Has Samsung revealed the designs under consideration for the Galaxy Fold? Ahead of an expected relaunch of the folding smartphone at Berlin’s IFA in September, a new design patent filed this month shows the thoughts of the South Korean company in terms of hinge placement
The design patents were first reported by Ilse Jurrien at Let’s Go Digital, who have provided Forbes with this exclusive concept rendering of the new design.
What has caught my eye about these patents is the filing dates. They were published on August 26 2019, but filed just twelve days previously, on August 14. Given the re-engineering of the hinge that Samsung has been addressing since the postponed launch of the original Galaxy Fold, the timing of this patent is curious.
The patents cover a number of form factors for folding smartphones. There are left-handed and right-handed models which fold much like the spine of a book, in a similar way to the current Galaxy Fold. There is also a horizontal folding phone that opens up like an A-frame easel.
The latter offers a different aspect ratio when closed, and looks more like a games console with wider bezels and a screen that has a better proportion to the along and thin screen found on the original Galaxy Fold. Given the choice I prefer this horizontal fold layout.
The Galaxy Fold may have caught the headlines in February when it was launched alongside the Galaxy S11 family, but its withdrawal before going on sale (but after the media had filed the first reviews) was an embarrassing moment. Can Samsung recover that prestige? We should find out in the next few weeks.
The design patents were first reported by Ilse Jurrien at Let’s Go Digital, who have provided Forbes with this exclusive concept rendering of the new design.
What has caught my eye about these patents is the filing dates. They were published on August 26 2019, but filed just twelve days previously, on August 14. Given the re-engineering of the hinge that Samsung has been addressing since the postponed launch of the original Galaxy Fold, the timing of this patent is curious.
The patents cover a number of form factors for folding smartphones. There are left-handed and right-handed models which fold much like the spine of a book, in a similar way to the current Galaxy Fold. There is also a horizontal folding phone that opens up like an A-frame easel.
The latter offers a different aspect ratio when closed, and looks more like a games console with wider bezels and a screen that has a better proportion to the along and thin screen found on the original Galaxy Fold. Given the choice I prefer this horizontal fold layout.
The Galaxy Fold may have caught the headlines in February when it was launched alongside the Galaxy S11 family, but its withdrawal before going on sale (but after the media had filed the first reviews) was an embarrassing moment. Can Samsung recover that prestige? We should find out in the next few weeks.
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