Despite having an edge over others for years in the foldable smartphone segment, Samsung is now struggling to catch up with Chinese rivals. While it is expected to launch a slimmer and better-specced version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 next month to match Chinese firms, Huawei and OPPO have started showcasing their tri-folding smartphones.
Even Tecno has showcased its first tri-folding smartphone concept.
Huawei, OPPO, and Tecno showcase tri-folding phones before Samsung
Huawei is all set to host an event in China next week (September 10) where it will unveil its first tri-folding smartphone, the Mate XT. The company's CEO, Richard Yu, revealed a teaser for the Mate XT through social media posts.
The device is expected to feature a huge, 10-inch foldable screen featuring two hinges. It will reportedly be very thin and have a Kirin 9 series chipset with improved AI processing capabilities. It is rumored to feature a circular camera setup, but its exact camera specifications haven't been revealed.
OPPO has showcased a very rough render of its tri-folding phone concept. It has a slim build, two hinges, and a faux leather back. There is just one screen, which folds into three parts, so you can fold it and use the central part of the screen as a regular phone or unfold (once or completely) it to use a larger screen. However, when you look at the render, you can see several Apple app icons in the UI, so we don't think OPPO is anywhere close to launching a tri-folding phone.
Last year, it was rumored that OPPO and Vivo were backing off from the foldable phone segment, but OPPO later refuted those claims and said it will continue to develop and launch foldable phones.
The story continues after our Galaxy Z Fold 6 review video below.
Tecno, another Chinese smartphone brand, has showcased a tri-folding concept that is much closer to reality. The device, named Tecno Phantom Ultimate 2, has a big, 10-inch foldable screen and two hinges. So, the screen folds into three parts. When it is folded, you can use the 6.48-inch part of the foldable screen. When it is unfolded, you can use its 10-inch screen. It is an LTPO OLED panel with 2,880 x 1,620 pixels and a 4:3 aspect ratio.
The company claims it is the first brand to use the TDDI technology, which combines the display driver and the touch sensor into a single chip, in a foldable phone. When folded, the Phantom Ultimate 2 is just 11mm thin, and the company's dual-hinge mechanism supports up to 300,000 folds. The phone's back resembles the Galaxy Z Fold 5, featuring three independent camera housings.
None of these brands have said anything about actually launching a tri-folding smartphone, though. Samsung is also said to be working on several multi-folding and even folding-rolling hybrid smartphones, but the company hasn't said anything about its future plans yet. We think it will take a few years for such phones to hit the market.
