Samsung’s Galaxy F (seen in the unofficial render above) may turn out to be the first decent foldable phone that you’ll find in stores this year, but the Korean giant is hardly the only company working on such devices. Huawei is also expected to unveil its first foldable phone soon, a device that should also feature 5G connectivity. On top of that, we already saw a bunch of videos showing Xiaomi’s foldable phone prototype, which has a design that seems to be even better than the Galaxy F. If that’s not enough, a company called Iqoo might be making a foldable phone featuring a different design than Samsung and Xiaomi, and a new leak might’ve just revealed the device for the first time.
You may be wondering what Iqoo is because it sure sounds like the name of a new Android vendor. Yes, Iqoo is new, but it’s not a brand new company. It’s a subsidiary of Vivo, a Chinese smartphone maker you may already be aware of. Iqoo announced its launch in a Weibo message a few days ago, and we expect to see several Iqoo devices launch soon in Eastern markets.
One of them might be the phone in these leaked images, which were just shared on Weibo for the first time. We’re looking at a device that folds outwards, with the screen staying on the exterior when the handset is closed. Samsung’s Galaxy F has a smaller secondary screen on the outside, while the main foldable display is inside of the phone when it folds. What’s interesting about the unnamed Iqoo device is that when it’s folded, it’ll feature a curved display on the side, similar to the Galaxy Note Edge from several years ago.
Renders can always be misleading though, so take this particular leak with the adequate grain of salt. For example, the screen has incredibly thin bezels on all sides, and there’s no selfie cam in sight. On the other hand, Vivo did launch phones with slide-out cameras last year so that it could avoid the notch, and that could be the case here.
Of note, the renders indicate there are no buttons or ports on this device. Vivo already unveiled the Apex 2019 concept phone with no buttons or ports, though it’s a phone that doesn’t serve much of a purpose for the time being. These images also suggest the Iqoo phone will have dual-SIM 4G support, as well as a rather thin profile when folded.
Again, it’s unclear where these renders come from or whether they’re based on accurate information. We’ll likely learn more details about Iqoo in the coming months once Vivo’s sub-brand is ready to unveil its first commercial products.
A different leak says the first Iqoo phone will be a flagship device featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, the same chip that will power many of this year’s high-end handsets. It’s unclear whether the screenshot above (via MySmartPrice) comes from a foldable device or a regular smartphone. Iqoo has already confirmed on Weibo that its first phone will have the Snapdragon 855 chip inside.
