Samsung flips the table on smartphone design

The clamshell is a classic cellphone design that some people still prefer over the modern smartphone aesthetics.  Image Samsung

Clamshell phones have a certain charm to them. Current smartphones are just flat, pun intended, and don’t have that swishing and snappy effect. Samsung seems to think so, too, so it decided to marry a modern smartphone with the aesthetics of a classic clamshell handset.

With this endeavor comes the W2017, a high-end device which was just recently unveiled in China, reports Tech Times.

The Samsung clamshell was previously rumored to have the codename “Veyron” and it created quite a stir. Although Samsung did not offer any details regarding the price, it did provide specifications for the phone that easily put it up as a top-tier product.

Samsung’s W2017 runs on a Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor and 4GB of RAM. Two 4.2-inch HD “Super AMOLED Always on Displays” are installed internally and externally. A 12-megapixel f/1.9 main camera with 4K video capture sits at the back while a 5-megapixel cam sits up front. Lastly it has 64GB of internal storage with optional microSD expansion up to 256GB.

It also comes with dual-SIM support, 4G LTE connectivity and a surprisingly small 2,300 mAh battery with fast-charging support. The battery is small considering how much power the two screens will draw. But when pushing for a sleek, metal-bodied, clamshell design, some sacrifices would have to be made.

The operating system has been reported to be Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box with a possibility of getting an Android 7.0 Nougat update. Wireless charging is also one of its perks, as well as mobile payments.

Availability may be limited to the Asian region and India if going by Samsung’s distribution of its earlier high-end clamshell phones. Samsung also plans to initially release the W2017 in China.  Alfred Bayle