OnePlus may be working on a dual-hinged foldable phone

OnePlus could become a new player to join the foldable smartphone race. According to a patent spotted by LetsGoDigital, the Shenzhen-based tech firm has envisioned a foldable phone with a dual-hinge mechanism, allowing users to fold the device thrice.

The patented foldable phone has one large hinge and one small hinge, and the thickest part of the device rotates around the large hinge, while the other two sections can rotate around the smaller hinge. When fully unfolded, you can use it as a tablet, and not only that, but you can also fold it to form a triangle. In other words, you can watch YouTube videos on one display, and the other one can be used for browsing the internet or whatever you want.

The patented foldable phone also has what the company calls a “magnetic slider system” which allows users to lock the folding position of the device. This will be useful because it prevents you from accidentally folding or unfolding during use. The magnetic slider system happens to be incorporated into the thick part of the display, which may also house the battery and essential internals.

This sounds familiar as Samsung, TCL, and LG have already done something similar, but OnePlus’ patented foldable phone is different from those patents in the sense that the former doesn’t fold in a Z-shape.

However, triple folding phones have some disadvantages too. For example, it complicates the design of the device, and of course, the pricing is also another issue that the company needs to take care of.

As a reminder, the OnePlus dual-hinged foldable phone is still in the patent stage, which is why we should not raise our hopes about seeing OnePlus releasing the device for the general public. On the bright side, the existence of the patent is a testament to the fact that OnePlus is quite serious about foldable phones. We’re eagerly waiting for it, OnePlus!

via Android Authority