Samsung shows us the future of smartphone form factors including one panel expected on a 2026 phone

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Samsung’s Flex G tri-fold display could be employed on a released phone next year. | Image credit-CNET

Samsung is also working on an expandable display that stretches out vertically, and on another expandable that expands horizontally. The former is great for smartphones while the latter is perfect for tablets. This is a technology that Samsung has been working on for years and it might be close to seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 

A YouTube video released by Samsung Display shows the screen expanding vertically from a 5.1-inch display to a 6.7-inch display carrying an FHD+ resolution. Another video shows the expanding horizontal display growing from an 8.1-inch screen to a 12.4-inch screen also sporting an FHD+ resolution.

Samsung also showed off technology that allows a smartphone display to look bright while viewing the screen, even if you’re wearing sunglasses. How about a screen that moves toward you to mimic the look of a 3D display? Samsung brought such a concept panel with it to Vegas this year. At CES, Samsung also displayed a flexible and extremely thin OLED display that eventually could be used on a mobile product.

With CES being held in Las Vegas as usual, we’d like to see Samsung roll the dice with one of these concept displays. The “Flex G” tri-fold seems likely to hit the marketplace in 2026 and if we had to take a guess, we’d say that it could be followed up with a Galaxy smartphone that has a vertically expanding screen.