer: Steve Hemmerstoffer (via MySmartPrice)

The RAZR is one of Motorola’s most iconic phones, at least for those old enough to remember the original non-smart feature phone. Its razor-thin profile, from which it gets its name, was revolutionary even in the age of flip phones. The company revived that name back in 2019, and it also transformed the design into a foldable clamshell. Although it is hardly the only player in that arena, the Motorola Razr still has one important feature that none of its rivals have.

The new and foldable Razr has one of the biggest external screens as far as clamshells go. More than that, however, that screen can also run the full Android interface rather than a small custom UI with limited functionality. It is indeed cramped, but it at least gives owners the freedom to use it the way they want rather than constricting them to the manufacturer’s vision.

It seems that the Motorola Razr 2023 will be singing a different tune, though. It might even go by a different name. Based on renders generated from leaked information, this foldable clamshell will do away with the larger cover display. Instead, the dual cameras on its back will sit beside a small rectangular screen no taller than those cameras. Naturally, this would suggest that there will also be a reduction in capabilities, limiting its use to displaying notifications and the like.

Fortunately, this Razr “Lite” is expected to be accompanied by a Razr+ flagship model that would hopefully retain the foldable phone’s key feature. In exchange for that loss in functionality, the Razr Lite is expected to start with a lower price tag. How low that price will be is still unknown, but it better be accessible, or else Motorola will have a dud in its hands.

The post Motorola Razr 2023 foldable phone might cut some corners for a price cut first appeared on Yanko Design.

OPPO Find N2 Flip Foldable Phone Review: Challenging the Foldable Status Quo

Posted on by

PROS:


  • Beautiful gap-less folded design topped with a crease-less inner screen

  • Largest Cover Screen in its class

  • Impressive Hasselblad-tuned camera and large battery

  • Multi-angle Flex Mode enables different photography styles

CONS:


  • No water resistance rating

  • Missed opportunity for apps on Cover Screen

  • No telephoto camera

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The OPPO Find N2 Flip offers a beautiful and more usable foldable clamshell but falls a bit short of utilizing its strengths to the fullest.

By now, almost everyone knows that foldable phones exist, even if most still don’t understand what they’re useful for. Thanks to Samsung’s heavy push, foldable phones are becoming more known, but the majority of the attention in that niche market is placed on “horizontal” foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 4. That’s not the only foldable form factor, of course, and foldable clamshells like the ones started by the new Motorola Razr are coming into focus as more affordable and more fashionable options. Just like with its Find N2, OPPO is staking a claim to a part of this largely unexplored territory, presenting a design that is meant to push the envelope when it comes to foldable clamshells. But is the OPPO Find N2 Flip just a pretty face, or does it have something truly special to bring to the table? We take the newest kid on the foldable block to find out.

Designer: OPPO

Aesthetics

As far as appearances go, the OPPO Find N2 Flip seems to be aiming to make a good impression without being overbearing. It is sleek, stylish, and elegant without stunning your eyes with an overabundance of luxurious details. To some extent, it sends a message that you don’t have to be extravagant or excessive to make an impact. You just have to be tasteful, and this “vertical foldable” definitely has plenty of that.

The devil is in the details, as they say, and so is beauty. The two color options of Astral Black and Moonlit Purple each have their own distinct personalities to match your style or taste. The black colorway, for example, has a silky texture that also makes the surface look like it has been littered with powdered crystals. The milky purple, on the other hand, has a gentle diffuse that doesn’t attract as many fingerprints as glossy glass. Regardless of the version, the OPPO Find N2 Flip’s hinge captures light in a unique manner that makes it look like dancing waves on the surface.

The biggest attraction of the phone isn’t its foldable inner screen, surprisingly. It’s actually the large 3.26-inch Cover Screen that makes it seem as if there’s a second, tinier phone on its back. That’s not completely far from the truth since the display’s 17:9 aspect ratio is nearly similar to most phones, though there’s a big catch that we’ll get to later. This screen sits flush with its surroundings, creating a seamless visual. Of course, that detail becomes pointless if you opt to protect the phone with the included transparent crystal case.

The rest of the phone’s design is what you would consider “normal,” which is actually good for making this unconventional form factor more approachable for regular phone users. The flat aluminum edges of the phone offer no surprises, which also means no headphone jack. The inner screen, while practically bezel-less, does have a raised border to protect it. The focus, of course, is on what you won’t see. Although it’s still there, the crease is hardly visible unless you really look hard, a feat made possible with OPPO’s latest-gen Flexion Hinge. Whether folded or opened, the OPPO Find N2 Flip offers the eyes a pleasant sight but also dials down the extravagance to make the foldable phone feel less alien and a bit more normal.

Ergonomics

Foldable phones complicate the ergonomics of mobile devices a little bit. Just as we were getting used to large slabs of glass and metal in our hands, these form-shifting phones stretched the ratio a bit more. Compared to regular handsets, foldable phones are often taller and narrower, and the OPPO Find N2 Flip is really no different. Compared to its peers, however, it is a little bit wider, bringing it closer to normal proportions. What this means, in practice, is that you’ll really have to stretch your thumb farther to reach higher UI elements on the screen, though it’s probably safer to just use your other hand anyway.

Fortunately, it is possible to use the Find N2 Flip with a single hand, especially when folded. The larger Cover Screen leaves plenty of room for notifications, buttons, and other interactive elements that you can comfortably reach with either hand. This allows you to answer calls, toggle certain phone settings, or even fire off canned responses to messages, all without having to open the phone at all.

And when you do need to flip it open, you can do so with a single hand as well by carefully sliding your thumb in between the two halves and then pushing it inward to widen the gap. Of course, the OPPO Find N2 Flip folds completely flat without any gap, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, so there might be some hesitation in slipping your thumb inside for fear of scratching the sensitive inner screen. Fortunately, that screen isn’t so fragile, and the sturdy gives you a more solid feel when opening or closing the device with one hand.

That new hinge also opens up new ways to use the phone as a camera, no pun intended. Since it can remain open at almost any angle, you use the lower half of the phone as a steady tripod or go low and still see the preview on the lower half of the screen. You can even hold it like a mini camcorder, giving you that cinematographer feeling while shooting the next YouTube sensation.

Performance

Just like with its more horizontal sibling, the OPPO Find N2 Flip is fighting in the foldable arena not just with looks but also with brawn. Powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ with 8GB of RAM, the pretty clamshell has plenty of muscle to drive your mobile experience to the fullest, from browsing to video to games. There’s only 256GB of internal storage, though, which sounds a little too modest, especially considering you can’t expand it with a microSD card.

Along with all that power, the Find N2 Flip packs the largest battery in its class. Sure, we’ve seen larger, but considering space constraints, it’s definitely quite a feat to cram 4,300mAh inside, far larger than any of its foldable clamshell peers. It charges fast, too, with a 44W SUPERVOOC tech that goes from zero to full in an hour. One rather disappointing detail is that the phone doesn’t support any form of wireless charging, which has already become a standard these days. Not a complete deal breaker unless you’ve completely committed your mobile life to wireless charging everywhere.

The OPPO Find N2 Flip packs two cameras on its back and a whopping 32MP front-facing camera for normal selfies and video calls. Of these three, the 50MP Sony IMX890 is definitely the highlight, especially with its Hasselblad-tuned lens and special filters. Together with OPPO’s custom MariSilicon X imaging NPU, the camera takes great shots, regardless of the lighting condition. Colors are accurate, and details are rich, though faces do come out a bit pasty thanks to default beautification effects. In comparison, the 8MP ultra-wide camera is so-so, making it feel like it’s simply there for the sake of specs. There is no dedicated telephoto lens, so you’ll have to settle for the, unfortunately, underwhelming digital zoom.

The inner foldable screen measures 6.8 inches on the diagonal and has an FHD+ resolution of 2520×1080, which isn’t that different from other foldable clamshells. While the display is definitely bright, responsive, and fast at 120Hz, its crowning glory is the near-absence of a crease. Thanks to the hinge design that Samsung still hasn’t adopted, the phone is able to fold completely flat without straining the screen in the middle and lessening the effect of a visible crease. It’s still there, and you can see it at certain angles, but it’s almost invisible in day-to-day use.

As mentioned, the star of the show and the feature that really sets the OPPO Find N2 Flip apart is that 3.26-inch 720×382 Cover Screen. It’s not exactly the sharpest, but its tall rectangular shape leaves room for more content, including a more natural camera preview similar to the main screen. Unfortunately, it is also the biggest source of disappointment for the phone, and it feels that OPPO barely scratched the surface of what such a display can be used for.

At the moment, you only have a fixed selection of screen widgets, including an animated wallpaper, a camera shortcut, weather, events, and a timer. The Chinese version of this phone has two more widgets specific to the market, but none really comes close to offering more functionality. You have room to see up to six notifications at a time, and you can even reply to supported messaging apps. You can only use pre-set phrases or voice recognition, though. Given how much space the screen has, you’d expect there to be more, but as of this writing, that just isn’t on the table yet.

Sustainability

OPPO, along with Realme, is one of the major phone brands making a strong push for reducing their carbon footprint and increasing the sustainability of their products and processes. There are quite a few notable phones that take that mission to heart, but the Find N2 Flip isn’t part of that still small circle. If anything, it’s almost as if it takes one step back, at least when it comes to packaging and longevity.

The foldable phone comes in a big white box that does it a bit of a disservice. While the way it pushes the phone up at an angle when you lift the top is nice, that’s pretty much all there is to it. It isn’t space efficient, and while the design is minimal, it isn’t particularly elegant. To put it bluntly, it is quite plain, a stark contrast to the phone itself, and is probably wasteful as well.

The phone also doesn’t come with any guarantee of water resistance, especially an IP rating. That may have been understandable for a foldable phone a few years back, but technology has progressed since then. IP certification is admittedly expensive, but some assurance would still go a long way in giving buyers peace of mind for their investment.

Value

Even after four years, it’s still difficult to pin down the true value of a foldable phone, at least in ways that most consumers would appreciate. Horizontal foldables like the OPPO Find N2 offer a larger screen that you can still cram in your pocket, but it also comes with some awkwardness in use. We’re still a few years away from a perfect form factor, and the current generations feel more like stopgaps and milestones rather than finished products.

A foldable clamshell might actually make a bit more sense, especially since we’ve already been used to their ancestors like the iconic Motorola RAZR. They feel and look more stylish, and the small external screen helps set your expectations low. The OPPO Find N2 Flip definitely brings both benefits to the table, but the clincher will always be the price tag. Now available in global markets, it will compete with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 in both reach and price, and at £849 (roughly $1,000), it’s going to be a very close call, especially when you consider how young OPPO’s foldable is in comparison.

Verdict

The OPPO Find N2 Flip is undoubtedly a charming device that cements the foldable segment as something for normal folks to enjoy. It carries an elegance that isn’t overwhelming and a style that is more approachable yet also distinctive. It is no slouch when it comes to performance, especially with its large battery and larger-than-normal external Cover Screen. Its main camera is quite impressive, but the ultra-wide shooter and the lack of a telephoto lens could disappoint mobile shutterbugs, especially when they can pretend they’re holding a camcorder with the phone’s Flexion Hinge.

Unfortunately, the Find N2 Flip’s biggest asset is also its biggest letdown. For all the space it gives, that Cover Screen feels so underutilized that it could have been just half its size, and none would be the wiser. Fortunately, it’s something that can be addressed with future software updates, presuming OPPO is willing to put in the work before its next-gen foldable. As it stands, the OPPO Find N2 Flip is an admirable first step as far as vertical foldables go, but it feels lacking that extra punch that would make it OPPO’s best yet.

The post OPPO Find N2 Flip Foldable Phone Review: Challenging the Foldable Status Quo first appeared on Yanko Design.

Samsung Display teases a future filled with foldable and slidable devices

Posted on by

We are so dependent on screens and displays these days, even just for looking at content. Most of the things we need to see every day are often displayed on computer monitors, TVs, and our phones. With more content and more data coming into our lives, it’s almost like we can’t have enough screens around us. In the somewhat distant future, every surface might indeed have a display, an interactive display even, but there are still plenty of technological and psychological hurdles before we get there. In the meantime, Samsung is more than happy to fill our world today with screens that can fold, roll, or even slide in order to give us as much display real estate as we need without forcing us to carry large backpacks or briefcases just to fit a 12-inch tablet.

Designer: Samsung

It isn’t time yet for a new foldable phone, but it’s Display Week 2022 in sunny San Jose, California, and Samsung isn’t going to miss out on the opportunity to show off what it has been cooking behind closed doors. Then again, some of these aren’t particularly new to our eyes, given how they’ve been prefigured by patents and even revealed by Samsung a few months ago. And given how these are already on display for the public to see, they’re more likely to arrive in the next few years rather than the next decades.

Fold it Your Way

Foldable phones are no longer alien to us now, but they’re still novel enough to be seen with some suspicion and apprehension. As marvelous as these may be from an engineering point of view, we’ve barely scratched the surface. Earlier this year, Samsung showed off its Flex G and Flex S foldable screens in action, and this week it’s reminding everyone who will listen to what these flexible displays can offer, presuming they actually become products.

The Flex G, for example, can either be a large screen that folds down twice into a more bag-friendly form, or it could be a makeshift laptop, with one-third of the screen as the keyboard and the other two-thirds for the display. The Flex S, on the other hand, can fold in opposite directions, forming a Z or S shape, and it’s easy enough to imagine it as a phone that transforms into a true tablet or vice versa. Both designs have been spotted before, both in patents and in prototypes, but Samsung might be more confident now to move forward and bring these displays to commercial products.

Let it Slide

The newest member of its gallery, however, is its “slidable” screens. Technically a combination of a sliding mechanism and a rollable display, this technology allows a device to expand its screen space without drastically changing the form of the device. A phone, for example, can remain a phone while its top slide out to show a bit more content. Given how tall smartphones are these days, that’s not exactly a big leap in form factors.

Similarly, an 8.1-inch tablet that suddenly has its sides slide out to expand to a 12.4-inch screen won’t drastically change the way you use the device. You just have more space for content or possibly more apps side-by-side. This kind of shape-shifting device might be a bit more approachable to consumers compared to foldables since it doesn’t require them to switch between modes or mindsets. Whether these are more robust than folding screens, however, remains to be seen.

For the Rest of Us

Truth be told, only a small fraction of today’s smartphone-using population has embraced foldables. There are a variety of reasons to hold off from those, with durability and price being the strongest deterrents. Until Samsung and other manufacturers have sufficiently addressed those concerns, foldables, rollables, slidables, and other -able displays will remain novelties and luxuries that could eventually die off as fads.

Of course, Samsung hasn’t completely forgotten about common people and has a few of its more normal but more usable innovations also on display, no pun intended. Amusingly, its latest QD-Display technology also stands as a testament to how technology, marketing, and even design go back and forth like a pendulum. The display market swings between LCD and OLED technologies every so often, sometimes with different marketing names and tweaks like MicroLED and Quantum Dots, in an attempt to get buyers’ attention and money. Samsung’s QD-Display TVs and monitors are just about to roll out to the public, so we’ll see soon enough what that buzz is all about.

The post Samsung Display teases a future filled with foldable and slidable devices first appeared on Yanko Design.

Google is rumored to be working on a foldable PIXEL Smartphone with a release date as early as 2021

Posted on by




It seems like Google was hibernating all through last year and the company finally woke up in May with their IO conference (which they canceled in 2020). As we gear up for Techtober (an informal term MKBHD uses to describe the September-October-November months that see all the major smartphone releases), rumors are suggesting that the Pixel 6 may be accompanied by the announcement of something MUCH more interesting… a foldable Pixel phone.

Developers who scanned through the Android 12 Beta were surprised to find model numbers for the Pixel 6 family, including foldable codenamed ‘Passport’. Suggesting that it would be a passport-shaped device that would open and close like the Samsung Galaxy Fold, with a similar dual-screen layout. The rumors prompted Tech YouTuber Waqar Khan to create renders of the purported device, which comes with a Pixel 5-inspired camera module, an outer screen with a hole-punch camera, and a large folding screen on the inside with yet another hole-punch camera.

The existence of a Pixel Fold was first touted by Ross Young, a digital analyst, who took to Twitter to mention that Google could launch the folding phone as early as 2021, or in the beginning of 2022. Young also said that the company was toying with the idea of a rollable smartphone, but the mention of “Project Passport” in Google’s own Android Beta seemed to confirm that they were working on developing a stock Android OS just for a foldable Pixel.

2021 is definitely an interesting year for Google, as they’re also developing their own silicon to rival Apple. Titled ‘Whitechapel’, Google’s silicon chip will make it to its smartphones, hopefully giving it a performance upgrade that should push it miles ahead of its competition. The Whitechapel chip could potentially even make the foldable Pixel an incredibly powerful and efficient device.

Waqar Khan’s renders give us a clue of what a folding Pixel would look/feel like. Schematically, it’s no different from Samsung’s first folding phone; although with significant developments made in the world of flexible OLED displays, maybe the ‘Pixel Fold’ could avoid the pitfalls of the Galaxy Fold that came 2 years before it. The renders show a clean matte body (like last year’s Pixel device) along with the presence of a fingerprint reader on the back. That particular detail could be a creative call on Khan’s part, given that in-screen fingerprint readers seem to be quite the norm with Android phones over the past year.

The confirmed Pixel 6 is set to debut at Google’s ‘Made By Google’ hardware event, which usually happens around October. It’s unclear if the event will be an in-person or a virtual one, and we can only hope that the company also teases (if not releases) the folding Pixel along with its expected lineup which includes a flagship phone, smart-speaker, and possibly Google’s first-ever smartwatch, which comes 2 years after the company announced it was acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion.

Designer/Visualizer: Waqar Khan

This sleek foldable phone’s practical form factor is designed to boost smartphone photography!

Posted on by

Foldable smartphones hit the scene in a big way a couple of years ago, but they have failed to make any major inroads (as speculated when they first burst into the scene) in the highly competitive segment of the phone market – yes, I’m talking about the flagship segment. The form factor so far has been limited to the clamshell of the Moto Razr, the Galaxy Z Flip, or the bigger tablet-like folding form of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Huawei Mate X. To liven up things and give consumers a sneak peek at how foldable smartphone technology is going to shape in the near future, concept phones refresh the monotony of the predictable designs that we are used to.

The Compal CHEESE is the latest to catch our eye, and it seems good both on the practicality front as well as form and function considering what the end-user actually looks forward to. This smartphone is designed to satiate the cravings of photography fanatics with a very compact form factor that justifies daily use-case-scenario. CHEESE has only one camera module on the top, and the upper third half of the phone folds to be used as a selfie shooter. While you might be sucked into believing that it is similar to the Asus Zenfone 6 or Zenfone 7, but they have a rotating camera system and not a folding display like the one on the CHEESE. Without being too bulky or wide (like Samsung or Motorola), the phone manages to balance out the daily phone usage with photography perfectly.

The thing here to note is that the phone folds as the dual cameras face outward in the phone mode. The major half of the screen is for you to use as a viewfinder and photograph composition, and if you’re clicking a portrait of your friend, he/she can see themselves in the folded part of the screen facing them. Furthermore, the side edges of the display act as the camera shutter or be used for other functions like zoom or even to display notifications when you’re not clicking pictures. While it’s still a blueprint of what Compal could make in the future – pricing of anything under $1,200 will keep prospective buyers interested.

Designer: Compal