Future Of Foldable Tablets Looks Promising With Samsung And LG
Almost every major phone maker, from Samsung to Oppo and Motorola , has released a foldable phone. And those who haven't yet - Apple and Google - are said to be working on it.
But what I'm curious about at CES 2023 is the folding disc. Samsung and LG, the world's two largest display makers, have introduced tablet-like devices in various shapes and sizes that can fold, fold, slide or fold, all three.
This concept makes me wonder if there's a real future for foldable tablets, especially if the company is struggling to sell traditional tablets. What's clear, though, is that companies like Samsung and LG are thinking about it, as are PC makers like Lenovo and Acer.
The more I think about it, the more sense a foldable tablet makes - maybe more than a foldable phone.
Samsung and LG's folding concept at CES 2023
Samsung and LG both kicked off CES 2023 and announced their foldable screen concepts, many of which are available in tablet sizes. The star of the show is the Samsung Flex Hybrid , which understands this concept perfectly.
It closes like a laptop and opens to show the screen like a tablet. But the really cool factor is that you can resize the screen and even change the aspect ratio as you display it. The right side of the screen ranges from 10.5 inches to 12.4 inches. During a demonstration at its booth at CES, Samsung demonstrated how the screen can be adjusted to show more content when the screen is extended.
This isn't the first time Samsung has come up with such a concept. In 2022, Samsung introduced accordion-shaped and sliding screens, and those designs are also available this year.
Samsung also has other ideas for switching tablets. He also showed off the Flex Slidable Duet concept at CES, which offers more viewing area on either side of the screen for playing games or watching movies. Samsung announced in a press release that screen sizes range from 13 to 14 inches, but can be expanded up to 17.3 inches. A version of this concept that can only expand the screen in one direction is called the Samsung Device Flex Slider Solo.
LG has two large foldable tablet concepts to show at CES: an 8-inch tablet that folds and unfolds in both directions, and a 17-inch device that folds in the middle. LG claims a nearly wrinkle-free 17-inch display, positioning the company as either a giant tablet or a more portable external display for laptops.
The gadget presented at CES is far from the first folding tablet. There's the Lenovo X1 Fold and the new ThinkPad X1 Fold, while Asus has the ZenBook Fold OLED . The LG 17-inch concept seems to be basically trying to achieve the same goals that Lenovo and Asus are pursuing with this device.
The big question is whether these companies can convince consumers that foldable tablets are even useful. Samsung seems to be trying to solve this conundrum by developing screens that change shape and size to adapt to how you use your device. Based on Samsung's Flex Hybrid demo, it can be seen that when the sliding part of the screen expands, you can see content that was not visible before. The clip above shows an example of a shopping website showing more products as the screen gets bigger.
Lenovo already has some great ideas on how to make the most of the X1 Fold 's foldable screen. With the screen folded in half, you can place the Lenovo Bluetooth keyboard at the bottom of the screen to act as a mini laptop.
Samsung isn't the only company testing roll-and-roll stretchable displays. TCL and Motorola have come up with similar smartphone design concepts, though Samsung's experience with foldables makes it feel closer to the actual product. Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker and the second largest tablet maker, making its design more influential than TCL and Motorola. Although not in the mobile phone industry, LG is a major supplier of monitors and still manufactures its own laptops .
Foldable tablets can have an advantage over foldable phones.
Having a phone that folds in half to easily fit in a pocket definitely comes in handy. But a tablet that can do the same thing is much better, especially since tablets are inherently bigger than most phones.
There's another advantage: foldable tablets may not face the same design challenges as foldable phones until recently. For example, one of my biggest complaints about the Galaxy Z Fold lineup is that it's sometimes difficult to use when closed. The first Galaxy Fold launched in 2018. The cover display has improved dramatically since its launch in 2019, but it still looks nothing like a typical non-foldable phone.
The Galaxy Z Fold feels awkward when closed, as it's about the same thickness as the two phones stacked on top of it. The year I reviewed Microsoft's Surface Duo 2 in 2021, I struggled to find a comfortable way to take pictures with the main camera, as you have to open your phone to see what you're taking.
This drawback is probably not a big problem with a folding tablet. Unlike your phone, you probably won't be using your tablet with one hand very often. A foldable tablet's external display, if it has one, doesn't matter as much as what you use it for. The foldable tablets I've seen so far don't have a cover screen.
Apart from the selfie camera for video chatting, the camera quality on tablets is not as important as on mobile phones. So the blur issue you mentioned shooting with the Surface Duo 2 might not happen with a foldable tablet.
The main attraction behind foldable tablets from Samsung, LG, Lenovo and Acer - concept or not - is portability. With a tablet that folds in half, you can easily fit it in your pocket, suitcase, or bag on your next flight, commute, or trip to the beach. But the phone is compact in its current form, which means the value behind a phone like the Galaxy Z Fold might be a bit harder to sell.
As my colleague Dan Ackerman wrote while reviewing Lenovo and Acer devices, foldable tablets are not immune to design issues. Creating a large, bendable screen can present various technical challenges compared to a foldable phone.
Foldable phones are also gaining momentum, with market researcher IDC predicting a year-over-year increase of 66.6 percent globally through 2022. So while foldables may face a lot of hurdles, companies like Samsung are overcoming them. Several generations of products to date.
The tablet needs updating
In the early stages of the pandemic, tablet sales soared as people socialized, worked and attended school. However, over the last year, sales have looked lackluster. Global tablet shipments fell 8.8% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2022, marking the fifth straight quarter of decline, according to IDC. According to the report, the decline is mainly due to economic headwinds as consumers tend to spend less.
A new offset screen tablet may not be enough, especially since foldable devices are often very expensive. But the pill was still too late to revive. The biggest shift to tablets since the first iPad was the switch to laptop-tablet hybrids, which started with the release of Windows 8 a decade ago. Install a bigger screen and get regular hardware upgrades.
It took many years for these hybrid devices to solve their problems and become an indispensable part of our lives. If you have a foldable tablet, the cases are probably similar, mainly due to the higher price and software issues. But as the concept at CES showed, things are definitely moving forward.
The goal of all tablets, foldable or not, is to provide a bigger screen for tasks that aren't ideal for your phone, like reading. B. Playing games, watching movies, reading and working. So finding creative ways to expand the screen size feels like a natural progression, as Samsung did with the Flex Hybrid sliding screen.
Foldable phones always seem to have a purpose, but foldable tablets may have already found it.
