All the Incoming Foldable Phones of 2019
With Google betting on a foldable future for Android, it seems all phone manufacturers are getting these type of devices ready. Even Apple is reportedly looking into this form factor that offers the convenience of extreme portability when folded and a larger screen whenever you need it.
Huawei Foldable Phone
The Huawei foldable phone (pictured below) seems to be one of the more impressive foldable devices rumored to be in the works. It reportedly will have 5G and a full 5-inch screen on the front (with a notch for facial ID recognition), as well as an almost bezel-free 8-inch screen outside. Huawei’s CEO Ken Hu says it’s so powerful it will be able to “replace a PC”.
![Credit: ETNews]( "Credit: ETNews")
Credit: ETNews
Initial reports suggested the phone could be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. The company has a press conference scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 24, so we're likely to find out more about Huawei's plans then, especially since a tweet announcing the MWC press event hints at a mobile phone.
MORE: MWC Preview: All the New Phones, 5G and More
Samsung Galaxy Fold
The technology behind the upcoming Samsung foldable was announced in November 2018. The Infinity Flex display Samsung will be using for the Galaxy Fold will expand to 7.3 inches and sport a resolution of 2152 x 1536 pixels. According to a Korean analyst report, the Galaxy Fold (as the phone will apparently be called) will cost $1,800 and sport a whopping gigantic mAh battery capacity and two 12-MP rear-facing cameras.
The batteries will be split into two, one on each blade, which is a no-brainer given its gigantic display and cover panel. A report on GalaxyClub said the two batteries would provide a total of 6,200 mAh.
Samsung hasn’t revealed many other details as of yet, but we do know the device will be able to run three apps on the screen at once, thanks to the new OneUI interface. It's expected that the phone will run on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 mobile processor, at least for the version that ships in the U.S.
A Samsung Unpacked event happens this week in San Francisco. And even though the Galaxy S10 is expected to be the star of that particular show. Samsung has already hinted that the Galaxy Fold will be part of that event.
It's unclear if Samsung will announce a ship date or price for the Galaxy Fold at that event, but Italian blog Tutto Android says the foldable phone from Samsung should be shipping in late March or early April.
Royole FlexPai
The world’s first foldable phone already debuted last November. It isn’t as polished as Huawei or Samsung’s but, hey, the little Chinese David beat the two Goliaths to be first to market. Called the FlexPai, it has a 7.8-inch AMOLED screen with a 1920 x 1440 resolution and measures 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches.
We had a chance to go hands-on with the FlexPai during CES, and it's a more polished experience than initial videos of the phone might have you believe. Folding the FlexPai is relatively fluid, and you can use the phone in full-screen, phone-sized and tent modes. The device also doesn't feel that heavy. Still, the FlexPai felt a little unfinished, like it had been rushed to market to beat the bigger players. We hope to eventually test out the cameras and see how this phone holds up to everyday use.
Motorola
The brand now owned by Lenovo may resuscitate its legendary RAZR model in the form of a foldable phone, at least judging from US Patent and Trademark Office patents found by Dutch tech blog Mobielkopen and confirmed by a January report in the Wall Street Journal.
According to TechRadar, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said that foldable screens may be the key to reintroduce the RAZR, a really compact flip phone that expands into a full screen similar to the 6.5-inch phones we have today.
“With the new technology, especially folding screens, I think you will see more and more innovation in our smartphone design," he told TechRadar. "so hopefully what you just described [the RAZR] will be developed or realized very soon." Patents spotted on the World Intellectual Property Office database seem to back that approach up. A firm named Yanko Design followed weeks later with a mockup, seen below, based on sketches filed in those patents.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi's folding phone is only in the prototype stage. But it's pretty eye-catching — it's a double-folding phone where the top and bottom of the tablet-sized screen fold down, leaving you with a compact (if chunky) smartphone.
ZTE
ZTE has filed patents not just for a phone that folds in in itself, but also a phone with a wrap-around display. While drawings reveal the general design of each, their size, price, and development progress is not yet known.
Oppo
Uncovered by Mobielkopen, the Oppo foldable is yet another Android transformer that could be on the way, and the first details could be revealed fairly soon.
Oppo says that it will have to more to share about its possible foldable phone plans in February, according to AndroidWorld.nl.
"We know that brands such as Samsung and Sony are working on a foldable phone," said Chuck Wang, Oppo product manager. "You can also expect more news from Oppo, perhaps at MWC," referring to the February mobile trade show.
LG
Another company that may produce a foldable phone — though not at MWC, as had been rumored — could be LG. That company's flexible phone may be the one that showed up in a recent patent uncovered by Letsgodigital. That phone, however, has two displays rather than a seamless foldable screen.
There’s also a new patent — filed on November 20, 2018 — that shows this strange foldable by LG:
Initially, it looked like LG might try to join this year's parade of foldable devices, by showcasing a flexible phone at MWC. However, LG president Kwon Bong-seok, who also heads the company's mobile communications division, says told the Korea Times that it's premature to come out with a folding device. "We have reviewed releasing the foldable smartphone when launching 5G smartphone but decided not to produce it," the LG executive said. Instead, the company is focusing on its 5G device for now.
MORE: Smartphones With the Longest Battery Life - A Comparison
2020: Apple?
And finally, there’s Apple. The Cupertino company is not talking about its foldable plans at all, but there’s no doubt they are working on exploring different designs, as this patent on hinge designs show.
