Samsung’s folding smartphone, the flexible OLED Android handset generally known as the Galaxy X, will use an unusual asymmetric design, insiders claim. The device, which will use a cutting-edge folding OLED panel built by Samsung Display, will try to address demands both for bigger screens and more pocket-friendly phones. However, in the process it’ll also address one big issue folding devices can struggle with.
That’s the need to get at least a little information from a device, even when it’s closed. We’ve seen different products tackle that in different ways: clamshell phones, for instance, sprouted smaller, secondary screens on the outside, which could preview information when the handset was closed. Planet Computers’ Gemini, meanwhile, eschewed a second screen but uses programmable LEDs that can indicate different things with combinations of flashing colors.
The Note Edge was the first of Samsung’s smartphones to put a notification strip on the side of the device. In practice, it could operate as a notification ticker, taking advantage of the fact that OLED panels can be selectively powered up. That concept of a small portion of the display still visible, even when the phone is in a case – or, with a folding device, when most of the screen is closed up – has apparently led Samsung to consider an offset hinge.
