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Foldable phones have been on the market for several years now. We’ll admit, at the start it seemed like a novel idea that we thought wouldn’t last long, similar to how glasses-free 3D smartphones came and went in a blink of an eye. However, fast forward to today, and we’re already on the sixth generation of Samsung’s foldable phones. But now it looks like we could be moving onto triple-screen foldable phones.
In fact, Huawei is apparently launching such a device as soon as next month. Huawei won’t be alone either as other companies like Xiaomi and Oppo are apparently looking to launch similar devices as well. While it sounds like a minor iteration over the current generation, we are pretty excited for it, and here’s why.
The current form factor
The current design of foldable phones is fine. We don’t really hate it, but we don’t quite love it either. The problem with today’s foldables is that we get the concept, you’re a phone that can transform into a tablet-like device. The issue we have is that due to the current shape, you’re not quite getting a tablet experience. You’re definitely getting a larger screen, but we wouldn’t go as far as calling it a tablet.
True tablets, in our opinion, are like mini displays, monitors, and TVs. They’re perfect if you want to watch movies or videos on a larger device that is also portable. With foldables, most of them have a pretty weird aspect ratio that feels more square than rectangular. We think it’s fine if you want to use it as a phone, but for entertainment, it’s not quite comparable to tablets.
Unlocking true potential
By increasing the number of folds from two to three, it would allow handset makers to create displays with a similar aspect ratio as tablets. We think this is when the true potential of foldable phones can be unlocked. Finally, we would be getting a phone that can transform into a proper tablet instead of those weird shapes we are getting today.
Imagine, a phone that you can unfold into a tablet and dock it to become a smart display when you are home. You can use it to view video feeds from your video doorbell. You can use it with digital assistants to control your home, use it as a media hub, and more. Then when you want to leave the home, simply pick it up, fold it, and you’re good to go.
We can also imagine all the productivity possibilities. Nowadays, people who work on the go usually have a phone and a tablet or laptop. If your smartphone could transform from a phone to a tablet, you have one less device to carry with you. You could use it to make presentations, type up documents or emails, draw on it, and more.
In fact, companies like Samsung might actually benefit the most from triple-screen foldable phones. The company’s S Pen is largely viewed as a highly viable alternative to the Apple Pencil. So if they create a triple-screen foldable with S Pen support, it has the potential to attract a much larger customer base than their current foldables.
Pricing concerns
The main problem we have with triple-screen foldable phones would be price. The vast majority of regular foldable phones out there don’t come cheap. Phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 are already priced close to the $2,000 mark. Imagine using a larger display or adding another hinge to the phone’s overall design.
We wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up pushing the phone’s price across the $2,000 range. To be fair, you could argue that you are paying for two devices in one, but we’re not sure if many people out there would be willing to part with such a huge sum of money in one go.
That being said, it’s probably too early to tell how much these phones would cost. We’ll have to wait and see when they launch, but we have a feeling they won’t come cheap.
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