LG has announced an alternative to the foldable smartphones that gives you the option of adding a second screen as a detachable accessory.
The V50 ThinQ handset comes after Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi announced they had created smartphones that folded. While this smartphone may not look as glamorous as the folding phones, it’s expected to be a cheaper alternative.
The Dual Screen’s will be 6.2-inch OLED displays that fit into a phone case that the screens will clip into. This gives users a secondary monitor for your phone that has been tethered onto the side. It’s then added on to the handset thanks to three pogo pins on the rear of the display.
While you won’t be able to have apps running across the two screens, the second screen can be used as a touchscreen control pad for mobile gaming. It can also be used to show two participants in a group-call in full-screen. A final suggestion of how the screens can be paired is for showing footage of a livestream on one screen, and then comments from followers on the other display.
It’s unclear whether this new take on the future smartphone will actually be of any use or just a fad. As noted by the BBC, the Dual Display made the phone nearly twice as thick to hold and 70 per cent heavier.
As well as the main feature of the additional screen, the handset will also have 5G network compatibility and a triple rear camera setup. LG are yet to reveal just how much the V50 ThinQ is going to cost or when it will be released.
There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the handset. These include to what extent the second screen will affect battery life, what features and games will be compatible with the phone and whether it’s good value for money compared to the foldable smartphones.
It’s good to see LG trying to come up with something different to the trends adopted by the majority of the smartphone manufacturers. Whether any other brands decide to follow in LG’s footsteps with an additional screen remains to be seen.
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Matt Weston is a lover of electric cars, artificial intelligence and space. From Cornwall, he’s a UCLan graduate that still dreams of being a Formula One driver in the very near future. Previously work includes reporting for regional newspapers and freelance video for the International Business Times.