Foldable Tablets Are More Than Just a Gimmick Thanks to Samsung and LG
Commentary: At CES 2023, we saw promising concept tablets that bend and slide without breaking.
Foldable phones are all the rage, with Samsung, Oppo and Motorola, releasing their own devices. Other companies, like Apple and Google, are rumored to be working on versions of their flagship products with foldable designs.
But at CES 2023, foldable tablets are what piqued my curiosity. Samsung and LG, two of the world's largest display-makers, both showcased tablet-like devices in various shapes and sizes that can bend, fold, slide or do all three.
These concepts got me wondering about whether there's a real future for foldable tablets, especially at a time when companies are struggling to sell traditional tablets. What is clear, however, is that companies like Samsung and LG are thinking about it, as are PC-makers like Lenovo and Acer.
The more I've thought about it, the more a foldable tablet starts to make sense -- maybe even more so than a foldable phone.
Samsung and LG's foldable concepts at CES 2023
Samsung and LG both kicked off CES 2023 with announcements about their concept foldable displays, many of which come in tablet-sized formats. The star of the show was Samsung's Flex Hybrid, a concept that you have to see to fully understand.
It closes like a notebook and opens up to reveal a tablet-like screen. But the real wow factor is that you can extend the screen's size and even change its aspect ratio when unfolded. The right side of the screen slides out, extending the display size from 10.5 inches to 12.4 inches. In a demonstration at its CES booth, Samsung showed how the display automatically adjusts to show more content when the screen is extended.
This isn't the first time Samsung has exhibited concepts like this. In 2022, Samsung flaunted accordion-like displays and sliding screens, designs that are also present this year.
Samsung has other ideas for shapeshifting tablets, too. It also showed the Flex Slidable Duet concept at CES, a screen that expands on both sides to provide more viewing area for playing games or watching movies. The display measures 13 to 14 inches but can extend up to 17.3 inches, according to a Samsung press release. There's also a version of this concept that can only expand its screen in one direction, a device that Samsung appropriately calls the Flex Slidable Solo.
LG had two main foldable tablet concepts to show at CES: an 8-inch tablet that can fold inward and outward in both directions, and a 17-inch device that folds in half. LG asserts that the 17-inch display is almost entirely creaseless, and the company is positioning it as either a giant tablet or a more portable external monitor for a laptop.
The gadgets shown at CES are far from being the first foldable tablets. There are Lenovo's X1 Fold and newer ThinkPad X1 Fold, while Asus has the Zenbook Fold OLED. LG's 17-inch concept largely looks like it's trying to accomplish the same goal that Lenovo and Asus have already begun to explore with these devices.
The big question is whether these companies can convince consumers that foldable tablets are even useful in the first place. Samsung is seemingly trying to address this conundrum by developing screens that can change their shape and size to go along with how you're using your device. Based on Samsung's demo of the Flex Hybrid, it looks like you'll be able to view content that wasn't visible before when expanding the slideable portion of the screen. The clip above seems to show a shopping website as an example, with more products being shown as the screen expands.
Lenovo already has some interesting ideas about how to put the X1 Fold's bendable screen to good use. When the screen is folded halfway, you can place Lenovo's Bluetooth keyboard over the bottom half of the screen so that it functions as a mini laptop.
Samsung also isn't the only company experimenting with displays that can expand by sliding and rolling. TCL and Motorola have both dreamed up similar concepts for smartphone designs, although Samsung's feels closer to an actual product given its experience in foldables. Samsung is also the world's largest smartphone-maker and second-largest tablet-maker, which makes its concepts seem more impactful than those from TCL and Motorola. While LG no longer has a presence in the mobile industry, it's a major display supplier and still makes its own laptops.
2023-01-08 19:58:06
