Like it or not, foldable smartphones are still poised to be the next big thing in the handset industry.
While early devices like the Galaxy Fold, Z Flip and Razr have all hit store shelves, each first-gen foldable smartphone features some sort of trade-off, whether its durability, battery life or camera performance.
The Z Flip is probably the closest to being the only foldable smartphone worth actually purchasing, but even it has notable issues, including screen durability problems and less than stellar battery life.
If a new report from China-based ItHome is accurate, foldable smartphones could soon start featuring much better battery life, solving at least one of the relatively new category’s issues.
After several years of research and development, Samsung SDI, the tech giant’s battery division, is now capable of manufacturing flexible cells with a capacity of 3,000mAh to 6,000mAh. The company started working on foldable batteries back in 2016 with a 210mAh prototype. For context, Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra features a 5,000mAh battery.
A flexible battery could allow a smartphone manufacturer to pack a more substantial power source into a foldable device. There’s also a possibility this form of battery would be useful for larger foldable tablets like Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Neo.
Though these bendable batteries would be great for foldable smartphones tablets, they could have other purposes as well. For example, flexible batteries might work well with wearables and smartwatches.
Samsung is expected to reveal the Galaxy Fold 2 alongside the Note 20 at an event in August.
Image credit: ItHome
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