Xiaomi has patented two new vastly different foldable smartphone concepts in China. These two patents feature designs that are familiar to what we’ve seen from other companies before, but they’re also slightly different in their own way. The first device folds horizontally making a wider display, while the second folds vertically for a longer display.

The first design shows a phone that reminds us of the Huawei Mate X, and it’s the more practical of the two patented devices. The display folds over to the back, making the device feel like a normal sized smartphone. When folded out however, the device will be similar in size to your standard 8-inch+ tablet. The camera strip on the patent is much more subtle when compared to the Mate X’s camera strip.

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The second patented device on the other hand is VASTLY more bizarre than the previous device. Instead of forming a wider display, this device features a much longer display in a clamshell form. The main thing however is that the display is always on the outside of the device, which means that folding the phone is only for making the device shorter. The camera bump also interestingly seems to sit on the display.

While it seems to have been inspired by things like the Motorola Razr, the fact that the display is always on the outside of the device is just such a weird decision to us. This leaves it exposed to the elements at all times for what seems to be no practical reason. We’d much prefer to see a standard clamshell design like the upcoming Galaxy Fold 2.

While it’s fully possible neither one of these devices will ever fully materialize, it’s certainly interesting to discuss and imagine what they’d be like if they were real. This second device especially seems to be rather pointless, so it’d be nice to see what sort of counter arguments and features we could see in favor of it.

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This year we’ve been seeing a lot of foldable phone concepts get thrown around. Samsung and Huawei are leading the pack, with Motorola close behind. LG had a novel concept earlier this year with the LG G8X ThinQ, a device that used a second display simulate a folding phone. Now however it seems like LG wants to join the race proper.

LG’s patent takes a markedly different approach to the whole folding phone concept in that the phone itself doesn’t seem to fold. Instead the company has made what is essentially a phone with an expandable display. The phone looks generally like a standard smartphone, but the display can be extended to both sides, making the display wider. The aspect ratio makes it seem a lot more like an e-reader than a smartphone.

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While it’s a very interesting concept, it’s clearly still very early in development. We can assume the extra display tucks into the sides of the housing, but it’s not clear where the cameras, sensors or other essential parts of the smartphone would go on the device. On top of that, we’ve no idea where they would supply parts for such a device.

It’s really quite exciting to see all the possibilities that come with the arrival of flexible displays. We’ve already seen three completely different takes with the Galaxy Fold, Huawei Mate X and Motorola Razr. Now it seems even LG has a completely different take, and it’ll be quite exciting to see how it turns out. We’re hoping to see a prototype at CES, especially considering how the device has allegedly been in the works for quite a while now.

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