Samsung’s Galaxy Fold may be facing issues prior to its launch, but that is apparently not keeping the company from further experimenting with the foldable form factor. A report from out of Korea claims the company is working on a dual-folding phone.
Samsung’s dual folding phone to unfold outwards
According to the Korean-language site The Bell, the dual-folding phone measures about 8-inches when unfolded. Further, unlike the earlier rumors that Samsung’s next foldable phone would unfold outwards, the report suggests the device could fold inward twice.
There are no further details on the phone, including functionality and specs. The report was translated from Korean to English, so it is possible that some relevant details about the dual-folding screen phone got lost.
The same report claims Samsung might also be working on a foldable phone with a 13-inch screen. This phone is said to adopt a traditional clamshell design, but it is not known how many times the device will fold.
As of now, no further details about Samsung’s dual-folding screen phone or the model with the 13-inch screen are available. The Korean report should be taken with a grain of salt because its source hasn’t been verified.
Not the first time
This is not the first time we are hearing about Samsung working on more foldable phones. Bloomberg reported in March that the Korean firm was working on two new foldable smartphones. Citing people familiar with Samsung’s plans, the news outlet suggested one of the devices would bear a clamshell-like design, while the other would fold away from the user, possibly in a manner similar to Huawei’s Mate X. Further, Bloomberg said the vertically-folding phone would be released later this year or early next year and that currently, the company is using mock-ups to perfect the design.
Additionally, the news outlet said Samsung added an extra screen on the outside of the device. However, the company may remove the additional screen after seeing the response to a similar display on the Galaxy Fold.
Bloomberg said the second device that will fold outward will launch after the vertically-folding phone. The outward-folding device will reportedly be thinner and have no extra screen.
Patent for a dual-folding screen
Last month, a new Samsung patent also referenced a phone with a dual-folding screen. The patent, which was filed by Samsung Electronics in 2017, was published on the Global Design Database of the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) late last month.
The patent sketches show a smartphone with a big, flexible screen which can be folded two times. According to the sketches, the device turns into a tablet when expanded or unfolded. When folded, the device is shown to have a display on both sides.
Further, the sketches show support in the middle or along the entire axis of the screen to prevent the screen from bending when the phone is unfolded. When the device is folded, the support fits nicely between the two display parts.
The design in the patent appears similar to the design Xiaomi already teased for its foldable phone. However, Samsung’s phone is shown to be thicker on the sides and thinner in the middle, while Xiaomi’s smartphone bears the same thickness throughout.
Moreover, renderings of the dual-folding phone developed by LetsGoDigital on the basis of the patent sketches show a full-screen display with no screen edges. There is no information on where the company plans to place the camera sensors.
What’s happening with the Galaxy Fold?
Meanwhile, all attention now is on the Galaxy Fold, which has gotten an unexpected start. Early reviewers of the phone reported broken screens after just days of using the device. Images of broken, flickering and bulging Galaxy Fold devices are circulating on the Internet, garnering all sorts of comments from users on Twitter and Reddit.
“If you combined the Fold with the original Note 7 battery, you could potentially have a mini toasted sandwich maker,” one Reddit user said.
Not sure why everyone is complaining about the Samsung Galaxy Fold. My unit has been absolutely fine ?? pic.twitter.com/TP6ZjD9m9J
— Safwan AhmedMia (@SuperSaf) April 18, 2019
Samsung has said it will “thoroughly” inspect the broken units. Despite the early reviews, the company is committed to launching the device in the U.S. on Apr. 26. However, in China, the company has reportedly postponed the press events scheduled for Apr. 23 and 24.
