Samsung Galaxy X: this is your first official look at the folding Samsung phone

Giant step forward in smartphone design or novelty for the sake of it? You'll find out soon…

Samsung Galaxy X

After months of fevered excitement about its hotly-anticipated folding Galaxy X folding smartphone, Samsung finally unveiled the device at its annual developer conference in San Francisco today.

We didn't get a final name for the device, or a look at the final hardware, but we now know that the technology behind it is called an "Infinity Flex Display".

It's the first folding-screen phone from a mainstream manufacturer, and features a large screen that folds out to offer a traditional tablet-like experience, as well as a secondary smaller screen that will allow you to use the phone without needing to open it.

Let's take a look at what we learned about the Samsung Galaxy X during the conference…

The Infinity Flex Display will offer an experience somewhere between a tablet and a smartphone. When folded, the small display will function just like a typical smartphone, but unfold the device, and suddenly you've got a tablet sized screen to play with.

The Galaxy X uses a hinge mechanism which keeps the two sides of the display perfectly folded, and we're assuming a sensor to determine which orientation the screen is being used in. 

Check it out in action below:

Concrete details about the Samsung Galaxy X are light on the ground, but we were promised at the conference that the “device inside here" is "stunning”.

We also now know that the phone can be folded “hundred of thousands of times” without getting damaged, and that the screen, when unfolded, measures 7.3-inches.

Rumours suggest the X will be compatible with Samsung's S Pen digital stylus, meaning it will be a productivity beast just like the popular Note range of smartphones.

We were told during the keynote that it'll be capable of running three apps at once (in windows, similar to a PC).

If leaks are true, the Snapdragon 845 will be powering the foldable phone, paired with with 4 or 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Both of those screens will have a big impact on battery life, so Samsung will have to  include a large battery to keep the phone lasting all-day long. We not sure exactly how large it will be yet, however.

Elsewhere, we're expecting a 12-megapixel camera on the back of the phone, similar to the system found in the recent Note 9, with dual aperture capabilities.

Samsung will be putted the Galaxy X into "mass production in the coming months", and we can expect to hear more about the final phone at CES or MWC. It's expected the final smartphone will cost well over £1000, and will launch in the first quarter of 2019.

Stay tuned to T3 for more updates on the Samsung Galaxy X.

Spencer Hart
Style and Travel Editor

As the Style and Travel Editor at T3, Spencer covers everything from clothes to cars and watches to hotels. Everything that's cool, stylish, and interesting, basically. He's been a part of T3 for over seven years, and in that time covered every industry event known to man, from CES and MWC to the Geneva Motorshow and Baselworld. When he's driving up and down the country in search of the greatest driving roads, he can be found messing around on an electric scooter, playing with luxury watches, or testing the latest fragrances.