Folding Smartphones: Everything You Should Know About it

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: March 05, 2019

The folding smartphone revolution has begun, everyone else turns to flexible smartphone for their created needs.

In the field of smart phones, with the major brands rushing to release 5G folding smartphone. There is no doubt that folding screens and 5G have become the technical high ground of the mobile phone industry in 2019. So what are the mobile phone brands that have released the flexible smartphone?

Samsung Galaxy Fold

On February 21, Samsung launched its first folding screen phone, the Samsung Galaxy Fold, in Los Angeles before the MWC conference.

The model is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 12GB + 512GB memory, battery capacity 4380mAh with side fingerprint recognition, 6 cameras at the mean time. With an internal fold-down design, the screen size is only 4.6 inches when folded, and the screen size can reach 7.3 inches when opened. The price is about $1,970 and will be available for sale on April 26.

Huawei Mate X

Just three days later, on February 24th, Huawei also ushered in its own folding screen phone, Huawei Mate X. Huawei Mate X uses a high-strength flexible OLED screen + hinge technology, which is a 6.6-inch mobile phone when closed, and an 8-inch flat panel when unfolded.

Configuration, equipped with its own developed Barong 5000 5G multimode chip and Kirin 980, 8GB + 512GB memory, 4500mAh battery capacity, support 55W fast charge. It will be available in the middle of this year, price is about $2,599.

Millet Folding Screens

Before the MWC, Millet also publicly released his own folding screen mobile phone on the Internet. Like Huawei Mate X, it used the external folding scheme, whereas, it needs to be folded twice.

OPPO Flexible Phone

On February 25th, OPPO Vice President Brian exposed OPPO's first folding screen mobile phone on MicroBlog. However, the eye-catching netizens found that the appearance of the machine is almost exactly the same as that of Huawei's Mate X. Fortunately, the folding method is not the half-fold of Huawei Mate X, but it is folded in the left third of the screen.

LG V50 ThinQ

In the early morning of February 24, another Korean manufacturer LG also released the new LG V50 ThinQ at the MWC conference. However, strictly speaking, this machine is not a real folding screen mobile phone, but a plug-in screen module to achieve folding effect.

However, for the folding screen mobile phones released at this stage, we believe that there are still several major defects, and these defects will also restrict the development of the folding screen and market popularity.

Cost an Arm and a Leg

The most obvious is the price issue. Unlike ordinary smartphones, the folding screen mobile phone technology is more difficult, which means that the cost of input is not low. Take Samsung's folding screen mobile phone as an example, the cost of components is better than that of the iPhone. XS is about 65% higher.

From the perspective of Samsung and Huawei's released folding screen phones, the price is indeed very high. Therefore, even after mass production, it will restrict most consumers to buy.

Useful Life is in Doubt

Although Samsung claims that its folding screen phone can withstand 200,000 folds, the actual use scene is definitely different from the simulation test. Long-term bending will cause irreversible damage to the screen. In the case that the film cannot be filmed, can the screen of the folding screen phone be able to withstand the impact of accidents such as dropping?

The Product Itself Needs to be Improved

Judging from the presentation at the press conference, although Samsung and Huawei's folding screen phones can be integrated into one screen, you can still see the traces when folding.

In addition, the folding screen phone almost doubles in thickness after closing, which may also make many users unaccustomed. Therefore, at this stage, the folding screen mobile phone has room for improvement in technical application.