Summary
- Samsung debuts a folding gaming handheld at MWC 2025.
- The device is a proof-of-concept prototype with a 7.2-inch foldable display.
- There’s uncertainty on whether Samsung will release it (or anything similar) as a market-ready product.
Mobile World Congress 2025 is in full swing. There’s a glut of newly announced AI novelties, like Gemini Live video and screen-sharing, and one hardware reveal that stands out from the many awesome global smartphones we’re getting first looks at. That reveal is of the Samsung Flex Gaming, the folding handheld that’s been in the works for quite some time (Source: Samsung Display via Notebookcheck). Among the many things we have yet to learn is if this theoretical handheld would aim for the bug guns like the ROG Ally X, or the selection of less-costly Android handheld consoles.
One defining feature sets it apart
The crease on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 (left) next to the Galaxy Z Flip 4 (right).
No word yet on if it has a visible crease.
Samsung’s promise to increase innovation came after the S25 lineup was mostly set in stone. To the South Korean tech giant’s credit, the S25 Slim came basically out of nowhere, with a thin form factor that’s a big enough deal for Apple to also go skinny with the iPhone 17 Air.
The Flex Gaming handheld, on the other hand, has hidden just under the surface for months. Nearly half a year ago, we caught wind of Valve’s work porting Steam games to ARM64 platforms. Three months later, a clever Android Police investigator compiled four separate leaks indicating Samsung’s folding console was all but a certainty.
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Now, it’s here. Or, more accurately, it’s in Barcelona, at MWC 2025, installed next to a host of other devices touting Samsung Display’s tireless work to perfect the OLED screen and its various applications. That’s actually the rub with the folding console: The Flex Gaming, like the other Samsung tech immediately surrounding it, bears the “concept” title, meaning it’s not an official device that’s ready to hit the market. Yet.
What we know about the Samsung Flex Gaming
Not much so far, because it’s only a model
Source: Samsung
The Flex Gaming and other featured Samsung Display technologies at MWC 2025.
We know the device we’re looking at here has a 7.2-inch display that folds in half. Its joysticks fit neatly in opposing indentations created just for that purpose. We also weren’t allowed to touch it, and it doesn’t have any buttons or a D-pad — wait, what?
At the moment, the Flex Gaming is more a proof-of-concept prototype than anything resembling a real attempt at a pocket-size SteamOS console. To be more direct, there’s zero indication we’ll ever see this thing in real life. If we do, it’ll look different out of necessity, because not many games work great with just two thumbsticks. And when a folding console does hit the market, it might be from a totally different company that simply buys Samsung Display’s folding OLED.
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8 features I’d like to see on the rumored Xbox Gaming handheld
Microsoft could easily have my number
So, while our tireless reporting fell a bit flat in the “real-world devices” sense this time around — although it was technically correct — there is still hope. Samsung may or may not have the ambition to combine its various in-house endeavors (from the branches responsible for Exynos chips or GDDR6 volatile memory, for example), but the hardest part to manufacture is apparently almost ready for primetime. Much like the Android XR collaboration with Google, the Flex Gaming is more evidence that Samsung has its hands in a number of today’s fastest-moving electronics categories.
