Samsung teases a new take on foldable smartphones

In context: Although foldable phones went out of style many years ago, they’ve enjoyed a high-tech resurgence of sorts as of late. Phone makers like Samsung and Huawei have already released or plan to release their own flagship devices with folding screens. While these devices have been a bit hit or miss (see the Galaxy Fold debacle), that hasn’t stopped the companies from continuing to experiment in this market.

Today, Samsung teased a brand new form factor for folding-screen smartphones, and it’s quite interesting (not to mention ambitious). You can see the brief teaser in the video above.

In short, Samsung appears to have put a new spin on the traditional flip phone. Instead of two separate parts connected by a visible hinge, the above video demonstrates a vertically-folding smartphone concept, which is entirely made up of one part. The body of the phone itself appears to be flexible, at least toward the center.

As interesting as the phone looks, there’s no guarantee that Samsung will turn this concept into a real smartphone. Even if they do, it might not look or function the same. It’s also worth noting that this is not necessarily the only foldable form factor Samsung is considering — indeed, the company says it plans to explore a “range” of ideas.

However, it’s certainly a bold idea, and as Samsung briefly shows in the video, it could have some intriguing use cases. For example, perhaps you could fold the device in half and place it on a flat surface, allowing it to remain stable while you record a video or snap a photo.

We’ll keep you updated if Samsung does do something with this idea, but we wouldn’t expect to see any finalized products for at least a couple of years.