As part of a Display Week exhibition, Samsung has revealed multiple foldable display prototypes that could make their way into future products, and they're rather impressive.
While Samsung wasn’t the first on the scene with a consumer-ready foldable phone, that honor goes to the Royole FlexPai, the tech giant has truly embraced the technology more than most smartphone manufacturers. These rollable and foldable display demos (coming via SamMobile) are further confirmation that it won’t be leaving the space anytime soon.
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The first concept demoed is a bi-folding design, tentatively referred to as an S-Foldable OLED panel. This display can be used as part of an in-folding or out-folding device and has the ability to be folded twice for even more versatility.
When the screen is fully stretched out it reaches a size of 7.2-inches. Comparisons have been made to the currently available Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, which launched last year, but obviously with an additional fold point.
The next display is a rollable panel that can stretch out without being folded. This could be useful for eliminating one of the biggest problems users face with foldable phones: breakage at the point of folding. The screen of this Samsung concept extends horizontally in a similar way to the Oppo X 2021 which was demoed earlier this year.
Perhaps most impressive, Samsung showed off a display that could hint at a foldable Galaxy Tab. This 17-inch foldable panel is sizeable enough that it could conceivably be used as a tablet when folded and a monitor when fully stretched out.
This concept points at potential for foldable tablets and other devices, taking flexible panel tech beyond foldable phones and rollable TVs.
Samsung also gave us a look at a laptop that sports an under-display camera. Removing the punch hole camera is becoming quite the trend in the smartphone world. The ZTE Axon 20 5G was the first smartphone to debut with an under-display camera last year. And a recent Google patent has hinted that the Google Pixel 7 could also feature a camera underneath its display.
As for Samsung's foldable concept, it's worth noting that not everything the company prototypes or demos ultimately makes its way into the hands of consumers. So there’s no guarantee that these foldable designs will ever see widespread use.
However, Samsung is seemingly fully on board with foldable phones and is reportedly prepping the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 for a release this summer, which could be the company’s best attempt at a foldable phone yet. So the company looks poised to keep creating devices with foldable displays.
