Samsung Galaxy X The Foldable Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy X

The Foldable Smartphone

Flip phones ruled the mobile world until smartphones took over with their touchscreen slabs. However, we might soon be folding our phones in half again – if Samsung has its way.

Foldable smartphones are coming, and as with the curved screens of the Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung appears to be leading the charge. For a couple years now, the company has been sharing concepts of foldable and rollable smartphones, and now a flurry of patent applications and rumours suggest the first models are coming very soon.

Samsung intends to make fully functional smartphones with flexible displays that allow you to fold the phone shut and tuck it in your pocket – and maybe even phones that open up to reveal a full-sized tablet screen within, or touchscreen devices that roll out of a tube.

Sound crazy? Maybe. Seem expensive? Undoubtedly. Is it exciting? Absolutely. Here's everything we know about the so-called Galaxy X phones so far.

The latest news is that a mysterious Samsung smartphone – model number SM-G888N0 – has been certified by Bluetooth SIG, a certification body for Bluetooth devices. It’s widely speculated that this phone may in fact be the long-rumoured Samsung Galaxy X.

Rumours of a mysterious foldable smartphone called the Samsung Galaxy X are circulating. But what is it? Is it even real? When might you be able to buy it?

From the latest news and rumours to specs, release date and pricing gossip, our guide reveals all.

 Foldable Phone?

A foldable phone is exactly as it sounds, one that either folds inward (like a clamshell phone) or outward and reveals a tablet-like device when stretched out. This is possible with the use of a bendable (rather than flexible, as seen in the Galaxy S7 edge) OLED panel.

Samsung, Lenovo and LG have each showed off bendable displays and devices at various industry events, and have registered many patents for the technology. Previously called Project Valley, Samsung’s technology has become known as the Samsung Galaxy X, which may or may not be its eventual name upon release.

Samsung originally worked on fold-in phones, which close up like a wallet, but having completed its work there it has moved on to fold-out phones. These should be more convenient for the user, who wouldn’t need to unfold the phone every time they wanted to use it.

The Samsung Galaxy X was originally rumoured to be a 5in phone that could fold out into an 8in tablet, but it’s now suspected to fold out into a 7in tablet. It’s indeed possible that there will actually be two Samsung foldable phones released.

According to rumours the screen resolution is expected to be 4K (3840x2160 pixels), ensuring that it remains high-res when folded. The Galaxy X could also feature a dual-camera at the rear, and one of the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processors - most likely now the Snapdragon 835. There should be a microSD card slot, but the battery will not be removable.

A patent application filed by Samsung in late 2016 shows some renders of what the eventual Galaxy X may look like..

DOES IT Even WORK?

That's the most realistic Samsung illustration we've seen to date of the foldable design, but there have been other sketches and concepts seen since last year. One constant has remained true between them: that amazing new hinge system.

Samsung reportedly calls this initiative "Project Valley" because of that hinge: essentially, it creates a little pocket for the touch display to fold up without ever creasing. That small valley allows the phone to fold flat while allowing enough space for the screen have a slightly curve, preventing unsightly seams from appearing.

And then when you unfold the phone, the screen becomes fully taut, making it a properly useable smartphone. We're curious how different the screen will feel given the lack of outer glass, but we have to assume Samsung has found a way to make it work.

Production problems

While a device like the one in the video above is likely still years away even now, by 2012 Samsung was already hard at work trying to launch the first generation of flexible or foldable phones, but a report late in the year claimed that problems with the production of flexible screens would hold the first bendy display back until at least 2013.

That didn’t stop Samsung showing off another video of a foldable future though, highlighting all sorts of transparent screens, made from plastic that’s thin, light and flexible enough to fully fold or roll.

And as 2012 came to a close it seemed Samsung might be overcoming its production problems, with another report claiming that its flexible plastic screens were in the final stage of development, with the first phones sporting them likely to land in mid-2013.

Samsung’s bendy plastic screens got a more real-world debut at CES 2013, along with a name – they were now called ‘Youm’, though it was clear from the flexible prototype on show that Samsung was still far from putting a Youm display on a commercial device.

That was made even more clear when the tech was reportedly hit with new manufacturing issues in April 2013. Supposedly the previous problems had been solved, but now Samsung was apparently struggling with the encapsulation technology, which protects the screen from moisture and air damage.

When is the Samsung Galaxy X release date?

Although Samsung’s foldable technology is said to be ready, a source close to the matter told the Korea Herald that the device has not been unveiled because of marketability and profitability issues. Plans have also been held up by the political scandal involving president Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.

However, at the time Samsung was said to be hopeful that its foldable phone will be unveiled in the third quarter of 2017, and the company will ship more than 100,000 units.

This ties in with multiple reports from elsewhere, including ETNews, which suggests there will be a working prototype ready to show off in Q3 2017, and Chinese leaker mmddj_chin, who says the Galaxy X will go on sale in Q3 2017, ahead of the Note 8 in Q4.

We now know that this hasn't happened, and Bloomberg is reporting that a foldable smartphone will debut under the Note brand in 2018.

It reports how Koh Dong-jin, president of mobile business at Samsung Electronics, said: "As the head of the business, I can say our current goal is next year. When we can overcome some problems for sure, we will launch the product."

A device with the model name SM-G888N0 (previously rumoured to be the Galaxy X) has recently passed through Bluetooth SIG, the certification body that regulates Bluetooth device standards. The same model has also been certified for Wi-Fi by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Yet another report claims the phone might go into small-scale production in Q4 2017, ahead of an 'H2 2018 “clam-type” mass production blastoff'.

However, Samsung Display Engineer Kim Tae-woong claims the techology is not expected to mature until 2019.

A year ago Sammobile reported that Project Valley would not be available globally at launch, but that the UK and Ireland, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Nordic countries, France and Poland were on the list.

Other Companies are also Trying to Make Foldable Phones

That’s not to say other companies aren’t also eyeing up foldable phones as the next big thing. So far we know LG are keen to take on Samsung in the early days of foldable smartphones, following a leaked patent from TrendyTechz that suggests it will also produce a phone/tablet hybrid. Patent images show a 7in folding tablet that can alter to a 5in phone at will, much in the same vein as Samsung’s rumoured hybrid. LG might even reveal at the same time as Samsung; the company did demonstrate a highly flexible screen back in 2014, with promise it could go into production sometime in 2017. At that time, LG’s folding tech was made with a special film instead of a standard plastic, although whether an LG hybrid will use this is unknown.

Lenovo is also penned as a frontrunner in the foldable phone game. Last year the company showed off a folding device, albeit in very early stages, doubling up as a wearable and a phone. All bets still point to Samsung firing the starting gun with the Samsung Galaxy X, but reports are putting others hot on their heels.