Samsung’s Canceled Project Valley Folding Smartphone Prototype Leaks

Over the weekend, we learned that the that Samsung’s upcoming rumored folding Galaxy X smartphone could cost as much as $1,850 without a carrier subsidy when it launches. Now, some alleged images of a canceled prototype of a folding Samsung smartphone have surfaced. The device looks like a bad photoshop of two phones held side-by-side and had that prototype came to be, it’s hard to imagine the device selling well at all.

Samsung has reportedly been working on a folding screen smartphone for several years and these images of an alleged prototype phone show that the company has been on this mission for quite some time. Samsung had filed a patent app for a folding phone in December of last year.

The images show what appears to be a pair of normal smartphone screens that are attached to a hinge along the inside long edges. As for design aspects, the device appears to be similar to the Samsung was was fielding years back likely making it a few generations old, and thus explaining the clunky look.

As you can see from the images of the top and bottom of the phone, it was very thick and would have been hard to pocket for many users. This device was allegedly codenamed Project V and carried the model number SM-G929F. Speculation suggests that this not-so-attractive device was developed sometime around 2015 when the Galaxy Note 5 was the new hotness.

Samsung is expected to launch its insanely expensive folding smartphone at MWC 2019 early next year. That device is expected to have a hinge of some sort in the middle, but it should be much thinner than this leaked prototype. Samsung is working on screens that fold, but it would be a surprise indeed if the device launches next year with a single folding screen rather than a pair of screens connected by a hinge.