Samsung’s foldable phone concept gives you a dual fold experience

At CES 2024, I watched a Samsung representative unfold the shiny Flex In & Out Flip and fold it in both directions. And unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and other foldable phones you can buy today, it folds Completely backwards So you can use the phone’s 6.7-inch screen even when the device is locked.

I wasn’t allowed to bend the Flex In & Out Flip myself, but it’s a distinct concept from Samsung’s demonstration team that could offer a glimpse into the direction foldable devices are headed. The entire Samsung Display booth was full of foldable concepts of all shapes and sizes, all part of an ongoing effort to make devices that roll, bend, bend and fold more excitingly fit into our lives.

When the Flex In & Out Flip is folded back, one side of the device is shorter than the other, to avoid covering the camera. The larger side was large enough to show several icons on the phone’s quick settings menu and controls for media playback, time, and battery level. The phone was playing a demo video rather than actual software, but the simulation still provided a sense of how the UI would adapt to the phone’s movements.

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The low hanging fruit would be the more flexible Samsung Galaxy foldable phone. However, the Flex In & Out Flip is just a concept at the moment, so there’s no indication that the technology will appear in an actual product yet.

But it does show that Samsung may be thinking of ways to make its nearly 4-year-old foldable phone line more versatile and perhaps more useful. Samsung has shown concepts for its larger Galaxy Z Fold-like design that can bend back, but this is the first time it has shown a foldable phone with this capability publicly.

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Based on the limited time I’ve had to check out the concept so far, it seems like the biggest benefit would be having a single screen that can be used constantly whether the device is open or closed. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a reasonably large external display, which makes it more useful for using apps and reading notifications than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and other older models. But since it’s a separate screen, you still have to customize it to your liking and choose which apps you want to use on it.

I’m curious to see if using the same screen indoors and outdoors can provide a more consistent experience. However, since the Flex In & Out Flip is just a concept and not a product, who knows if I’ll get that answer or not.

The company also says it tested the concept’s durability by folding it in extreme temperatures ranging from -20°C to 60°C and bouncing basketballs on its foldable panels. Over the summer, CNET took a closer look at how Samsung tests the durability of its foldable phones during a visit to the company’s headquarters in South Korea.

Samsung also showed off several flexible and foldable display concepts during CES, including the Flex Liple, another foldable phone prototype with a curved screen around its top edge. There was also Rollable Flex, which can expand its screen up to five times its size by breaking apart like a swipe, and the company also showed off new high-resolution displays for its mixed reality headsets.

Both the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Motorola Razr Plus, which have a similarly wide front display, show the promise of a phone with a secondary display that can fit in the palm of your hand. The Flex In & Out Flip concept, if it appears in a product, sounds like it could be another step in that direction.