We ended 2017 hearing a lot about foldable tablets / phablets And we begin 2018 with many news that also point to the fact that this type of device may be one of the great innovations of the year, and its use in other types of tablets and with other types of uses in mind is even beginning to be debated. Are the dual displays the future of tablets?
Preparing for the definitive landing of folding tablets / phablets
Last year we already had the opportunity to attend the presentation of the first of these tablets / folding that was finally going to leave the exhibits at events and technology fairs to begin to be seen in stores and, curiously, it was not the work of any of the big manufacturers from which these types of innovations usually come: it was the ZTE Axon M and, although it has been made to wait, we have recently had confirmation that in the first quarter of 2018 it will be sold in Europe.
That does not mean that these large manufacturers are not going to join the competition, on the contrary, as we saw in the review of the state of the question that we were doing a couple of months ago, we have news that both Samsung and LG, Lenovo, Apple y Microsoft they are also working in this direction. Not all are equally advanced in their respective projects, in any case, and some may become a reality until next year, but it seems that at least those of the first and the last one could get to see light this year (in fact, Koreans are rumored to have exhibited theirs behind closed doors at the CES 2018).
Do flexible displays give way to dual displays?
An interesting point, however, is that the concept of folding tablets never seemed to materialize because we have always thought about it assuming that flexible screens would be the key. What seems to be allowing them to begin to become a reality, however, is betting on a formula that, at least for the moment, is less complex: dual displays.
This is what we have in this first ZTE Axon M and what it seems we should expect from the Folding surface de Microsoft. It seems that the galaxy-x de Samsung Yes, it could be a device with a flexible screen, but the truth is that we do not know enough about it to confirm it and leaks have also circulated that pointed to its resemblance to a Nintendo DS. In any case, even if there are not really two screens, the idea of ​​a screen divided in two to be used by each half independently is surely present and is the key to dual screens.
Will it be extended to other types of tablets?
What has further animated the debate around dual displays is that from some media there is also speculation about the possibility / need to incorporate this technology into other formats, including Windows tablets and, more specifically, to 2 in 1 and convertibles. And for those who find it difficult to visualize what they may be referring to, there is a very clear example: the Yoga Book de Lenovo.
Given that Microsoft I would already be working to prepare Windows 10 to take advantage of the dual displays facing the launch of that Folding surface in which you work, it can be an interesting option, and the tablet of Lenovo, with all its limitations, it was undoubtedly a proposal that dazzled many. Theoretically, different advances that have taken place in recent times could be taken advantage of to prevent prices from rising too high. The idea has been quite controversial, however, and that is that there is a fundamental barrier: the habits created by decades of working with physical keyboards.
Real potential or a fad?
Although we may find that many of these projects end up being experiments to which we can only put our eyes on when images of the discarded prototypes are leaked years later (as happened with the Surface mini), it seems that we can be reasonably optimistic that the ZTE Axon M will not be the first and last to see the light.
A different question, however, is whether it is a path that can take root or will it be a passing fad, as happened at the time with the curved screen phablets launched by LG and Samsung and of which only a vague memory remains on the Infinity screens of the latter, very much imitated at one point, but not so much anymore. It is true that the potential of dual displays to offer us bigger screens en more compact devices I with greater versatility, it seems more interesting from a practical point of view. Attractive aesthetics and reasonable prices, on the other hand, do not seem to be equally guaranteed, and they are key issues. What do you think? Do you see a future for dual screens in the field of tablets?