Samsung galaxy with two screens. Smartphones with two screens: why? Get things done with your Galaxy Fold

Samsung Electronics introduces the Galaxy Fold smartphone, a foldable device that opens up a whole new category of mobile devices. Galaxy Fold features the world's first 7.3-inch bezel-less Infinity Flex Display that folds into a compact design. Galaxy Fold opens up a whole new user experience and great multitasking possibilities for users.

“Today Samsung is opening a new chapter in the history of mobile innovation, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in today's smartphones. The Galaxy Fold is a fundamentally new category of devices that offers unique capabilities through its flexible Infinity Flex Display, ”said DJ Koh, President and Head of IT and Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics. "We've created the Galaxy Fold for users who want to know what premium foldable devices can do without the bezels of traditional smartphones."

Smartphone and tablet in one device

Galaxy Fold is a category of devices in its own right. When unfolded, the device is a smartphone with the largest screen to date. The Galaxy Fold embodies the innovations in materials, design and display technology that Samsung has pioneered over the eight years since Samsung's first flexible screen prototype was released in 2011.

New display materials: The inner screen of a smartphone isn't just flexible. It folds up. The foldable screen is the result of years of development and innovation. Samsung has created a new polymer layer and developed a screen that is almost half the thickness of conventional smartphone screens. The new material makes the Galaxy Fold flexible, tough and durable.

Innovative hinge mechanism: The Galaxy Fold opens smoothly and naturally, like a book. Thanks to the innovative connecting module, it folds easily into a flat, compact design. The module, hidden inside the stylish body of the smartphone, reliably protects the inner display part and the folding mechanism, ensuring smooth operation even under the most intensive use.

New design elements: Samsung pays utmost attention to every detail, every element you see or touch, from screen to body. A fingerprint scanner located at the end of the case, just where your thumb is usually found when you hold the device in your hand, allows you to easily unlock your smartphone. Available in Space Silver and Cosmos Black, the Samsung logo engraved on the hinge complements the sleek design of the device.

A fundamentally new experience

When designing the Galaxy Fold, Samsung engineers strived to meet the needs of today's smartphone owners and meet the demand for devices in large, convenient form factors. The device allows you to change the screen size at the moment when the user has such a need. To make calls and answer text messages, you just need to take the phone out of your pocket and use the touch screen on the front panel of the phone (cover display), and when you need to work with several applications at the same time or you need to enlarge the image (for viewing presentations, ezines, films or augmented reality) - you can open the device and use the largest display.

A unique user interface designed specifically for the Galaxy Fold opens up new possibilities to fully exploit the full potential of your smartphone:

Multiple Window Support:The smartphone allows you to keep open up to three active applications at the same time, no matter if it is necessary for work, for games or when publishing content. With the new interface, the user can flip through the latest Amazon Prime Video offerings, read reviews and reviews, invite friends to join a viewing by sending a link to the trailer via messenger - all on one screen.

Integrated support for two screens: The interface provides the ability to conveniently switch from an external screen to an internal one and vice versa. When you open and close the Galaxy Fold, apps are automatically displayed on the screen the user is using. For example, using your phone folded, you can stay connected on Instagram by conveniently scrolling through the news feed with one hand. And if you need to take a photo, edit a photo or study the post more closely, you can open your smartphone and work with a large screen.

Samsung is actively engaging with the Google and Android developer communities to support their favorite apps and services - such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube - in user interface Galaxy Fold.

Exceptional performance for foldable devices

The Galaxy Fold has a powerful hardware platform. It is built for active use and where increased performance is required.

Performance: Samsung equips Galaxy Fold with next-generation powerful AP chipset and 12GB random access memory with PC-level performance. The smartphone has a specially designed complex power system with two batteries. Galaxy Fold is also capable of recharging and simultaneously recharging other mobile devices thanks to wireless reverse charging technology.

Exceptional multimedia experience: Galaxy Fold is made for entertainment. With immersive Dynamic AMOLED display and crisp clear sound from AKG-tuned stereo speakers, your favorite movies and games like Asphalt 9 come alive with richer sound and color.

Most versatile camera system: Whether your smartphone is in a folded or unfolded state, the camera is always ready to shoot, so you never miss a moment. Thanks to the presence of six cameras, three of which are located at the back, two on the inside and one on the front. This allows, for example, multiple applications to be used during video calls.

Get things done with your Galaxy Fold

Galaxy Fold is more than just mobile device... You can connect your smartphone to the Samsung DeX 1 for powerful productivity like today's PCs. Bixby Personal Assistant supports smart new features, including Bixby Routines, and Samsung Knox technology keeps your information and personal data safe. Starting with shopping with Samsung Pay and up to samsung functions Health to monitor your physical condition and health, device owners have access to all functions of the Galaxy ecosystem.

Technical galaxy characteristics Fold

* All functionality, features, specifications, and other product information contained herein, including product benefits, design, pricing, features, performance, availability, and capabilities, are subject to change without notice.

1 Samsung DeX Accessories sold separately.

2 The memory available to the user is less than the total specified amount of memory due to operating system files and softwarerequired to implement the functions. The actual memory available to the user is operator dependent and subject to change after software update.
3 A value of 4 380mAh (typical) refers to the typical battery capacity as obtained and tested by a third party laboratory. A typical value is an estimated average value based on the variation in battery capacity among selected samples. The nominal capacity (minimum) is 4,275 mAh. Actual battery life will vary depending on the network environment, smartphone usage and other factors.

If you are tired of the same type of smartphones, then you will definitely like the new Samsung Leader 8 clamshell. Yes, they are still being made, but, as a rule, only for the South Korean and Japanese markets.

Folding beds for many of us are in the distant "push-button" past. But in South Korea and Japan, such devices are still in demand. Samsung Leader 8 is most likely made specifically for Asian markets, but its specifications and its appearance would allow it to become a popular device in other countries. The smartphone uses two 4.2-inch Super AMOLED displays with Full HD resolution. One display is located inside, the second outside, so the device can be fully used without opening the lid. The Leader 8 has last year's flagship chip from Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 and the Adreno 530 video accelerator, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory. In addition, the smartphone has a slot for micro-SD cards up to 256 GB.

Design and cameras

The body of the novelty is made of aluminum alloy. Leader 8 looks at least interesting and resembles other devices of the company. The smartphone will be preinstalled with all major Samsung branded apps such as Samsung Pay, Secure Folder and S Voice. However, the smart voice assistant Bixby is not here. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the device runs on Android 6.0. The volume of the built-in battery is 2300 mAh, the main camera is 12 megapixels with an aperture of f / 1.7, the front one is 5 megapixels, the aperture is f / 1.9. From a technical point of view, this is a very powerful device and the price tag is unlikely to be below $ 500. So far Samsung has not shared data on the countries where the smartphone will be sold, and also has not said anything about the cost of the smartphone. There is a suspicion that a powerful and pretty clamshell would appeal to many users who are tired of the same type of metal and glass bars of modern smartphones.

Smartphones with two screens: why?

Mobile phones with two screens appeared in the nineties, and the well-known clamshells became the first devices of this format. With the advent of smartphones, manufacturers focused on creating touch-sensitive monoblocks and for a while forgot about auxiliary screens. In 2017, everything changed: five large companies at once - LG, HTC, Samsung, Meizu and ZTE - presented a new product, marking the beginning of a new trend. ZOOM understands what dual-screen smartphones are on the market today and why they need an auxiliary display.

It would seem that there are not so many models with two screens, but upon closer examination, there are more than a dozen of them. We studied all the trends and identified five main groups: smartphones with an additional touchscreen color display, with a monochrome display, with an auxiliary screen based on E-ink, half-folding devices with two identical screens and modern clamshells.

Folding beds

The first clamshell phone was the Motorola MicroTAC, introduced in 1989, although it received a more familiar form factor only with the release in 1996 of the upgraded version of Motorola StarTAC. And although candy bars completely dominate the market, clamshells are still sold and even evolve. At first, manufacturers began to add small screens to the back panel of phones, and when the devices began to "get smarter", equivalent touch displays appeared on both sides of the devices.

Samsung W2017

The Samsung W2017 is a good example of this. It received two 4.2-inch Full HD displays, a Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, support for wireless charging and Samsung Pay, and so on. In a word, it is really a top-end clamshell. True, it is made for the Chinese market and is very expensive - about 20,000 yuan (180,000 rubles).

Foldable smartphones

Once popular in Japan, smartphones with two equivalent screens have been around for a long time. First, manufacturers began to use QWERTY keyboards, then the keyboard began to slide out from the side, and then it was completely supplemented with a second display, as, for example, in the 2011 LG Dual Screen QWERTY Phone. Subsequently, the need for a physical keyboard disappeared and was replaced by a second screen identical to the main size and a folding design, when the smartphone resembles a horizontal clamshell. The hit of MWC 2013 was the NEC Medias W smartphone, but this concept never gained wide popularity in the world. In the future, such modifications were practically not produced outside Japan, and at the end of 2017, ZTE again decided to return to this idea, presenting the Axon M.

ZTE Axon M

The device has a modern filling, two 5.2 ”Full HD-displays and a wide range of scenarios of use. When folded, to save battery power, the auxiliary screen turns off and the device looks like a regular smartphone, for games there is a special mode in which control buttons are displayed on one display, and the main action on the second. And finally, the desktop mode allows you to show the same picture on both screens, which is convenient for watching videos in a large company. In general, ZTE's interest in such a solution is quite remarkable, especially given the fact that Samsung has long been threatening to show its vision of a concept in which one large display will be divided into two, folding like Axon M. At first, this development was referred to as Project Valley. then Galaxy X, and now it has completely disappeared from sight.

Second E-ink display

The first idea to cross a smartphone and a reader was implemented in 2013 by the Russian company Yota Devices, which presented its own. The device differed from its competitors by the presence of a second display on the rear panel, similar in size to the main one, but made using electronic ink technology. This made it possible not only to use it as an e-book, reading the text with great comfort, but also to continue working even when the battery level dropped to the minimum.

YotaPhone 2

Electronic ink has significantly lower power consumption, so you can use such a device for longer than a regular smartphone. Following the first version of YotaPhone in 2014, and then the company was sold to the Chinese, who presented themselves in 2017 on their own, not yet available on the Russian market. At one time, a similar model called Zero 2 was going to be released by the Umi company, but then there was a rebranding in Umidigi and, apparently, the plans were abandoned.

Second monochrome display

Auxiliary touchscreen displays have practically supplanted monochrome ones, but at a certain period of time, manufacturers managed to experiment with them. At first, such technical screens appeared in clamshells, allowing you to see information about time, calls and messages without opening the phone, and then they were introduced into smartphones. One of the most interesting products that implements a similar idea is the Chinese Doogee T3, presented in 2016.

Doogee t3

The device combines a non-standard design with genuine leather inserts, good performance for a price of less than 10,000 rubles, and an additional screen located on the upper end of the case. It is able to display information about missed calls, notifications about unread messages, time, etc. Looking at such a screen, however, is not very convenient, and there is no brightness control, so Doogee has something to work on.

Highscreen ice 2

The domestic manufacturer Highscreen also distinguished itself here. On the back of his Ice 2 smartphone, there is also a small auxiliary OLED display that can show the time, weather, notifications and other similar data, automatically turning on at a set interval.

Second touch display

Perhaps the most promising concept in modern realities is the addition of an auxiliary screen to the main screen, but not monochrome, but a color and touch screen. The first idea of \u200b\u200bplacing a narrow auxiliary display over the main one was implemented in 2015 by LG, presenting the flagship V10 (). Over the next two years, the South Koreans managed to release three more models: V20 (she too), Q8 and the “state-owned” LG X view.

Impressed by the concept, at the beginning of 2017 HTC showed its U Ultra, which uses an identical solution, followed by Meizu in July. Naturally, the Chinese did everything in their own way, installing an additional screen in the Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus not from the front, but from the back.

Meizu Pro 7

The embodiment turned out to be more interesting than that of LG, which has been exploiting one idea for the second year already, and HTC, which simply copied the concept from the Koreans. Moreover, the location of the two displays one below the other, even taking into account the fact that the camera is located on the side of the auxiliary one, inevitably leads to an increase in size. The Pro 7 does not have such a problem, in addition, the main screen is “frameless”, so everything looks neat and modern. The only thing is that the question of the convenience of using the additional display located at the back is somewhat controversial: in order to look at it, the smartphone will have to turn the front screen down.

HTC U Ultra

Regardless of the location of the second display, its purpose is similar for all models: it is an additional screen for displaying all kinds of notifications, time, weather, battery level and other information that can be displayed at the moment when the main display is turned off. Other application scenarios include controlling the audio player, displaying the most frequently used contacts or camera modes. Meizu in its Pro 7 also suggests using an additional display to view the image when taking selfies on the rear module.