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Dual Screen Phones, a Lower Cost Alternative to Foldable Phones
December 17, 2018
 
Some smartphone OEMs are looking to dual-screen smartphones, as essentially the poor man’s foldable smartphone.  While dual-screen foldable smartphones are not quite available yet (many brands have IP related to dual-display configurations and the four-sided Hubble smartphone will not be out until 2020, if ever), the current iteration is to put one screen on the front and a second screen on the back.  Not quite a foldable.  There are currently three brands with such devices (there are also likely some older versions), the latest of which was just announced yesterday.  The VivoNEX has a 6.39” OLED front display and a 5.49” rear OLED display and sells for $726 (available only in China), with the ZTEAxon M dual screen phone, which has two 5.2: LCD screens (released October 2017) selling for $725, and the ZTE Nubia X, which has a 6.26” LCD screen and a 5.1” OLED screen, selling for $742.

Figure 1: VIVO NEX 2

All three dual-screen phones have no selfie cameras and use the main camera for both regular and selfies by showing the selfie image on the 2nddisplay, which according to reviews allows the user to superimpose a picture on the screen while taking the selfie, giving the photographer the option of making the same face as the person in the picture. What is nice about these smartphones is that even with two screens, they are not wildly expensive, and while they might not provide the same usability that foldable phones might, they are within the price range of most potential customers.