Since the first foldable smartphone was released around five years ago, we’ve seen several new flip-style and book-style foldable devices. Companies are racing to entice consumers with slim designs, brighter screens, and AI functionality.
Recently, the competition moved to the next level, with foldable smartphones made of three parts instead of two. During the past month, several announcements have been made regarding such devices.
The latest example is a concept triple-folding smartphone called the Phantom Ultimate 2, which Chinese company Tecno unveiled on Wednesday.
The company says that its tri-fold design didn’t result in a major compromise on thickness. The folded smartphone has a thickness of 11mm, which is only slightly larger than the slimmest foldable currently on the market, Honor’s V3.
Tecno claims that this thickness was achieved due to a thinner hinge, a streamlined camera design, and the smartphone industry's thinnest battery cover, which measures just 0.25mm due to super-compressed Titan Advanced Fiber material.
When unfolded, the Phantom Ultimate 2 measures 6.48 inches, while the full-size screen expands to 10 inches and is larger than some tablets.
The 3K LTPO screen has a 392 PPI density, which is quite typical of the latest foldable smartphone. Other technical details, such as the camera pixel count, battery capacity, and processor, are not mentioned.
If you’re wondering what the purpose of having a tri-fold smartphone might be, the company provides an answer by listing a few use cases.
The bent smartphone could be used in laptop mode, for example, allowing a user to type on one of the three bent parts while seeing content on others.
The device can also be folded into a so-called tent mode for dual-screen face-to-face real-time AI translation.
For now, Tecno’s model is only a concept, and it’s unclear if it will ever be released.
Tecno is not the first to reveal a tri-fold prototype. TCL announced its tri-fold concept back in 2020, while Samsung later demonstrated its Flex S and Flex G.
However, according to the latest reports, Huawei will be the first company to officially launch a tri-fold smartphone. Rumors suggest that the company’s tri-fold smartphone may be launched as early as September and may cost around $2700.
Some leaks suggest that Xiaomi is also working on releasing its tri-fold smartphone soon.
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