In March this year, Huawei announced a patent for a "folding screen device", which focuses on a device that can be folded in three segments and lists three usage modes. This is the first time Huawei has confirmed the existence of a long-rumored tri-fold product.
According to the news leaked by the supply chain,The product is a mobile phone, and Huawei is very likely to release this three-fold phone by the end of this year or early next year.
From folding in half to tri-folding can be said to be a huge breakthrough in the development of folding screens. The editor also believes that compared with folding in half, the tri-folding form can better play the advantages of folding screen products.
Square screen vs strip screen
After the folding screen of today’s mobile phones is unfolded, the screen ratio is closer to square, and each mobile phone manufacturer does not limit the position of the long and short sides of the folding screen in the unfolded state.
Most of the content we watch is 16:9 landscape video or 9:16 portrait video, and some movies or documentaries use a 21:9 ultra-wide screen ratio.
Therefore, the folding screen mobile phone, which claims to have a better screen audio and video experience than traditional mobile phones, actually wastes most of the upper and lower display area when displaying traditional videos or movies.
On some less bulky folding screens, the unfolded screen size is not much larger than that of traditional straight-board mobile phones, which does not match the higher price of folding screens.
The three-segment folded screen is closer to the traditional long screen after unfolding, with clear long and wide sides.Better match with mainstream video content, high utilization of screen display, and better audio and video experience.
The long screen also has better adaptability, without losing the "display field of view" during the game like the current folding screen, and without stretching the UI elements in the application.
Three folds to unlock more poses
In the past, folding the screen to half, and then using the lower half of the screen as a bracket was a common use scenario in the manufacturer’s promotion. As the weight of the folding screen phone becomes lighter and thinner, using the phone in the semi-folding scene is more likely to cause the phone to be "pushed down".
The three-fold phone has a more folding structure, so it has better stability in the same scene, which increases the user experience and unlocks more poses.
More worries and risks
The complexity of the mechanical structure of the folding screen mobile phone far exceeds that of the traditional mobile phone, especially the design and optimization of the shaft part, which is the focus of each manufacturer’s iterative upgrade. At the same time, it also plays an important role in the overall structure of the folding screen mobile phone.
A triple-fold phone also means two such "backbones", and a more complex mechanical structure means more reliability risks.
At present, the development of flexible screens has been quite complete, but there is still room for further optimization of the shaft structure. For example, the shaft quality crisis of a brand’s folding screen flagship last year is a vivid example.
At the same time, more mechanical structure also means a heavier and thicker body. How to make the triple-fold mobile phone lighter and thinner remains a key direction that various manufacturers need to explore.
In addition, such as the power consumption increase brought by the larger screen; the test brought by the more complex body design to the main board and heat dissipation; and whether the manufacturer has prepared the corresponding adaptation at the system level in the face of the tri-fold screen form. These all mean that the tri-fold mobile phone will bring more concerns to consumers and manufacturers.
Write at the end
The editor is very much looking forward to the three-fold mobile phone, because only by unfolding the three screens can we spell out a screen that matches the tablet computer, and can meet our vision of the original folding screen to "put the tablet in the pocket".
The current folding screen mobile phone with a folding design is close to a square screen after unfolding, which cannot offset the experience compromise brought by the folding screen mobile phone compared with the traditional flagship mobile phone.
At the same time, more complex designs are also accompanied by more uncertainty, and the more precise they are, the more likely mistakes are made. I believe that triple-folding mobile phones will become the next battleground for mobile phone manufacturers and the next stage for them to showcase their skills.
New product forms present both opportunities and challenges for various manufacturers.
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