Foldables were the talk of IFA 2019, with both Samsung and Huawei showing off soon-to-be-released devices.
But while foldable phones are becoming all the rage, we wondered whether bendy screens were better suited to larger devices. And this Lenovo VP agreed.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/09/samsung-galaxy-fold-hands-on-review/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fold-header-410×231.jpg” title=”Hands On With Samsung’s New Galaxy Fold” excerpt=”New form factors are always exciting, but nothing else in recent years has captured people’s imaginations quite like foldable screens. When it comes to the Galaxy Fold, drama has ensued. From its micro-debut at Samsung’s Developer Conference in 2018, to faulty review units, there have been many question marks around how it would eventually perform. And while some may have even assumed that the first generation of the Fold would become Vapourware, it made a surprise appearance at IFA 2019. And we got to spend 45 glorious minutes with it.”]
Lenovo dropped six new Yoga Books at IFA last week. Considering that the brand’s M.O. is versatile, bendable screens that can be used both as a laptop and a tablet, we figured that the company must be thinking about foldable screens for future products.
And it looks like we were right.
Lenovo’s vice president of Design for Lenovo’s PCs & Smart Devices, Brian Leonard, believes that foldables are actually better suited to devices that are far bigger than a phone.
“I think actually to me it fits better in larger screens and devices. Yes my phone is the same size but now it’s twice as thick and the screen is twice as big. That model doesn’t work well in my pocket,” said Leonard.
And he’s not wrong. Both the Huawei Mate X and Samsung’s Galaxy Fold are thick phones once you fold them up.
This is why Leonard believes that perhaps laptops would be a bigger fit – they’re already bigger.
“But you know when you talk about something that could be the same form factor as devices we carry today except it’s a complete digital experience from the nose to the top… I think that’s really where things can start to change.”
“You have to study the smallest to the biggest in a vacuum and then figure out where the sweet spot is for things. For for me its more in larger screens.”
That sure sounds like Lenovo, and other laptop manufacturers, are thinking about how laptops screens will look in the not-so-distant future. And the answer is probably “foldable”.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/09/lenovos-new-yoga-books-have-ai-cooling-which-extends-the-battery-life/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/yoga-header-410×231.jpg” title=”Lenovo’s New Yoga Books Have AI Cooling (Which Also Extends The Battery Life)” excerpt=”Lenovo just casually announced six new Yoga models at IFA this week, and two of them are particularly exciting. Thanks to some fancy new smart features, they are able to adapt to a user’s needs, as well as extend the battery life through AI cooling.”]
The author traveled to IFA 2019 as a guest of Lenovo.