BARCELONA—Samsung Display, the company responsible for giving us folding screens for mobile devices, had several new panels on display at MWC. None of them are particularly groundbreaking this year, but there were still a few interesting entries.
Perhaps the one most relevant to the phone space is what Samsung Display is calling a “bezelless” design. The company pushed the panel almost to the edges of the device, though a slim bezel remains visible. In the photo below, we’re looking at a standard screen on the left and the bezelless one on the right. Part of the trick is dealing with the cable bundle that extends from one of the panel’s four edges. Samsung Display has done a fine job here with the design, though it doesn’t have the fully bezelless “waterfall” curve of screens from a few years ago. Phones with curved displays have largely fallen out of favor.
Samsung Display bezelless screen (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Another screen on hand is this gaming concept device (below). I’m not quite sure what the benefit of a folding screen on a small gaming handheld is, but the concept is neat. Lenovo’s bendy gaming device is more interesting.
Samsung Display gaming concept (Credit: Eric Zeman)
There were also some new screens for smartwatches available in the booth. Here, we have two ideas. The first is a curved screen that can flow with the curve of your wrist. The other is of a watch display that bends and folds. We’ve seen curved screens for smartwatches before, but this is the largest one I’ve seen in some time.
Samsung Display curved watch concept (Credti: Eric Zeman)
Samsung Display folding watch concept (Credit: Eric Zeman)
And of course, Samsung Display continues to futz with laptop screens. It had a large screen that unfolds, as well as one that extends or rises to create a tall (vertically) panel. We saw something similar from Lenovo two years ago. Lenovo has been more aggressive with its form factor designs, as evidenced by its MWC announcements this year.
Samsung Display folding laptop screen (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Sadly, we didn’t see any screens that might wind up in the folding iPhone.
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About Our Expert
Eric Zeman
Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics
Experience
I’m PCMag’s managing editor for consumer electronics content, overseeing an experienced team of reviewers and product testers. I’ve been covering technology for about 25 years. Prior to PCMag, I worked at outlets such as Android Authority, Fortune, InformationWeek, and Phonescoop.
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