This is what foldable phones looked like in the 2010s
All we need is for Apple to release a foldable iPhone, and we can officially say that the 2020s are the decade of the foldable phone. But we also had foldables in the 2010s. Type of. This is what they looked like.
1
Kyocera Echo
The Kyocera Echo, while not the first phone with dual screens, was the first to offer a simultaneous dual-screen smartphone experience. Its unique hinge allowed the otherwise modest Android phone to transform into a dual-screen hybrid with a 4.7-inch display area divided by a massive physical bezel. This, coupled with its revolutionary hinge design, made the Echo a revolutionary device on a hardware level.
But in 2011, Android just wasn’t optimized for a dual-screen experience. While some apps had been optimized for multitasking (or “simultasking,” as Kyocera and Sprint called it), most didn’t work in side-by-side mode, nor could you use multitouch while multitasking.
The phone’s tablet mode, which stretched content across both screens, was also a tainted experience. Not only because of the large physical divide in the middle, but also because many apps and games didn’t work properly. Although the Echo is remembered as an engineering marvel and a predecessor to modern foldables, its software experience was deeply flawed.
2
Samsung Double Time
The Samsung DoubleTime featured Nokia’s Communicator form factor. But instead of a small screen, a 3.2-inch touchscreen dominated the phone’s front, with four physical navigation buttons underneath.
Unfolding it would reveal a full-size physical keyboard, perfect for texting, as well as the second 3.2-inch touchscreen that you’ll need to use in portrait mode. While texting and typing emails were great on the fairly large keyboard, using the phone for anything more demanding was a difficult task due to the limited memory and underpowered processor.
While an Android phone sporting a Communicator-like form factor looked attractive on paper, the combination of underpowered hardware with an aging version of Android (the phone shipped with Android 2.2 Froyo at a time when Android 2.3 Gingerbread was already available) resulted in complete disappointment.
Like the Kyocera Echo, the NEC Medias W looked like your regular Android phone from the front. But unlike the Echo, the Medias W didn’t incorporate an elaborate hinge hiding the second screen just below the main one.
The Japanese-exclusive Medias W’s second screen was on the back of the phone when folded. The screen was disabled when it was on the back, but it would wake up as soon as you flipped it to the front of the device.
Thanks to the phone’s two 4.3-inch qHD (960×540) screens, dual-screen mode was more convenient than on the Echo. Using both screens at once was great as long as the active app supported it. Unfortunately, most did not, which significantly limited its usability.
But hey, at least you can use two apps side by side, letting you read emails while browsing the web, or mirror an app on both screens, prop the phone up like a tent, and watch videos with a friend sitting across from you.
On the other hand, the huge bezel separating the two screens was still there, making the phone’s 5.6-inch tablet mode more than a little jarring to use. Ultimately, the NEC Medias W was just another early foldable phone experiment that appealed at first glance, but its hardware and software just weren’t ready for prime time.
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4
ZTE Axon
ZTE launched the Axon M at a time when true foldable phones were just around the corner. The phone was a holdover from the 2010s: a “foldable” with two screens instead of a single flexible screen, and a bezel in the center instead of a fold.
Yet when he came out, he was quite capable. It contained two 5.2-inch 1080p displays, one of which rested on the back of the phone. Folding it forward allowed owners to use two apps at the same time, which ultimately wasn’t a maddening, slow experience thanks to the Snapdragon 821 powering the phone.
The near-seamless full-screen mode was much more usable than on previous dual-screen phones, thanks to the minimal bezel and vast 6.75-inch display. This makes the Axon M a great choice for gaming and using apps like Google Maps or Kindle, provided you can stomach the seam.
However, due to its size and weight, numerous software bugs, high price, a dated Android version, and a release date that was simply too close to the arrival of true foldables, the ZTE Axon M is remembered as the last vestige of the dual-screen quasi-foldable form factor of the 2010s.
5
LG V50 ThinQ 5G
While the Axon M managed to enter the party just before last call, the LG V50 arrived a full day late, after the first Galaxy Z Fold entered the market. Now, the V50 wasn’t a dual-screen foldable right out of the box. The second screen was an add-on that you had to purchase separately. It was basically a large folio case with a screen placed on its inside.
The whole contraption connected to the phone via pogo pins. Once the V50 was inside the case, the second screen lit up, offering several ways to use it. Dual-screen multitasking was the primary way to use the extra screen, but you could also use it as a virtual gamepad. You could also stretch content across both screens, which seemed even more off-putting because the bezel between them was over half an inch thick!
The second screen add-on didn’t have an external display, so you had to open the phone to check notifications, which was a massive oversight on LG’s part. The company fixed this issue on the next phone to use the dual-screen accessory, the LG G8X, by including a 2.1-inch screen for notifications. But the concept of a dual-screen body just wasn’t popular enough, and the 2020 LG V60 was the third and final model to feature it.
It’s finally time to replace your LG phone
This applies to all LG phone models.
6
Royole FlexPai
You probably think that Samsung was the first to release a true foldable phone with a flexible screen. But a little-known company called Royole beat Samsung to the punch with the FlexPai, which launched in December 2018, three months before the original Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.
The fact is that Royole was not a telephone manufacturer. The company produced flexible displays and saw the FlexPai as an ideal way to showcase its technology. The phone was one of the stars of CES 2019, but most of those who tried it came away disappointed because, aside from the flexible display, the FlexPai didn’t have much else to offer.
The phone was unsightly and thick, very slow, had massive bezels, and cost $1,300. At least the screen didn’t have a crease as it was placed on the outside rather than the inside, a design choice seen on the majority of foldables to avoid damaging these flexible and fragile panels. Ultimately, FlexPai’s only merit aside from the name was being the first true foldable phone.
A few months after the Royole FlexPai saw the light of day, we got the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, which kicked off the modern era of foldables.
Nearly seven years later, foldables haven’t changed much. The crease is still there, the screens are still fragile, but modern foldables are more robust than the first models. At least the software experience is much better than it was in the late 2010s, making modern foldables much better than their ancestors in every way.
7/10
- Brand
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Samsung
- SoC
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Samsung Exynos 2500
