ZTE Axon Multy To Revive Dual Screen Clamshell

While we still dream of the ultimate foldable smartphone-slash-tablet, someone actually already came close to a simulacrum of that fantasy. And it failed miserably. Unfazed by the fate of the Kyocera Echo, ZTE and AT&T are reportedly teaming up to take another whack at it, with a certain ZTE Axon Multy slated for October to show the world, once more, how some dreams are perhaps best left that way.

After the initial novelty wears off, which is a very short period, people began to realize how the Kyocera Echo wasn't exactly practical. It wasn't much because of the design, which was probably familiar to anyone who has seen a Nintendo DS or dreamed up of hi-tech, keyboard-less pocket computers. It was more in the execution of that design and the limitations of Android in its youth.

That, however, was 6 years ago and ZTE thinks that the atmosphere has changed enough to warrant another try. After all, Samsung and Lenovo proved there's quite some interest in foldable devices. The problem is that technology, both the display and the other components, hasn't yet caught up to the dream.

The ZTE Axon Multy is, in a way, a stop gap solution to that by having two 1920x1080 screens that operate independently and unfold into one big 6.8-inch screen. Pretty much like the Kyocera Echo except with on key difference. When folded, the screens are actually on the outside, which turns the contraption into something like a regular smartphone, but with screens front and back.

Like the Echo, the execution will make or break this device, particularly in how ZTE plans to make the two screens work together as a whole. In terms of hardware, the Multy might teeter on the mid-range line, running on a Snapdragon 820 with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. It will supposedly launch in October, exclusive to AT&T, and with a tag price of around $650.

VIA: VentureBeat