Samsung's been patenting phone designs again, and this one
looks like an exciting hybrid of the versatility of the current Galaxy Z
devices with the convenient productivity of a Galaxy Note phone. This concept
could eventually become the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it's way too early to say. The
original patent, filed with China's CNIPA,
was discovered last month by LetsGoDigital. Now we've got some tasty
renders of the original illustrations, courtesy of Technizo Concept and LGD, to
help us imagine how this phone would look and function.
This concept could eventually become the Galaxy Z Fold 4,
but it's way too early to say. Here's a look at the design and features based
on the patent. LGD describes this phone as the "Galaxy Flex Note".
That's based on a Samsung trademark for the name that was also filed earlier
this year. The patent itself doesn't make any mention of the name.
The design uses what can be described as a
"wardrobe-style" fold, with the larger fixed portion of the display
on one side and the smaller display and camera array able to be folded around
to sit on the back. Unfolding both sides of the device reveals the full breadth
of the wraparound display, plus the cameras in case you want to take a selfie. That
does mean that the screen is a lot less protected than the inner panels of the
Galaxy Z Fold 3 or Galaxy Z Flip 3, although it matches other foldables with
different styles like the original Huawei Mate X. So with the outside taken up
by display and cameras, the S Pen is then located on a magnetic strip on the
outside edge of the extended display. There's a cutout near the center of the
device's back too so that the stylus can stay in place when the whole thing is
folded up.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 can already use one of two different S
Pens, and is the first Samsung foldable to be able to do so. However, there's
no on-board pen holster for either version, with Samsung only offering a case
that can contain the smaller S Pen Fold Edition. This patent would improve on
that capability significantly were it to be brought to a future phone.
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