At the end of 2017, Samsung Display filed a design patent with the USPTO (the United States Patent and Trademark Office) for a ‘Display device.’ The patent was published on January 29, 2019, and shows a series of images of a foldable Samsung smartphone.
When the smartphone is folded, the display is on the outside. We have encountered this design more often in recent times, such as Huawei and Motorola, but also Intel. However, Samsung has come up with something special for its flexible display.
You can bend a small part of the screen when folded, causing the gaming buttons to appear. Four directional keys (D-pad) on the left side have been placed, as we have known for years from Nintendo game consoles/handhelds. On the right, the Samsung gaming smartphone has six small buttons. It is possible that the buttons, except for gaming, can also be used for other purposes.
In any case, it is a very creative solution. If you are not gaming, then you have no annoyance at all that the mobile device has these buttons. Do you want a gaming smartphone? Then you can start immediately, without having to connect a gamepad accessory first. You just have to flip the display slightly.
Samsung foldable smartphone
Samsung will most likely be unveiling its foldable smartphone next month at the Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event, presumably the Samsung Galaxy Fold. For the record, that is not the gaming phone.
The Galaxy Fold will have a 4.6-inch display at the front. When you open the phone, a 7.3-inch AMOLED display unfolds. Wondering what this looks like? Last year, LetsGoDigital had already designed 3D renders of this Samsung folding smartphone.
Technically, it is more difficult to process the display on the inside than on the outside. Simply because the display is then bent further in the middle, where the hinge is, this is one of the reasons why it would be possible for manufacturers such as Huawei to opt for a design in which the screen is on the outside. It is possible that Samsung eventually brings such a design on the market rather than the extra game buttons, which are obviously a nice sales argument.
Looking at the Samsung product portfolio of the past years, we see a clear increase in the number of gaming-related products. For example, Samsung has gaming monitors in the range, but within the QLED TV program, this trend has started, with different TV models optimized for gaming.
And of course, this development is also visible with the Galaxy smartphones; the display is larger, the processor faster, and the battery more powerful, but cooling systems are also integrated, such as with the Note 9. All functions that also benefit gaming.
