The foldable phones Samsung sells in the market today don't have the most exciting form factors. You have the Galaxy Z Fold, which folds inward horizontally to turn a tablet-like device into a phone, and the clamshell Galaxy Z Flip, which folds vertically and turns a regular phone-size screen into a pocket-sized device that can fit into the tightest of spaces.
But behind closed doors, Samsung continues to test a lot of unique and fancy foldable designs, and the company has showcased some of them at the ongoing CES 2024. Fantastic doesn't even begin to describe them, and you will have the same response when you watch the videos embedded in the tweet below.
Swipe to see new foldable displays Samsung Display showed me at #ces2024 👉
📷: ZVE1#samsungdisplay #samsung #samsungfold #samsungflip #foldingphone #foldinglaptop #foldingtablet pic.twitter.com/Qs3D3PLoEo
— David Cogen (@theunlockr) January 10, 2024
Samsung has essentially put a spin on its existing foldable designs. The horizontally folding ones are considerably larger than a Galaxy Z Fold, and they have a slidable display that you can extend from the side, top, or bottom. The slidable display can act as an extension to the main foldable screen when the device is unfolded or used for quick access to the software when the device is folded, removing the need for a cover display.
The flip designs are a little impractical, but they look extremely cool. One of them has a small display at the top of the device that is visible at all times instead of a full-blown cover screen on the back. There's also a more complex flip design that can fold inwards and outwards and has a bottom half that's shorter than the top half, which allows a certain section of the top half to remain visible when the device is folded inward.
Will Samsung bring these fancy foldable devices to the market anytime soon, if ever? Probably not. As fans, these are the kind of innovations we want to see from the Korean giant, but we also understand that they may not be financially feasible. For now, we can look forward to simpler upgrades to Samsung's commercial foldables, such as a wider aspect ratio for the cover screen and maybe even an S Pen slot, though even those aren't guaranteed.
