Welcome to the fold

Vaibhav Sharma 

Smartphone makers have been grappling with a dilemma for a while now —  how to make the screens bigger while further reducing the size of the phones? They began by eliminating the bezel around the display but things such as a front-facing camera needed to be accommodated, hence the notch was introduced. But how to go further, and eliminate the notch too? 

The manufacturers have found the answer in foldable smartphones. Companies like Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi have all showcased their take on foldable smartphones, and some interesting devices are likely to hit the market in a few months. In fact, 2019 could well turn out to be the year of foldable phone/tablet hybrid. 

The Technology

The traditional smartphone display used a liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, built around a glass base. The modern organic light-emitting diode displays (OLED), however, do not rely on backlight to light up — each pixel is capable of emitting light, and that’s why these displays have better contrast and deeper blacks as well. With foldable displays, the manufacturers  have started printing the OLED screen technology on a thin layer of plastic that could be moulded into various forms without breaking. Apple’s iPhone X is actually an example of the foldable display; the fold, though, is not visible to the user. The display extends right to the bottom, and the remaining portion is bent behind it. 

The foldable smartphones are taking this concept to the next level with the display tolerance that can endure thousands of such folds. However, this nascent technology is not without its challenges. The plastic displays are more prone to scratches than glass. Besides, no one really knows how the display will hold up in the real world.

What’s Apple thinking?

Apple had filed patents for foldable smartphones in 2014, 2016 and 2017 but, in keeping with its normal practice, there’s no information on when these phones would hit the market. Google, on the other hand, announced in 2018 that Android would get the native support for foldable displays. It has even published documentation to help app developers get their apps ready to adapt to this new paradigm. The functionality would be an advanced version of what we had seen in Nokia Communicator devices such as E90.  

Royole Flexpai

The only foldable smartphone currently on sale comes from a startup based out of Fremont, California. Announced in October 2018, it is also one of the cheapest of the lot with the 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant costing Rs 90,857. It features a form factor somewhat similar to the Mate X; however, it does not look as polished and the screen doesn’t fold flush. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC ensures that the hardware isn’t a slouch, although the company’s Water OS that runs atop Android 9.0 is a little round around the edges. No official sales channels have been announced for India so far. 

Coming Soon

Samsung Galaxy Fold

One of the most anticipated devices of the year, the Galaxy Fold is slated to go on sale from April 26, though in select markets. It involves the use of two displays, a smaller 4.6" screen as its cover, and a bigger 7.3" screen when it opened up. The bigger screen makes you feel as if you’re holding a mini tablet. It also packs a mindboggling six cameras — a triple camera system, similar to that of Galaxy S10, a front-facing 10-megapixel shooter, and two cameras that are only accessible in tablet mode. As a result, this state-of-the-art device is priced at a steep Rs 136492. The release date or India specific pricing has not been announced yet, but Samsung has confirmed that it would be available in India.

Motorola & Xiaomi

While nothing has been officially announced yet, Motorola’s (now owned by Lenovo) take on a foldable smartphone may be the most interesting. The company is planning to relaunch the iconic Moto Razr, but with the insides being all display this time. A design patent filed by Motorola in 2017 demonstrates this modern twist to the old-school classic. Unlike other players who are trying to bring the tablet experience to the phone, Motorola just wants to make small clamshell phones cool again. Xiaomi has teased its foldable smartphone on social media, without officially unveiling it. The design is similar to the Mate X, because the screen folds outward. But instead of folding back in half, the Xiaomi’s design folds the display from both sides. This gives users an edge-to-edge display while using it in phone mode, which would not be possible with the Mate X.

Hauwei Mate X

Announced soon after the Galaxy Fold, Huawei’s version of the foldable smartphone managed to garner even greater critical acclaim, thanks to its polished looks. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, the Mate X folds outward. This allows Huawei to make the device thinner, as it only needs to house a single screen that has a 6.6" viewing area when closed, or an 8" panel when you flip it open. Another advantage of this setup is the cameras that are located at the back; they can work for selfies as well, with the folded half of the screen acting as the mirror. The downside to this form factor is that the display is always exposed, and hence risks picking up micro scratches every time it’s laid down. The Mate X has a Kirin 980 processor and a pair of batteries that combine to give it 4500 mAh of battery life. At Rs 179,232, it will be even more expensive than the Galaxy Fold when it is launched sometime in the middle of 2019. The device is expected to hit the Indian shores but no India-centric pricing has been announced by the company.