Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

Samsung’s Flex Note is the folding laptop of our dreams

By

Samsung’s recent push into foldable phones has been improving every year. The company now seeks to expand its folding screen tech into the world of laptops with the unveiling of the Flex Note concept at CES 2022.

Samsung enthusiast site, Sammobile, was invited by the company to preview the Flex Note. The Flex Note itself is admittedly just a “technology concept,” but shows off what’s possible. It’s able to transform from a 13-inch form factor when folded into a 17-inch monitor when fully extended. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the potential applications of being able to expand a 13-inch notebook into a monitor.

Samsung Flex Note folding laptop prototype.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of the strengths of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the sheer flexibility of the device. Opening it up fully basically negates the need for a separate tablet or e-reader and you’re still able to use it as a “normal” smartphone when closed. Similarly, the Flex Note concept could allow you to use it as a compact laptop (if you’re okay with using the bottom half as the virtual keyboard) while still using it as a portable monitor.

Recommended Videos

That said, the folding laptop isn’t technically a new concept. Lenovo tried its hand at one with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold in 2020. We liked the innovative design and beautiful OLED screen but were less enthusiastic about its performance and the price of extra accessories. Still, the professional aesthetic that the ThinkPad X1 Fold had was unique and could easily fit into the lives of many people if executed the right way.

Related

The good news for those interested in this form factor is that CES 2022 seems to be the year of foldable screens. Intel announced that they’re working on a foldable display spec that could help speed up the adoption of laptops with foldable screens. It’s reminiscent of Intel’s previous push with ultrabooks to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air lineup.

For Samsung’s part, the Flex Note seems to be more of a prototype so don’t get your hopes up for a rebirth of the Note line. However, Samsung’s folding screen tech could make its way into other laptops which would help bolster Intel’s push. Feel free to watch a short clip of the Flex Note concept below.

Samsung Flex Note

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
David Matthews
David Matthews
Former Digital Trends Contributor
David is a freelance journalist based just outside of Washington D.C. specializing in consumer technology and gaming. He has…
Miniature high-resolution webcams could soon be coming to laptops
Immervision's new small webcam module, next to a Canadian coin.

Laptops are about to get even slimmer this year, and they won't necessarily have to give up webcam quality either.

Immervision has announced a new 8-megapixel webcam sensor targeted at laptops and tablets that measures just 3.8mm thin. The module is being billed as the world's thinnest camera system for a laptop.

Read more
Folding laptops at CES 2022 should have learned from mobile’s mistakes
Aasus Zenbook 17 Fold folded in half.

Screens that fold up are already a hot topic in the smartphone world, but at CES 2022 they featured far more heavily on laptops than ever, showing the burgeoning tech is moving beyond small handheld devices. However, while the laptops all look really cool, familiar problems haunt them, making me concerned that the trend is a case of companies misguidedly trying to pique our interest in a new way while the innovation still struggles to find its feet on mobile.
Folding laptops
The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold captured the most attention because, according to our Senior Staff Writer Jacob Roach, who tried the machine out at CES 2022, “it’s one of the first real, working foldable laptops.” There have been others, but they’ve all been early prototypes or concepts. The Zenbook 17 Fold’s big selling point is one that echoes that of folding smartphones: Open it, and you’re greeted by a big screen (17 inches in this instance), in a case the same size as a non-folding 13-inch laptop.

Asus’ laptop with a folding screen was joined by the Samsung Flex Note, another model with a 17-inch screen folded inside a 13-inch laptop-sized case. Samsung is a relatively old hand when it comes to folding smartphones, having pioneered the folding mobile trend along with Huawei in 2019. Intel also showed foldable laptop displays at the show, claiming manufacturers would use the platform on laptops we can buy in 2022.

Read more
Samsung Display’s QD-OLED TV first look: Best. Picture. Ever.
Samsung QD-OLED display at CES 2022.

I was beginning to think it was the tech unicorn of CES 2022.: A quantum dot OLED display that, by specs and science alone, had the potential to revolutionize TV picture quality. Then I saw it up close, and I'm here to tell you it is the best-looking image I've ever seen from a screen. And not by an incremental margin, either. I hate the term "game-changer," but it absolutely applies here. I couldn't be more excited for this massive leap forward for TVs in 2022.

How I finally came to see Samsung Display's QD-OLED (important note: This is not a consumer television from Samsung Electronics) is an adventurous tale unto its own, and one best left for another story. Here, I want to focus on what I saw and why I am convinced that this latest adaptation to OLED display technology is the most exciting thing I've seen since the introduction of HDR TVs.

Read more