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Providing benefits like improved longevity and a less visible centre crease, the new waterdrop hinge design has grown popular among smartphone manufacturers looking to introduce the next generation of foldable smartphones. More recently, Samsung too joined several Chinese brands when it introduced its new foldable lineup for the year with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Indeed, every manufacturer uses different components to achieve the same effect. It now appears that Samsung is ready to apply the same design principles to its Galaxy Book lineup as well.
According to Korean publication TheElec, Samsung was considering applying its waterdrop hinge design from its new foldables to a bigger device. The source claims that a foldable notebook could be launched as soon as next year. For this particular foldable notebook, the waterdrop hinge would replace the regular hinge commonly found on regular notebooks from the company and other manufacturers. While the waterdrop hinge design suits the foldable display design perfectly, it also makes the whole unit lighter as well. However, the benefits end there as a waterdrop hinge reportedly also makes the notebook thicker compared to those with a regular hinge.
As per the same source, both LG and HP are also looking to make their U-shaped hinges lighter than the ones used on existing foldable notebook models. Samsung reportedly wanted to launch a foldable notebook last year itself, but held back on its decision “due to low consumer demand”. The electronics giant had also considered roping in either Samsung Display or BOE for its folding notebook’s OLED panels. For now, the brand intends to bring this bigger foldable form factor to the market in the second half of next year.
Until the launch of its Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung had been using its older V-shaped hinge design, which resulted in a deeper and more evident crease in the centre of its folding display. Samsung’s new waterdrop hinge design holds the phone’s main display in a safer U-shape (as opposed to the earlier V-shape) position. It also makes the handset more durable when it comes to withstanding drops, which can otherwise easily damage the internal gears leading to a failure with opening the main display altogether.
Before Samsung, the waterdrop hinge has been used on a number of foldable devices by various manufacturers. This includes the Oppo Find N2, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Fold 2, and others. However, Samsung is the only manufacturer to offer an IPX8 rating with its foldables, which currently stands as the highest rating for water resistance among similar devices.