New patent reveals that Samsung could be working on a very different type of foldable phone

What you need to know

• Samsung recently filed a patent on the World Intellectual Property Org.'s website showcasing sketches of a phone that folds four times.
• The images show four screen panels that are connected with multiple hinges, allowing them to close inward.
• The panels will be topped with a single glass cover display to give the device a crease-free look.

Looks like Samsung is taking foldables to the next level; as we wait for its first tri-fold device, aka the Galaxy G-fold, to show up, the company already seems to be working on a quad-fold phone.

The Korean OEM recently filed a patent on WIPO's (World Intellectual Property Organization) website showcasing a quad-fold phone, meaning a phone that could fold four times. The patent is titled "Electronic device including a bendable display" and was uploaded to the site on 27 March (as first spotted by Sammy Guru).

The listing reveals several graphics of the potential design the phone could carry. It shows multiple angles of the multi-fold device, both folded and unfolded. In the image above, we see four screen panels connected together with multiple hinges, allowing it to fold inward.

It looks like the multi-fold will see the same functionality as the "tri-fold" phone, only that it will have each panel folding inward instead of just one, as some tri-fold phones have been shown to do. Assuming there's just one display across all hinges, this would give the device a large, tablet-like screen when folded outwards or as a compact phone that they can slide into their pockets when all sides are folded in.

While this is still a patent and doesn't mean that these illustrations will turn into usable devices, there may be some solid foundation that Samsung is building on. The tech giant recently showed off prototypes of multi-fold screens at this year's MWC last month— showcasing its Flex G and Flex S designs; these are foldable panels that look like what its future tri-folding and multi-folding devices would look like. The company also showcased a claw-like foldable that could close vertically, leaving a sliver of screen at the center.

As of now, Huawei's Mate XT has been ruling the tri-fold phone market, although we've heard significant chatter that Samsung is planning to launch its rumored multi-fold phone, reportedly dubbed the "Galaxy G Fold," along with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in July this year — a Korean news site claims that this phone will go into mass production this month.

As Samsung continues to drop hints of its plans to release multi-fold phones in the future, it will be exciting to see how these patents will be conceptualized into devices.