In recent times, foldable smartphones have gained quite a lot of popularity. Thanks to models like Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, which are available worldwide, users are getting to experience the next in smartphone display technology. Broadly, a few types of foldable smartphones are based on a clamshell design.
First, there is the fold-type smartphone that has a vertical crease and opens up like a book. Second, there is the flip-style smartphone that has a horizontal crease around which the display folds in half. However, some companies have been working on outward-folding smartphones, Xiaomi being the latest name to join the list.
Leakster Kuba Wojciechowski uploaded an image of the outward-folding smartphone from the Chinese brand Xiaomi. In his tweet, Wojciechowski writes, "this is a prototype of the Xiaomi outward folding phone that was patented but never actually shipped (or even leaked in real life)."
The prototype runs on Snapdragon 855 and supports 5G connectivity via an X50 modem. Although the tweet was deleted, it remained on Twitter long enough for tech publications to make a note of it.
The smartphone looked a lot like the Huawei Mate Xs 2
The tweet contained two images of the smartphone. While one of the images had the actual prototype unit of the phone, the other contained a render of its design. Although the patent of the smartphone was spotted in 2020 by a website called LetGoDigital, very few units of the smartphone were produced by the company.
To give readers a better idea, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 is an outward-folding smartphone that made it to production and was released a couple of years ago.
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