CNET got its hands on another concept by TCL. This one starts as a ten-inch tablet and has dual hinges that fold in opposite directions like an accordion.
As CNET points out, it ends up looking something like a Z or a taco holder. You can also fold all of the screens together so you have a form factor that looks more like the phones we’re used to, only it’s a thick stack of screens.
While it’s great to see companies experimenting with new form factors, don’t expect this phone to be available any time soon. It doesn’t have a name, projected release date or even a working screen. If and when those things fall into place, the tri-fold phone will face challenges that bi-fold phones have run into, mainly how to protect the display as the device folds repeatedly.
The most remarkable thing about TCL’s phone is that the hinges themselves move in different directions. The DragonHinge fold in, like a book, or like the Galaxy Fold, while the Butterfly Hinge folds the opposite way.
The two hinges create a zigzag shape as you open and close the device, a silhouette in Z. It looks like an accordion. And I have to get my greedy hands on it to give it a fold, one panel at a time Open. Folded over once. Completely folded up into a triple-stacked sandwich so that the exposed panel becomes the TCL phone’s “outer” screen. With this design, a single uninterrupted screen does it all.
