Samsung’s latest patent design is bold
- Samsung has patented a fancy sliding phone design with two screens.
- The displays are on the front and back of the phone and seem to meet on the flanks.
- The design also includes hidden reversing cameras and an in-display selfie camera.
Samsung could add another fancy form factor to its future phone range, at least if a new patent is to be accepted. Speckled by LetsGoDigitalThe patent was reportedly filed in July but only recently came to light.
The design shows a sliding smartphone with two screens – a curved display at the front and a flat screen at the rear. Visually, the displays seem to “meet” on the sides of the phone, giving the impression of a single all-round display.
This would probably be done for aesthetic reasons, but drawings of the user interface also support a usability case. An illustration shows how users can drag apps from the main screen to the rear display. Another shows how to display information about a photo or video occupying the front screen on the back screen.
Despite this design, Samsung does not specifically state that the two screens must use the same technology. The patent mentions that the front display could use OLED or LCD technology while the rear display could be an e-ink screen.
As for the sliding mechanism, it seems largely a ploy to keep the phone’s clean aesthetic and hide the rear camera. The rear contactor is exposed by sliding the front display upwards. A selfie shooter is also located under the windshield. It’s unclear why Samsung wouldn’t consider using a camera under both screens and abandoning the sliding body, though image quality is an issue with low-display cameras.
Samsung Sliding Phone Design: Dumb or Dreamy?
Samsung’s design is visually impressive, but it would be a nightmare for pragmatists. With screens in the front and back, it would be difficult to put this thing in a suitcase. Samsung would also need to come up with pretty smart palm rejection technology to ignore those inevitable erratic touches as well.
The screen layout is questionable, but the sliding system makes a lot of sense. It’s a design that HMD Global recently examined more closely with the abandoned Nokia N95 concept. This allowed the company to hide the selfie camera and add a more powerful speaker without sacrificing usability. Samsung could use this philosophy to build a pretty powerful entertainment handset.
With Samsung’s current patent design, it’s unlikely we’ll see it on a mainstream device anytime soon. However, considering how ridiculous foldable phones were just a few years ago, we wouldn’t rule this out entirely.
Next: Samsung Galaxy S30 Series: Everything We Know So Far
