At the beginning of 2019, many industry analysts predicted that the year would feature a good number of foldable phones. That we would see the dawn of the new form-factor in smartphones.
While that did happen, we didn’t see the folding smartphones take over the industry. In fact, the year shone a light on the kind of difficulties phone-makers were going through in making these phones. All in all, the Galaxy Fold and the new Moto Razr were the highlights of the year.
But all is not lost in this front. A number of industry leaders are rumored to be working on their form of folding smartphone. We did not see Huawei’s Mate X so that might still be in the works, then there’s LG.
New reports have surfaced, showing LG’s patent of a folding smartphone display.
From the leaked renders, the following observations can be drawn. The top bezel of the smartphone design holds dual camera sensors along with an LED flash. There’s no border on the right side because the screen continues towards that side and wraps-around the back panel. Also, there will be no rear-facing cameras. This is because the display extends all the way to the back panel. Instead, it seems that the front-facing sensors would double up as the rear cameras.
From the patent schematics, it is not yet clear how the display is being held in place. However, it is likely to be held in place by some form of magnetic mechanism. It is also possible to remove the extending flexible screen from the housing by pressing a button
In the current form described in the patent, there are two displays on the device when it is closed, one on either sides. On opening, the device turns into a tablet with a bigger display. There are visible speaker grilles at the top and bottom, along with a microphone. Also notable is that there’s a USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom and a power button at the top side.
Samsung and Huawei are expected to showcase or unveil their next-generation foldable phones. These, according to rumors, are the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Huawei Mate Xs. We might also see LG take the same platform to introduce experimental smartphones at the upcoming MWC 2020 in Barcelona.
NOTE: We have more LG-related stuff here.
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