Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3, coming later this year, may look rather old-fashioned compared to another foldable tablet Samsung may be working on

Samsung has yet to include foldable display technology in its tablets, but such a move seems inevitable And newly revealed patents indicate that Samsung is thinking of ways to convert the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip designs to larger devices From our perspective, it certainly looks good

A patent discovered by LetsGoDigital with the simple name "Display device" Since there is no mention of internal technology, we shall focus primarily on the appearance of this tablet

The open design of the tablet features a simple rectangular display, but with two subtle notches on either side of the screen where the folding mechanism is located On these outer edges are the tablet's charging port, power button, and dual speakers, while inside the bezel on one side are the tablet's front-facing camera and microphone This is quite similar to the appearance of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Samsung Galaxy Tab A7

The body of the tablet around the notch is noticeably thicker than the limbs of the tablet Just as Huawei's Mate X2 folding phone tapers from one end to the other, the patent illustration shows a device that is thick on one side and thin on the other While this may make the tablet easier to handle with one hand, it goes against the generally symmetrical design of nearly all modern devices

Unlike Samsung's Z-Fold and Z-Flip phones, there is no external display or camera module in this tablet design There would be no need for a tablet to have immediate access to notifications or a rear-facing camera However, a folding design without these features seems odd

The hinge in the LGD renderings looks like the square hinge on the Galaxy Z This would be smart, as the hinges on these devices work well in many aspects In addition to allowing for a folding motion, the hinge can also hold the device open at multiple angles, and there is a small brush element built in to keep dirt out of the delicate internal mechanisms

All in all, this seems like a rather modest concept for a folding tablet However, Samsung is perhaps clever to keep things simple Since tablets are generally not a user's primary device for taking pictures or responding to instant messages, keeping a clean design with an emphasis on maximizing internal space is suitable for most users and will undoubtedly keep the exorbitant price as low as possible It should be possible to

The concept Samsung is working on is not just a simple book-style foldable The company has also filed patents for a three-part foldable phone, as well as roll and slide designs While these also sound very exciting, this type of foldable will likely precede these novel designs, if they ever become actual products After all, patents don't always lead to products shipping

Samsung's tablet is already one of the best tablets available, even in the face of stiff competition from Apple's iPad series However, if Samsung can bring this tablet concept out as a retail product, it could effectively corner the foldable tablet market, much like the foldable cell phone market That is, until a larger foldable product like Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold comes along