Method again in 2019, Xiaomi patented a tri-fold design, however figuring out what we all know now, that sort of funky design won’t ever work in the actual world. There was another patent that confirmed a extra wise design, nevertheless it wanted segments to bend each methods, which can be difficult. A month in the past, we heard rumors that Xiaomi will exhibit a tri-folding cellphone (or at the very least a prototype of 1) at MWC in February 2025. And now a patent revealed by the China Nationwide Mental Property Administration has been revealed that reveals what this gadget may seem like.
The patent was issued again in December of 2022 and has been stored underneath wraps since then. In contrast to that earlier design, this one is rather more wise and follows the identical primary plan because the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate – there is just one display screen that may unfold to be absolutely accessible or fold so that you simply solely see one third of it.
The digicam island is far smaller than what the Mate XT has, however that simply may be wishful pondering within the patent. The person segments on a tri-foldable must be fairly skinny to maintain the folded thickness affordable, which pushes the digicam modules out right into a chunky island.
Xiaomi’s patent for a tri-fold cellphone
Anyway, based mostly on the rumor from August, this tri-foldable will likely be a part of the Xiaomi Combine sequence. It’s not clear whether or not this would be the new Combine Fold or a separate sequence, nonetheless.
Huawei acquired there first, however a number of firms are engaged on tri-fold designs. Xiaomi, in fact, but in addition Samsung. Again in 2022, Samsung demoed the Flex G concept, which folds twice inwards (sort of forming a G form). Going again even additional to 2020, Samsung Show’s weblog shared some thoughts on tri-folding (and rollable) designs. Keep in mind, this was solely a 12 months after the unique Galaxy Fold launched.
Additionally in 2020 we went hands-on with a TCL tri-fold display concept. The 12 months after, a Microsoft patent confirmed a tri-fold Surface phone (although we’re fairly positive the Floor line is useless at this level). There are extra contenders – this 12 months we’ve seen tri-fold ideas from Oppo and Tecno. Let’s simply say that 2025 may see a Cambrian explosion of tri-foldables.
Source (in Chinese language)
