Samsung Display has teased a foldable phone with multi-folding design

Samsung is the undisputed leader in the foldable phone space right now, offering a polished clamshell foldable in the Galaxy Z Flip and a much-improved large-screen experience in the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Now, Samsung Display may have given us a hint of future foldable phone designs, as it recently teased a device with a multi-folding design. An accompanying image shows a foldable with a Z-style folding mechanism. In other words, the left third of the display folds inwards and onto the front of the center third. Meanwhile, the right third of the screen folds backwards, behind the center third of the display. Check out the image below for a better idea of how it works.

There are definitely benefits to this approach, as it theoretically means you can have a much larger tablet experience when folded out compared to current foldables. This design likely wouldn’t result in a compromised phone experience either, as we saw with the original Fold’s awkwardly sized phone screen.

Our biggest concern regarding a multi-folding design like this is that durability might be a problem though. Early foldables suffered from hinge-related issues, and so adding a second hinge would definitely make us a little nervous.

We’re also guessing that the introduction of a second folding point would result in another display crease, but this shouldn’t be a major issue if it’s anything like the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s crease.

Samsung Display hasn’t issued a timeline or launch window for commercial availability of foldable phones with a multi-folding design. But presumably Samsung itself would be the first manufacturer to adopt this tech. What do you think of a foldable phone with a design like this? Let us know by taking our poll above!

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