People have been exploring the boundaries of smartphone screens, striving to achieve larger display areas and better visual effects within limited spaces. After several years of iteration, with both large and small foldable designs approaching maturity, multi-fold designs have become the next strategy for manufacturers.
Compared to Huawei’s tri-fold design, which remains somewhat hidden and mysterious, TECNO, a company under Transsion Holdings and often referred to as the “King of Africa Phones” has taken a more direct approach. The company recently showcased its self-developed tri-fold prototype smartphone, the Phantom Ultimate 2, through a promotional video.
The Phantom Ultimate 2 features a Z-shaped tri-fold structure. TECNO equipped it with a 3K OLED screen boasting 392 PPI, which is of the LTPO type, meaning it supports a dynamic refresh rate ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz.
The Phantom Ultimate 2 only has one screen, as it doesn’t have an inner or outer screen in the traditional sense. When folded, the visible screen is about one-third of the overall screen, measuring 6.48 inches. When fully unfolded, the hidden parts of the screen expand with the two hinges, transforming into a 10-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Its size and proportion are close to that of an iPad Air, significantly larger than the 8.3-inch iPad mini.
According to the information released by TECNO, the Phantom Ultimate 2 has a thickness of 11 millimeters when folded, meaning it is only 0.4 millimeters thicker than the yet-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition.
To achieve this remarkable thinness, in addition to the two specially optimized hinges, which boast a strength of 2100 MPa and support over 300,000 folds, TECNO also equipped the Phantom Ultimate 2 with the thinnest battery cover in the smartphone market.
This battery cover is made from an advanced fiber material called Titan, which compresses its thickness to just 0.25 millimeters while maintaining strength. In comparison, most battery covers in the smartphone industry, made from glass fiber-reinforced plastic or high-strength aluminum alloy, are typically 0.5 to 0.8 millimeters thick.
TECNO has also equipped the Phantom Ultimate 2 with a stylus to meet the needs of users for more precise operations and mobile office functions.
Although it’s a prototype, the promotional video not only demonstrated the folding and unfolding of the device but also showcased various usage scenarios for the tri-fold design. Thanks to the hovering features of the two hinges, the device can take on multiple forms.
In the video, the Phantom Ultimate 2 can fold one section of the screen (one-third of the entire display) to lay flat on a table as a keyboard or stylus input area, while the remaining two sections stand vertically, turning the device into a laptop-like form.
Additionally, the device can fold into a tent mode, enabling real-time AI translation with dual screens facing each other, helping users overcome language barriers.
However, TECNO has yet to reveal any other specifications of the device, such as the chipset, battery size, or camera resolution. This indicates that the Phantom Ultimate 2 is still in the prototype stage.
Compared to Huawei, which plans to launch its tri-fold smartphone in September, TECNO seems more like an “echo of the starting gun.”
According to data from iResearch Consumer Research Institute, the shipment volume of foldable smartphones in China is increasing by more than 50% annually, and foldable screens are becoming increasingly important in the high-end smartphone market.
So, whether or not the Phantom Ultimate 2 enters mass production, it has sent a clear signal to everyone: in this rapidly growing market, large and small foldable designs have become the norm, and more manufacturers are now venturing into multi-fold designs.
Source from ifanr
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