Samsung will unveil its next generation of foldable and slidable products at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. A new smartphone display technology called Flex Hybrid combines two innovative technologies.
What’s the deal with this Flex Hybrid display?
There’s a foldable side on the left side of the display and a slidable side on the right. Combining folding and sliding technologies, users can have a 10.5-inch screen in a 4:3 aspect ratio or a 12.4-inch screen in a 16:10.
In September, Samsung showed off a 17-inch slideable display at Intel Innovation 2022, and it’ll make its first public appearance at CES 2023.
Flex Slidable Duet and Flex Slidable Solo are two concepts for this large-screen slidable display. It’s only possible to expand the Solo in one direction, but the Duet can do it in both directions. This display expands to 17.3 inches when not in use, so it’s great for multitasking, playing games, and watching movies and shows. It’s 13-14 inches when not expanded, so it’s pretty portable, but it extends all the way out to 13.4 inches when it’s not in use.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip series are two foldables that could benefit from this new Flexible Hybrid tech. By incorporating the Duet concept and letting users expand the screen in both directions, the Fold would become more of a tablet, which could mean you’d be even more productive or see more of a scene when you’re watching media or playing games at once.
When folded up or opened, the Flip could be smaller and more compact, and users could expand it as needed. Personally, I’d like my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 to be shorter so I can use it one-handed (it’s too tall and narrow currently), so maybe sliding tech can make everyone happy.
Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to seeing how Flex Hybrid tech will impact consumer foldables in the future.