Samsung and its Korean rival LG seem to be caught up in a vicious game of cat and mouse, whereby both are constantly trying to launch new products and concepts before the other, with one usually left playing catch-up. Earlier this week we heard that LG would begin mass production of a 6-inch curved OLED screen for smartphones and today Samsung has launched the world’s first curved screen phone; the Samsung Galaxy Round.
When we first heard of curved-screen phones we thought that the curve would run vertically, allowing for a design that would hug the face. However, Samsung’s Galaxy Round curves out towards the left and right sides, leaving a flat ridge down the middle from top to bottom.
All-in-all, the Galaxy Round is best thought of as the offspring of a Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S4 relationship, with a curved display. The screen, a 5.7-inch flexible Super AMOLED sporting a Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, is sized between the S4 and Note 3 but offers the same crisp resolution. Design-wise, there’s also the same stitched leather back cover from the Note 3 and a front fascia which is also very reminiscent of Samsung’s popular stylus-toting phablet.
There’s plenty of power under the hood courtesy of a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip clocked at a mighty 2.3GHz, paired with 3GB of RAM to provide speedy multitasking and app-switching. Samsung will only launch one version of the Galaxy Round with 32GB of storage and that will only be in its homeland of Korea, for now.
In terms of camera offerings, the Round has the same 13MP and 2MP duo as the S4 and Note 3, along with Samsung’s latest suite of software and shooting modes.
Being limited to Korea, the Galaxy Round will also benefit from compatibility with the country’s superfast LTE-Advanced mobile networks, as signified by the LTE A logo on the back. Unlike the popular S4, Samsung will only release the Galaxy Round in a brown colour.
Limited colour and storage options as well as availability in only one country all amount to a huge shame for the rest of the gadget-loving world, but for a brand new concept it certainly makes sense for Samsung to test the waters with just a toe rather than diving in head first.
Will curved smartphones ever catch on or do you think this is another gimmick? Add a comment below to share your thoughts with us.