The next evolution for foldable phones could be ridiculously surprising

Foldables are enjoying their moment in the spotlight, with Samsung leading the charge in folding phones and other brands bringing their own momentum to the movement. However, things could change direction if a recently found patent from Vivo is anything to go by.

The folding phones we’ve seen so far have followed similar lines – there’s the classic book-style foldable, like the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which gets larger when you open it. Then there’s the flip style, where you can fold your phone in half, like the just-announced Moto Razr 60 Ultra. Finally, there’s the tri-fold design, like the Huawei Mate XT or the rumoured Galaxy G Fold.

But according to 91mobiles, Vivo has filed a patent for handset in an all-new category – a folding device that has two distinctly separate screens. There’s no link to the source, so we can’t verify the details, so this report is a little sketchy and should be approached with caution.

91mobiles outlines the device as a foldable with a detachable second screen. That second display, it’s said, can be used independently from the first because it has its own hardware inside, although specifics are not shared. We can safely assume it includes a battery for power, plus something to maintain a wireless connection to another device, but that’s all it would need.

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According to the details, the screens can connect magnetically, allowing modular separation.

What’s not clear is whether any part of the display surface actually folds or what sort of border might be around them – so it may not be a folding phone in the sense that we're currently used to.

The examples given for use cases suggest one display could share information, controlling it with the second, or gaming using one for visuals and the other for control. There’s also the suggestion that control of the screens could come from a third device.

This sounds familiar, has it been done before?

The patent doesn’t appear to be for a device with a flexible display, but might allow two screens to be used together or separated as one device.

LG toyed with the idea of offering two screens in 2019, showing off the LG V50 ThinQ and the LG G8X, both of which offered a case which housed a second screen. It wasn’t detachable – it was powered by the first device – but it did allow you to have more screen space and do things like move the keyboard to the second screen.

The separation of the screens appears to be the new idea here, but the emergence of this patent raises more questions than answers. It could potentially be a bulky device because you’re looking at housing two screens, slightly different to current folding phones.

What it doesn’t appear to do is offer one large seamless screen area that can fold to be more compact.

This could be my misinterpretation of the patent details that we’ve been provided, but ultimately, with no details of a hinge or how these displays work as one, it just sounds like LG’s solution, but with the ability to separate the screens.

And as it's just a patent at present, we may never truly find out.