LG might decide to introduce its foldable phone at CES 2019. Yet there's still some significant unknown information with a little more than a month until the trade show goes down. The South Korean company hasn't rolled out any teasers, and even the rumor mill has been light on what's around the bend. Fortunately, a new patent gives us a look at one potential design.
In the patent, LG lays out a design that's more like a tablet that can be made smaller. Users are able to take advantage of a larger-than-usual display that wraps around the exterior. Rather than using multiple displays on the inside and the outside, LG wants to offer just one.
Truthfully, it's way sexier than Samsung's Infinity Flex Display. With that technology, Samsung has a small OLED panel on the outside but then a spacious, flexible OLED panel on the inside. Two displays on one device, which has been done before, accomplishes nothing.
The implementation from LG stays on the right path. It offers one display, but there's added versatility whether you want a phone or a tablet experience.
Here's the patent in action, courtesy of LetsGoDigital:
Additionally, LG pulled off an ultra-thin bezel above and below the flexible OLED panel. It remains to be seen how Samsung's consumer-ready product will look, so hopefully there's a similarity in this area. Consumers are hungry for barely-there bezels on all devices.
LG filed a patent for a similar technology earlier this year. There's a major difference between the two patents, though. Instead, the older patent has a display that splits down the middle. Maybe that's what'll arrive first, and then the second generation will be based on the more recent patent.
When it's official, this foldable phone could be sold as the 'LG Flex' in all markets. But, like Samsung, LG needs to prove that this form factor can be mainstream. There are some challenges with foldable phones, and no company has explained how they'll be handled.
