Since hitting the market in 2019, folding phones have quickly proven themselves to be powerful tools for work, communication, and entertainment. Unlike the traditional and largely saturated smartphone market, these are still finding major ground. In fact, according to recent stats and predictions, folding systems are expected to see a CAGR of 17% to 2029, where slate-style phones are predicted to experience less than 1%.
The newest leap forward of folding phones takes the idea put forward by the systems that open like a book to double their screen space and go a step further. Called trifolds, these machines triple the viewing space of a classic smartphone. Driven in Western markets by the Galaxy Z TriFold, there’s a lot of potential here, but how will this potential translate to iGaming?
A Mobile Tablet
In a closed state, trifolds can still be used in a slate-style format. This means they maintain the convenience of traditional systems, so you don’t need to keep opening and closing them if you’re in a rush. Once you do manage to find a place to open them, you’re essentially treated to a system the size of a tablet.
This form factor means you have more viewing space, more room for controls, and even the potential for multitasking support. Depending on the user, any one of these benefits could completely reshape your iGaming experience.
Consider if you’re a fan of playing live casino games on tablets already, but you can’t find the space to carry a tablet with you, or keep it connected to a local network. Trifolds bypass both of these concerns, offering live casino games at your fingertips, no matter where you find yourself. Titles like One Blackjack and Lightning Roulette play just as well here as they do on desktops, tablets, and existing smartphones, just with the extra features trifolds supply.
These same benefits apply no matter your game type, including online poker. You could even use the extra space to split your attention, if you’re that type of player. With these systems and their extended multitasking support, you could play on 2/3s of the screen, and use the other third to check on poker news and results, or even browse us here at Ante Up.
Of course, the additions of systems like the trifold might not be suited for everyone, and they do come with caveats that need to be addressed. iGaming platforms and providers will need to begin optimizing games for these devices, so that the UX is optimal for these screens, which may not happen immediately. They’re also more expensive, which might put them out of a person’s reasonable price bracket.
Whether or not trifolds or folding phones in general catch your eye, they’re systems we should keep an eye on going forward. Their potential for extending the online poker and iGaming experience is too profound to be ignored, and with gradual reductions in costs, they might soon prove too enticing to ignore.
