Weird Galaxy View 2 is a TV-style tablet to take your mind off the Galaxy Fold

Remember the Samsung Galaxy View? No, we had to go back and check too. It was a massive, odd, not-a-tablet-honest, um, tablet-like device that was supposed to be used as a TV released at the end of 2015 and cost $600. Now, renders have been discovered that may show its sequel, the Galaxy View 2, that is potentially about to arrive more than three years after the first version. Nothing says pent up demand like a three year gap between versions.

What is the Galaxy View 2? The renders show a 2-in-1 style tablet with a Galaxy Fold-style curved hinge along the top edge, connecting the screen to a full-size kickstand. When folded down, the stand does not lay flat agains the back of the screen, and instead still angles the device for typing, scribbling with a stylus, or watching videos. The kickstand is shown with a big hole in the middle, and without the weird built-in handle on the original Galaxy View. The hole could double as a handle, and will also help reduce the overall weight.

Look closely at the renders and you can see the bottom edge of the stand and the screen have tiny feet to keep it steady, giving away that Samsung wants it to be used in this orientation. Once again, this is more small TV than big tablet. Around the back the charging port appears to be inside a recessed section alongside what could be a 3.5mm headphone socket. This arrangement will help disguise cables when viewing media in landscape orientation, and also to minimise the thickness of the Galaxy View 2.

Details on the specification are slim, with speculation the screen will measure 17.5-inches, down from the 18.4-inch screen on the original. A set of benchmark results linked to the Galaxy View 2 suggested the device will have an Exynos 7885 processor — found inside the Galaxy A8 Plus smartphone, and equivalent to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 series chip — and 3GB of RAM. Benchmark results are easily faked, so this may not be accurate. The leak does state the Galaxy View 2 will be sold through AT&T in the U.S., due to the carrier’s logo on the back of the render; but doesn’t indicate when the release may come.

It’s a difficult time for Samsung, and announcing a new mobile product —that also folds, just not in the way we expect in 2019 — may help take some of the attention away from the now-delayed Galaxy Fold. The Galaxy View 2 is bizarre enough to do that, but how many people have been waiting for a larger, thicker, less portable tablet, which is more like a TV that’s too small?