Photo:Angela Lang/CNET Royale Flexpai

It’s a phone, it’s a tablet, No wait, it’s a foldable phone? The Galaxy S10, or Galaxy F or Galaxy X isn’t the first foldable phone, however, it is the first one released by one of the major brands. The possibilities are endless with the folding technology but one thing in my mind that will hold back these devices will be the inability to build them out of materials like aluminum and glass. We are so conditioned as consumers to be drawn to these products because of the durable feel of these materials opposed to plastics. Another thing that comes to mind for me is how thick will this new foldable phone be? Wallets have been steadily declining in popularity compared to thinner money clips and other alternatives, and phones have been getting steadily skinnier and skinnier to the point where we can even fit headphone jacks on them anymore(?). Take a first look at a prototype of the foldable phone below!  

Samsung foldable phone: What we know and don’t know about the ‘Galaxy X’

Screen size, how it works and much more.

BY 
Photo:Angela Lang/CNET Royale Flexpai

 

The foldable phone era has officially begun. Samsung introduced the world to its first foldable phone this week, a device rumored to be called the Galaxy X or Galaxy F. This was not a typical announcement with every detail on display as they were for the Galaxy S9 or Note 9 unveiling. Rather, Samsung teased its foldable phone through a short video and by hoisting aloft a working prototype in an executive’s hand on stage.

Although Samsung never displayed the foldable phone up close — not even behind museum glass — the device is plenty real. It’s conceptualized enough to earn Google’s backing. In fact, Samsung’s project seems to have spurred official Android support for all foldable phones, no matter the manufacturer. Meanwhile, Samsung gathered developers in a Wednesday afternoon session to share a few more details, such as the phone’s 4.5 and 7.3-inch screen sizes.

Despite the dribs and drabs of information, the foldable phone’s brief onstage appearance raised more questions than answers. Here’s what we know — and what’s still to come.

What’s the phone called?

Samsung didn’t give the foldable phone a name, but rumors suggest that it’ll be called the Galaxy X or Galaxy F. The “F” could stand for “fold” or “flex”. The “X” might mean “extra” or “10”, since there are 9 Galaxy S phones out — though we do expect to see a Galaxy S10 around March this year.

What is a foldable phone?

If we go by Samsung’s definition, a foldable phone is a device with a cellular connection (hence the “phone” part) that looks like a tablet when it’s full opened and can close to look like your usual phone. Samsung’s prototype has a tablet-like screen that closes inward like a book, but Royole’s FlexPai, another foldable phone, has an outward-folding screen, which means the “screen” is on the outside. There’s no single definition.

Didn’t ZTE make a foldable phone?

Last year’s ZTE Axon M was an early version of a foldable phone that attached two separate phone screens through a central hinge. Samsung’s foldable phone (and Royole’s FlexPai) appear to have unibody displays that fold at the midpoint. A magnet secures the FlexPai’s screen in the “closed” position.

We can credit the Axon M with exploring different new ways to use a dual-screen device; Royole has already adopted some of these, for example, mirroring the contents of both screens so people on either side of a table can watch the same video clip. ZTE could very well come up with a second-generation foldable (or “foldable” phone).

What’s the benefit of a foldable phone?

There are two main advantages of using a foldable phone. First, it can more than double your available screen space. For example, Samsung’s foldable phone has a 4.5-inch display that you’ll use when it’s closed. Then the inside opens into a 7.3-inch screen. You could argue that you have the equivalent of three displays to work with.

 

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