A ZTE foldable smartphone described in a patent application that was recently uncovered describes a device which is pretty much, in concept, similar to Samsung’s foldable smartphone.
We’re talking about a tablet that folds into a phone (or a phone that folds out into a tablet). It features a flexible display and allows the phone to unfold into a larger device.
ZTE foldable smartphone looks like Galaxy Fold
Earlier this year ZTE Corporation filed a patent with the Chinese CNIPA (former SIPO). The design patent was published on December 18, 2018, and describes a foldable smartphone with a flexible display.
As described by the China-experts at Mobiel Kopen the foldable phone from ZTE unfolds into a tablet.
On the front, we see a large display with a small bezel for the speaker and the selfie camera. The back looks similar to that of earlier this year released ZTE Axon 9.
The smartphone sports a dual camera in a vertical set-up and a flash underneath. In addition, we see a fingerprint scanner in the middle.
There does not seem to be any room for a 3.5mm jack, ZTE has already omitted the headphone connection with its last devices.
Once unfolded the smartphone becomes a tablet. No exact dimensions are mentioned in the patent, but the flexible screen will be at least twice the size of the front-facing screen.
So far little is known about ZTE and their plans for a foldable smartphone. However, the company already experienced with a ‘foldable’ dual-screen smartphone last year, the Axon M.
It, therefore, doesn’t seem unlikely for the Chinese manufacturer to develop a similar looking device like the Samsung Galaxy Fold in the future. However, at the moment it’s still completely unknown when this device may hit the market.
ZTE dual-sided phone
In addition, ZTE also patented a dual-sided smartphone earlier this month. This design looked pretty similar to the Nubia X, that was released earlier this year by the former-subsidiary of ZTE.
However, both the Nubia X and the ZTE Axon M come with two separate displays, while the patented dual-screen smartphone consists of one large screen that’s wrapped around one side of the body.
