LG patent filing envisions foldable smartphones

We have watched over the years as smartphone displays have increased in size, and starting last year, we watched as bezels shrank. The next big thing for smartphone design might be making our phones bend in one way or another.

A smartphone with a flexible screen is certainly an interesting concept, straight out of sci-fi tales, but it’s a future we might not be too far away from. Samsung and ZTE are both heading in that direction, so it might not be too surprising to learn that LG is also investigating similar ideas.

LG filed a patent back in July of last year which was published on January 12, 2018. The filing shows a couple of different foldable designs from the Life’s Good crew. The first envisions a phone that bends in the middle, with a big display to show off content when the phone is unfolded. When it’s closed, information can be shown on the back of the handset.

The second design, which you can see above, shows a phone that folds in such a way that a small stretch of display is still visible on the side. In this case it still looks like there are technically two displays, even when the display is unfolded. It’s a more interesting concept, but might make for some interesting use cases when it’s closed.

Turning your phone into a tablet with a big display by merely unfolding it is a pretty exciting concept. It will be interesting to see which company gets there first in a device that’s ready for the public.

source: androidandme