TL;DR
- At CES 2022, we got a glimpse of the newest Samsung foldable tech.
- There are four new “folds” on the way across a variety of product styles.
- Some of these we already saw at Samsung’s own display conference in 2021.
At CES 2022, the company made it clear we’ve only seen the beginning of the Samsung foldable craze. At the event, it showed off four new styles of foldables, three of which could be your future smartphone.
Check out all the new Samsung foldable styles below! As a note, some of these we saw back in 2021 at Samsung’s own display event, so if they seem familiar that’s why.
Samsung foldable tech: ‘S’ and ‘G’ folds
First up, we have what Samsung calls “S” and “G” folds. The “S” fold is easy to understand: three panels fold out in an S-shape. Samsung emphasizes how this would be useful for turning a phone-sized device into something much, much larger.
The “G” fold is a subtle take on the “S” fold. It still features three panels, but it folds inward on all sides, allowing you to store away the device without scratching the display. This is slightly less versatile than the “S” fold, but it would be better for certain use cases. For example, a device made for outdoor activities such as hiking would benefit from a “G” fold design.
Obviously, these new Samsung foldable designs could make for good smartphones. However, Samsung hasn’t made any commitments to bring these to retail. For now, these are just concepts.
Flex Note
Don’t get too excited by the “Note” name for this Samsung foldable. This is not the next evolution of the Galaxy Note line. Instead, this is Samsung’s concept for foldable notebooks, meaning laptops with one continuous foldable display.
The benefits of this are obvious. Without the need for a physical keyboard, the bottom of your laptop could be whatever you needed at that moment. It could be an on-screen keyboard when you’re typing, a pen input pad when you’re drawing, a media controller when you’re editing video, etc. Then, when you’re ready to chill, you can fully unfold the laptop into a flat slate and use it to watch some Netflix.
Flex Slidable
Finally, we have the Flex Slidable device in the new Samsung foldable concept lineup. This phone-like prototype is incredibly similar to the Oppo X 2021, which was that company’s major concept device of the year.
As with the X 2021, the Flex Slidable looks like a normal phone. When activated, the display rolls out to the side giving the user some extra screen real estate. In the video above, Samsung posits this could be a way to access app shortcuts.
It will be very interesting to see if, how, and when Samsung implements these foldable technologies in retail products. Who knows, it could have something already in the pipeline. Stay tuned!
