You might have heard that new foldables are on the way shortly, and not just via the recently launched Motorola models, or even the hotly anticipated rumoured iPhone variations on that theme.
This week will very likely be all about Samsung, given it has an “Unpacked” event for the back half of the year. While wearables are expected because they’re normally part of the event, the past five years ears have seen the half-year Unpacked about phones that fold, and we doubt this year will be any different.
But ahead of that launch — which is only a few days away — Samsung is revealing some of what we can expect about the construction, hinting that there’s more than just a minor chip upgrade in the design.
Rather, you can expect a new technology under the screen that Samsung calls “Flex Titanium”, a concept that sees one of the strongest alloys used in a way that will allow for the display to be both thin and durable, a factor that matters when you’re dealing with foldable phones.
To do this, Samsung has made a complex five-layer material system for the screen, consisting of a titanium plate and a titanium-alloy film underpinning the foldable and flexible OLED panel just above it, with glass and a screen protection layer above those.
The result sees the screen and titanium bonding in a way to keep the screen thin while also highly durable, giving it more durability when the whole thing is folded, and of course unfolded, as well.
And it could just mean a way to cut back on the crease, improving the display further. At the moment, Oppo is winning that approach in its Find N6.
“For the next generation of Galaxy foldables, Samsung is building on years of expertise to bring display innovations into devices that enhance user experiences, anchored by exceptional viewing experiences,” said Sunghoon Moon, Executive Vice President and Senior Executive for Research & Development at Samsung.
In terms of what this actually means for owners, we’re not yet sure. Hopefully it results in long-term durability well past the year or two mark, an issue given foldables can result in screen breaks all too easily even when the protection layer above succumbs to changes in humidity.
Here’s hoping it results in exactly that: a foldable that can last as long as the operating system update cycle typically runs for, which in Samsung’s flagship models around seven years.
