Samsung announced its first foldable smartphone earlier this year and while it was originally due to go on sale in April 2019, its launch has been postponed until September 2019.

The Galaxy Fold's setbacks don't appear to have put Samsung off foldable phones though, with the company filing three patents with the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) and the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) in the last month.

Two of the patents - called Model B and Model C - show some very similar traits to the Galaxy Fold, including a vertical fold, a triple rear camera and a reasonable-sized display on the front that is unfolded to reveal a larger, tablet-sized display.

Both the Model B and Model C patents shows a smaller notch than the Galaxy Fold with two cameras. Model B shows the notch in the top right corner, like the current Fold, while Model C shows it in the top left, but the similarities suggest the patents could be relating to the Galaxy Fold 2.

The third patent is the more interesting however, with a horizontal fold instead of a vertical fold. LetsGoDigital has created some 3D renders of the device and they look great. 

A notch is positioned in the middle of the unfolded display with two cameras within it. A triple camera setup is on the rear and a single camera is on the front.

Previous rumours have claimed Samsung is currently developing its second-gen foldable devices and the company would like to release a model that folded horizontally. It's claimed the horizontal device would offer a 6.7-inch flexible display.

We're not expecting to see the Galaxy Fold 2 or this potential horizontal folding device until 2020 but we really like the idea of the horizontal fold.