Images reveal OPPO's tri-fold phone with unique design and pattern.
Although foldable smartphones have been around for over six years, they are still evolving, and tri-fold phones are expected to be the next big thing. There have been some recent reports from brands like Huawei and Tecno about tri-fold phones, and now OPPO is also planning to introduce its own tri-fold smartphone, according to GSMArena.
Zhou Yibao, product director of the OPPO Find series, shared a render of OPPO's tri-fold phone in a post on Weibo.
From the images, we can see that the device has two hinge components, a nearly bezel-less main display, and a faux leather back. The device appears to be running a modified version of OPPO's ColorOS interface with large widgets and a taskbar.
Currently, Mr. Zhou Yibao's post has been deleted from his personal Weibo page and there is still no information about the hardware configuration or the product name. But OPPO's announcement of the concept has somewhat confirmed that the company is planning to pursue a new type of foldable device.
Earlier this year, it was reported that OPPO and Vivo were withdrawing from the foldable smartphone market. OPPO later denied the reports and assured that it plans to continue developing foldable devices in the future.
This is not the first time OPPO has launched a concept related to foldable screen technology on mobile devices. Previously, the company announced a rollable screen smartphone concept called OPPO X 2021 and a device with a multi-layer folding screen called Slide Phone.
In a Weibo post, user @Smart Pikachu revealed that Xiaomi may be planning to introduce a tri-fold smartphone. Like other tri-fold smartphones, the device will have three separate parts that can be opened up to form a large screen on the inside, similar in size to a tablet. When folded, the phone will have a standard form factor like other smartphones but will be thicker due to the three screens inside.
The post added that Xiaomi's 3-fold phone could be unveiled at a tech event, such as the Mobile World Congress 2025 scheduled for February next year. It could become the latest foldable phone design to be unveiled by Xiaomi, after the company's first foldable smartphone, the Xiaomi Mix Flip, was unveiled on July 19.
If this rumor is true, there will definitely be a lot of information about this product in the coming time. MWC is still about half a year away and Xiaomi just launched two new foldable phones last month, so it is difficult for the company to launch a tri-fold phone early to avoid affecting the sales and attention of the Xiaomi MIX Flip and MIX Fold 4.
