Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, but they also get bigger and heavier as they house more features and functions. You can really feel today heavy weight The newest glass sandwich in your trouser pocket.

However, some technologies are emerging that could make smartphones thinner and lighter in the future. Here are 3 technologies you didn’t know will make smartphones thinner in the next 5 years.

1. graphene batteries

Graphene is a material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It has many excellent properties such as high strength, flexibility, conductivity and transparency. Graphene batteries are expected to offer higher energy density, faster charging and longer life than conventional lithium-ion batteries. And smartphone makers like Xiaomi, Oppo and Samsung are exploring new battery technologies like graphene that can use high-capacity batteries in a smaller form factor. This means thinner and lighter smartphones with longer battery life.

2. foldable screen

Roll up screens are flexible screens that can be folded or folded when not in use. They can offer larger screen sizes without increasing the footprint or weight of the device. Foldable displays are based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that produces bright and vibrant colors with low power consumption. Some smartphone manufacturers such as Motorola and Samsung have already shown prototypes of foldable smartphones that can expand or retract the screen with a simple button.

Motorola, for example, showed off the Motorola Rizr at MWC Barcelona 2023, where the device is housed in a small 5-inch form factor but can transform into a 6.5-inch display when fully expanded. In contrast, you can still have a big screen in a small and thin body.

3. Cameras under the screen

Last on the list are the cameras at the bottom of the screen. Under-display cameras are cameras that hide under the smartphone screen, eliminating the need for cutouts or holes. This can create a more immersive and seamless viewing experience for the user, and then phones don’t need to take up more screen space. So no notch means less distractions, less extra screen space, and more importantly, a thinner and smaller smartphone overall.

Under-display cameras (UDCs) use transparent OLED pixels that can switch between displaying content and transmitting light to the camera’s sensor. Some smartphone manufacturers such as ZTE and Xiaomi have launched smartphones with cameras under the screen. The technology is still in its infancy and UDC image quality and performance is expected to improve rapidly over the next 5 years with appropriate industry-backed enhancements.