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How foldable phones like Samsung’s newest handset work
Prototypes and patents reveal designs from Samsung, Huawei, Apple and many others
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Smartphone displays are becoming larger than ever. But there’s a limit to how big a device can get before it can’t fit in your pocket anymore. One way manufacturers are trying to get around that is to fold a screen in half.
Seven years after Samsung first revealed it’s working on a foldable smartphone, the company finally unveiled its widely anticipated device this week. It works like a tiny book: The front cover features a regular screen, and the entire handset folds out to reveal a tablet-sized display.
Samsung is calling the technology Infinity Flex Display. It runs the One UI -- an Android variant optimized for bendable usage, created in collaboration with Google. Samsung says its device will enter mass production in the coming months.
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But Samsung isn’t the first to introduce a foldable smartphone.
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ZTE, for example, launched the Axon M handset early this year that also folds like a book. Unlike Samsung’s bendable display though, the Axon M features two separate 5.2-inch screens -- with a black seam sitting glaringly in the middle.
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