Samsung S8 And Note 8: Foldable, Bendable, Bezel-less, Or All Of The Above?

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 are on their way and reports are suggesting they will be foldable, bendable, or bezel-less—or maybe all of the above.

Samsung is under a lot of pressure after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, with rumors that the Note line may have finally reached its end. But Samsung is a fighter and fighters are only going to come back bigger after a failure. This is why as 2017 looms closer, more reports and rumors about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 are abound.

Foldable, bendable, or bezel-less—which one are you rooting for? In any case, it looks like Samsung will be pushing the bar up quite high with the upcoming Galaxy S8 and Note 8 if they, finally, come out with these groundbreaking designs.

Foldable S8 and Note 8

At Samsung’s keynote at the the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2013, Samsung wowed everyone with a flexible phone prototype, according to Telegraph. Working with one of the biggest technology manufacturers in the world, Youm, Samsung showcased a folding Windows 8 smartphone that can display information on its edges and bend without color distortion on its screen.

Watch the ad featuring the foldable smartphone prototype by Samsung below.

A year after that keynote, in November 2014, Samsung came out with the very first smartphone that displayed information on an edge surface: the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. Ever since that first Edge phablet, Samsung has continued to release Edge versions to its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines. These edged displays may be an underwhelming release after the foldable prototype, but it was a first step into the realm of the folding smartphones.

Samsung has been working on flexible displays for a number of years now and after the Note 7 fiasco, they can only come back with a really explosive Note 8 or Galaxy S8. This is why Tech Times, along with many media outfits and tech critics, believe that the upcoming Galaxy S8 and Note 8 will finally feature this foldable screen design.

Bendable S8 and Note 8

So let us differentiate what we mean by foldable and bendable. A foldable Note 8, for example, would mean a phablet folding at a fixed point in its screen, much like a closing book or like one of the earlier flip phones, but in this case, the whole screen folds. A bendable Note 8, on the other hand, would be a flexible phablet where the whole display can be made to follow a certain curved surface, for example, snapping a whole phone on your wrist. If Samsung has teased a foldable smartphone prototype in the future, how likely is Samsung releasing a bendable Note 8, then?

Back in October, 9to5Mac reported that BusinessKorea noted that Samsung and LG were collectively investing a combined record amount of around $11.6B into the development of flexible displays for 2016. And if such a partnership is in the books, it certainly looks good for Samsung’s bendable S8 or Note 8.

The question then is, will Samsung be the maker of this bendable smartphone and will it be the Galaxy S8 or the Note 8? ET News quotes an industry expert saying that Samsung Electronics have secured such technology, but could still be in the process of perfecting its performance.

“In-foldable Smartphone is seen as a first type of a foldable Smartphone. Out-foldable Smartphone is the next step.”

Bezel-less S8 and Note 8

Talking to people with direct knowledge of Galaxy S8 plans, Bloomberg reported earlier in December that Samsung will be creating an all-screen, bezel-less front for the Galaxy S8, and possibly for the Note 8, too. Asking not to be identified since the information has yet to be confirmed by Samsung itself, the sources reveal that the S8 and the Note 8 will only come with “wraparound displays using organic light-emitting diode technology.”

Galaxy S8 may feature an ‘all-screen’ bezel-less display via /r/Android @RavinduThimantha https://t.co/HjKkucabDq pic.twitter.com/bQJYDS0qv3

—????PhilUSB????™ ?420? (@philusb) December 8, 2016

A Note 8 with an all-screen, bezel-less display will surely be a delight for display fans since it will enable them to get more viewing real estate, without having to increase the size of the phablet further. According to Bloomberg‘s sources, a virtual home button will be buried in the glass in the lower section.

The report also believes that Samsung will be targeting a March or April release for the Galaxy S8 and the Note 8 since they are taking careful measures to prevent the Note 7 fiasco from happening again.

[Featured image by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo]