Samsung Galaxy X1, X1 Plus Foldable Smartphones' Rumored Showcase At MWC 2017, Device Expected To Have Android Nougat, 7-Inch Display

After years of working on the foldable smartphone technology, Samsung is finally expected to reveal what its smartphones will look like and how they will work at MWC 2017. The company has filed multiple patents related to the technology, the most recent one surfacing Wednesday.

The company is expected to call its foldable smartphone X1 and its larger variant — X1 Plus. The smartphone is not expected to have a commercial release or showcase yet. Rather, the prototype is expected to be revealed behind closed doors to a limited media gathering.

While the Galaxy X1 device is expected to come with Android 6.0.1 — Marshmallow OS, it will receive an Android Nougat update later; the X1 Plus is expected to come sporting Android 7.0 — Nougat OS.

Even though the company hasn’t revealed much about the device, its patent gives an indication of what the smartphone could be like — the device is expected to have a flip phone form factor — when folded, it is expected to act as a small screen device with the working edge, just like many Samsung Edge devices. Once the device is opened, the two screens and a working hinge are expected to form a single 7-inch display.

Both smartphones are expected to sport a physical home button, volume and power buttons, which will be accessible whether the device is folded or not.

There has been speculation on whether the device would be folding outward or inward. While a Samsung ad in 2014 had showcased an inward folding device (folding in like a book), the device could actually have an outward folding display — a display on the front and back of the device which could combine to make a full display when fully laid out, according to the Korea Herald.

Samsung is expected to roll out around 100,000 Galaxy X-series units in the third quarter of 2017.