Samsung Unveiled a Foldable Phone. We’d Like to Know Why.

Useful or not, folding screens are the next big trend in smartphones.

First up: A prototype of Samsung’s new device, tentatively titled Galaxy X or Galaxy F, which was shown off via video at the company’s developer conference this week.

An Android device, the new Galaxy uses what’s called an Infinity Flex Display to fold out to the size of a tablet (7.3”) when opened but appear like a normal smartphone when closed like a book, with a 4.5″ screen. That closing is secured via a magnet.

Yeah, it’s cool, but is it useful? It depends. Besides expanded screen size, you’ll be able to multitask in three different areas of the screen at once, meaning you could run three different apps at the same time.

Still, this Twitter user sums up the tech nicely.

I’m almost more curious about how Samsung will try to convince me I want a folding phone… than about the folding phone itself

— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) November 7, 2018

As of now, the Samsung’s new Galaxy is scheduled to go on sale sometime next year. If you can’t wait to fold, the just-announced Royole FlexPai is available for pre-order (in China, though). Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Microsoft and LG are all working on variations of a folding or “rolled up” screen, for both phones and computers, and Canada’s Queen University has already unveiled a scroll-like tablet.

And yes, Apple appears to be working on a similar folding phone — expect it to show up two years after the fact and have fanboys drooling over the “new” tech. (As a fanboy, also expect that dated tech to work better than everyone else’s.)