This article was published on October 29, 2019

Samsung teases another folding phone, but this one’s a clamshell


Samsung teases another folding phone, but this one’s a clamshell

If you thought the Galaxy Fold’s initial woes would stop Samsung from continuing to make bendy screens, you’d be wrong. At the Samsung Developer Conference today, the company teased a new device that folds more like the clamshell phones of olds.

It’s an intriguing form factor – one that’s already alleged to show up in the rumored Motorola RAZR phone next month. By folding vertically rather than horizontally, the device is able to maintain a more typical smartphone size and aspect ratio when open. This should make the device more familiar to use and provide a more comfortable aspect ratio for watching movies. But once folded, it takes up a smaller footprint.

It seems like it could provide a good compromise between the Galaxy Fold’s productivity and a traditional phone’s comfort and familiarity, though Samsung teased some new functionality too, such as folding the phone halfway to prop the camera up during a stream. Because the screen appears to be smaller than the normal Galaxy Fold’s, it could come at a lower price point too.

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Unfortunately, Samsung didn’t do much else beyond teasing. There’s no word on when we’ll hear more about the device, or even confirmation on whether it’ll ever come to fruition; Samsung says it’s ‘exploring’ new form factors. Still, considering the company was encouraging developers to make their apps ready for the new folding mechanism, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pop up in the next year or two.

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