A TCL foldable smartphone-tablet was mentioned a few months ago. It was said to be in the works already and may be out during IFA 2016. Nothing was announced but a demo video has surfaced recently on CNET. The media website happened to have a hands-on experience with the TCL foldable phone. It’s only a prototype of a phone that folds not just into two but three parts. Most OEMs strive for such design to achieve a bigger display in such a small package and only a foldable phone design can deliver albeit the technology may be far from perfect.
TCL’s foldable phone design has two hinges instead of one. One part of the screen folds outward while another folds inward. It’s really just like having a thick phone because of the folds.
The company has not provided specs and features but there appear to be four cameras, a selfie shooter, and a USB-C charging port. The trifold design seems tricky but we believe it’s possible.
TCL is more known for midrange phones, displays, and TVs. The phone business is mainly under different brands like Palm, BlackBerry, and Alcatel. This venture into the foldable phone category has potential but it needs to beat the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X–both premium foldable phones.
The phone makes use of the DragonHinge tech hinge that was introduced earlier this year. We said it was for future foldable devices and now it’s being utilized.
The idea of a trifold foldable phone is great but we have yet to see it in action. The phone demoed in the video is only a prototype but it wasn’t working. Someday soon we hope to see the design be executed finally.
