Samsung announces Galaxy Round with flexible, curved display and Note 3 specs
Samsung makes Galaxy devices across the size and form factor spectrum and today announced the Galaxy Round smartphone with concave front display. It basically looks like a Note 3 that was put into a back pocket and sat on.
We have seen smartphones in the past with convex curved glass panels, including the Galaxy Nexus, but this new display from Samsung is actually a flexible OLED model. LG is also working on a flexible OLED panel.
Looking at the specifications of the new Galaxy Round, we see it looks to be comparable to the new Note 3 with a 5.7 inch full HD Super AMOLED display, 3GB RAM, quad-core 2.3 GHz processor, 13 megapixel camera, and S Pen functionality.
The Galaxy Round is a few grams lighter, likely due to the 2,800 mAh battery rather than the 3,200 mAh one found in the Note 3.
I'm not quite sure why you would want a curved display, but it may make the phone feel a bit better when resting against your face. Then again, I usually use the speakerphone or a headset with my Note 3. Samsung may also be using it like the Gear, a first product to test out new technologies and functionality.
Samsung is taking the physical design of the Galaxy Round and adding software enhancements that include the ability to view information by tilting/rocking the device. You can even control music by pressing down on one side while it rests on a table. The rocking motion plays previous or next tracks.
Like many features of Samsung phones, these may be considered gimmicky. Then again, there is a wide range of user experiences and Samsung has been quite successful at targeting a broad market of Android users.
The Galaxy Round will initially be available in Luxury Brown in Korea with more colors and availability soon.
Related coverage:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review: World's most capable Android smartphone gets even better
- Samsung attempts to preempt Apple with Note 3, Galaxy Gear event
- Better hardware and software make the Galaxy Note II the best Android available
- Galaxy Gear Review: Samsung's elegant companion watch for Note 3 owners
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Review: S Pen sort of enhances the tablet