Samsung is said to be working on smartphones and tablets with flexible displays that let you do things like fold the device in half. But Lenovo may have just one-upped Samsung by showing off two flexible device prototypes at its Lenovo Tech World event.
One is a smartphone that can wrap around your wrist like a bracelet and other other is a tablet that folds in half so that you can hold it like a phone.
The company didn’t provided many details about either product yet, and says neither is an actual product that will go on sale anytime soon. But they show some of the things Lenovo has been working on.
In order to make a phone that folds or bends, you need more than just a flexible display. You also need batteries, motherboards, and other components that either bend as well, or which are positioned in a way that allows the screen to bend without showing a big blank spot at the hinge.
If Lenovo (or Samsung) manages to bring this technology to market, a phone that doubles as a smartwatch or a tablet that’s also a phone could be the next generation of 2-in-1 devices, much like Lenovo’s Yoga line of tablets helped popularize the 2-in-1 laptop/tablet space.