Another day, another Samsung Galaxy X foldable device patent is here. We try to see what’s special below, but be advised that it’s nothing truly special, but rather a predictable approach. First of all, it all feels like a clamshell…
Once again the vertical format appears, making this feel like a clamshell and not the open book that Microsoft proposed with the Courier/ Surface Phone a while ago. The hidden display part will be placed into the “lower lip” of the phone, which is the lower area that’s left uncovered when the foldable closes up. Much like the secondary screen of the HTC U Ultra and LG V10 it will show notifications, useful info and shortcuts.
This time it’s placed at the bottom, meaning you don’t have to open the whole thing to see a piece of news or missed Facebook status. The folding part is also more vague now, without that special segmentation that let you clearly fold only a specific mid section of the body. Now the foldable area seems a tad bigger and better hidden.
The second screen may well become hidden once the foldable is closed. It can show small text or icons. The patent also proposes having two secondary hidden screens, one at the top and one at the bottom of the device (or on both sides in landscape mode). The new patent also talks about usage with a stylus, a new S-Pen. Biometric methods also pop out at some point.
If you look at how the device folds, it feels a bit like a wallet being folded, I’d say. There’s also some bad news, as WSJ has it on good authority that this limited edition foldable phone will be priced at around $1500.
