Foldable phones have been on the market for roughly five years now, and in that time, there’s been plenty of concern about how long the hinges in their screens will hold up. Now imagine a foldable phone that has two hinges.
You may not have to imagine it for too much longer, because what could be the world’s first tri-fold foldable phone was spotted on an airplane in China, per Gizmochina. The photo appears to show Huawei executive Yu Richard holding an unusually large foldable phone that appears to have two hinges instead of just the one that you would get in something like a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, Google Pixel Fold, or OnePlus Open.
The existence of the device was corroborated by Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station, who said it resembled a prototype they had seen. The display is reportedly around 10 inches in size, which would be bigger than any current foldable on the market. However, there are downsides to this. For starters, the phone will likely be more bulky than a regular foldable, while it would certainly be more expensive, too.
There’s no evidence that this device will reach mass production anytime soon at the moment, but if you start seeing two-hinge foldables, now you know where it started.