After almost a year of speculation and rumours, we finally saw Samsung launch the first foldable smartphone this year. The Galaxy Fold as it came to be called is a revolutionary device in that it has a big foldable touchscreen display that transforms from a phone to a tablet and vice versa upon folding and unfolding.
However, this revolutionary piece of tech costs $2000 to own and is relatively more delicate and fragile when compared to other, more conventional smartphones. Part of the Galaxy Fold's fragility was attributed to the thin flexible plastic film that covers the display. But latest rumours regarding its successor - the purported Galaxy Fold 2 – suggest that the next foldable smartphone from Samsung might solve this durability issue by employing a glass display.
Prominent leaker says Galaxy Fold 2 will have a glass display T
The rumours regarding a Galaxy Fold 2 started to surface online back in October when Samsung teased a foldable phone concept that hinted at a clamshell foldable design. A bunch of leaked hands-on images from earlier this month showed a foldable smartphone with a clamshell design – much like the Motorola Razr - that Samsung had hinted earlier. And now comes the news of the glass display.
We wouldn't have believed the news at first glance and had our doubts about how a glass display can allow a phone to fold, but the latest piece of information regarding the Galaxy Fold 2 comes from prominent leaker @IceUniverse, who has a very good track record of leaking Samsung's upcoming phones features and specs, so we cannot complain much.
Samsung has many patents and trademarks for a special type of glass
According to the leaker, Samsung has created an ultra-thin layer of glass that would cover the actual display of Samsung's next folding phone. This will be the first-ever foldable glass display in the world as conventional foldable displays including those on rollable TVs by LG and Samsung employ plastic films for flexibility, but these plastic screens are prone to scratching easily and also develop wrinkles or creases around the areas of folding. The leaker points out that the foldable glass screen could mean a much flatter screen and fewer creases/wrinkles at the point of folding.
Again, the idea of a foldable glass screen seems very hard to digest, but it isn't something that's impossible and Samsung has already applied for a number of trademarks for a new type of glass which the company likes to call 'Samsung Ultra-Thin Glass'.
Having said that, the leaked images can't really be considered proof of anything. It can just be a prototype model leaked in the wild by an employee or it might not be a Samsung device at all. Nevertheless, Samsung has made some bold claims about its plans for foldable tech and a foldable glass display is not something that is completely out of its capabilities.
