I’ve always been a fan of the concept of foldable phones. I love the idea that I can have a phone in my pocket that unfolds to become a larger tablet device, when I need to quickly smash out an article, but between the Samsung Fold and the Flip, they’ve always been very oddly specific foldables, but that’s set to change.
At CES 2023, Samsung is showing off the future of OLED technology with a display technology called Flex Hybrid, which can not only fold multiple times, but it can also slide.
Some cool rollable displays too.
After a slow start to new form factors, these prototypes get me excited about the future. pic.twitter.com/BG9Rq4caL9
— Eli Blumenthal (@eliblumenthal) January 4, 2023
CNET’s Eli Blumenthal, was able to see the multiple variations of it and showed it off on his Twitter account below, but basically the screens can fold (much like the Galaxy Fold) and then another portion of the screen can slide out on the right size, meaning it literally goes from a display that’s the size of the phone, out to something that’s closer to a true tablet with a 10.5-inch display.
There’s a number of different prototypes that show displays folding in on itself and sliding out from both ends, and I know that these are prototypes, but I’m really impressed with the possibilities that this opens up.
I think it’ll probably be a good year or two at least before we see these hit the market, but then again, I’m still often in disbelief whenever I see a Flip or Fold in the wild, so maybe it’s closer than I think.
