Skip to main content

Samsung wants to put another screen on the side of your smartwatch

Flexible displays have been popping up in Samsung’s phones for a few years now, and even some of the company’s smartwatches. But we haven’t seen one quite like this before. A patent application filed by Samsung that surfaced last week, retrieved by Patently Mobile, shows a watch with a secondary display running along the side of the body.

The screen occupies space along the bezel that is typically used as a rotating dial on Gear smartwatches for quickly changing apps and other functions. In the application, the strip relays basic information, like date, time, and weather. It runs most of the way around the watch, with a space in the middle omitted to house the driver circuit board.

Recommended Videos

The patent notes that, in this particular application, the display can only be rotated 90 degrees. It is also split into two sections — upper and lower — for an undisclosed purpose, though the diagrams often show them acting together as one panel.

As space comes at a premium when designing a device so compact and complex, it is understandable that Samsung would look to smartwatches as the next class of devices that could benefit from the recent advances made in flexible display technology.

The application itself was filed in September 2015 and published last week. While patents are no guarantee of the future, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Samsung bring this idea to term in the next Gear iteration. It could help the device stand out in a crowded market.

Patently Mobile goes on to note that the secondary display could also serve as a test bed for another, future idea Samsung is considering — a bracelet with a screen that almost fully wraps around the user’s wrist. Once proven, the tech employed here might function at a much larger scale in the unique form factor of a bracelet. Apple has also shown interest in such a design, which indicates a possible direction forward for the smartwatch industry. The question is, how long until that vision can be realized?

Adam Ismail
Former Contributor
Adam’s obsession with tech began at a young age, with a Sega Dreamcast – and he’s been hooked ever since. Previously…
The Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56 are the Samsung phones I want this year
The Samsung Galaxy A56 and Samsung Galaxy A36.

Get ready, because Samsung’s new Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56 smartphones are the Galaxy phones you should pay attention to this year, as after the lukewarm Galaxy S25 series, they both feel like genuine upgrades, and worthy of your money even if you own last year's models. I had a short time with both phones, and this is why they impressed me.
What’s the difference?
Samsung Galaxy A36 (left) and Samsung Galaxy A56 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

There are distinct differences between the Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56, and unlike the Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55, this time there’s a real noticeable advantage to buying the more expensive phone of the two, but we’ll come back to that in a short while. First, it’s important to understand the visual and design differences between them.

Read more
Your smartwatch will soon be able to detect signs of heart failure
Apple Watch Series 8 ECG measurement.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition that affects over five million Americans. For people over the age of 65, it is the most common diagnosis when they are hospitalized. One in nine deaths has heart failure as a contributing cause, as per Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Smartwatches might soon come to the rescue.

Read more
Samsung users, beware: One UI 7 could jumble your home screen
The Now Brief on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

If you haven't yet upgraded to the latest version of One UI 7, take a screenshot of your home screen layout before you do. According to some reports, upgrading could swap up your homescreen like a shaken Scrabble box. One UI 7 doesn't support the same number of grid layouts as its predecessor, largely because it now makes room for the Now Bar.

One UI 6 supported grid layouts of 4x5, 4x6, 5x5, and 5x6. One UI 7 drops that support to just 4x6 and 5x6, according to Android Authority. If you currently use one of the unsupported layouts, things will look a bit different when you upgrade — and you'll have to decide how you want to arrange the home screen from that point.

Read more