Jan 24, 2019 - Technology

Phone makers are experimenting with funky designs

Ina Fried

Samsung teased a foldable smartphone at a 2018 developer conference. Photo: Samsung

After years of reducing the smartphone to as much a pure thin screen as possible, the industry is finally ready to start experimenting again.

What's happening: Foldable phones are expected from a number of device makers, while others are experimenting with clamshell and other abandoned but once-popular configurations.

Samsung, which briefly showed a foldable phone prototype at its developer conference last year, is expected to ship a consumer device "early this year."
Xiaomi posted a video this week of co-founder Bin Lin with a phone that folded in two places and appeared sleeker than what Samsung showed.
LG is teasing what appears to be gesture controls for its Mobile World Congress phone launch.
Motorola, meanwhile, is planning a pricey, modern version of its once-popular Razr clamshell device, per WSJ.

Our thought bubble: Yes. these devices are coming, but whether they offer enough benefit to justify their added cost remains to be seen.

Go deeper: Have phones become boring? Well, they're about to get weird. (Wired)

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Phone makers are experimenting with funky designs

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