Samsung could be taking the Galaxy Z Flip in a whole new direction

Samsung has issued at a patent application hinting at a new approach to its Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone design.

Not content with dominating the compact foldable market in 2025 – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is our favourite flip phone right now – the South Korean manufacturer is already thinking about what comes next.

As spotted by XpertPick, Samsung has filed a design patent for a new kind of flip phone with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

According to the drawings supplied here, Samsung’s idea is to effectively make the hinge mechanism on its existing Galaxy Z Flip phone double jointed – that is, able to be folded in either direction.

In Samsung’s new-look flip phone, there would be no cover display. If you wanted to triage your notifications and messages on a compact square display, just flip it around 360 degrees so that the display represents both external surfaces.

Interestingly, this device has an asymmetrical design that means there’s always a strip poking out on the longer side. This means that the camera remains visible in the fully open configuration, while a thin strip of display remains visible when closed.

Presumably the latter would serve to provide essential notification, time and date information when the phone is posed this way.

It’s worth re-emphasising that this merely a patent application. Such things are common, and very often don’t result in the product making its way directly to market.

Still, we all know that Samsung loves a good display prototype, so we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled at future trade and consumer tech shows for a super-flexible flip phone.