Samsung gave fans a sneak peek at its upcoming foldable Galaxy smartphone last year, with many taking an immediate dislike to the large form factor of the prototype. A newly leaked video teases the potential final design of the device, with a much thinner casing and slim bezels.
The video first cropped up on Samsung’s Vietnam YouTube account, according to XDA Developers, before being promptly removed. Luckily, SlashLeaks caught it beforehand and has re-uploaded it for the world to see ahead of Samsung’s Unpacked event on the 20th February.
Trudging through the usual marketing paces, Samsung’s foldable display makes an appearance at 0:24 with a much thinner profile than we saw before. The front-facing display is surrounded by tiny bezels that are perhaps a little thicker than Samsung’s Infinity Display, and no front-facing camera visible from the glimpse we’re given. Opening the device like a book, the scene cuts before we can get a proper look at the inside screen.
While the video certainly meets Samsung’s production quality, it’s likely not meant as a final representation of incoming products, but a proof of concept. The company has taken this approach before with a 2014 video showcasing its initial flexible OLED efforts. This could also explain the interesting bezel-less tablet seen at 0:18 in the new leak, and the appearance of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 9.
We will soon find out when Samsung announces its range of new devices during the February 20th Galaxy Unpacked event, with a demo of the tentatively titled Galaxy X or Galaxy F handset to take place at MWC 2019. It will face competition from Huawei, which has said it will also debut its foldable smartphone at the event, set to take place between February 25th until the 28th.
KitGuru Says: I do hope that the final device adopts a thinner approach than we saw last year. Bezel-less is also a nice touch given the tide of today’s market. What do you think of the concepts shown in the video? Would you like that to be the final design?