Remember the days when text messages and Snake on your Nokia 3310 were two of the most interesting things that a phone could handle? We do too, Fast forward at least 15 years and we had in-display fingerprint scanners, punch-hole front cameras, bezel-free displays and a whole new take on the flip and slider phones.
Flip phones were earlier compact, slim, and hinged devices. Now, the flip phones have morphed into the foldable phones and they are all set to be irrational, in both senses of the word. With foldable screens, Android support, too much potential and huge price tags, here are the devices that lead the crazy foldable smartphone trend, from already announced to the rumoured and upcoming ones.
Huawei
- 6.6-inch front unfolds into 8-inch OLED tablet
- 4500mAh battery
- 5G modem
- Leica triple camera
In 2019, at the Mobile World Congress, Huawei stole the whole show, unveiling its take on the folding phone in the Mate X. Unlike Samsung Fold, the X has its screen on the exterior fold- shown as a 6.6-inch main screen and an elongated 6.38-inch screen on the rear. Unfolded, the two are presented as an 8-inch tablet form.
It is seamless, without any separation, no creases or kinks but it might fight with scratches.
Elsewhere the Mate X provides top-end spec- It has got a 4500 mAh total capacity with fast 55 W charging, the organization’s top-end Kirin 980 processor and a modem of 5G for the quickest connectivity. Huawei has said that it will be available in the market before the end of this year and the price will start from €2299, which is nearly £2000.
Samsung
- 12GB RAM
- 7nm 64-bit octa-core processor,
- 512GB storage
- 4380mAh battery capacity
The Samsung Galaxy Fold was announced officially in February, following several years of rumours. The device was revealed alongside the Galaxy S10 range at the Samsung Unpacked 2019, but while it was due to go on sale at April end in the US and starting of May in Europe, with a starting cost of €2000, it has been postponed currently. There have been some reports that it is now fixed although, so we might see the Galaxy Fold V2 very soon.
The Galaxy Fold foldable smartphone has a 4.6-inch screen that folds out to a 7.3-inch tablet, but unlike the Royal Flex Pai, it has more customer-friendly design with a considered hinge. It features a 7nm Exynos chip, coupled with the 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of the storage. There is no micro SD, but the device does provide six cameras and the software permits for three-app multi-tasking when its opened on a large display.
Royole
- 6/8GB RAM
- Qualcomm SD855, 7.8-inch flexible screen
- 16MP/20MP cameras
Royole beat everyone to punch, announcing the initial commercially available smartphone that comes with a flexible display. Currently, it is only available in China as developer model, but Flexi Pai turns from 7.8-inch tablet to smartphone by holding it in two halves.
It has got all the power of a usual flagship smartphone, but it is a bit bulky when folded and it does not fold flat, leaving a good big air gap next to the non-existent hinge. It also begins at £1209/$1300. Though there is a lot of potentials, mainly given the screen technology is few millimetres thick.